Here is my 12 year old info for Oahu.
The coast is divided up into ORMA's (Ocean Recreation Management Areas), with each designated for a specific activity, be it bodyboarding, surfing, swimming, skiing, jetskiing, or undesignated.
There were only 4 ORMA's for jetskiing, none of which were in surf zones,
and all of which you had to transit to/from at either no wake, 5 knots, or 10 knots, depending on the channel/etc you are in.
One was east of Diamond Head at Hawaii Kai, one was south of the airport runways, and I can't remember where the other 2 were.
Now, that's to be legal. However, to get to the one at Hawaii Kai, you had to do 5 knots or less from the ramp to the main channel, then 10 knots or less out the main channel, turn at the sea buoy, and proceed to the UNMARKED riding area at 10 knots or less still, then ride, and return the same the way you went. All of this is in the channel/ocean where 'regular boats' are flying by you at whatever speed they feel, throwing HUGE wakes plus with waves coming in.
Obviously they don't enforce all the time, so we rode surf a lot at Hawaii Kai, and setup buoys inside the reef where it was ~3' deep. If water patrol felt like it, they would ticket you, and one day they ticketed every single rider on the beach at Hawaii Kai, including me.
I also got a ticket on the North Shore just for riding parallel to shore about 1/4 mile out, with nobody around.
Unreal. I went to court for both since you had to, one judge tossed it out completely because she didn't understand why I got a ticket, and the second was dropped from $200 to $50.
Anyway, that's my story. It was frustrating, and we ended up riding at Hickam AFB most of the time since it was military only, decent break, and never hassled by anyone other than the sharks.
