Kite Life

Kite Surfing - Maui
Most beaches have a blanket ban until 11am on windsurfing or kitesurfing. “It’s not much of a problem,” says my teacher Aaron. “The wind’s stronger in the afternoon, anyway.”
Although the sport was born in France in the 1970s, much of its development has taken place on the North Shore of Maui - local windsurfing legend Robby Naish is regualry on the beach testing kites and boards. Looking out to sea are hundreds of kiters are zipping across the horizon.

Occasionally the kiters take to the skies with enormous leaps, before landing with a graceful splash in the warm Pacific.
I had to stay in the inner lagoon. I do, however, manage to launch from the beach, get dragged into the sea a couple of hundred metres and make it back to dry land in one piece.

The North Shore of Maui is dotted with regenerated plantation towns such as Paia, where a couple of bars play host to the busy weekend party scene. Charlie’s Bar is plastered with pictures of surfers and windsurfers and is often frequented by the stars of the photos. A few doors down is Jacques, a palm-lit, inexpensive restaurant with a resident Hawaiian band. For even cheaper eats, the Fish Market Restaurant is where people head to fill up on catch-of-the-day burgers. Many finish the evening on the beach opposite.
To their credit, most come in search of genuine Hawaiiana, rather than staying in the tacky resorts that have been the mainstay of the tourist industry here since the 60s. In Paia, with its alternative coffee shops and health shacks, surf-specific lodges are beginning to spring up. Most people find their accommodation advertised on the door of the health food shop. You’d be hard pressed to get a double room for less than $100 a night, unless you take the plunge and rent a room in a house for a month. Well, if you really want to live the dream …
Where to stay Rainbow’s End or Rick’s Bamboo Gate has shacks - and even a treehouse - to suit a wide range of budgets, and is one block from the beach.
Further information
Country code: 001.
Time difference: -10hrs.
Flight time: London-Kahului (Maui) around 18 hours via San Francisco or Los Angeles.
£1 = 1.73 dollars.