Paddle-boarding in Maui, Hawaii

So my track record with anything balance related has not been the greatest. I typically run in to walls and break a lot of things slamming them down on the counter accidentally so paddle-boarding in Maui, Hawaii didn’t seem too appealing. My depth of field is so off and I have vertigo off and on – I don’t know I’m weird. :) My husband never understands my bad balance because I was in dance most of my childhood and on the dance team in high school so you would think with all those fortes I would be solid – but no ma’am! My pirouettes took major practice! Anyways, ever since high school my balance has declined even further so I try not to avoid circumstances in which I could loose my balance, fall in the ocean, and be swept away to sea forever. I really do fear the ocean like that – have you seen those creatures that are living deep under where your feet are splashing?! Don’t google it.. It’s a big mistake to google deep ocean creatures.. Okay – I’m giving myself the heebie-geebies..

Surfing is #1 on my “list of activities to avoid so that you don’t end up a castaway”. My hubby tried really hard to convince me to join in on surf lessons with him, my brother and my dad in Maui – butttttt I didn’t want to embarrass myself and the lesson ended up being at like 6am. Nope. I don’t do 6am. :) They seemed like they had a good time – and when I found out that my dad was the only one that rode a wave (he’s surfed before) I realize my competition wasn’t super steep so I should’ve tried. Yes, I am that competitive! I grew up the only girl with two older brother – you better believe I’m competitive! (My hubby did get me to try out surf lessons in Nicaragua though.. I had a blast!)

Paddle Boarding in Maui, Hawaii

Paddleboard is probably #5 on my “list of activities to avoid so that you don’t end up a castaway”. Very similar to surfing, but in calmer water. I was definitely apprehensive about the activity, but more willing to try because we were pretty close to the shore. I figured since my balance was so horrible that paddle boarding would be a no-go for me, but I actually stood up and was decent! Yay me! My poor hubby on the other hand – he also has trouble with balance, but his is more because he is like a 6′ 4″ baby giraffe learning to walk for the first time. He did not do so well with paddle boarding – but my uncle….. he definitely took the cake for worst paddle boarder.

So, my uncle.. He is one of a kind I’ll tell you that for sure. He is a riot – literally. He will put you in a side-stitch without even trying to be funny. You may recognize him if you are a Prison Break fan – he’s an actor and had a guest role on the show for a couple of episodes (shameless plug and brag). Pretty cool, I’d say so! :) We attached our GoPro camera with a hardcore clip in to the paddle board to capture us for our family vacation video. He managed to fall on top of the GoPro and knock it right in to the ocean. He had no idea we were frantic to save the GoPro instead of him. :) I saw the whole catastrophic fall coming while laying on the beach and screamed for my hubby to save the GoPro as he swam swiftly to the area! All while my uncle is like “I’m fine! I’m fine!” haha! Surprisingly, my hubby saved the day and found our GoPro that had lodged in the coral. But luckily even if it had been swept away to sea and ended up a castaway I made sure to back it up every time we step foot back in our rental. You never know when silly things like that can happen – you don’t ever want all your filmed memories to be gone forever! Be sure to back up your photos and videos frequently!

All-in-all our paddle boarding experience was one for the books and we only rented 1 paddle-board for all of us to share for $15 for 3 hours. It’s a great deal even if you do this as a couple $30 bucks is not bad for a day out on the beautiful Hawaii water. Even though I was a little anxious about being swept to sea at first, I had a lot of fun. I think paddle boarding is a great water activity for families. You don’t have to go very far from the beach to enjoy this activity and being in calm waters definitely eases the mind! If you are really adventurous I have seen yoga paddle boarding – I am obviously not that talented, but if you are a yoga person that would quite epic! I can’t imagine behind that strong and coordinated!