Pearl Harbor - North Shore ????

[Fishingshoes]

Hi, looking to either rent a car or take a tour w/Carnival and do all the Oahu tours such as Pearl Harbor and North Shore. How easy is it to get around to all the things the tour would go to on my own with a rental car or would you just do a tour with Carnival.

 

What would you do???

 

Thanks for the input!

[bankofdad]

I can't comment on Pearl Harbor, but get a car rental for the North Shore. If you're not from there, Honolulu can be a bit confusing at first. Just make sure you have a good Honolulu street map, and an island map. Remember, you're still in the USA,

 

I always love to do the island "circle" (although you can't really drive around the whole island) when I'm there. If you have the time, head south around Diamond Head first (along the coast), go past Hanauma Bay (be sure to stop there), and follow the coast until you get in the Kailua/Kaneoe Bay area. Kailua Beach is really a nice place to stop, too. Once your past Kaneohe, drive along the coast (mostly) all the way up to the North Shore. Fantastic shoreline views, great beaches.

 

Sunset Beach is a must stop, and if the surfs up, see what's happening at the Banzi Pipeline. We stayed up there for a week in November 2002, and there were 20-25 foot waves rolling in. Waimea Bay and Waimea Falls are good places to stop, too (Waimea Falls if you're into botanical things). The Polynesean Cultural Center is also about 15 minutes (if I remember correctly) before Sunset Beach

 

Up toward Haleiwa, you can catch the main highway back across the island to Honolulu. You'll travel through the pineapple fields and past the Dole visitor's center.

 

Rent a convertable! The view's much better. You'll enjoy this trip a lot more on your own than you would in a tour bus. Have fun!

[spleen93]

Great advice!

 

Spleen

[bankofdad]

Thanks Spleen!

 

I also forgot to add to stop at Sunset Pizza. Great place to stop for bite to eat. Right across the street from Sunset Beach (indoor/outdoor seating if I recall correctly). Great gormet pizza offering unlike anything I've ever tasted in the Midwest, and I grew up in the Chicago area around some great pizza places...

[spleen93]

Pizza Bob's in Haleiwa also has a good reputation ...

 

Spleen

[tinkerme1]

Hey, don't forget the "Shrimp Truck"! We searched and searched and finally found it. What a treat! And so much garlic you thought you were in Italy! LOL!

[Splinter]

When I go over to the north shore, I MUST stop for a burger here:

 

Kua Aina Sandwich

66-160 Kamehameha Hwy

Haleiwa, HI 96712-1421

 

Few tables, long lines but worth it. Get your meal to go, drive back north a few blocks and sit on the beach to eat. YUM!

[bankofdad]

Hi tinkerme1,

 

Were's the Shrimp Truck at? My wife loves shrimp, this sounds like something right up her alley. Thanks for sharing!

[spleen93]

Oh yeah, Celia, forgot the shrimp truck. :D

 

2 shrimp trucks - both in Kahuku. Both are good with great garlicky shrimp. You'll be burping garlic all day ... :)

 

http://starbulletin.com/1999/07/15/features/eater.html

 

Spleen

[jkloni]

We ate 3 times at the shrimp trucks! Twice at the one on the side of the road as you go up to the North shore and once at the one kind of in town under the big trees. The shrimp and extras were wonderful at both trucks!

 

We were staying on Waikiki at the Outrigger and would drive to the North shore to eat! We liked it so much that we bought 6 bottles of the sauce to cook the shrimp at home. Ours didn't taste exactly the same, but it was close.

 

And the burger place, Kua Aina Sandwich gets another big vote from us. I had the Avocado burger and it was huge and delicious.

 

And you have to get a 'sno-ice' I think it's called when on the North Shore in Haleiwa. We call them snoballs here in New Orleans. The line is out the door and they are so good!

 

Not all food in Hawaii is expensive -like we were told by friends before we went.

 

On the way to Hanama Bay we stopped at a strip mall and walked into a place for lunch. We got plate lunches and both ate for $8.

 

There are days I wish I could live in Hawaii.

[driftychick]

I love shrimp, however, I do not like to take them out of their shells! At the shrimp truck are the "naked" or with the shells on???

[jkloni]

The shrimp are still in the shells. The juices and garlic are clinging to the shells and because there is a slit in the top of the shell for deveining the shrimp, the sauce is on the inside too.

 

I guess being from South Louisiana I'm used to eating seafood out of their shells, so it didn't bother me at all.

 

The best way to eat one of those Giavianni Shrimp is to hold the shrimp by the tail, put the rest of it in your mouth, and suck the juices/garlic off of the shell then taking it out of your mouth and peeling it.

 

Some of the sauce is put on top of the scoop of sticky rice that comes with the plate.

 

We loved it. I don't think they could peel them ahead of time for you because they are marinated in the Giavianni garlic sauce for at least 24 hours before cooking them in a saute pan in the truck.

 

Maybe you could get 1 plate and you and someone else could share. Maybe the other person would be nice enough to peel yours for you!

[spleen93]

No, no, no ... it's not "sno-ice" - we call it shave ice here (the name is important). :D Matsumoto's in Haleiwa gets all the press but honestly, I think Waiola Shave Ice in Kapahulu/McCully is better ... and another advantage is that you don't have to go all the way to North Shore to have it!

 

Spleen

[jkloni]

Thanks for the correction, Spleen. I knew it didn't sound completely right when I was writing it, but then figured that because it was 2 yrs ago, my memory failed.

 

We did get another shave ice on the way to Hanama Bay. I thought the ice was a little too fluffy there. But either way, they are good!