A windsurfer off a wave at Hookipa — Photo: James Brennan

A windsurfer turning on a wave at Hookipa. — Photo: MarciaBerkowitzMaui

High surf breaking over the rocks at Hookipa. — Photo: Vikg

Windsurfers sharing the water at Hookipa. — Photo: Christopher Michel

United States

Jul · 95% rideable

Hookipa

What it's actually like

Windsurfing at Hookipa is for advanced wave sailors, with reef breaks close to the shore and a rock-ledge launch. The trade blows from May to September, July is the pick at 96 per cent, and you give way to any surfer.

Aloha (hello and goodbye here), and welcome to Hookipa Beach Park, on Maui’s north shore at mile marker 9 on the Hana Highway, near Paia. It is a wave sailing venue: a tiny sand beach and a big rock ledge, with reef breaks close to the shore and spectators on the bluffs above. Action Sports Maui calls it strictly for advanced windsurfers only. Green sea turtles use the beach, and a roped-off area for them sits at its western end.

The trade wind is the heartbeat of the place, and it blows most reliably from May to September. In every one of those months more than three days in four clear 12 knots for three daylight hours or more, and July is the pick at 96 per cent. It is up early: in July the wind clears 12 knots at 8am on about six days in ten. Winter brings massive waves, summer a smaller swell with a constant wind.

Action Sports Maui names the breaks: no windsurfing at Pavilions, rarely at Middles, and most at H’poko, the break at the western end of the beach near the grassy bluff. Launching and landing over the rock ledge is critical. The beach faces north-north-east, straight into the trade wind. Windsurfers keep to an 11 o’clock rule: no windsurfing before 11am, with the mornings the surfers’. The state’s rules hold no 11am rule, so treat it as local custom.

The currents are strong and drag you towards the rocks, and if you get carried downwind there are only rocky beaches to come in on. Action Sports Maui warns that a sailor here should expect to lose some kit, and some skin, to the rocks. Before riding here, be an accomplished wave sailor and a very strong swimmer. For a first time wave sailing on Maui, Lowers at Kanaha is the place to start.

Surfers were here first. Windsurfers and surfers worked out their own rules for sharing the waves in the 1980s, and in 1988 the state turned them into regulations. If you windsurf here, you give way to any surfer, and Action Sports Maui calls windsurfing at Hookipa a privilege, not a right. Two lifeguard towers stand on the beach, and the lifeguards can tell you to leave at any time.

Kiters do not launch at Hookipa. You launch at Lanes, a pull-off on the Hana Highway between Hookipa and Mama’s Fish House. Kiting at Hookipa is allowed by agreement only, when fewer than ten windsurfers and surfers are out. A low bench reef with knee deep holes lies between the beach and the break, with sea urchins, razor sharp coral and slippery algae. You walk over it with the kite in the air while the bluffs block part of the wind. Booties are a must.

At Lanes you self launch dead downwind on the narrow beach and land on the grass behind the only tree. For a self rescue, Mama’s beach is the closest and safest, with smooth reef but a strong current downwind of the last exposed rock. Tavares Bay is half a mile further. A board lost past Mama’s goes out to sea.

There is no school or hire at Hookipa itself. HST, Hawaiian Sailboarding Techniques, teaches windsurfing, kitesurfing and wing on Maui, and Action Sports Maui teaches beginners at Kanaha Beach Park. Second Wind in Kahului rents windsurf, kite and foil kit, and Hi-Tech Surf Sports runs a rental and demo centre. Learn and get powered up at Kanaha first; Hookipa is for accomplished wave sailors.

Rules and safety. Zone A is for swimming and surfing only, with no sailboards or other craft. Zone B is set aside for surfing when five or more people are surfing in it, and Zone C when ten or more are. In both, no sailboard may be operated in the surf break area. Zone C must keep sailboard access open between the break and the shore. Zone D is kept for pole and net fishing, and sailboards stay out. Windsurfers go in and out by the most direct route the wind allows, staying 200 feet from a dive flag. Stay 100 yards from a humpback whale. Kiters are asked to check in with the lifeguards first, give surfers right of way and keep one kite length away. One lifeguard blast is a warning and two mean leave. Three mean all kiters leave, and a siren means clear the channel. Lifeguards start at 8am. With none in the tower, call 911.

When it's good

Is it for you?

LevelRipper
Advanced only: be an accomplished wave sailor and a very strong swimmer.
WaterHead-high to mast-high
Reef breaks close to shore: massive winter waves, smaller summer swell with a constant wind.
LaunchBooties on
Tiny sand beach, big rock ledge: launching and landing over the ledge is critical.
WetsuitBoardies
Sea about 26 °C in July: boardies weather, with a rash vest at most.
AprèsLights out at nine
No bar within 5 km, but 11 places to eat: early nights, early sessions.
CostRemortgage
Stay next door at the inn: US$675 a night plus tax, adults only, for two.

Where to launch

Conditions change. Check local rules and conditions before you ride.

Launch
Parking

Hookipa, western end

Advanced wave sailors only.

For windsurf. Directions: Google Maps · Apple Maps
Lanes

Where kiters launch: a pull-off on the Hana Highway just west of Hookipa, between Hookipa and Mama’s Fish House.

For kite. Directions: Google Maps · Apple Maps

In an emergency

Emergency, outside lifeguard hours 911

Getting there

Nearest airportKahului (OGG). Fly into Kahului: about 15 km by road, around 20 minutes.
Getting aroundGet a car. Take the Hana Highway to mile marker 9. Three car parks hold more than 170 spaces, and the park opens 7am to 8pm.

Stay, learn and rent

Full details for every place are in the Pocket Guide.

Aloha Surf Hostel

Hostel on Baldwin Avenue in Paia, between Hookipa and Kanaha, with six-bed dorms, private rooms and secure gear storage for dorm guests.

Website

The Inn at Mama’s Fish House

Beachfront and garden cottages and suites on a beach next door to Hookipa, beside Mama’s Fish House restaurant.

Website

Paia Inn

Boutique hotel on the Hana Highway in Paia town, with rooms and suites a short walk from the beach.

Book on Booking.com

Book links to Booking.com and Agoda may earn WindChaser a commission, at no extra cost to you.

Pocket Guide

Hookipa, in your pocket

Everything you need on the beach in one PDF. Save it to your phone and it works with no signal.

01The month: wind, conditions and water02Every hazard, and the local rules03The launches, with maps04Getting there with kit05Stays, schools and kit hire06Where every score comes from

Hookipa

When it's good

Is it for you?

Where to launch

Hookipa, western end

Lanes

In an emergency

Getting there

Stay, learn and rent

Aloha Surf Hostel

The Inn at Mama’s Fish House

Paia Inn

HST, Hawaiian Sailboarding Techniques

Action Sports Maui

Second Wind

Hi-Tech Surf Sports

Hookipa, in your pocket

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