The Most ICONIC Skatepark in the World! A Day at Kona Skatepark (Real Life Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4)
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 29 июл 2023
- Welcome to the real-life level of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4! Join me as I explore Kona Skatepark, the second oldest operating skatepark in the US, and one of the most iconic skateparks worldwide. Located in Jacksonville, Florida, Kona Skatepark is a skateboarding paradise that has stood the test of time since 1977.
The park's unique design and iconic status have solidified its place in history, earning it a spot in the Tony Hawk Pro Skater video game series. In this video, I'll show you how the real Kona measures up to its digital counterpart. From the first ever pro vert contest held at the park's original half-pipe to the freestyle area where Rodney Mullen, the godfather of modern street skateboarding, competed in his first competitions, Kona Skatepark is steeped in skateboard history.
But Kona isn't just for the pros - with features for all skill levels, it's a playground for every skateboarder. Whether you're mastering the micro-mini, airing on the epic vert ramp, or tackling the massive snake run, there's something for everyone at Kona.
I'll also be sharing my experience with my new Power Peralta Dragon formula wheels at Kona. Marketed as having the roll of a 101 but with a 93a durometer, these wheels brought smiles to my face as they took on the varied terrains of Kona.
Join me on this unforgettable pilgrimage to Kona Skatepark - where skateboarding history and video game nostalgia meet under the Florida sun.
Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more adventures.
Product Links (affiliate)
Powell Peralta Dragons Wheels: amzn.to/3KlBztN
Steve Saiz Deck: amzn.to/47dd9wA
#KonaSkatepark #TonyHawkProSkater #SkateboardingHistory #SkateparkReview #Skateboarding
Riding at the iconic Kona park is on my bucket list.
Totally worthy of a bucket list!!! 🪣 👊
I was so lucky to grow up around here and be able to ride to the park every weekend. I didn't realize until my teen years how iconic the park was to the history of skating. Great video!
That’s so awesome 🙌 I’m sure you have a ton of great memories skating there!
As youngsters we drove up from Jupiter Florida to pick up the old interspace ramp they had. We brought it back and set it up in town and spent time making great memories on it. Still have the original caballero 1980 sk8. I have rode that board all over the planet while in the Navy.
Sk8ter knows a sk8ter, thanks for the flashback.
How cool! I’m not familiar with the interspace ramp. Sounds interesting though. That’s amazing about your original Caballero board too. Thanks for watching and sharing your experiences 👍
I got my first two boards (skull & sword & a Tommy Guerrero dagger model) from the pro shop as a kid. Back then they gave out like 5 free day passes or something if you bought a complete. The staff varied between nice and holier than thou. Like most shops and parks I imagine. Anyways, the snake run amd the kiddie pool were about all my friends would try, amd I was just learning to stand on a board, so I sat there terrified. Thanks for the roll down memory lane.
Wow! Those are some great memories!!! 😎 Thanks for sharing. Yeah, I think you are right about most shops and parks having a mixture of encouraging and welcoming people on one extreme and selfish gatekeepers on the other. It’s cool that you got to skate there in the 80s. I was definitely stoked to finally get there myself. 👊
That first run you did down the Snake lead into the Pit. You just unlocked some of my favorite memories. I learned 360s out of the Sun Bowl mid 80s I believe. I felt it all as you drove up to the Entrance. Thank you for your vid
Very cool!!! Thanks for watching and commenting. It would have been cool to skate there in the mid 80s 🙌
I would go here all the time in the late 80s-90s. Good ol days
Awesome 🙌 Sounds like good days indeed 😎
Dang dude, hitting that snake run is no joke! Awesome video. Looks just like it did last time I was there.
I wonder what happened to the old “street section” and why they got rid of it?
