i’ve been in hawaii my whole life just watching condo after condo going up and up. taller, shinier, and more expensive. the new ones vs. old ones? for me, location is key.

i pass by the Yacht Harbor Towers multiple times every day of the year. so probably a thousand times per year. this was once the most sought out luxury condos back in the 1970’s. the good things about it is it’s location. also good that no other building will ever block it’s million dollar view. the bad things? price!

before i get back to price, here it is from the ocean. two tall towers with panorama views from diamond head to waianae. situated right in between ala moana and waikiki.

the view is priceless. you can see the yacht club, magic island, and most importantly, the lineup at bowls.

imagine waking up to this every morning? and not to mention the beautiful sunsets in the evening. want to know the price now?
one bedroom units average $700,000
two bedroom units average $1,2500,000
i went this past sunday to look at a one bedroom open house. selling for $690,000 with maintenance fees of $800/month.

so i wanted to figure out the monthly payments. purchase price at $700,000. you must put a 20% down payment so plan to have $140,000 cash in your bank. then if you have to borrow the rest of the $560,000, expect to pay $2,837/month. no, not for a year, no, not for 5 years, no, not for 10 years. you have to pay that for the next 30 years of your life. then add on the $800/month in maintenance fees, your total per month totals $3,637/month. for you japanese, that’s 426,427.33 yen per month for 30 years.
i looked at my age, and there is no way i’m working till i’m 77 years old so i guess i’m out. haha. 10 years ago, the price was half. i’m scared to see the price 10 years later. hawaii is a very expensive place to live. prices are going up and up so if you think waiting is better, you should think again. i’m not a realtor or anything, but if you want to buy, buy now! and if you can’t buy now, work hard, save money, and someday your dream will come true!

Nice Deep Kick! Itai!
Good morning 7am.
North shore 3-5′ and junky conditions.
South shore chest high and junky conditions. But better than yesterday. West winds continure at 10mph.
East side best for surfing.
Clouds with sunshine.
Have a wonderful day!

i pulled this photo off the internet to show you what laniakea looks on a good day. remember, i said a good day. looks 4-6′ and pretty perfect right? well, the day before yesterday, it was much much better than this. i’d say it was an epic day. one of those few days i could say it was perfect. and i’ve been surfing laniakea for 30 years. it was bigger, 6-10′ to be exact. it was more offshore, 35mph south/west winds to be exact. and it was uncrowded, lucky to be exact. the reason why it was empty? in the morning, the waves were small out of the north/west direction. wrong swell direction for laniakea. right about 10am as we were watching the volcom pipe, the big north swell started to show. north swell best for laniakea. off the wall and rockpiles started to show 10′ sets, the same swells heading right to laniakea. nobody expected the swell to pick up so fast, not even surfline forecasters predicted that. we go back to laniakea and it looked like a totally different day. the swell just showing and most morning surfers already went home, or in for lunch. perfect timing! 6-8′ with 10′ and super big barrels!

the strong current and big wave flags were out. it was the real deal. Kubota-san never surfed the north shore before. it was his debut. a debut on the biggest laniakea days of the year. he was nervous and i don’t blame him. all i could do was laugh out loud to ease his nerves. not even that worked. we paddle out in pure silence. all i kept on saying was “stay close to me.” i know if he stayed near me, i could grab him if he couldn’t come up for some reason. yes, it sounds crazy, but it’s not. i knew there was a part of Kubota-san that wanted the challenge. most surfers do.

then it happened. a big waves coming our way. i yell on the top of my voice “GO, GO, GO!!” Kubota-san went! i thought he fell off and was going to get pounded. i kept on looking for him but couldn’t see him. then way in the inside at the end of the wave, i seen him pull out perfectly with his two hands in the air. a huge wave, and a perfect ride. he paddled back out with the biggest smile on his face and i already knew what he was feeling. a feeling that only a surfer knows.

it was all smiles after that. the biggest and best wave of his 8 year surfing career. a big confidence booster. a big step in his surfing that will lead him to bigger and better waves. i was just as happy as Kubota-san was for being able to experience such an awesome moment with him.
it’s two days later and i’m sure he will never forget that session. i sure won’t as laniakea was at it’s best in years! if you got it too, lucky. if you went home early that day and didn’t, sorry.