- Location
- Texas
*There is a TL;DR at the bottom**
I'm only making this so that in the future people can search the forum and find the most recent information. I had a hard time learning what is allowed here when I moved here 7 months ago for work. So I'm totally fine if nobody responds and the thread gets buried. It's just to share what I've learned
What you need to ride in hawaii:
Boater safety course online 8 hours from www.boatus.org
(takes about 6 hours to complete, or use this to complete in...5 minutes. https://github.com/bradvogel/boatushelper)
8 Hour Hawaii Thrillcraft course from Windward Community College
http://windwardcce.org/hawaii-ocean-education-academy.htm
General overview of Hawaii's largest rules:
Hawaii uses "ORMA"(Ocean Recreation Management Area) to control their waters. What this means is they have made everything off limits except for certain zones. So. when you launch your ski from an approved ramp/private property, you must travel in the "shortest safe path" to that zone. You are not allowed to stop at other zone's, just travel through. You are not allowed to hang out in the "non-zone areas" unless you are 3000 feet offshore where everything becomes "unregulated". I will explain the zones in the pictures a bit. Oh, one last thing. You cannot go rest on a beach. You are banned from approaching 500 feet within a shore unless it's straight to a boat launch.
Oahu's three ORMAs:
Honolulu/Hawaii Kai: This ORMA sucks. I don't even want to go into detail you just ride in circle's until you become old and fat and your nice ski turns into a couch.
Haleiwa/North Shore: This isn't bad. Here's a visual I made.
First off, "Dat Cajun Guy" in the google map is the best food truck ever. So just skip jetskiing, and go eat there. Otherwise, this zone is 500 feet off shore(which means you always need to be about 2 football fields from the shore) and there is a launch ramp where that "river" connects to the water in Haleiwa. There will be a lot of surfers all around so you have to be mindful of them. I didn't detail this too much because I wouldn't really go there.
Kanaohe Bay: This is where you should go.
The red line connects from the boat launch to the riding zone (this zone is huge) and you have to follow that path since it is the shortest safest route. So that area on the left in yellow? That's where people party and where you should be doing backflips to impress the girls who hopped a ride on a military guy's rental boat. BUT you are absolutely not allowed to go there. In addition, that yellow island is a sanctuary and you have to stay 300 feet away. One thing worth noting, the water is quite shallow (it's a sand bar) and I'm pretty sure you can park your ski and just walk over and party. I am going to ask cops because I want to know.
Instructor provided this image of Kanaohe Bay. Black is the path you ride to get to thrillcraft area. You cannot go to red area. Cannot go to white area. Cannot go to yellow area.
Sandbar specifically says no thrillcraft.
entire blue area is for thrillcraft.
TLR: You need to take a bunch of boring boat safety courses. You have to ride in specific areas. You aren't allowed to enjoy yourself too much. Musubi is tasty when you're drunk.
I'm only making this so that in the future people can search the forum and find the most recent information. I had a hard time learning what is allowed here when I moved here 7 months ago for work. So I'm totally fine if nobody responds and the thread gets buried. It's just to share what I've learned
What you need to ride in hawaii:
Boater safety course online 8 hours from www.boatus.org
(takes about 6 hours to complete, or use this to complete in...5 minutes. https://github.com/bradvogel/boatushelper)
8 Hour Hawaii Thrillcraft course from Windward Community College
http://windwardcce.org/hawaii-ocean-education-academy.htm
General overview of Hawaii's largest rules:
Hawaii uses "ORMA"(Ocean Recreation Management Area) to control their waters. What this means is they have made everything off limits except for certain zones. So. when you launch your ski from an approved ramp/private property, you must travel in the "shortest safe path" to that zone. You are not allowed to stop at other zone's, just travel through. You are not allowed to hang out in the "non-zone areas" unless you are 3000 feet offshore where everything becomes "unregulated". I will explain the zones in the pictures a bit. Oh, one last thing. You cannot go rest on a beach. You are banned from approaching 500 feet within a shore unless it's straight to a boat launch.
Oahu's three ORMAs:
Honolulu/Hawaii Kai: This ORMA sucks. I don't even want to go into detail you just ride in circle's until you become old and fat and your nice ski turns into a couch.
Haleiwa/North Shore: This isn't bad. Here's a visual I made.
First off, "Dat Cajun Guy" in the google map is the best food truck ever. So just skip jetskiing, and go eat there. Otherwise, this zone is 500 feet off shore(which means you always need to be about 2 football fields from the shore) and there is a launch ramp where that "river" connects to the water in Haleiwa. There will be a lot of surfers all around so you have to be mindful of them. I didn't detail this too much because I wouldn't really go there.
Kanaohe Bay: This is where you should go.
The red line connects from the boat launch to the riding zone (this zone is huge) and you have to follow that path since it is the shortest safest route. So that area on the left in yellow? That's where people party and where you should be doing backflips to impress the girls who hopped a ride on a military guy's rental boat. BUT you are absolutely not allowed to go there. In addition, that yellow island is a sanctuary and you have to stay 300 feet away. One thing worth noting, the water is quite shallow (it's a sand bar) and I'm pretty sure you can park your ski and just walk over and party. I am going to ask cops because I want to know.
Instructor provided this image of Kanaohe Bay. Black is the path you ride to get to thrillcraft area. You cannot go to red area. Cannot go to white area. Cannot go to yellow area.
Sandbar specifically says no thrillcraft.
entire blue area is for thrillcraft.
TL
R: You need to take a bunch of boring boat safety courses. You have to ride in specific areas. You aren't allowed to enjoy yourself too much. Musubi is tasty when you're drunk.
