Reise then asks Doug and I if we’re ready. We exchange nervous laughter and begin paddling to our aquatic Armageddon. Adrenaline propels us across the first hundred yards of swells, but then a glance behind reveals a big one starting to break. These are massive 10- to 12-foot breakers and we’re now in between them with nowhere to go but down.
In short order we’re ripped from our kayak in a torrent of crashing water. Seconds of blurred and twisting submergence pass until I surface, gasping for air. My life jacket is still on, but Doug has drifted far away from me and the kayak is no longer in sight. Then another wave crashes down on us. This is no longer a novel thrill. We’re still almost a hundred yards from shore, floundering in water way over our heads, exhausted -- and the breakers are lining up to have their way with us.
Between assaults, Doug and I crawl for shore. And crawl. And crawl. Finally, we feel sand beneath our feet. A few more waves crash down on us as we scramble for the safety of a sandbar. Winded and weary, we feel robbed and assaulted by the sea. During the onslaught, both of us struggled to keep our pants on and had our watches ripped clean off our wrists. Adding to the indignity was the audience of beachgoers basking in the entertainment of our arrival.
I retrieve our kayak. As we emerge from the sea, the recovery crew is there to help with retrieval and ensure everyone’s okay. Fortunately no one was injured, though all but one kayak team suffered the same fate as ours. We commiserate over the death-defying conclusion to our marathon adventure. At the same time, there’s a realization that we’ve experienced something very real in a way most tourist packages can’t offer.
We began our adventure hoping to connect with the natural wonder of Kaua‘i’s Na Pali coast. Ultimately, that’s exactly what we got – a rare and intimate encounter with the wild side of this pristine and isolated region. The experience left us with a profound respect for the people who have lived and worked here for hundreds of years. Our guides from Na Pali Kayak surely never intended such an introduction…but they, like us, visit this world at the whim of Mother Nature.
Napali Kayak, Phone: 866-977-6900
