Rainbow Watersports

A great experience learn stand up paddle board! Calm river filled with beautiful sights. Waves at the end to challenge you and test what you have learned. (and at the beginning but you are on your knees!)
Our guide was Christiana. She was very patient, knowledgeable and a good blend of professional and friendly. She met me at my skill level and seem to do the same for the whole group. Afterwards, I wished it lasted longer. the next day my body let me know it didn’t need to be! The most FUN exercise and adventure I have had in a while!
I look forward to my next booking!

My family had an awesome time learning to paddle board with Rainbow Watersports. We saw other people who didn’t get lessons and they were having a the instructorthe instructor was cool, friendly, and very hopeful. My young daughters even got to stand up and do it on their own. Class act!

Rainbow Watersports was really easy to work with and really fun! I did SUP for the first time ever with Kerry. She was really sweet and a really great teacher! I had a lot of fun paddling down the river going under the bridge, chatting, and spotting Honu (sea turtles). It was one of my most favorite things I did in Hawaii! And the best part– they take pictures of your while you’re out there on the water. This company is and instructors are awesome. This will definitely be a highlight of your trip!

We had an absolutely awesome time with Christiana! Her personality was sweet and friendly! We had a private lesson for three, all first timers. I’m not much of a swimmer, and frankly am terrified of going into the ocean, but SUP always intrigued me. We found Rainbow Watersports and saw that the instructors are all certified lifeguards, so we booked the lesson. Christiana gave me a life vest to wear and made all of us feel comfortable. Her enthusiasm was so contagious, my fear quickly dissipated. I had so much fun and am excited to go again. Mahalo nui loa!

On a recent stay in the North Shore, we ended up renting SUPs from here three times. We did the coastal tour with Jody, which was an amazing experience; and then rented boards two other times. Everyone we interacted with at Rainbow Watersports was amazing, the paddling tips that were offered were spot on for where we are as paddlers, too We look forward to heading back to the North Shore and paddling with them again!

Best time ever!!! Our instructor Heidi (fellow Chi-​town girl) was awesome!!! This was our first time and I took my 4 yr old on the board, Heidi was so great explaining everything, I did not fall once and got the hang of it in minutes, pretty surprising with the lil man on the board. We had the best time! Saw lots of turtles and one actually was swimming right under the board. Glad we had such a great instructor to make it such a great experience! Rainbow is the best!!! SUP is now my & my 4yr olds new fav hobby! Thanks Heidi & Rainbow

My husband and I are really grateful for the time we got to spend with Chris (sp?). He was warm, kind, and made us feel like we were going paddleboarding with a friend, not an instructor (though he was a great instructor!). Heidi showed up before we went out for the evening, and she was also personable and effervescent-​it really made all the difference in the world to have met such lovely people; we felt welcome and excited to try something new. We had originally decided to go boarding just to get out of the house and get our minds off stuff, but they made me change my mind from trying paddleboarding once to paddleboarding whenever I can!

My wife surprised me with a private lesson with Heidi at Rainbow Watersports for the two of us. It was the first time SUPing for both of us, and it was beyond amazing. Heidi made it easy to learn and we had a blast. We felt like old friends from the start, and by the end of the lesson we knew we had found a new hobby. It was some of the best money that we have spent in a very long time. We would recommend Rainbow Watersports to anyone looking to SUP in Hawaii.

If you want to paddle board on Oahu there is only one place to go and that’s Rainbow Water Sports on the North Shore. Heidi and Nate are extremely friendly and make the experience truly memorable.

We purchased a Unilocal deal and booked easily over the phone. We were there when hurricane Ana was threatening the islands, so we booked a morning outing instead of sunset. Just in case the weather deteriorated. We had a fantastic experience with Jodi. She met us right on time and went over safety and the basics with us.
I was a pro on the sand! Once in the water, that was a whole other story. My legs were wobbly but luckily I have pretty good balance. So I ONLY fell in 3x. And each of those times was my husband’s fault! Seriously, he can’t balance worth a crap. The first time he fell, I looked at him then I fell. The 2^nd time and 3^rd time, same thing. Two of those were in the ocean which was a bit wavy, so I’ll blame that as well. I guess I’ll blame anything but myself! ;) I realized that in order for me to stay on, I had to just look straight ahead and focus.
We had a great time and may decide to try again here at home. In calm waters of course!

Jodi was amazing. She knew I can’t swim and even though I wore a life jacket my knees were still wobbly. She kept me relaxed and was very attentive to my safety needs. At the same time kept it fun.

Very well organized, friendly guides. Should be an exemplar for other tour businesses.

