Texas newlyweds Ian and Courtney Slazinik receive surfing lessons from instructor Donnie Travagkia of Surf Dog Maui at Puamana. While surfing's popularity appears to be growing, complaints have also been rising about surf schools statewide.
Surfing schools crowd
the hot spotsA burgeoning industry prompts
regulators to institute limits at
some popular breaks
LAHAINA » Texas newlyweds Ian and Courtney Slazinik stood on their rented surfboards on the grass and practiced maneuvers explained by an instructor before they ever entered the ocean off Puamana in northwest Maui.
"We figured we're in Hawaii and it's one of the best places to surf," said Ian Slazinik, who recalled as a youth watching the surfing film "Point Break," starring Keanu Reeves. "So we figured we'd learn."
Visitors appear to be showing more interest in learning the sport of Hawaiian kings, as films including last year's "Blue Crush" and "In God's Hands" continue to expose the public to surfing in the islands.
But the number of complaints are also increasing about surfing schools statewide, prompting some government officials to impose bans and review regulations.
Hawaii County parks officials have warned surfing instructors not to use Kahaluu Beach Park in Kona, and Maui County is scheduled to ban commercial ocean activities including surf lessons at eight beach parks effective July 1.
On Oahu, as surfing instructor permits reach 169 islandwide, officials are looking at ways to manage surf classes that have begun expanding to the North Shore.
In the past, only a few surfing operator permits were issued for the North Shore, but this past season, the state issued permits to about a half dozen surfing instructors and three surf schools.
Student numbers have also increased in Waikiki, where most instruction takes place, and some island surfers have been complaining about schools creating crowded conditions at wave-riding sites.
Shayne Stambler said the increase of surf school students in recent years is pushing out local surfers near the Diamond Head end of Kapiolani Park.
"It's a great little learning area but not if you've got 20 to 35 people dominating the break for hours," she said.
Some government officials said besides the difficulty of enforcing commercial surfing rules because of varied jurisdictions, the state and counties do not have the personnel to make sure permit operators follow the rules.
Big Island parks director Patricia Engelhard said the county is reluctant to issue surfing instruction permits, because it can't keep an illegal operator from "infringing on their area."
Engelhard said surfing schools were creating a traffic problem and taking up beach space by laying boards on the sand at Kahaluu.
"People living along the drive can't even get into their driveway because there are so many people parking illegally," she said.
Maui County Deputy Parks Director John Buck said the surfing school ban at eight parks stemmed from abuses by instructors.
"We told them to self-police themselves and they weren't doing it," Buck said.
Buck said parks officials plan to wait for the development of environmental assessments about surfing schools at county parks before proposing rules and regulations.
He said part of the assessment would include measuring potential impact of surf schools and other commercial ocean activities on county parks.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which has jurisdiction of near-shore waters, is also reviewing regulations about surfing instructors and schools.
"It's a priority of the department," said Steve Thompson, acting administrator with the department's Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation.
In the past, the state has focused on issuing permits to make sure the surfing instructors were qualified and had enough liability insurance.
Thompson said the department is looking at determining the appropriate instructor-student ratio and the carrying capacity of ocean recreation sites in places such as Waikiki, Tongg's (near Diamond Head), and Oahu's North Shore.
Thompson said the carrying capacity and number of surfing students could vary at different wave-riding sites, depending on the hour and day of the week, holidays, and ocean conditions.
"It's a constant balancing act," he said.
Thompson said the division has no deadline to complete its review but state officials are meeting with surfing concessionaires.
He said the state will eventually propose similar standards to surfing sites on the neighbor islands.
Veteran surfer George Downing said he thinks government officials ought to look at the way ski areas are organized and use similar guidelines in surfing, such as designating sites for beginners and other sites for more skilled surfers.
Downing said ski areas also have a carrying capacity for the number of skiers on the slopes.
He said he's opposed to simply placing a ban on surfing schools and he's worried for the safety of beginning surfers if there are no instructors.
"The sport is growing, and as the sport grows, you have more people who want to learn," Downing said. "You just can't run way. People want to learn to surf."
Toni Marie Davis, executive director of the Activities and Attractions Association of Hawaii, said the ban on Maui is "reactive as opposed to proactive" and will punish surfing instructors with permits who pay taxes and follow the rules.
Davis said the culprits are illegal operators who have monopolized the beach.
"The real issue is mismanagement and lack of enforcement," she said.
Davis fears visitors renting equipment will expose themselves to danger without instructors.
Maui surfing instructor Ron Perry said the Maui ban is unfair because it penalized operators who had permits and were maintaining a low teacher-student ratio.
