Anyone bring their own SUP

[aulanidreamer]

We currently have reservations coming up in April that I’m hopeful we can finally go after delaying twice from last April. My kids have really gotten into SUP on the lakes here near our home and want to bring our SUP to Hawaii to use on the ocean. I know Aulani rents them, but I only see a $45 per hour rental and not a daily or weekly option. Has anyone brought their own SUP from the mainland? $25 each way seems like it would be worth it. My guess is the electric Li Ion pump is a no go, but the hand pump would be fine. Is Aulani allowed to limit private SUP in that lagoon since it’s still a public beach. Going to #3 or #4 is sometimes nice because they are less busy but we would also have to carry stuff further. Just starting to think about logistics if we do end up being able to go. We will be at Aulani and also staying a few nights near Laie if you have great paddle boarding spots that way too.

 

[OKW Lover]

What is a SUP?

 

[aulanidreamer]

What is a SUP?

Stand Up Paddleboard

 

[OKW Lover]

Ahh. Thank you for the clarification. IIRC, those are pretty big things. How would you get it to Aulani?

 

[kdonnel]

I don't think they would stop you from using your own SUP.

As for the battery you can bring up to a 100 Wh battery on board a plane in your carryon.

https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/more_info/?hazmat=7

 

[SteveMouse]

And pay the oversize luggage fee or special fee to the airline for transporting the boards. See https://www.islesurfandsup.com/what-you-should-know-about-traveling-with-paddle-boards/

 

[aulanidreamer]

I don't think they would stop you from using your own SUP.

As for the battery you can bring up to a 100 Wh battery on board a plane in your carryon.

https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/more_info/?hazmat=7

Thanks, good to know we can use it in Ko Olina. My current pump I think is over this (says 12000 mAh) because it powers a small air compressor that inflates it quickly, but there are other smaller ones on the market I could look into. I might just use the arm pump it came with to pump it up for a week though and get my arm workouts in while the spa/ workout area is closed.

 

[cgattis]

If it’s really just $25 to ship, that’s a bargain! I carried two beach chairs and our own snorkel gear, so I say go for it. Of course you always risk damage. And you have to make sure your rental can haul it safely. And I’d surely not plan to leave it unattended on a parked vehicle at any point—theft of items from parked cars is a big problem there and a board sounds like easy pickins.

 

[AgentMama]

We haven't taken ours to Hawaii but we have taken them to FL. Ours are inflatable. The biggest challenge we had was fitting them in the rental car with our kids and luggage. We'd probably do it again.

 

[aulanidreamer]

If it’s really just $25 to ship, that’s a bargain! I carried two beach chairs and our own snorkel gear, so I say go for it. Of course you always risk damage. And you have to make sure your rental can haul it safely. And I’d surely not plan to leave it unattended on a parked vehicle at any point—theft of items from parked cars is a big problem there and a board sounds like easy pickins.

It’s one of the inflatable ones so it would fit in an extra suitcase. There are 5 of us and we never actually bring 5 suitcases. It’s 33 lbs, so I’m hoping I can put a couple of life vest and some snorkel stuff too in one extra suit case. Good advice about it being unattended. That would be the hard part about having to inflate and deflate each time, but my arms might get buff.

 

[cgattis]

hoping I can put a couple of life vest and some snorkel stuff too in one extra suit case.

Yup, I had those blow-up horse collar vests that take up next to no space or weight. I’ve never seen an inflatable SUP so I wasn’t sure what the pump talk was about LOL

 

[corgi_monster]

Aulani has an agreement with Ko Olina to allow use of their SUP in the lagoon. However, you cannot bring your own: http://koolina.com/destination/lagoons/

Aulani isn't the best place to SUP anyway. A SUP can take you to places you'd never see by car or even by foot. Kahala Beach is an awesome place to SUP as it takes you past Hawaii's mega-mansions. Kailua waterways are also great for SUP.

