Ride an outrigger canoe in Hawaii

“Better yet for whale watching, instead of booking a boat and worrying about sea sickness, we went on an outrigger canoe that seats six and had the most amazing time. The whales kept swimming under and hanging out under our canoe, then surfacing all around us. It was so peaceful and quiet without a whole boat full of people. When the whales came up they were so loud taking their breaths. And we were at their level. It was an experience I will never forget. [...] No one in our party got seasick (and they’re prone to it), probably because you’re actively involved with paddling but it wasn’t a ton of paddling and was super easy.”

“Earlier, a Hawaiian woman’s team had swamped and we had seen a couple of other canoes have trouble getting in the water, and about 40 crews and all the race officials and spectators were watching us so I was a bit apprehensive as we stood ready to launch, each of the 6 of us beside our seat. [...] Sure enough, as we splashed forward a medium wave washed down the boat and I had my mouth open and captured an unexpected mouthful which partially washed into my lungs. It turned out to have no impact beyond an immediate coughing fit, but I was worried about getting sick later in the day. [...] When we got into the main channel and the waves got to be 12 feet and the wind was howling and you couldn’t hear downwind boats 30 feet away I had a few seconds of “this is nuts” and then relief that I was okay, I was enjoying it. You never know how you will do until you get there, but you have to be able to relax in the crazy conditions.”