Start at Waikiki. It's crowded, waves are barely big enough to surf most days, you play tag with canoes, sailing canoes, swimmers and belly boarders, but this is the place surfing began. Jack London surfed here. So did John Wayne and European and Hawaiian Royalty. Come early, check out the beach boys by the Police Station and head out for a $30 hour lesson. If possible, pick an overcast or even rainy weekday, as you can't get wetter than wet and most tourists stay home. 

 Board rentals are available by the hour, day and half day. Experienced surfers should head towards Sunset Beach. Makaka, on the leeward side of the island is often a good spot if you know a local who can get you into the group of regulars who won't welcome you otherwise. There's a very tight takeoff point and someone who isn't both good on the board and familiar with the tight reef break toward Honolulu can cause major problems. Most weekends, two or three boards come to shore in pieces, and the lifeguards and emergency medical technicians get a mix of coral cuts, concussions, and broken rigs. The Winter Annual Buffalo's Big Board Surfing Championships offers two days of wild wood board 'point and pray' surfing when the waves build. Buffalo's retired after over 30 + years of lifeguarding here, but his reputation still brings out the old iron men of surfing. Russ-K Surf Shop (808-951-7877) Note: Waves were much bigger in the 'good old days.' In February there's the Makaka World Surfing Championships canoe surfing, tandem longboards, team surfing and all sorts of Hawaiian contests, games and some of the best plate lunches, Lau-Laus and Chicken Long Rice in Hawaii. Sunset Beach, a good two miles long, offers more space, a better welcome at its various venues that include tricky Laniakea Beach with an offshore rip that deserves more respect than it gets. Waimea Bay is simply the biggest surf. 'nough said. Banzai Pipline builds wonderful tubes that enfold surfers and send some into surfer's trance that piles up on the reef. None of these suit beginners, and surfers from other areas need to spend some time on the outlooks before venturing in. All of these spots offer a rather narrow margin between the best big ways and closing out. In the last case it's paddle down the coast to Haleiwa and dive around the point into the bay.