Ho'okipa

Surf riders in front of Ho'okipa

Ho'okipa ( Hawaiian for "hospitality") is a surf spot for windsurfers and surfers . As Hoʻokipa Beach Park , the associated beach on the island of Maui on Highway 36 two miles east of Pāʻia .

history

Hoʻokipa Beach Park has been the starting point for modern surfing in Hawaii since the early 1930s. In 1935, the then well-known brothers Donald and Teruo Uchimura founded the first Ho'okipa Surf Club . A donation enabled Harold Rice to build a small clubhouse that was used to store the boards.

In the later 1930s, Hoʻokipa Beach Park became the base of the Hui Makani youth organization for the children from Pāʻia and Kūʻau. It was founded by the police officer Curtis Sylva , who regularly taught children to swim and surf there. During the Second World War , the park became a popular destination for soldiers from the Fourth Marine Division stationed in Kokomo.

On April 1, 1946, a tsunami destroyed large parts of the sandy beach and the park. For protection, the bank reinforcement was renewed and a high bank wall was built. In the 1960s, Barbara and William Meheula founded a second surf club, originally called the Maui Surf Club . Since the park served the members as a starting point for their surf sessions, the club finally renamed itself to Ho'okipa Surf Club . Over the years this club has grown into a large and influential youth organization. The association initiated many charitable projects and carried out the first Lānaʻi - Lāhainā competition . The members discovered and named various spots such as Hot Sands , Lone Palm , or Pine Tree .

Around 1970 windsurfing, which until then was only widespread in Hawaii on Oahu , came to Maui. In the 1980s, windsurfing competitions began in Ho'okipa. To this day, Ho'okipa is regarded by windsurfers and surfers as a spot with reliable surfing conditions throughout the year.

Spot description

View of the Hoʻokipa Beach Park

The Hoʻokipa Beach Park is located in a 1 km wide bay on the north coast of Maui. The very constant north-east trade wind blows from the right over the north-east to south-west coast, i.e. parallel to the shore. During the day it is amplified by convection and the Venturi effect of the 3055 meter high Haleakalā to up to 4-8 Beaufort .

The coral reef Spartan Reef on the north coast of Maui, which stretches over 14 miles, runs close to the shore in Ho'okipa and lies - depending on the tide - 50-100 cm below the water surface. As a result, the swell waves of the Pacific break in a wave running to the right. A 100 meter wide gap in the reef enables entry and exit of the wave between Ho'okipa and the Lanes to the west . The proximity of the reef to the beach makes the spot particularly popular for observers and photographers.

The beach of Hoʻokipa Beach Park is reserved for surfers in the eastern part and for windsurfers in the western part . The entry is equally dangerous in both places, as the high waves create a strong current of up to 3 m / s and the reef is sharp-edged directly below the surface. The “ten men rule” applies: if ten or more surfers are on the water, the spot is closed to windsurfers. If a report is made, disregard of this rule will be punished by the police. Since strong winds are not good conditions for surfers, such conflicts rarely occur.

In Ho'okipa competitions in windsurfing and surfing take place regularly. The Aloha Classic, which was held for women and men from 1984 to 2006, is considered a windsurf wave classic . The Aloha Classic has been run by the Professional Windsurfers Association in cooperation with the American Windsurfing Tour (AWT) since 2013 .

The Beach Park infrastructure includes a paved parking lot, toilets, lifeguard surveillance, pavilions and a barbecue area. Children can play in the natural seawater pool.