 

[kdonnel]

Aulani has an agreement with Ko Olina to allow use of their SUP in the lagoon. However, you cannot bring your own: http://koolina.com/destination/lagoons/

Aulani isn't the best place to SUP anyway. A SUP can take you to places you'd never see by car or even by foot. Kahala Beach is an awesome place to SUP as it takes you past Hawaii's mega-mansions. Kailua waterways are also great for SUP.

Where does it say you can not bring a SUP to the Ko Olina lagoons?

The following is prohibited along the shoreline and on Ko Olina’s beaches:

Alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, pets, loud or distracting music, metal-detecting, fires, camping, tents, windbreakers, sun shades, bicycles, skates, skateboards, Frisbees, kites, ball playing, fishing, scuba, personal surfboards, and other watercraft.

I don't see stand up paddle board mentioned.

I have seen lots of rule breakers. Lots of ball playing, lots of kites, lots of wind breakers and sun shades especially in Lagoons 2 and 3 but often times in Lagoon 1 as well.

 

[aulanidreamer]

Aulani has an agreement with Ko Olina to allow use of their SUP in the lagoon. However, you cannot bring your own: http://koolina.com/destination/lagoons/

Aulani isn't the best place to SUP anyway. A SUP can take you to places you'd never see by car or even by foot. Kahala Beach is an awesome place to SUP as it takes you past Hawaii's mega-mansions. Kailua waterways are also great for SUP.

That’s too bad if we can’t bring our own since half our trip is in Ko Olina. Definitely will check out other spots though, especially when we are on the other side of the island.

 

[corgi_monster]

Where does it say you can not bring a SUP to the Ko Olina lagoons?



I don't see stand up paddle board mentioned.

I have seen lots of rule breakers. Lots of ball playing, lots of kites, lots of wind breakers and sun shades especially in Lagoons 2 and 3 but often times in Lagoon 1 as well.

From the website: Alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, pets, loud or distracting music, metal-detecting, fires, camping, tents, windbreakers, sun shades, bicycles, skates, skateboards, Frisbees, kites, ball playing, fishing, scuba, personal surfboards, and other watercraft.

They've consistently enforced the SUP ban under the "watercraft" part, even going so far as to ban those large blow-up flotation devices that are super popular with instagrammers. But yes, lots of rule breakers everywhere.

 

[mel2014]

We're planning to bring our two inflatable SUPs when we go in February. We have two of the Body Glove Porter, which is a combo SUP/Kayak. We're flying Southwest and have an allowance of 8 50 lb checked bags between the four of us so the weight shouldn't be a problem and the minivan rental price was the same as a compact car. I wasn't aware that they weren't allowed in Ko Olina (in fact, I asked the reservation folks specifically about it and they said they weren't aware of a ban). Maybe they'll be more lenient with lower crowds. Even if we can't use them there, we have plans to SUP at Ala Moana beach park and also to get to the disappearing sandbar in Kāneʻohe Bay.

I couldn't stomach the cost of one of the bigger pumps, I use one that plugs into the cigarette socket in the car and is rigged it up with one of these adapters: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M6CM8WI/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_2A06676RPWB4E58W7GCR I still need a few finishing manual pumps to get it up to pressure, but overall it works pretty well and is very compact. You could probably do the same with a smaller battery powered pump.

 

[aulanidreamer]

We're planning to bring our two inflatable SUPs when we go in February. We have two of the Body Glove Porter, which is a combo SUP/Kayak. We're flying Southwest and have an allowance of 8 50 lb checked bags between the four of us so the weight shouldn't be a problem and the minivan rental price was the same as a compact car. I wasn't aware that they weren't allowed in Ko Olina (in fact, I asked the reservation folks specifically about it and they said they weren't aware of a ban). Maybe they'll be more lenient with lower crowds. Even if we can't use them there, we have plans to SUP at Ala Moana beach park and also to get to the disappearing sandbar in Kāneʻohe Bay.

