Where in Hawaii is Shipwreck Beach? - CBS renews THE AMAZING RACE for 12th Season

The commercial networks announced their fall 2007 schedules this week. THE AMAZING RACE was not included on the CBS sched. But fans of the reality competition show rest assured. CBS announced the show will return mid-season for a 12th season. The show challenges teams of racers to travel around the world completing tasks into each country before venturing on to the next and eventually the finish line.

For any budding traveler or armchair traveler, the series is a great primer in dealing with the challenges of traveling and experiencing the world outside your own. This includes the pleasure of seeing the teams jockey to find the quickest flight out of each airport and overcoming the language barrier in attempts to complete each task in the race.

In season 11, an all-star version of past competitors, racers began in Miami, Florida and traveled to the following countries:

ECUADOR
CHILE
ARGENTINA
MOZAMBIQUE
ZANZIBAR, TANZANIA
POLAND
MALAYSIA
HONG KONG
MACAU
GUAM
USA (HAWAII & SAN FRANCISCO)

The show reveals parts of the world many of us have never experienced including places that are close to home. For example, The Hopeful Traveler never knew about Shipwreck Beach, located in the state where he lives, until this latest season of the show. In Hawaii the remaining contestants had to fly to the island of Lanai (from Guam to Tokyo to Honolulu). Catching a taxi to Kamaka Air Hangar, each pair of contestants flew via helicopter to Lanai and drove to Kaumalapau Harbor. Teams needed to take a boat to an underwater cave and swim under the rocks where their next clue would be waiting. Alternatively, the teams could stand and paddle themselves on a paddleboard to a buoy to retreive the same next clue.

After securing the clue, teams learned they had to drive to Shipwreck Beach (above pictures) where the rusting World War II Liberty Ship clings to a reef near the shore. Not suitable for swimming due to powerful currents and numerous reefs, the racers had to kayak to the ship to retreive a clue from another buoy. Within the same day, racers flew back to Honolulu onto their final destination, San Francisco.

Visits to Hawaii on previous seasons had contestants finding duplicate aloha print shirts at the Hilo Hattie factory, trekking all over Maui and a visit to Volcanoes National Park.

The show which awards a million dollars to the winning team has won the Emmy Award for best reality competiton series four years in a row beating AMERICAN IDOL, SURVIVOR, THE APPRENTICE and PROJECT RUNWAY.

Seasons 1 and 7 are available on DVD from Paramount Home Video. More info about the completed 12th season available at www.cbs.com.