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A steep wave breaking close to shore with white water surging up the sand
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Oʻahu's North Shore

The other side of the island, written from this side

An hour from Waikīkī and a different place entirely: seven miles of reef that throws forty-foot faces in January and goes flat enough to snorkel in August, one two-lane road through the middle of it, and a town that stops serving dinner at eight. Here is how to read the season before you decide what kind of day you are having.

  • 7 milesof reef from Haleʻiwa to Sunset — the Seven Mile Miracle
  • Nov–Marbig-wave season, when lifeguards close the water
  • May–Sepwhen Shark's Cove becomes shore snorkelling
  • 10 feetthe distance to hold from a basking honu

Today

Conditions on the coast right now

Air, water and — the number that decides your day up here — the swell. A ten-foot north swell and a flat morning are the same air temperature and completely different coastlines. Lifeguard flags and closures override everything on this page.

Conditions on The North Shore

Overcast

84°

Overcast · feels like 86°

TodayHigh 84° · Low 76°

Rain is likely most of the day — a good day for the rainy-day list.

Humidity56%
Wind13 mph ENE
Rain2%

Sunrise 6:20 AMSunset 6:29 PM

Updated

Full forecast and tides

Best time to go outside today

Early afternoon, 1 PM – 7 PM

Rain is likely most of the day — a good day for the rainy-day list.

Outdoor comfort92 out of 100 · Excellent

Sweet spot around 6 PM at 79°F.

Keep an indoor option in reserve — the rest of the day is unsettled.

Updated

On the water

Water80°F
WavesRough — 4.3 ft
Swell period8.7s
  • BoatingPoor

    Seas around 4.3 ft with 15 mph of wind. Expect a rough ride and possible cancellations.

  • SwimmingFair

    Water at 80°F — bracing at first, fine once you are in. Surf around 4.3 ft.

  • SnorkelingPoor

    Seas around 4.3 ft will churn the water — visibility is likely poor today.

  • FishingFair

    Seas near 4.3 ft — stick to inshore creeks and sounds today.

Updated

Start here

The days people actually drive up here for

Turtles at Laniākea, the bay and the valley at Waimea, the reef at Pūpūkea in summer and the grandstand at Ehukai in winter, garlic shrimp at Kahuku, and the walk out to the albatross at Kaʻena. Five of these is a full day. Eight is a car journey.

  • A green sea turtle resting on wet sand at the edge of the water

    Things to do

    Turtle Watching on Oʻahu's North Shore

    Green sea turtles haul themselves out of the water and sleep on the sand in broad daylight on this coast. That is not normal turtle behaviour…

    9 places

  • A surfer riding along the face of a long wave peeling past a rocky point

    Things to do

    Surfing Oʻahu's North Shore

    Seven miles of coastline between Haleʻiwa and Sunset Point carry more named waves than most countries, and surfers have called the stretch the Seven…

    9 places

  • Reef fish over shallow coral seen from just below the surface in clear water

    Things to do

    Snorkelling on Oʻahu's North Shore

    The North Shore has the best shore snorkelling on Oʻahu and the shortest season for it. Both of those facts come from the same place. The reef shelf…

    9 places

  • Low wooden storefronts with corrugated roofs along a two-lane highway in a small Hawaiian surf town

    Things to do

    Haleʻiwa Town

    Haleʻiwa is the only place on this coast that behaves like a town, and everything about it is a second act. The name means house of the ʻiwa, the…

    7 places

  • A row of parked food trucks on a rural roadside with picnic tables and hand-painted menu boards

    Things to do

    North Shore Food Trucks

    The shrimp trucks are an agricultural story before they are a food story, and knowing that changes what you order. Kahuku was a sugar plantation…

    7 places

  • Performers in traditional Polynesian dress on a torch-lit outdoor stage at dusk

    Things to do

    The Polynesian Cultural Center at Lāʻie

    Start with the thing that goes wrong. The Polynesian Cultural Center is closed on Sundays and on Wednesdays. Not one day, two, and the Wednesday…

    7 places

  • A green sea turtle gliding above a shallow coral reef in clear water

    Who it suits

    Family Activities on the North Shore

    The North Shore with children is two completely different holidays, and the one you get depends on the month rather than on how you plan it. From…

    14 places

  • Green sea turtles resting on dry sand above the waterline behind a roped-off viewing distance

    Budget

    Free Things to Do on the North Shore

    Most destinations make you hunt for the free things. On the North Shore you have to hunt for the paid ones. There are four ticketed gates on this…

    16 places

  • A two-lane coastal highway curving between steep green ridges and a turquoise bay on a Hawaiian shoreline

    Things to do

    North Shore Day Trips

    There are two kinds of day trip on this coast and they want opposite things. One is the drive up from Waikīkī — an hour each way, a day to spend…

    10 places

This season

Which North Shore are you getting?