Yeah, that snake run is pretty fast. But so fun!!!! I can only imagine the old street section fell into disrepair and wasn’t worth the maintenance efforts. The mini ramp over in that area seemed like it could use some love, but they built that new one up at the top of the hill that’s pretty sweet! I hope to make it back there this summer
so awesome! i remember when they went there on Props Road Fools
So cool!!! Yeah, Kona is definitely a bucket list destination
Another cool nostalgic video. Thanks!
Awesome. Glad you enjoyed it!! :)
i first rode it in 77 last 1999 great time
Wow! 🙌 That’s really cool. I think you might be overdue for another visit 🤣
the second visit i singed a wavier Martin was 12@@TheNostalgicNeighborhood
@@timothytice3074 Wow!!! 🤯
i’m there right now ! looks just like the video
Whoohoo! Hope you’re having a blast 👊
Me and my buddies used to shred here all the time in the early 90's. I remember yelling "bowl to free" "free to jay" "jay to snake" (I might have got the order wrong, but we'd call our lines out). I never got the courage to drop in on the big cement halfpipe, but they used to have one called "big blue" and I skated that. I grew up in St Augustine, and we'd make our parents drive us up there any chance we'd get. Great video! That's so cool that you're still ripping!! Cheers dude!!!
I LOVE this!!!! Great memories for you, I’m sure. Yeah, that big cement half pipe is intimidating and way out of my comfort zone 🤣 My parents moved to Ponte Vedra (Nocatee) a little while back, so I hope to get to Kona more often when we visit them. Other than the heat zapping my energy there in the height of summer, that place is still a paradise ❤️
Awesome video Matt😎🙌🏽
As always, thanks Brandon!
bucket list for sure, pro skater 4 was my favourite and i spent most of my time tearing kona up virtually
Right on! That game was so much fun!!!! 👊 Hope you make it there some day.
Very great video! Love the history and the old footage.
Thanks so much for the feedback 🙏🙏
Good job Matt 👏 👍
Thanks Stuart 👊👋
Not so bad for an "Old Man" !!! 😉😂 (I am kidding you)
Really appreciated the old school Skateboards collection at the end of the video. So cool 👍
Haha! I’ll turn 50 next year, so it’s not too much of a joke. I feel like an old man, it was so hot and humid that I was really struggling after about 45 minutes. My parents moved to the area, so I’ll definitely be going back when we visit this winter. I think that’s when I really have fun there! 😎 As always, thanks for watching and commenting 👊👊👊
skated here as a teen. Such a great park. Looks like it could use some TLC though.
Yeah, a little TLC could go a long way. But still fun as-is. Hopefully they are still profitable enough to make it happen. 👍
Looks super fun there. Built around time as Livingston in the UK, only skated there once as its in Scotland. Agreed on the dragons, ace wheels for the rougher parks.
Yes, super fun indeed. I can’t wait to go back when it’s not so hot and humid out so I don’t tire out as quickly!!! I wasn’t familiar with the Livingston park in Scotland, it looks cool too ❤️.
sick vid!
Thanks so much!!! 🙏
I used to come here with big brothers, I miss it sm.
Gotta love big brothers who take you to cool spots!
i would love to skate there. i would go right to the vert ramp lol
Awesome! That vert ramp is no joke!!! 🙌 😬
@@TheNostalgicNeighborhood its easier to skate than the vert in bowls at diy parks
Your audio is so clear at 0:05 and at other points. Did you use an external microphone, or was it just your camera mic?
Also, a fun fact, according to what park owner Martin Ramos told me last summer: The park got its name from the street it's on (Kona Ave.) rather than the other way around.
Hi Jonathan 👋🏼 Good catch on the audio, it’s just from my phone. I should have used my wireless mic, but I decided not to because it was so hot, sweaty, and miserable, I just didn’t feel like dealing with it. Big mistake. The cicadas were so loud, that the audio was almost unusable. I found a noise reduction web app from Adobe meant for cleaning up podcast audio, it used AI to remove the insect sounds in the sections you referred to. Amazing software. Some of it sounded OK and other areas (like talking about the first vert ramp) made my voice sound sort of robotic. Luckily adding some music in the background sort of leveled things out and the end result was pretty good considering how loud the bugs were in the original audio. What a pain. 🤦
Thanks for the fun fact too! How cool!
