Kauai is home to some of the best surfing in the world. It is also home to several of the worlds best surfers. Whether you are a pro or getting ready to surf for the first time Kauai is a great place to be. Get the Kauai bouy reports,
surf reports and tide information right
here. Check local tides and conditions, and get some history on the sport.
Kauai Surf Conditions:
Check The Bouys
Bouy
1 - Wave Height and Period
Bouy
2 - Wave Height and Period
Bouy
3 - Wave Height and Period
Bouy
4 - Wave Height and Period
Early Surf History
As much of the world knows Hawaii is where surfing was born. The ancient Hawaiians carved massive heavy boards out of native Koa wood sometimes spanning as far as 12 feet for commoners and as large as 24 feet in length for chiefs. Since there is no written history from the early Tahitians, Polynesians, or Hawaiians it’s unclear how early the islanders began riding on their bellies. There is evidence to believe that upright surfing did not begin until the sports migration to Hawaii. Captain Cook and his men were the first to record any written text about surfing. At the time of their recordings the locals were surfing both upright and laying flat.
Surfing was a sport for kings. Chiefs and commoners alike would head to the waves in order to prove themselves to their peers. Kauai's Chief Kamehameha was famous for being a talented surfer.
When Cooks men returned from the islands, their journals became the catalyst for religious missionaries and merchants who brought with them disease that would ravish the Hawaiians and affect surf culture for over 150 years. Early common surfers were not allowed to surf to close to, or on a Chief or Chiefess's wave. 50 or so years after the presence of white men, the ritual of surfing and the implied respect was all but unseen. The missionaries place rules upon the Hawaiians demanding that they conceal more of their bodies and that they not be aloud to surf as often. Armed with the teachings of Polytheism this had a catastrophic affect on the soulful and celebratory nature of the Hawaiians and surf culture as a whole.
Mark Twain visited the Islands and attempted and failed at surfing. He wrote about it in his Chapter XXXII of his 1866 book Roughing It. "I tried surf-bathing once, subsequently, but made a failure of it. I got the board placed right and at the right moment, too; but missed the connection myself. The board struck the shore in three-quarters of a second, without any cargo, and I struck the bottom about the same time, with a couple of barrels of water in me."
Duke Paoa Kahanamoku "The Duke"
Duke was born on August 24, 1890 and is considered the "Father of Surfing". Duke was rumored to be of royal bloodline because of his name, where in reality he was named after an official visit from The Duke of Edinburgh. Duke was both an accomplished surfer and swimmer and won Olympic gold medals in 1912. He maintained local fame for being a big wave rider and also riding on the largest board made from Koa wood 16 feet long weighing 114lbs.
Get the local Oahu surf report.
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