There are two of them and they share a coastline. Roughly November to March the North Pacific closes the water; roughly May to September the same beaches lie flat and clear. Nothing else about planning this coast matters as much as knowing which one you are arriving into.

  • FallSeptember – November
  • 84°F / 71°FAverage high / low
  • QuietVisitor numbers
  • Low season ratesWhat it costs

September and October are the quietest weeks on this coast and, for anybody not tied to a school calendar, probably the best. The ocean is at its warmest of the year, around eighty degrees. The summer flat spell usually holds into early October, so the reef at Pūpūkea is still swimmable. And the road empties out enough that Haleʻiwa takes ten minutes to drive through rather than forty. Rates across Oʻahu drop once the summer holidays end and stay down until Thanksgiving.

Then it turns, and it turns quickly. The first serious north swells normally show up in late October or November, and the character of the whole coast changes inside a week — snorkelling at Three Tables one day, lifeguards closing the beach the next. Watch the surf forecast, not the month. November also opens the Triple Crown waiting period and brings the traffic that goes with a contest call. Central Pacific hurricane season runs to the end of November; direct hits are rare, but a system passing to the south can shut the water down for days under a clear sky.

On in fall

  • Warmest ocean of the year, around eighty degrees
  • Lowest rates and the emptiest roads, through September and October
  • The first north swells, usually late October or November, and the coast changes in days
  • Triple Crown waiting period opens in November, with the traffic that follows a contest call
  • Central Pacific hurricane season runs to 30 November, so book refundable

Worth doing in fall

  • A surfer riding along the face of a long wave peeling past a rocky point

    Things to do

    Surfing Oʻahu's North Shore

    Seven miles of coastline between Haleʻiwa and Sunset Point carry more named waves than most countries, and surfers have called the stretch the Seven…

  • A row of parked food trucks on a rural roadside with picnic tables and hand-painted menu boards

    Things to do

    North Shore Food Trucks

    The shrimp trucks are an agricultural story before they are a food story, and knowing that changes what you order. Kahuku was a sugar plantation…

  • Rows of green crops on a flat coastal farm with steep ridged mountains rising behind

    Things to do

    Farm and Ranch Tours on the North Shore

    Every farm you can visit on this coast exists because sugar left. The Kahuku Plantation Company milled cane at the eastern end from the 1890s until…

  • A dirt track running along an exposed Hawaiian coastline with ironwood trees on one side and open ocean on the other

    Things to do

    Hiking on Oʻahu's North Shore

    The North Shore's hiking is not the Koʻolau's. There are no green cathedral valleys with a waterfall at the back of them here, no Mānoa Falls queue…

Book it

What is worth booking, and what you can just drive to

Most of the inventory sold under the words "North Shore" is a Waikīkī circle-island coach that gives this coast ninety minutes. We say which trips actually spend the day up here — the Haleʻiwa harbour boats, the Kaʻena and Kahuku small groups, the skydive at Mokulēʻia — and which are a bus with commentary.

Some links below go to Viator, our booking partner. We earn a commission on bookings made through them — at no extra cost to you, and with no influence on what we recommend.

Editor's Pick

Best North Shore-only day

Why we chose it

A small-group van that stays on this coast instead of lapping the island. The gain is concrete: time for Laniākea, the Pūpūkea reef, the contest breaks and a proper stop at Kahuku, and a driver who can reorder the day around the morning's swell. It costs more per hour than a coach loop and buys roughly four extra hours here.

