Rules sought to cut surf school noise

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

Residents who have complained about noise from a surf school giving lessons to dozens of students in their Diamond Head neighborhood want rules developed that would limit or even ban commercial ventures on residential beaches.

About 10 residents last week asked members of the Diamond Head/Kapahulu/St. Louis Heights Neighborhood Board to run interference and help them reduce the noise and clear the water of large groups of surf students.

A request will be sent to the city and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to work together with the residents and Hans Hedemann Surf Inc., the company the residents were complaining about, to come up with rules.

Most of the time, surf instructors lead small groups of novice surfers out to a popular surf break called Tonggs. They lead groups of students into the water by paddling surfboards and then push the students standing on a board into the wave. But during the summer the groups were 30 to 40 each, all novice surfers paddling out to a place where the waves break inside the reef, said Alethea Rebman, a resident of the area.

"The neighbors have been documenting this," Rebman said. "In the spring it changed from a tolerable operation of small groups to large groups of 30 to 40 students. It's a mellow spot to learn to surf."

Walea Constantinau, the mayor's representative and the city's film commissioner, said she would coordinate between the groups and work toward an agreement that would allow the company to give surf lessons and the residents to enjoy their beach.

"This is a discussion that is occurring around the island," Constantinau said. "It's on the North Shore, it's in Kailua and it's here. Hawai'i is known for surfing and that's one of the reason people come here."

Hans Hedemann Surf Inc., a company that operated first at the Diamond Head Beach Hotel and most recently from the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel on Kalakaua Avenue, has been around for nine years, said Hedemann, a professional surfer.

Bill Nelson, president of the Tahitenne co-op owners' association, said his complaints about the surf school date to 2000.

"There's a lot of noise and we've had people running up and down the sea wall out behind our building," Nelson said. "Someone broke a fence. The noise is so loud that we can't even think. We've been dealing with this for a long time."

Hedemann agreed that his business has grown during the summer.

"There's a lot of commercial ventures out there in the ocean already," Hedemann said. "There's tour boats, outrigger canoes, snorkeling groups. Summer was busy. But we've taken into account the neighbors' concerns and we've cut down the size of the groups."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-0464.