I went to the North Shore on Saturday, ostensibly to spend a quiet night in the country with the family unit. It was anything but. The trip started out well enough, with a leisurely lunch at Haleiwa Joes, where the food was lackluster but good enough (salmon with pesto was good except for the excess butter they slapped on top of the piece of fish before broiling it, a trick most joints stopped doing five years ago). The poke was small but fresh. The view of the harbor and the water was exceptional. Nuff said. Then we drove to where we were going to stay, a place that shall remain nameless as I was reviewing it for a major national publication. We had a unit that was the closes to the Kamehameha Highway and the traffic noise was so intense that naps were impossible, even with the windows closed in the humid, midday heat. Tired and groggy, we headed up to Waimea Bay for a swim. Big mistake.

Even at 4:30 in the afternoon, the parking lot was jammed and a row of cars were circling. Even the parking lot at the church across the highway and up a steep set of stairs was jammed. So much for peaceful country lifestyle. There are a bunch of other beaches along the North Shore that were probably quite calm on this Saturday. I'll detail some of them in future posts. But the crowds were heavy at every beach visible from the Kam Highway. I hadn't remembered it being that bad when I lived there 10 years ago. The manager at the property we were checking out told us that if we had gone to Waimea in the middle of the week parking would have been no problem. Doh. But note to self and others. Avoid the North Shore of Oahu on weekends, if at all possible. Go during the week. It's a lot more country. One last note. There really aren't that many good beaches for kids up there, especially in the winter when the surf fires up. So for families seeking a swim and mellow beach, North Shore might not be the place. We'll also post later about how to beat the legendary traffic jams on the North Shore during high surf events.

Waimea Bay Images / Map, Haleiwa Trip Advisor (Thin), Wikipedia (also thin)

—Alex, 09/24/06