Oahu: Full or Half Day Grand Circle Island Tour
Editor's PickFree cancellationInstant confirmation

Plantation Tours

Oahu: Full or Half Day Grand Circle Island Tour (opens in a new tab)

19.5K reviews

Choose from two exciting ways to experience Oahu's top attractions, scenic beauty, and local culture. Option 1: Dole Plantation & Haleiwa…

6–7 hours

Prices checked

from $100
Best Value

Best value way to see the whole island

Why we chose it

The circle-island coach, understood for what it is. One long day covering the Pali, the windward coast, Kualoa, Lāʻie and this coast for a fare at the lower end of an Oʻahu market whose median sits near $109. Expect roughly ninety minutes on the North Shore and a fixed route, and judge it on the ground it covers rather than the depth.

Two ways to do this

Joining a departure, or taking the boat yourself

Shared departures carry the most people for the least money. Small-group trips cap the numbers, which costs more per seat and buys you room on the boat and a guide who can answer you. Both are listed here so you can decide which you are buying.

  • Best value for a group

    WAIMEA BAY
    Best ValueFree cancellationInstant confirmation

    Low Supplier Cancellation Rate

    Oahu: Grand Tour Around Island with Snorkeling (opens in a new tab)

    11.1K reviews

    Come join on a circle island adventure led by some of Hawaii’s most knowledgeable local guides and experience breathtaking lookouts to…

    Full day

    Prices checked

    from $89
  • Small group — capped numbers

    Oahu: Kualoa Ranch UTV Raptor Tour
    Small GroupLikely to sell outSmall group

    Low Last Minute Supplier Cancellation Rate

    Oahu: Kualoa Ranch UTV Raptor Tour (opens in a new tab)

    1.7K reviews

    Traveling with family and friends? You can enjoy the fantastic Multi-passenger UTV Raptor experience with your entire family or as a group…

    2 hours

    Prices checked

    from $162.25

More of what is running now

  • Oahu Shark Dive on the North Shore
    Free cancellationInstant confirmation

    Excellent Quality

    Oahu Shark Dive on the North Shore (opens in a new tab)

    3.2K reviews

    Book the Oahu Shark Dive for a thrilling shark encounter off the North Shore. You’ll travel by boat from Haleiwa Harbor, then view sharks…

    1–2 hours

    Prices checked

    from $99.48
  • Roland dancing Hawaiian Kahiko
    Free cancellationLikely to sell out

    Curated Catalog

    Toa Luau at Waimea Valley, Oahu (opens in a new tab)

    3.8K reviews

    Toa Luau invites you to immerse yourself in the beauty and excitement of Polynesia on Oahu’s historic North Shore! Book any one our 3 Luau…

    3 hours

    Prices checked

    from $145

Index

Browse by what you came for

Twenty-two ways into this coast, from the reef at Pūpūkea in July to a wet-afternoon plan for when the trades push a squall through and the beach lot turns into a puddle.

Explore

Tours

Outdoors

Who it suits

Plan

About us

How this guide is written

We lead with the season because the season is the safety information on this coast. We say when a beach is closed, when a lot is full by ten, and when we could not confirm an hour or a price. We write place names with the ʻokina and kahakō because that is how they are spelled. Where a booking earns us a commission, the link says so.

We are a small editorial team that covers The North Shore and nowhere else on this site. Everything here — the descriptions, the comparisons, the reasons one boat suits a family of six better than another — is written by us. Nothing on this page is an operator’s marketing copy reprinted as if it were ours.

We name what costs money and roughly how much, we say when a car park fills by mid-morning, and we say when a boat only runs between April and October. Where we have not been able to confirm a price or an opening time ourselves, we say that too rather than guessing — hours and fees change seasonally, so check before you travel.

Our news items are assembled from verified sources and are labelled where they were machine drafted; every one is checked against the source before it is published. Our editorial standards page sets out the whole method, including how we correct an error once we know about it.

Last updated — the date an editor last went through this page end to end.


Who writes this

  • Nalani KahaleSenior EditorNalani edits everything on this site that touches access, closures and how a visitor ought to behave up here. She grew up between Waialua and Honolulu and has spent a decade on Hawaiʻi visitor coverage. She reads state park and Ocean Safety notices before she reads anyone's marketing, and spells place names the way the families who live in them do.
  • Pete SorensenSurf & Ocean EditorPete checks the buoys before the weather app and has watched fifteen winters arrive on this coast. He covers the water: the swell calendar, the contest windows, where a beginner should genuinely learn, and the summer months when Pūpūkea becomes the best shore snorkelling on this side of Oʻahu. He will tell you plainly when to stay out.
  • Malia FonotiCulture & Community EditorMalia writes about how this coast lives and what it remembers: the heiau on the ridge above Waimea, the plantation towns at Waialua and Kahuku, the island villages at Lāʻie, and the small kitchens that stop serving at eight. She puts names in her copy rather than categories, and when a business up here is Native Hawaiian-owned she says so, because a visitor can act on that.

