What Could Be Cooler on a Hot Summer Day in Paradise?

Hot summer, cool rides


By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer



Kaimanu Pine glides on Da'FlowRider, a surfable wave that stays in one place.


DEBORAH BOOKER | The Honolulu Advertiser

HAWAIIAN WATERS ADVENTURE PARK

Address: 400 Farrington Highway in Kapolei
Hours: 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. today and tomorrow; other hours vary (call or check the Web site)
Tickets: $34.99 adults, $24.99 ages 3-11, $14.99 ages 60 and older, free for children 2 and younger; group kamaçäina rates and annual passes also available
Amenities: Lockers can be rented for $4 ($2 refundable deposit); bodyboards and towels can be rented; lifejackets, tubes, floats and lounge chairs are free.
674-9283,
www.hawaiianwaters.com


It’s been hot, hot, hot this summer.

And with temperatures this weekend expected to near 90 degrees — again! — you might want to take some advice from 7-year-old Pohaku Kaheaku-Paiva.

This summer, Pohaku and his father, Rocky, hit the slides at the Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park in Kapolei about three times a week.
“We go because it’s hot and it’s right by our house,” said the Makakilo Elementary second-grader, who said he’d go to the water park every day if he could. “It’s really fun.”

Rocky Paiva has been buying an annual pass to the water park since it opened in 1999. And they’ve definitely taken advantage of it.

Whenever they go to the water park, they’ll stay until closing.
“Even if we only have an hour, we’ll go to the water park,” said Paiva, 42, who commutes as a movie-studio driver in Hollywood. “That hour before closing is better than not going at all.”

Their favorite ride together? The Volcano Express, hands down.
“We like to race on that one,” said Paiva, who’s never lost to his son — yet. “The heavyweight always wins.”

The $14 million water park opened May 28, 1999. This summer it unveiled Da’FlowRider, the state’s first stationary-wave machine.
It didn’t take long for Da’FlowRider to become Pohaku’s new favorite ride.

“I try to stand,” said Pohaku, who wants to be a professional bodyboarder when he grows up. “But sometimes I slip off.”
Attendance this summer has already seen double-digit growth over last year, said park general manager Jerry Pupillo: “It’s been great.”
Soon there’ll be another addition Pohaku can look forward to. Next year the water park hopes to open a miniature golf course at its 25-acre theme park.

And over the next five years, there’ll be more slides, a family raft ride, a drive-in theater, batting cages, restaurants and a fitness center.
“We needed something like this because we had nothing but the beach over here,” said Paiva, who has been living in Makakilo for 37 years. “So this was good for us.”

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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