Florida Part 1: KONA – The Disney World of Skateboarding

“Loving you is easy cause you’re beautiful..  do do do dooo..”  – I Love Kona!  There.  I said it.  No, wait, I LOOOOOOVE KONA!!!! Still doesn’t do it justice.  Be the hero – Drop your kids off and go to the beach.  If they love skateboarding, you will make their lifetime.

Affortable Family Owned Park: Skate all day.

Kid-friendly family appeal: Kona is the world’s oldest operating skate park, built in 1977.  It’s Family owned and everybody there treats you like family and has hosted just about every major pro in its time.    Pros like: Mike Peterson, Buck Smith, Neal Mims and Cairo Foster call the area of Jacksonville, FL. home.  HI TROY!!!!!  Say hi to Troy when you get there, he’s a super cool, stand up guy.  Thanks Man!

Concrete Tranny Heaven:  There are ACRES of TRANSITION  Super huge mellow bowls and two sick snake runs.  There’s so much there that any skater can learn on.

Kona has everything and it’s twice as big and hardcore as you could ever imagine. They’ve got old school that’s actually old, including a wicked downhill snake run, a weird 70′s "freestyle" area, a big porcelain pool and a vert ramp from 1989 built entirely of concrete. They’ve got wood too. Finally, a jumbo metal street course w/ ample kickers and big country trannie for everyone.

Night Skating: Late sessions are popular to beat the heat and extensive lighting means the trannie freaks come out at night”

Features: Concrete/Wood/Metal

HUGE Vert ramp and Street Course, Concrete speed runs, two snake runs, J-run, 30′ deep bowl with 6′ tombstone extension, freestyle area. 15,000 sq/ft, x-game style course with metal surface, 10’deep kidney pool, Ramps * Vert 46′ wide – 11 1/2 tall * Mini spine/ 32′ wide with extension. There’s big porcelain pool and a vert ramp from 1989 built entirely of concrete  There’s a big +6 ft wood mini-to-mini spine w/ extensions and another wooden vert ramp.  I doubt I came even close to covering all of it – I was there for about 24 hours of my life and I couldn’t skate everything.

Family Vacation - If you are taking a trip to Florida with your family and have a few little skate rats in the back seat, then KONA KONA KONA!

Skatetastic Voyage –  If you ever just happen to want to take a skate trip, go to Florida and make sure you hit KONA at least twice.  You’ll need to separate your visits though; two days in a row could kill you.  So it look more like: KONA…….. KONA.

Longboarding SkatePark? – KONA – The first time I ever saw a longboarder in a skatepark was at KONA.  They have the perfect terrain to learn how to carve frontside/backside and burt slides.  Really worth your time.

Other Stuff: Blades and Bikes on Thursday nights.

Don’t have equipment with you?  Covered.  Rental Rates Helmet: $2.00, Elbow Pads: $1.00, Knee Pads: $1.00, Wrist Guards: $1.00, Skateboards: $5.00, Inline Skates: $10.00

Helmet Policy:  Kona requires of a helmet (with chin strap) at all times. Use of elbow pads, knee pads and wrist guards are recommended but not required for skaters over 16 or whose parents have signed an advance status waiver. All these are available for rental.

Monday – Friday : 1pm – 10pm |  Saturday : 10am – 10pm  |  Sunday : 12pm – 9pm

KONA SKATEPARK . 8739 KONA AVE . JACKSONVILLE FL 32211 . (904)725-8770 . 1-800-SK8-KONA

Some people will tell you to check out the VANS Park.  Sure.. It’s big and cool, but a rip off too and it still is no freaking KONA, not even close.  Nothing is KONA in my book.  KONA is super affordable and you can skate ALL DAY.  If you bring in a report card with good grades, dude you can skate for free.  Parents Skate Free!