The Big Island

Prepping for your hawaii trip begins at home.

- Del Corsi

Like me, you may have been born somewhere between the late 1940s and early 1960s. Hello, fellow Baby Boomers! Like me, you are also probably experiencing a dilemma. You know, the one when you look into the mirror and see a 60-year-old, but your brain does not agree with your eyes. My good buddy, Gary, in his early '70s, totally put this in perspective for me. He calls it “20-year old eyes.”

We stare into that same mirror upon figuring out retirement. Some never retire; work keeps them going and going. Others travel to exotic destinations and see the world. For me, after a scuffle with heart disease (I won!), I decided to travel with my wife Carolyn. Once the doctors gave the green light, faster than you can say “aloha” we booked a vacation rental and were off for three months of sun and healing in Kailua-Kona, on Hawaii’s Big Island. Two years earlier we had discovered standup paddling there, and falling in love with this new way to explore the ocean, we bought a paddleboard from Big Island shaper and shop owner, Ian Foo and his wife Lauren. They own Hypr Nalu, an amazing surf shop located across the street from Kailua Bay.

Ian and Lauren’s setup is the epitome of what you want when looking to expand your sup experience or when searching for your first paddleboard. We rented a few different boards from them until we found the one that best suited each of us. Usually we would paddle out and just hang in the swells, soaking up those gorgeous Hawaiian rays and watching the spinner dolphins as well as the occasional turtle and manta ray.