Although many will tell you Hawaii is the most expensive place to travel to it is not entirely true.

Some friends and i recently traveled to Hawaii to surf. we went in October which is pre-season to when the North Shore is going off.

We traveled from Boston to Oahu, staying in Waikiki directly on the beach, hotel and airfare for an 11 day stay.

Along with epic overhead conditions on the North Shore in Haleiwa everyday, we enjoyed perfect overhead conditions at Waikiki where we lonboarded and some real big days at Diamondhead. surf was everything you would imagine it to be, powerful, big, and perfect.

We did take the time to pay homage to those who were lost at pearl harbor, and attended a luau at the polynesian cultural center.

The North Shore is only 20 minutes from Waikiki and there are many spots that are friendly. It is also true however that having some decent surf skills and being darker skinned will cut you alot of slack. I saw more than one person get threatened and be told to leave spots, just as back home there is localism however the Hawaiians deliver on their threats.

We went for expensive dinners every night which ranged from $50-$70, however you can stay off the beach during this time of year, and eat at average priced places and do the trip alot cheaper than we did.

airfare, hotel jeep $1177.00

spending money $600.00

new surfboard  $400.00

Nova Scotia- "TT"

With little planning a group of us headed to Nova Scotia last fall. a week after we were there, epic hurricane swell rolled into Lawrencetown and surrounding areas which is riddled with river mouths, points and beach breaks. we picked up trip plans and maps from AAA which was a great help.

All the people we met were great. although many travelers to Nova Scotia opt to sneak into a beach area to camp at night, we stayed at Porters Lake campground which is about 1.5 miles to the beach. the campground cost about $10 American per night to stay and has very modern bathrooms complete with hot showers. We did not make reservations at the campground, we simply showed up. It is located in close proximity to a shopping center which allowed us to pick up supplies when there.

We drove to the south shore which had some small surf, was waist to chest high and pretty clean for awhile.

We drove to Nova Scotia, though next time we will opt to take the ferry and surf the south shore of Nova Scotia near white point beach in the Port Joli.

Truly a beautiful place and can have epic surf, especially during hurricane season. although a different climate, the sheer beauty of Nova Scotia equates to Hawaii.

If you travel to Nova Scotia, do not even think about trying to bring anything of question over the border. make sure to be very cooperative with the border patrol and customs as they are known to break down surf rigs and do very detailed inspections to include the use of dogs.

camping supplies, gas, tolls, food $200.00

San Diego- "AJD"

Everyone wants to know where the deals are.....as far as intercontinental surf destinations go, La Jolla San Diego is the way to go. I got there middle of December, chest to overhead every day. 

I was there for a month and there was only two days where there was no surf, but don't get discouraged, southern California doesn't stay flat for long, and the next week was well overhead. As far as booking the trip goes, I just bid for the tickets on priceline,

I know jetblue is running specials from Boston and New York to San Fran/Los Angeles for $99 one way. Maybe check into getting a train ticket from La to San Diego, stop and surf Trestles on the way, along with about 1000 other surf spots between the two cities. I fortunately didn't have to worry about hotels, but Hotel lane has pretty cheap rooms, and "The surfer" hotel on Missouri Street in Pacific Beach understands our situation and offers modest rooms for cheap money considering it's San Diego. 

You could be like all the other die-hards I saw out there and just sleep on the beach clutching your board and waiting to be awoken by the sun and the break. It would help to buy a surf map while you're there, I found a great one called "Franko's map of San Diego surfing," which can be bought from any one of the two surf shops in the area, just don't walk around looking at it like some retard. Franko gives detailed info about types of breaks, ratings, how crowded it is depending on the time of year,

As for locals it's not too bad. One spot was on the north side of Sunset Beach Peir in PB, a great left to be had, but not by you! another place obviously was Blacks Beach, but if you have to ask yourself the question of whether or not I should be going, you probably shouldn't be. There are plenty of places out there to surf so you shouldn't have a problem. as far as the surf goes, it pretty much gets bigger the more north you go, or that's how it seemed to me.  PB and MB, beach breaks, were always smaller than Scripps and Blacks, but who knows. Ii found Scripps to be the most convenient, butt loads of parking, a shower to wash all the pesticides and chemicals off you that are commonly found in the water after heavy rains, and a bunch of dolphins to look at while you're waiting for that perfect San Diego wave.  All in all the trip was as stoketabulus as you could get, a definite recommendation to anyone who hasn't experienced San Diego surf yet, just watch out, the waves out there aren't the mushy crap you're used to back east.  good luck

airfare, food, stayed with family $600.00

Tamarindo, Costa Rica “JG”

Feb 13 – Feb 21 2004

Air:

Taca Airlines: Boston to El Salvador to San Jose

Sansa Airlines: San Jose to Tamarindo

Sansa Airlines: Tamarindo to San Jose

Taca Airlines: San Jose  to El Salvador to Boston

Round trip from Bos to SJO $435 pp

Round Trip from SJO to TAM $160 pp

Taca Board Costs: $25 Each Way

Sansa Board Costs: $10 per board each way (Board must be under 7 feet)

Hotel:

Tamarindo Vista Villas (www.vistavillas.com)

Type of room: Imperial Suite (Sleeps 8)

Price per night: $249.07

# of nights: 8
Total: $1992.56

Includes: Continental breakfast

Booked through Alacran Surf Tours

Car:

Economy rent a car

Toyota 4Runner (for 5 people)

Pick up: February 13th Tamarindo airport

Drop off: February 21st Tamarindo airport

# days: 8

Price: $700

Includes: Basic insurance & unlimited mileage

TOTAL PACKAGE PRICE from SJO: $3492.56 (Not including surfboard fees)

TOTAL FOR ENTIRE TRIP PER PERSON $1,100.00

Summary:

We arrived Friday night after a long day of traveling. We should have flown into Liberia (45 min out side of Tamarindo) because we could have avoided the single engine Cessna flight from SJO to TAM as well as the $80 charge in boards each way. We flew into Tamarindo airport (3 min from our hotel). Its not really an airport but a landing strip in the middle of a field. It was an experience. The hotel was nice, a little rustic, but great view and safe. We surfed Playa Grande the first 3 mornings as the winds were light offshore during the mornings and the tides were right. Waves were head high every day with bigger sets. Grande gets crowded on the weekends.  One of those days we hit Playa Negra a little further south. Tuesday, we went to Playa Langosta (river mouth break) and had the place to our selves.. Barrels and glass. Fun and warm. We surfed Langosta Wed and Thursday also. Friday we hired a photographer and headed south to Marabella. The water was warmer there and again we had the place to our selves.

Surf was great. Lots of powerful beach breaks. Negra was like a point break (reef and sand). We ate out every meal and it was still cheap. Good food. Good people. We experience the “Pure Vida”