One thing that every paddle boarder needs to know to be careful when paddle boarding on shallow water. When we speak with our hanalei SUP rentals guys, they told nasty stories about people who fell onto an oyster bed after they dropped off their paddle board. Well, it is just one of the types of the stories that you’d hear in Hanalei.
But we can’t deny that there’s a risk to paddle on the shallow water. Hanalei has many favorite spots for paddleboarding, and the locals have shared the valuable information with the tourism agencies and people involved in the development. So, as long as you inform yourself with these essential pieces, you are safe.
Not to mention that you will get this valuable information from your SUP instructor and guide. People in Hanalei are charming. They always want to make their home to be a safe and fun environment for all visitors. When you become proactive in the precautions, everyone will help you a lot, including your Hanalei SUP rentals.
When we talk about the dangers of paddle boarding, some hazards are often overlooked. It is not safe to assume that the flat water is always better than the wavy water. Some flat water spots are too shallow, and you need to know what so that you won’t paddle at the wrong place.
Although it is possible to pass by the water less than your foot, it is not an ideal medium to enjoy your trip. For flowing and smooth journey, you will want a foot of water depth as the environment to paddle. Shallow water also exposes rocks, sand, tree limbs, debris, and other stuff that you don’t want to bump with your SUP board.
You might question how deep is the water that we can take? As long as the water is deep enough not to scrape the fin and the board, then you are good to go. Solid SUP board might still be able to operate in shallow water. But you need to be aware when using inflatables. They have minimal depth, and you need to be compliant to it.
If you find more shallow spots than the deeper place, or by chance, you are going to rivers or stream, you could choose the board which has smaller fins. These allow you to paddle on shallow places.