Three Friends Stand Up Paddle Adventures

The tour Vanya took us was awesome! We were downwinding from Hawaii kai to Niu Valley area safely even though we are beginners. I will definitely choose her tour again when I next visit Hawaii. Thaks Vanya!

I’ve always wanted to go stand up paddle boarding ever since we moved to the west coast. On our last vacation, we didn’t have time to go and I was giving my wife a hard time about it, so this time she went out of her way to schedule a session with Vanya from Three Friends Stand Up paddle boarding. We set up the session through email and met her at the Hawaii Kai landing. We had detailed instructions, including what to wear, which was nice. She let us borrow some straps for our sunglasses so we wouldn’t lose them if we fell in the water, which was cool. (Which ended up being helpful because one of us, NOT ME, fell in!)
We met her by the water and Vanya spent some time helping familiarize us with the boards before starting. She showed us how to hold the paddles and how to stand on the board, as well as gave us some tips about how to paddle, change hands, etc. Then, we entered the water in a little channel near the marina where we practiced for a bit. It was nice to get our feet wet here, so to speak, before galavanting around too much. Once we were comfortable, then we set off into the marina, where we SUPed around where the water was relatively calm. It was super relaxing just to coast around here. Plus, we got to go underneath two bridges through some relatively narrow passages, which was spooky fun! Vanya showed us around the area and hatted us while we paddled around, and she’s super friendly which was great.
After this practice, we spent some time in the more open water of the adjacent bay. It was significantly more choppy and windy here, which made it a little harder, but she gave us some tips as we went. It was nice that we had some practice before we went here. Once our time was getting closer to it’s end, we coasted back to the landing spot. We took the boards out and Vanya had some water, cookies, and fruit snacks for us while we changed our shoes, which was super nice.
One of the other fun things was that Vanya took a lot of pictures for us. In addition to having a camera and taking pictures of us, she also had GoPro cameras mounted to the front of our boards which would take a picture every 30 seconds. Once we got home, she put them in a dropbox for us to download. We got some good shots and it makes a pretty cool time elapsed movie.
On more than one occasion, various rental places have tried to rent me SUP gear and told me that you didn’t really need a lesson. Well, that’s probably true, but it was really nice to have someone show us the basics and guide us around the area. It was a little more expensive, but in the end I think we did much better than we would have on our own.
Overall, we had a great experience at Three Friends SUP. Vanya was a great teacher and guide, and the little bonuses like the pictures and cookies added to the fun. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone visiting the area, regardless of prior experience. It was one of the highlights of our trip, and if we have the chance we’ll be back!

Just got back from Oahu and had a great time paddling with Vanya. She is a true professional, knowledgeable and friendly.
This was our second time out with her.
We had gone out with her in 2013 and had such a great time, once we knew we where going to Oahu, I contracted her right away to make sure she was available to take us out again.
Would highly recommend her to all levels of SUPers.

My boyfriend and I recently visited Oahu and since it was going to be his first time there, I wanted to make sure we had all these cool activities planned… I came across Vanya through Trip Advisor and I was so happy I booked with her!
We went out to Kahana Bay and paddled for about 3 hours. It was so beautiful. I’ve been to the island many times but never really hung out in Kahana Bay so it was a cool experience for me as well as my boyfriend.
Vanya is such a sweetheart and was so patient with me (I’m a slow paddler) and she even took pictures of us to make our experience more memorable.
If you’re coming to Oahu, I would definitely recommend paddling with her. She has different routes for your skill level so just ask! I’m sure every route is beautiful though!
Thanks again V, we will see you soon!

Vanya was great. She took 4 of us out on the water — 2 were visiting from the mainland. I had only SUP once before. She gave us the option of one or two routes to take and we took the more challenging one. This meant leaving our cars at one beach park so they’d be there for us when we finished. Vanya met us at our end point and drove us to the starting point.
She gave us a thorough lesson before getting into the water. She provides the boards and paddles, and brought a GoPro camera which we mounted on my brother’s board. It took photos of him every 30 seconds. After almost 2 hours, we finished and noshed on homemade cookies that Vanya made.
Vanya is a great person and very friendly. Check her out!

I’m a fairly competent paddleboarder (I do it all the time in the Hudson River, and have my own board and paddle), and was ecstatic to finally get the chance to do it in Hawaii. After contacting a few places and reading reviews online I decided to go with Three Friends. I went out twice — Vanya (owner and guide) took me on the Kahana Bay/​River and the Maunalua Bay to Kawaikui Beach Park run (starting in the Hawaii Kai Marina). Couldn’t have had a better time! If you get the chance to SUP, definitely go with Three Friends! (I just got back today, and have already given this info to two separate people that I know are going out there!).

Contacted Vanya through her website and booked the river/​bay trip near Kahana Bay. Did the trip with three other friends. Vanya and her friends, Ron and Ray, did a great job with the gear intro, basic instruction and tips, and then a demonstration. We jumped into the water and were on our way. The trip was great, seeing a part of Oahu we weren’t able to see otherwise.
Instruction was spot-​on, plenty of encouragement and tips as we went along, and the equipment was top notch and in great condition. When I come back, I will definitely come back to Three Friends SUP!