Meeting gathers suggestions for rules on surfing schools

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

Surf school zones, an ocean management plan, student-teacher ratios, or an outright ban on surf school operations were among the solutions suggested by residents at a public meeting held last night to discuss a surf school at the popular Tonggs break near the Kaimana/ San Souci beach.

About 40 people gathered at Jefferson Elementary School to consider public safety, protecting natural resources and concerns about disruptions to the neighborhood.

Information gathered at the meeting will be used as a basis for recommendations for new rules on surf schools. State officials with the Department of Land and Natural Resources will submit the recommendations to the state land board.

Some of the rules may apply to surf schools statewide, from Hale'iwa to Hanalei, but others would be specific to Kaimana Beach, said Steve Thompson, acting administrator of the DLNR boating division.

"We're constantly trying to weigh the competing interests," Thompson said.

"These are issues we face everywhere — it's happening in all areas."

The issues discussed last night arose from complaints about the Hans Hedemann Surf School, which has been giving surfing lessons out of the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel in Waikiki for nine years. Neighboring residents want the school to be banned there.

"I'm hoping that good policy comes out of this," said Bob Gentry, a resident of the beachfront community called the Gold Coast. "The issue is what ocean use is appropriate in certain areas."

Residents of condominiums fronting the popular surf break Tonggs, where many of Hedemann's students catch their first wave, were the most vocal in their opposition to any type of commercial venture operating at Kaimana Beach.

"The commercial aspect of surfing is the issue," said Hedemann. "I'm here to try to resolve the community's concerns."

For the past three months, the state has been considering whether to revise rules governing surf schools by changing the licensing requirements, requiring insurance that leaves the state and neighboring property owners blameless in case of injury and having instructors teach the students surf etiquette.

The purpose of last night's meeting, a follow-up to a January meeting, was to seek proposed solutions and new testimony that will help decide whether — and how — rules enacted more than a decade ago need to be updated.

"I think the right solution is to just ban surfing schools to the waters kokohead of the Elks Club," said Richard Quinn, a Gold Coast resident. "It's an issue of safety."

But Peter Cole, who represented the Surfrider Foundation's O'ahu Chapter, reminded residents that surfing is a part of Hawai'i's culture and that there are few places were the surf is small enough for learners and that access to the break is a long paddle away.

"We have to have a compromise on the issue at hand," Cole said. "This is the best place in the general area for a surf school. We need to accept that."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.