O'AHU North Shore Day Trip, Top 5 Sights

[RSWBADGER]

We are renting a car Friday, March 16 from the Marriott Waikiki and driving to O'ahu's North Shore (Circle Tour), it's impossible to see everything in one day, what are some of the "must see" sights.

 

The only thing for certain is we want to see the "Banzai Pipeline". Any suggestions for lunch and dinner? Which route to take? We prefer scenic.

[Suebee]

Stop at Turtle Beach which if you pass pipeline on the way to Haleiwa, its past waimea bay on the right...you will see lots of cars on the left parked. The turtles usually come during the late afternoon (4 or 5 til sunset).

 

For a treat, get shave ice at Matsumoto's but if its crowded, Aoki's next door is just fine without the line. Make SURE you get ice cream on the bottom.

 

I always enjoyed Haleiwa Joes outside deck at sunset for dinner. I like their fish (even specials) and they have FANTASTIC fish and chips for kids using Ahi Tuna instead of whitefish.

 

Many people boast Kau Aina burgers but we werent impressed. Yes their big, yes the fries are really good but I guess the hype ruined the place for us. Many people also talk about Jamisons in Haleiwa for dinner but it is pricier than Haleiwa Joes. For Mexican, Cholos is in the North Shore Plaza. Stop by the coffee shop (I forget the name) for your Kona.

 

I am backing up a bit, but before pipeline there is a quaint little store off to the right that sells local products, soaps, mac nut items, kukui products and the like. Touristy but good quality products.

 

Also, after pipeline, there are the shrimp trucks....if you see cars, its a good one. For $10-12 you can get a huge plate of garlic shrimp....finger lickin good. There's your lunch. If you see Giovannis, thats the most popular by way of press...but we've been happy with any that has a line.

 

We love sitting an watching the body surfers at Waimea Bay but mostly because we love the audobon park behind it. You can spend 1/2 a day there though so only stop if you like gardens, nature, and/or swimming in a waterfall.

 

Enjoy

[RSWBADGER]

Stop at Turtle Beach which if you pass pipeline on the way to Haleiwa, its past waimea bay on the right...you will see lots of cars on the left parked. The turtles usually come during the late afternoon (4 or 5 til sunset).

 

For a treat, get shave ice at Matsumoto's but if its crowded, Aoki's next door is just fine without the line. Make SURE you get ice cream on the bottom.

 

I always enjoyed Haleiwa Joes outside deck at sunset for dinner. I like their fish (even specials) and they have FANTASTIC fish and chips for kids using Ahi Tuna instead of whitefish.

 

Many people boast Kau Aina burgers but we werent impressed. Yes their big, yes the fries are really good but I guess the hype ruined the place for us. Many people also talk about Jamisons in Haleiwa for dinner but it is pricier than Haleiwa Joes. For Mexican, Cholos is in the North Shore Plaza. Stop by the coffee shop (I forget the name) for your Kona.

 

I am backing up a bit, but before pipeline there is a quaint little store off to the right that sells local products, soaps, mac nut items, kukui products and the like. Touristy but good quality products.

 

Also, after pipeline, there are the shrimp trucks....if you see cars, its a good one. For $10-12 you can get a huge plate of garlic shrimp....finger lickin good. There's your lunch. If you see Giovannis, thats the most popular by way of press...but we've been happy with any that has a line.

 

We love sitting an watching the body surfers at Waimea Bay but mostly because we love the audobon park behind it. You can spend 1/2 a day there though so only stop if you like gardens, nature, and/or swimming in a waterfall.

 

Enjoy

 

Thanks for all the great suggestions, we are going to enjoy some "beach time" relaxing up there also. Mahalo.:)

[JohnL1935]

Also stop at Dole's Plantation and enjoy their pineapple ice cream. I'm drooling on myself just thinking of it....

 

John L.

[CruisinMK]

I love waimea falls park area, with the lush plants and so many birds. You can see peacocks, swans, all kinds of birds. Thank God the Audobon society got the land instead of a private owner. Waimea bay is right there too.

I often try to pull into turtle bay, enjoy the peninsula view and watch the surfers.

I agree about the shrimp trucks, yummy and different.

Gotta stop in to Haleiwa to eat, many nice places there.

I like jamesons because it's comfortable, nice view, good desserts. OK the real reason I eat there is because of the crab louie.

I really like the Haleiwa mexican places, but when I take visitors around there they roll their eyes at the idea.

It's cliche but don't miss the shave ice anyway.

If you go in summer, sharks cove has some great snorkeling (and scuba). I'm really good at holding my breath so I dive down and freak out the scuba divers by waving at them nonchalantly without a tank. :)

[beachchick]

I guess DH and I are in the minority about the shrimp trucks. We made it a priority this past trip and stopped at Giovanni's on our way around the east side. I know it's a local favorite, but we didn't care for it. Now, maybe we're really spoiled or something, but there was so much garlic-butter sauce that the shrimp were really lost in there. The toasted garlic was tasty, but all of it was just too much. I'm not a fan of feeling "icky" after I eat a meal. (Of course, this is JMO and YMMV.)

 

Shave ice is a definite yum. A pineapple whip at the Dole Plantation is always a good idea. There are several good places to eat in the north shore area as well. Suebee has good suggestions, as always.

 

Stopping to relax on a beach (or two) is good. If the surf is up, there are several great north shore beaches where you can hang out and watch the surfers and other brave folks. For swimming, we love Kailua, but it's not a north shore beach. However, there were turtles swimming with the humans last December. That was cool. (Naturally, we respected them and stayed out of the way.)

 

When you drive along the east shore, look mauka (toward the mountains) because there are some fantastic and beautiful cliffs and waterfalls along the way (a bit like the Na Pali coast actually).

 

beachchick

[RSWBADGER]

Mahalo for all of the suggestions and experiences, leaving Thursday AM for the Islands, cruising Sunday to Sunday. I will let you know on the experiences.

[lambs2]

If you are doing a circle tour of Oahu don't miss the La'ie Point Sea Arch formed by a tsunami in one hour in 1946! So glad I took the time to go see it!

Also loved Waimea Audubon Park. Swam under a waterfall there and it was great as well as all the plants and birds we saw at this beautiful park.

 

I also highly recommend Matsumoto's for a shave ice with the sweet beans in the bottom of the cup! Delicious!! Don't forget to watch the surfers at the Bonzai Pipeline and other great beaches on the North shore.

[bug_dan]

I was looking to see if they still operate trams at Waimea Falls and came across this article: http://starbulletin.com/2007/01/27/news/story13.html

[Suebee]

I was looking to see if they still operate trams at Waimea Falls and came across this article: http://starbulletin.com/2007/01/27/news/story13.html

 

I am shocked! Although we did hear about how difficult the renovations were going and we were always asked to volunteer to help remove some of the non-indiginous weeds and things....seemed like there were a lot of volunteers rummaging about when we were there. Sad. It was shaping up to be a great park.

[CruisinMK]

Audubon is the very best of environmental orgs, their leaving is tragic.. give OHA a little power and they go nuts with it, they screwed it up. I laughed when the article said one option was to let OHA run the park, yeah right. Sad.

[bug_dan]

I never did find out if they still run trams? We had been there back in 2000 and as I remember it, there was a good bit of walking to get back to the Falls. Not sure we're up to that amount of walking anymore so was curious if they still run trams.

[CruisinMK]

Definitely no tram

[Suebee]

No tram for sure. There was a golf cart like car for the 'rangers' and they would pick up someone who desperately needed it (like my aging Father in Law) but nothing regular.

[judyf]

Some great info here for those looking for NS activities.

 

Any updates on the Audubon ?