Travel pros with clients who have already vacationed on Oahu may want to consider pitching them a return visit to the island this fall, during the destination’s stunning big-wave season and Vans Triple Crown of Surfing events.
With occupancy soaring in Waikiki this summer, fueled in part by increasing international demand, experienced Aloha State travelers considering a return to the Islands for a new experience, while avoiding the peak season, may well be excited by the chance to rub shoulders with some of the world’s best surfers during the sport’s most prestigious professional competitions.
A series of contests held at three of Oahu’s most challenging North Shore surf breaks, the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing enters its 32nd year in 2014 and kicks off with the Reef Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa’s Alii Beach, typically scheduled in November, followed by the Vans World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach and the Billabong Pipe Masters at Banzai Pipeline, held typically in early December.
Large winter ocean swells are common on Oahu’s North Shore, generally beginning in late October and running through early March, occasionally producing waves with 50-foot faces. The power of those winter storms makes the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing events some of the most anticipated competitions of the entire surfing season, with the Pipeline contest often being described as the Association of Surfing Professionals’ (ASP) Super Bowl.
Last week officials at Turtle Bay Resort, located on Oahu’s North Shore, announced a range of packages coinciding with the Triple Crown events, all of which are commissionable to agents and offer a number of VIP amenities aimed at allowing travelers behind the scenes access.
“The surf at that time of year is breathtaking,” said Cindy Gagle, Turtle Bay’s director of sales and marketing. “So it’s not only surfers that want to come but also people who just want to see the big waves, because it is an incredibly memorable experience.”
Gagle said the property has seen demand increase in recent years during the Triple Crown of Surfing events and noted the hotel is not only hosting more travelers from the US west coast during that time period but also visitors from New Zealand and Australia, a country that is well represented on the ASP world tour and produced last year’s tour champion Mick Fanning.
According to Jodi Wilmott, a longtime North Shore resident and the communications director for the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, Turtle Bay Resort has become an unofficial hub of sorts for the competitions in recent years, thanks in part to the property’s recent rebranding aimed at showcasing the location’s many outdoor attractions and additions like Surfer, The Bar, launched at the property in conjunction with Surfer magazine.
“They’ve really become an ally of the Vans Triple Crown,” Wilmott said. “We don’t stage ourselves in a stadium or on a golf course or a tennis court. We’re out there in nature, and it’s been great having Turtle Bay as a home base just down the road.”
Offering a few different package options, Turtle Bay’s commissionable surf specials start at $740 for five nights and include booking dates beginning in late October running through early December. Each includes oceanview rooms, VIP access at one of the Triple Crown of Surfing events, along with shuttle service down to the beach where the competitions will be held.
Other amenities include free surfboard rentals at the property’s on-site Hans Hedemann Surf School plus complimentary cocktails and the chance to rub shoulders with legends and current pros, along with a VIP backdoor pass, at various event functions held at Surfer, The Bar.
And while the dates of the Triple Crown contests aren’t fixed, because they are held based on wave conditions during a set holding period, Wilmott said folks booking the surf packages at Turtle Bay are very likely to see live competition.
“If you’re coming for four to five days, it would be highly unlikely that you wouldn’t get to see at least one day of action,” explained Wilmott, who worked with Turtle Bay on designing the surf packages. “And there will be all sorts of programming in addition to the contests. It could be watching the athletes playing golf live, live music, talk story events and the meet-and-greets with athletes.
“Last year we were able to take people [who booked packages] by the [beachfront] Vans house to see where the whole Pipe Masters was being staged from,” she continued. “And they even spent a little time with surfers who were hanging out at the house.”
Click here for more about the Turtle Bay packages.