We cannot say enough good things about Rainbow. From our first time trying SUP to being able to navigate about the cove in choppy waters, it was amazing every time. We actually took multiple private lessons with Sean. The price is comparable when you get to looking around and having a sunset private lesson with your honey and cool tour guide can’t be beat. He knew about the area, made food and local place suggestions, worked ecological and tourist facts into our lesson without being cheesy or in any way intrusive, taught us some of the local talk and helped us with Hawaiian pronunciation. A pack of sea turtles followed us from time to time. Heidi was great working with our initial booking. Amy was amazing for followups.
We will be back our next trip for more SUP fun in Haleiwa with Rainbow.

Jodi, our instructor was awesome. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Can’t wait to get on a paddle board again!

Awsome people who teach you all u need. I never fell off either and if u can touch your toes you can get up! I wish CA had calm waters like this.

We LOVED our SUP lessons from Jodi & Heidi. They are knowledgable & friendly. We had a blast and highly recommend them to all our friends and family that visit the island.

Great friendly and knowledgable staff. Reasonably priced. Rouin was a great instructor. Very thoughtful and patient for all levels of experience. The company staff brings out water bottles, and take pics for you and will even give you the memory card to take. We felt safe even though the wind was blowing hard and waves in Haliewa were large while attempting to get out further from the shore. Saw some beautiful turtles basking on the shore along the river.

I was so nervous while driving to Haleiwa for our lesson. I didn’t know what to expect and I’m not a strong swimmer. Even though, we confirmed life jackets were available to us, I couldn’t shake off my nerves.
Heidi was friendly and approachable! The lesson started on land, we drew our «surfboards» in the sand with paddles and went over the basics. Then we were off to the water, starting at the beach and paddling towards the river. The river was super calm, saw a lot of SUPers and even spotted some turtles. Heidi was telling us a little history of Haleiwa and facts about turtles.
The river was the best place to take beginners or even just to cruise. Heidi taught us trickier skills on the river when our group said we would like to continue SUP at home in CA. One of those trickier skills landed me in the water, but I needed it. After all, got to learn how to fall off the board, too ;) Water felt awesome!
I had so much fun! I couldn’t believe how I (almost) instantly fell in love with it. Going to Hawaii meant kayaking and snorkeling for the most part. Now I can happily say it’s all about SUP!!!
Mahalo nui loa, Heidi!

One word: AWESOME!
The owner Heidi and her staff (Rohan; like you’re row’n a boat, was an absolute delight of an instructor) are just spectacular in every way and super good at making sure all your needs met and questions answered.
This was the only planned activity of our 8 day visit this trip to Oahu and I am so happy we did. Not only do I have a new learned skill set but I have a new awesome hobby to take to any water I can get my hands on. Living in the dessert this might mean a lot of SUPing in the pool, but that’s ok: p

I found them through Unilocal and now I must tell my tale. They were the only 5 star SUP group I found.
So I love Paddle Boarding or SUP. I first tried it in Laguna Beach (Ocean) CA. and I knew that on vacation I had to try it in the North Shore of O’ahu.
I had a group of 4 and two of them aren’t confident swimmers and had never been in the ocean. However, with Wendy (Turtle) and Joan her assistant we were all confident and having tons of LAUGHS.
There was a parking lot across from Jameson by the Beach restaurant.
Two of my not confident swimmers were provided lifevests and were directly assisted by Joan, making sure they felt safe and were not alone. Even when one of them fell into the water and was kind of fearful, they helped and coached them out of the water.
We paddled out from Haleiwa Beach at 8 AM, but first started out with a land lesson.
Turtle is an excellent instructor. She taught us many tricks and gave us tips on purchasing a board. She never pushed us to do anything were weren’t comfortable with but motivated us to try new things. My boyfriend was particularly fond of her teaching method and felt comfortable trying to walk across the board and doing turns. He fell few times but got back up happy as a clam and ready to keep paddling.
For two hours we paddled from the ocean into the mouth of a river that flows directly under Rainbow Bridge (which we crossed under), here we did turns, speed paddling and sailing across (Pocahontas style) by sitting down.
Turtle provided us with water bottles and guava juice, she always made sure we were hydrated and always offered us a drink break even at the end of the session. She also took pictures for us and even gave us the SD card right out of the digital camera. Some of them are attached to this review, while others are from our waterproof camera.
Along the path we saw flying fish, many turtles (one even swam under my board) and peacocks. It was an amazing experience and I hope to see them sometime soon.
Mahalo Turtle, Joan and Heidi for a great SUP adventure!