A riding tour to the North Shore of O’ahu, from Kane’ohe to Hale’iwa. **PHOTO HEAVY**

[Hard-Deck]

I ride a 2017 Yamaha TW200 on Oahu. Here I am kitted out for camping at Bellows Air Force Station MWR Beach

The North Shore of Oahu is world-class and world-famous for winter surfing competitions. The tubes during the winter are enormous. Most visitors to Oahu will take the road from Honolulu through Wahiawa to the North Shore. That is, in-fact, the quickest route from Honolulu, and many people want to go that way to stop and see the Dole Plantation as well.

What people miss is the drive on Kamehameha Highway, along the Eastern shore of Oahu as depicted on the map below starting at the green marker in Kaneohe. I will take you on a tour from Kaneohe to Haleiwa on the N. Shore. This is a collage of trips as I ride up this road as much as I can. You may see date stamps on photos, but I did not take all of these photos on one ride. The Eastern shore drive along Kamehameha Hwy to the North Shore is beautiful! From Kaneohe (black circle at Windward Mall) to Halewa (red mark).



This photo was taken from my livingroom window. It looks over Kaneohe Bay. I’m taking you from here along the Kamehameha Hwy to the north shore of Oahu


The first place of interest is He'eia State park on He'eia Kea Harbor. It has one of Hawaii's largest fishponds. It also has a wooden canoe heritage program.


He’eia Fish Pond

[Hard-Deck]

Hmmmm photos loaded, but are not visible. I’ll keep trying....

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Snapper33

Hmmmm photos loaded, but are not visible. I’ll keep trying....

Please do.

[porsche4life]

Can’t wait to see the photos! We spent some time around Haleiwa while we were there and loved the area! Can’t wait to see what you found via bike!

[dad911]

rename .png to .jpg before you upload.

[tevake]

That is a great drive! The Pali behind K-Bay, chinamans hat, crouching Lion, Kahuku point rounding onto the beautiful N Shore with all of its well known surf spots. Waimea Bay, on past Haleiwa toward kaena point is Mokuleia with great sailplane rides available there.

Whew, some of the best parts of Oahu!

Looking forward to your pics.

Cheers Richard

[Hard-Deck]

Puakea Foundation of Hawaii, wooden boat culture.




The building is a nice museum of the fishponds of Hawaii. There is a Hula program as well.




These majestic trees are all over the island. This giant is right in the middle of the He'eia State park parking lot.


The He'eia Kea Pier is one of our favorite local places. It's a marina, fishing pier and a nice grill/store. This is one of the first places where we ate after having arrived to Kaneohe. The grill proprietor's name is Dave, he came to Kaneohe from Northern California and he has turned the little grill into a small-community icon of sorts.
Standing in the grill parking lot, you can see one finger of the marina and the launch ramp.


The He'eia Kea Pier grill. This is the first place that I experienced eating Loco Moco. They also have wonderful breakfast wraps. Lunch menu has fish dishes, hamburgers, and they always have their smoker going; producing wonderful Hawaiian pulled pork. Dave lets me park the TW right out front.


Loco Moco is a traditional Hawaiian plate lunch. It is made of rice, with a hamburger patty on top, then an egg or two, with brown gravy, and potato-mac on the side.


Dave always seems happy when I ride up on the TW.


More coming, thanks for riding along.

[cstreit]

I think I'd love to do this every week

[LakeCleElum]

Excellent photos and story Snappy..........

[Hard-Deck]

Thanks for the nice responses and encouragement everyone. I'm enjoying my time here, while I'm here.

This is a fun looking homebuilt catamaran. Basically a CAT frame and hulls with outdoor furniture on it. The canopy can be tarped. Probably a great fishing platform for Kaneohe Bay.


The marina and pier from roadside.


I'm always a fan of mooring fields. I've seen this one in the fog once and it was awesome! Unfortunately I did not have my camera that time. I'll keep watching for that opportunity again.


Same mooring field.

[Hard-Deck]

Hygienic Store. This is a local icon, used as a reference to give directions around this side of the island.



We are going to turn right (N) here. If you take a left turn, you will pass the Valley of Temples and Puu Ma’eli’eli trail.

Turning (N) on Kahekili Hwy, you first pass Mike's Huli Chicken, which is right across the street from the Hygienic Store. It is famous! They use Kiawe wood, and season with traditional Hawaiian sea salt. Besides huli chicken, you can get shrimp, ahi and Kalua Pig dishes. *Note* Mikes has moved as of 3/19 to Kuu’lau, near where the Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck is located.


Mike's huli-huli chicken open BBQ pit.


The Waiahole Poi Factory. Poi is a Polynesian staple made from the root of the taro plant. This restaurant processes poi, and also has a restaurant serving kalua pig, squid, beef and chicken dishes.

[tevake]

You are taking me back home Snapper, I had a slip in He'iea Kea for about a year when I was staying in Kaneohe Bay. I can see my slip in your pic.

You've got most of the local culinary hot spots there in your pics.

Looks like you live near Coconut Island, nice area.

Thanks for the memories. Keep them coming.

Cheers Richard

[Bill Douglas]

Ah, thanks for the photos. Brings back fond memories of when I was in my 20's and staying in a tent at Haleiwa Ali'i camping ground. A great time.

[tevake]

Yep good old times for me too Bill.

Here is a pic from that time, sailing my engineless 25' wooden sloop up to anchor at the sandbar in Kaneohe Bay. Early 80s.

[tevake]

Little Wings in K Bay Early 80s

[Hard-Deck]

A one-stop shop for all things macadamia nut related


Christmas season at the macadamia farm outlet


The windward side of the island is the "country" side. They are proud of their slower pace away from Honolulu, and they oppose any expansion. You will see more on this theme as we travel up the Kamehameha Highway towards N. Shore.


Kualoa Regional Park is the first "big" park and beach heading north. This one is well-known for having Mokoli'i Island, also known locally as "Chinaman's Hat" island, just offshore by about 1/4 mile.


People can swim, paddleboard, canoe to the island. There is a hiking trail to the top, and a "secret" beach on the far side of this little dollop of lava.


I have to remember that as I gravitate towards showing you the beaches, shoreline and islands, just behind me is the beautiful mountains of Oahu. Standing in the parking lot of Kualoa Park, if you turn around, this is the view, the Ko'olau Range.

[p911dad]

Can anyone name this North Shore beach, just west of the surfing competition?

[Geary]

[Hard-Deck]

My daughter is next to learn to ride. She's got the gear, now all she needs is the experience. She’s riding with me while on winter break from college.


Little trees like this are dotted along the shoreline.


Next is Kualoa Ranch. It is a 4,000 acre private nature reserve. Jurassic World, Godzilla, Skull Island and Jurassic Park were filmed here. This photo merely shows their Headquarters. The ranch is enormous!


On the Kualoa Ranch property is this sugar mill. It was working between 1863-65; and ultimately closed down after a several-year-long meager rain period.


A sad event happened while this sugar mill was in production. The owner's son fell into a vat of boiling sugarcane and died. It left the owner as a vagabond traveler after the mill shut down.

[Superman]

Wonderful, enchanting photos and story. Thanks for tenacity Snapper, in getting this story to us.