Hawaii, here we come AGAIN!!!

Everyone blurts out "Hawaii is so expensive!"

Ive been going there for over twenty years, and it can be expensive if you treat it lke you are a tourist. Don't!

Fly nonstop out of Newark-Oahu. If time is a factor, stay on Oahu, the connecting flight eats up time and money. I just bought tickets tonight- $1400 round trip two people, cheaper than twenty years ago (but you pay for extras now).

I used to stay on the north shore's only hotel, "Turtle Bay." It used to cost $150-300 per night but now its at least $600 per night. I love that place, even got married there.

Should have divorced there also.

However, I found that as nice as that place is, it seemed that all the "rich white Americans" just lounged around tanning, staying to themselves, retreating into their cells after sunset. Hey, nothing wrong with that, its their vaca, they can do whatever they want to do, just ain't my cup of tea. I complained to the bartender who told me I should stay in the Hostel (backpackers).

I did! $20/ night per person with shared everything. $3.50/ night all you can eat chicken bbq. Shared picnic tables so you are kinda forced to hang out with strangers... from all over the world... with accents... stories... jokes I had not heard before. So damn cool! Everyone at that place always seemed so cool, warm, welcoming. The "rich white Americans" just always seemed.... so damn cold, so self-important, so clean and sterile.

Listen, I am of the opinion that when you go to a place like Hawaii, leave all your shit behind. Seriously. Who you going to impress??? Bring tooth stuff, sunscreen, and a backpack with extra space for goodies to bring home. Be a simple kid again. If you need to, you can buy something there.

What do you need at the beach? Sunscreen. Board shorts. Tshirt. Swimming goggles, fins, surfboard. Leave all the other shit behind!

The low budget crowd is generally younger and much more fun... they turned into surfing buddies, drinking buddies, fun!!

I have not, nor will I ever stay at Turtle Bay ever again! Lounging "rich Americans" tanning VS. fun loving strangers from all walks of life- you decide!

I no longer go to the backpackers, choosing instead to go to to a place (sharkscove vacation rentals) that costs $40 per person per night with shared facilities. Who the hell cares! We wake up, get breakfast, go surfing, come home and eat dinner and pass out for a repeat the next day, and the next and the next.

I also fifteen years ago theorized that its a big world out there, lets go somewhere else instead of hawaii!

Fiji, Costa Rica, Mexico (los cabos)... until I decided that its best just to go to hawaii. It really is like a third world country without the third world crime, the aggressive tourist sharks, currency BS, passports. Everything is just easier in Hawaii!

Got any questions? Call me.

​Ps the guy in the picture at the top is Andy Irons at pipeline.