I couldn't stomach the cost of one of the bigger pumps, I use one that plugs into the cigarette socket in the car and is rigged it up with one of these adapters: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M6CM8WI/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_2A06676RPWB4E58W7GCR I still need a few finishing manual pumps to get it up to pressure, but overall it works pretty well and is very compact. You could probably do the same with a smaller battery powered pump.

I will be interested in how you trip goes and where you find the best spots for paddle boarding. We also decided to go with a mini van for space and we’ve found they are easier to park than an SUV in Hawaii.

i am still investigating smaller pumps but we’ve already invested in the big one and won’t really need a smaller one normally. We often are inflating 2 boards and sometimes a canoe so the big pump was worth it for us. I’m hoping the hand pump will be enough for this trip since we will just have one board. Thanks for your link, I might try to I figure out a way to put that adapter on a foot pump, I wonder if it can inflate to such high pressure?

 

[jimmymc]

Li ion batteries are fine if they're in your carry on. If you can remove the pump battery or fit the whole pump in a carry-on, you can bring it.

You are allowed to use your own boards or gear at the Aulani beach. Like you said, it's public.

There are off-site surf shops that rent boards as well, but you probably wouldn't be able to store it at Aulani unless it's inflatable. If you like your inflateable board, I would bring it.

 

[mel2014]

Just to report back from our trip:

(1) You will get yelled at and told to leave the lagoon if you try to use your own paddleboard at the Aulani lagoon. My husband unfortunately did not have the temerity to push back on the overbearing dudes who told him he had to leave the lagoon after he launched and had been paddling around for 10-15 minutes. They wouldn't even let him beach and told him he needed to go to Secret Beach to land, where he went and then discovered there was no way for him to get back to the Aulani with the paddleboard in his Birkenstocks. He ended up paddling almost a mile in open ocean with our son in high winds to land at Electric Beach. While he clearly exercised some bad judgment, I still can't believe they told him he couldn't land (since, as others have noted, it's public waters and public beach below the high tide line). We didn't try any of the other lagoons.

(2) Check the wind forecast before bother bringing your SUP. There were winds over 10 MPH every day we were there and most days the winds were 15 MPH or greater, which was not great and killed our plan to go to the Kaneohe sandbar.

(3) Paddleboarding at Ala Moana Beach Park was great, even with the winds, since it is relatively protected from waves and shallow enough to just hop off the board and beach it if the winds are too rough.

(4) We had no issues with Southwest carrying our SUPs, though they did note that the SUPs were covered for loss only and not damage.

 

[jimmymc]

Just to report back from our trip:

(1) You will get yelled at and told to leave the lagoon if you try to use your own paddleboard at the Aulani lagoon. My husband unfortunately did not have the temerity to push back on the overbearing dudes who told him he had to leave the lagoon after he launched and had been paddling around for 10-15 minutes. They wouldn't even let him beach and told him he needed to go to Secret Beach to land, where he went and then discovered there was no way for him to get back to the Aulani with the paddleboard in his Birkenstocks. He ended up paddling almost a mile in open ocean with our son high winds to land at Electric Beach. While he clearly exercised some bad judgment, I still can't believe they told him he couldn't land (since, as others have noted, it's public waters and public beach below the high tide line). We didn't try any of the other lagoons.

(2) Check the wind forecast before bother bringing your SUP. There were winds over 10 MPH every day were were there and most days the winds were 15 MPH or greater, which was not great and killed our plan to go to the Kaneohe sandbar.

(3) Paddleboarding at Ala Moana Beach Park was great, even with the winds, since it is relatively protected from waves and shallow enough to just hop off the board and beach it if the winds are too rough.

(4) We had no issues with Southwest carrying our SUPs, though they did note that the SUPs were covered for loss only and not damage.

Wow, do you remember who it was who yelled at him? Because Aulani does not own that beach. If it's an Aulani employee, they have no say what you do in the lagoon.