North Shore of O'ahu

The north shore route on O'ahu highlighted in yellow

I did a drive around the famous northshore which is the major surfing area on O'ahu. The journey up through the middle of the island sucked because of heavy traffic. From the south side of the island, it took us about 1 hr to get to the north beach. The beautiful surf beaches are on the north side, so there's a lot of tourists. And many multi-million dollar homes and golf courses which the locals protest about changing the local undisturbed landscape. I preferred the east coast which even though was as enchanting, was almost void of tourists. There were a lot more locals surfing or just stopping at one of the many shrimp shacks beside the road to have some white shrimp. The favorite is the very large kahuku shrimp known for its sweetness. For $12, you could have a plate of shrimp fried in garlic, boiled, lemon garlic, spicy etc with rice or salad. If you're still craving for more, you could also buy them raw. A 1lb bag of about 20 shrimp costs $9. 

Kuoaloa Ranch where Jurassic Park was filmed

Kualoa Park facing west (inland) at the spectacular jagged mountain ridges

Kualoa Park facing north east (seaview)

Malaekahana beach on the east coast

Malaekahana beach

Malaekahana campsite. Love these humungous roots. So humbling to be beside something that's hundreds of years old.

La'ie Point. Looking out at an interesting 'holey' rock formation

La'ie Point where a scene in Forgetting Sarah Marshall was filmed