USNorth Shore, Oahu, United States
The North Shore in winter
Seven miles of the best surf on the planet, watched from the sand.
Watch it live firstWhen the light is best
August, June, September
Computed from five years of daily cloud, rain and temperature at 21.66, -158.05. Some cloud is what makes a sky burn, so this is not the same as the driest month and often disagrees with one.
- Cloud then
- 43%
- Wet days
- 12
- Daytime high
- 29°C
When to actually go
Big surf runs November to February and the contests follow it. Summer is calm, warm and completely different in character.
This is the window for the reason you are going, and it is a different question from the light. Where the two disagree, this one wins. An empty river under a perfect sky is still an empty river.
- Nights
- 6
- Getting in
- Honolulu, an hour across the island
- From, per person
- $3,400
Why here
In summer the North Shore is a flat, sleepy stretch of beach towns. In winter the same water produces Pipeline, which is the most photographed wave in surfing, and you watch it from twenty metres away with your feet in the sand. No ticket, no boat, no barrier.
What you actually do
- Ehukai Beach Park, directly in front of Pipeline
- Waimea Bay and Sunset Beach, along the same road
- Haleiwa town for the food trucks and the shave ice
- The drive round Kaena Point at the end of the day
However many of you
On your own
Everything is public and walkable from Haleiwa. A solo traveller needs a car and nothing else.
Two to six
Rent a house on the shore side of the road. Four people, one car, and the beach across the street.
Seven or more
Big houses on the North Shore are plentiful and made for this. A group of ten costs little more per head than a hotel room in Waikiki.
Book it
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