Read the detail

Who you are with

Picked for who is in the car

A family that needs water a six-year-old can actually stand up in, two people who want the coast without the coach party, anybody spending nothing, and a plan for the afternoon the squall wins. Four different North Shores.

  • With kids

    A green sea turtle gliding above a shallow coral reef in clear water

    Who it suits

    Family Activities on the North Shore

    The North Shore with children is two completely different holidays, and the one you get depends on the month rather than on how you plan it. From…

  • Two of you

    A sailing boat silhouetted on calm water as the sun drops toward the horizon

    Who it suits

    Things to Do for Couples on the North Shore

    The North Shore is not a romance-package coast and it is better for it. There is one large resort on thirty miles of shoreline, almost no fine…

  • Spending nothing

    Green sea turtles resting on dry sand above the waterline behind a roped-off viewing distance

    Budget

    Free Things to Do on the North Shore

    Most destinations make you hunt for the free things. On the North Shore you have to hunt for the paid ones. There are four ticketed gates on this…

  • When the squall wins

    Dancers performing a traditional Polynesian dance on an outdoor stage

    Who it suits

    Rainy Day Activities on the North Shore

    Start with the thing that will save you a wasted decision: rain on the North Shore is almost never a reason to cancel a day. It arrives as squalls…

Where things are

Beaches, lots, trailheads and the one harbour, on one map

Which lots fill before ten, where there is no lot at all, which beaches have a lifeguard tower, and where the highway stops being the fast way and becomes the only way. The two Kaʻena trailheads are on here so you can see that no road joins them.

Every place shown on this map is also listed below as a link, grouped by area.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

What the pins mean

  • Beach11
  • Water feature1
  • Nature preserve2
  • Park1
  • Wildlife1
  • Historic site1
  • Landmark2
  • Dining3
  • Entertainment1
  • Neighbourhood1

News

Closures, swell events and access notices

High surf warnings and beach closures, contest calls and the road closures that follow them, state park and reserve access changes, and openings and closings in Haleʻiwa and Kahuku. Short, dated, and checked against a primary source before it goes up.

Last updated . We date every item so you can tell how old the information is.

Guides

Longer reads from our editors

How to read a surf report before you decide where to swim, a day trip from Waikīkī that does not spend four hours in the car, where to eat when everything closes at eight, and how to watch turtles without being the reason the rope is there.

  • An empty road running toward a distant volcanic slope in flat morning light
    Featured

    Guide

    Driving the North Shore Loop: Which Way Round and Why

    About a hundred miles, three and a half hours of driving and no road around Kaʻena Point. Which direction you choose decides which side of the car the ocean is on.

    9 min readNalani Kahale

  • Low wooden storefronts with corrugated roofs along a two-lane highway in a small Hawaiian surf town
    Featured

    Guide

    The North Shore in a Day, Driven from Waikīkī

    Thirty-five miles and about an hour of driving, and almost everybody gets it wrong by arriving at eleven. The whole day turns on leaving early enough to beat the Haleʻiwa bottleneck.

    8 min readNalani Kahale

  • Steep green coastal ridges dropping towards calm water under low rain cloud
    Featured

    Guide

    Visiting the North Shore Respectfully

    About the same number of people live along this coast as fill a single Waikīkī hotel block, and several million visitors a year drive past their houses. Most of what follows is about that.

    9 min readMalia Fonoti

  • A wide, near-empty beach backed by ironwood trees on a calm summer afternoon

    Guide

    The North Shore With Children, Season by Season

    In July the North Shore is one of the best family coasts in Hawaiʻi. In January it is a place to watch from behind a rope. Planning the right one is the whole job.

    9 min readNalani Kahale

Last updated . Guides are revisited when prices, hours or access change.

Keep in touch

The swell letter

One email a week through the surf season and one a fortnight outside it: what the forecast is doing, what has closed, which contests have been called, and what has opened in Haleʻiwa. Nothing else.

Weekly North Shore email through the winter. Unsubscribe from any issue. We do not sell or share your address.