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my frau and I spend 2 months each winter on the residential leeward shore and we go over to the north shore many days during our stay. the north shore is rather undeveloped and could be described as almost rural in nature. the Kamehameha highway can get quite congested at times and the locals can get annoyed at the tourists mucking up the place, but it's pretty mellow mostly. the eastern end has the only real hotel - Turtle Bay(nice restaurants) and a nice golf course as well(+++$). They are adding 3 more hotels on the property soon, and thus the traffic will get much worse in a few years. as you can imagine the real estate is very pricy and I do not get the impression of a party town. there are rentals around on the North shore, and right now Honolulu is cracking down on the unregistered rentals(off the internet, not paying the taxes, neighbors complaining, etc). at the western, opposite end of the north shore is Haleiwa and Waialua. Haleiwa is hopping with several great places to eat(avoid Jameson's at all costs-monster ripoff), and 2 shave ice places that are the best. Waialua is more residential and quiet. Not much going on there. like Nostatic says, it is totally unlike Honolulu, and at least an hour from the airport. Culturally, it reminds me of So. California in the 70's. they also film "lost" on the various beaches, so that adds to the fun. it is pretty low key overall, which suits us fine too.
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