How strenuous is this activity?
The kayak and snorkel experience is rated easy, but swimming experience is recommended.
Can I paddle to Kaneohe Bay Sandbar?
Yes! The sandbar is one possible destination for kayaking with us in Kaneohe Bay. It is located roughly a mile and a half paddle each way from our location at He’eia State Park. Depending on the wind and ocean conditions, this can sometimes be a challenging distance. But the sandbar is not the only possible destination! It’s always important to know the current wind and ocean conditions and plan your adventure accordingly to make sure you don’t exceed your comfort or ability level.
How long will it take to kayak to the sandbar?
We can never tell anybody how long it will take them to paddle to one particular destination or another. There is no average. Everybody is different and every day is different. We can give you accurate ideas of distances, wind forecasts, and relative difficulty levels for any given day. But the wind and ocean conditions are different every day. These factors, combined with your personal paddling ability, strength, and endurance will determine the paddling time necessary to reach any given destination. It’s best to time yourself along the way, starting from when you launch. That way you’ll know how long the paddling time is taking to make sure you have enough time to make it back.
When is the best time to go to the sandbar?
It is always a good time to go to the sandbar! But if you want to experience the sandbar when it is a dry, exposed beach, that only happens during extreme low tides around full and new moons. The time of day that those low tides happen changes throughout the year. You can always call us when planning your adventure to get an update of the tide predictions. But you can always go to the sandbar, it is always shallow enough to stand on. Most of the time it is a very pleasant knee-waist deep, sandy oasis.
What should I bring? Do you have lockers?
Bring everything that you would bring for a day at the beach, including: swimwear, towels, a change of clothes, footwear that can get wet, reef-safe sunscreen, your phone or camera, and your adventurous spirit!
There are no lockers available. They can keep car keys in our office, but only keys. Due to liability reasons, we cannot hold onto any other personal items. They do rent waterproof dry bags to take things with you that cannot get wet. It’s best to pack light and don’t bring anything with you that can’t either leave in your car or take with you on the water.
Are there any animals out there that could hurt us?
Kane’ohe Bay is home to a vast amount of marine life, most of which is perfectly harmless. The animal responsible for the most injuries to people by far is coral! That’s right, coral. Coral is a living animal even though it may look like rock. It is very fragile and easily damaged. The hard corals of Kane’ohe Bay have exoskeletons made of calcium carbonate, which is very hard, sharp, and jagged, and can inflict painful damage on us. So please be careful to avoid all contact with coral. You will hurt it and it will hurt you! As with any animal you might see, give it proper space, and look but never touch!
Do the kayak flip over/capsize?
While all of our kayaks are very stable, recreational style sit-on-top kayaks and flipping over is not likely, it is always possible. If you do flip over, it’s okay. You just flip the kayak back right side up and climb back on. Don’t worry. It’s all part of the fun, and it happens to the best of us! That said, if you are not confident in your ability to pull yourself back into your kayak if you capsize in deep water, we recommend staying around the fringing reef where it is shallower and not attempting to go further out into deeper water.
Where can we land/leave the kayak while we are out there?
There are times when the sandbar is a big, dry, exposed beach that you can land on. However, most of the time the tide covers the sandbar and other reefs. They are shallow enough that you can get out and stand in the sand, but you won’t be able to land/beach the kayaks anywhere. We recommend renting an anchor in order to be able to leave the kayak unattended.
For your safety and for the safety of the coral reef, never stand on, sit on, touch, or anchor on coral or rock. Coral is a living animal, even if it looks like rock. It is a very fragile and easily damaged animal, and its exoskeleton is very sharp and jagged. In Kane’ohe Bay there is no such thing as rocks that are okay to stand on. Assume anything that looks like rock is living coral. Avoid contact with coral at all costs and only stand and anchor in sand. Just assume that anything that isn’t sand is a living creature, and we don’t ever want to touch anything but sand!
Where can we go snorkel?
Kane’ohe Bay is home to many unique patch reefs that offer amazing snorkeling. Many of those have shallow sandy areas where it is okay to get out of the kayak and anchor in the sand. The best snorkeling is right on the reef’s edge where it drops off to deeper water. We will give you a map of the bay and show you exactly where to go.
Can we go to Mokoli'i Island from your location?
No, Mokoli’i is about 5 miles from our location, so that would be a 10 mile roundtrip paddle with the return 5 miles being into the wind and against the current. So it is not a reasonable destination to try to reach from our location. In order to kayak to this destination, you would need to load the kayak onto a vehicle and drive it up to Kualoa Regional Park to launch from there. We do not provide roof rack equipment or straps or rope at all, so you would just need to have the means to secure the kayak to your vehicle.
Can we go to Coconut Island from your location?
Coconut Island (aka Moku o Loe) is just over a mile from our location towards the south end of the bay. From our location you can paddle over to Coconut Island, you can paddle around it if you want, but we are NOT permitted to land on the island. It is actually private property, it is run by the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, and the entire island and surrounding fringing reef are a protected marine research reserve area. Landing on the island or getting out on its surrounding reef is prohibited.
What happens if it rains?
Kamaaina Kayaks operates rain or shine as long as it is safe and reasonable to let people go kayaking. Rain or chance of rain does not make it unsafe or unreasonable. They do not cancel or refund because of rain or weather conditions unless there are conditions that meet their criteria for being unsafe or unreasonable. This type of ocean kayaking requires you to get wet, so don't be afraid of a little rain. It’s best to monitor the forecast in the days leading up to your excursion. If you feel the forecast does not look good, you can always cancel for a refund or reschedule outside of our cancellation policy.
Please visit VELTRA Support page to send an inquiry about this activity.