Porthole....

MY FAVORITE SHORE-X:  SURF'S UP

When I take a cruise, I tend to look for shore excursions on the adventurous side and I really like to pursue new and unusual activities whenever possible. I’ve been shark diving in The Bahamas, mountain biked in Tahiti, ridden camels in Egypt, flown a floatplane in Alaska, and attended a caviar tasting in Russia (where the vodka with my new comrades provided more than enough adventure).

Thus, when I was recently in Hawaii aboard Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of Aloha, I just had to try surfing. The Islands of Aloha welcome surfers in a big way--even first-timers like me.

As with most ships calling in Hawaii, Pride of Aloha offers surfing lessons through a local operator. I opted for a lesson on Kauai, where Poipu provides ideal surf for first-timers and several schools are based right on the beach (including one run by seven-time world champion Margo Oberg).

The typical lesson is two hours, with 15 minutes or so spent on the beach learning how to lie on the board and to get to your feet. Then, it’s into the water with a bunch of other surfing hang ten “wannabes” like me.

The patient instructors stand in the water and help push you toward shore, but you still have to paddle and attempt to stand. It took me a half-dozen hilarious attempts until I got to my feet for the first time and another half-dozen before I triumphantly rode a wave all the way to the beach--and I have the pictures to prove it!

The next morning brought incredibly sore muscles (an excuse for a nice onboard massage), plus surfboard rash on my stomach. However, I’ve since purchased a hip Rip Curl rash guard T-shirt to protect my tummy and I can’t wait to get back to Hawaii--or some other tropical port of call--to try hanging ten again!