So my parents moved about 30 minutes south of Kona, hopefully I’ll have the chance to go back when we visit them this winter. That place was so fun, and I can’t wait to try again with fresh legs and less heat. I was pretty reserved in my skating this time, next time I think I’ll be able to challenge myself a bit and go higher/faster on stuff 👍
This is amazing. I had no idea it was a real place! How long have you been skating? I'm 33 and always consider picking it up.
Thanks so much for the feedback. I skated when I was a teenager, and then off and on through the years. I haven't skated as much in the last 10 years or so, but I started getting back into it again this spring. 33 is still a great age to pick it up. A fun way to get exercise and meet other likeminded folks at the skateparks :)
I broke my fucking blades in the seafoam bowl after the snake. Hopefully getting a new pair soon. Can't believe the gazebo in the middle is gone.
Always sucks to break gear. Hopefully the new pair treat you well.
Rad. First trip there was my 14th birthday in 1987. Such a cool park...Looks like you were having a lot of fun.
How cool!!! What an awesome birthday memory. We moved to Virginia in 1987 (I was 13) and I got to skate Mt. Trashmore a few times while you got to visit Kona. Super cool that Kona is still there though. Mt Trashmore is totally a different place now. Thanks for watching 👊
@@TheNostalgicNeighborhood 87 was a rad year for sure. Never visited Trashmore but remember it well from the videos and magazines.
@@plasticpimps Yes, for me 1987 is totally one of the most nostalgic years. Some of my favorite skateboard and BMX designs are from that year, as well as some of my favorite music 👊
@@TheNostalgicNeighborhood Same.
Do you live near there? I grew up riding bikes and skateboards at Stone Edge Skatepark in Daytona. That was back when they had 3 bowls, a nice street section and a huge vert ramp that I once knocked myself out on. LOVED that park! Always wanted to take a trip up to Kona, but never made it. Now at 51, maybe I can swing over there!
Nice, I’ve always heard about Stone Edge but never had the chance to visit it. I live in Missouri, but my parents moved to the Jacksonville area a little while back. So, hopefully I’ll be able to start visiting Kona once or twice a year during our visits. 😎 Kona was super fun, definitely worth a trip when you have time!
Nice vid.
😊
Thanks so much 🙏🙏🙏
👍👍👍🔥🔥🔥
🙏🙏👊
Dude this was an epic video. I think youre from my area (st.louis) i really wanna take my son here. Did you drive down there? If so hows the trip and better yet hows the neighborhood this park is in? Sketchy at all or?
Thanks so much for the feedback. Yes, I live in the STL area. Also, yes we drove down… it’s a nice/easy drive, except for traffic passing through Atlanta is always crazy. My parents moved to the Jacksonville area (about 30 minutes south of Kona) a little while back. Their area is newer and super nice. The area around Kona isn’t as new/nice, but it doesn’t feel sketchy at all. Everyone at the park itself was super friendly. We stopped for lunch a couple miles from the park, and also super friendly people. My kids are mostly grown now, but Jacksonville as a whole is fairly family friendly. They are building up a community of family friendly skaters too. Check out @instaparksk8school on Instagram, the guy who runs it is the guy who offered to film me down the snake run. Good people 👊
Lucky
Yes indeed. Very lucky :)
Place is ruined now. Love the bowl and very as a rollerblader. In the early 00s the street course was the best thing ever.
I’m not much a street skater these days, but yeah the old street area ain’t what it used to be. But the snake run, j bowl, mini ramps, etc…. are still awesome 👏🏻
How is the concrete? Looks rough lol
Some of its a little rough compared to modern concrete parks, but overall it’s not bad. 👍