Sunset Beach

I've joked that I go to the Mainland more than I go to the North Shore and the truth is, it's probably not as much of a joke as you might think.  Afterall, the North Shore is SO far away!  You know, far, as in 40 whole miles away from my house!  It seems that people who live here either get island fever and feel claustrophobic or they adjust so much that their frame of reference changes and going anywhere outside of a 10 mile radius takes advance planning.  I'm definitely in the second category.  But we really like the North Shore and this weekend we used off-island visitors as motivation to make the trek north.  

We drove up the Windward coast through Ka'a'awa (love the name of that town!), past the Polynesian Cultural Center and on up past Turtle Bay Resort.  Such a beautiful drive!  We picked Sunset Beach as our destination and when we got there we found a spot on the beach, dumped our stuff under our umbrella and headed for the water.

It always amazes me what a different place the North Shore is, depending on the season.  In the winter the waves are huge and swimming is definitely at your own risk.  In the summer the waves are much calmer and the North Shore becomes a place for swimming and snorkeling.


As its name suggests, this beach is a great place to sit and watch the sun set over the water.  On this particular visit though, we left before sunset so we could get the kids home and to bed at a decent time.  Because, you know, we were so far away that if we stayed 'til sunset imagine how incredibly late it would be by the time we made it all the way back home.  Oh, that and we had a couple more stops we wanted to make, but I'll save those for other posts.

For now, I'll leave you with another picture of Sunset Beach.  Definitely worth the "long" drive!

Do it yourself on Oahu:

• Sunset Beach is located off of the Kamehameha Hwy. on the North Shore between Waimea Bay and Turtle Bay Resort.  

• There is parking right along the road at the top of the beach, as well as additional parking across the street at Sunset Beach Park.  

• There are no restrooms or showers on the beach, but I think there may be some across the street in the park.  I should have paid better attention.

• If you are planning to venture very far from shore, check with the lifeguards about the strong rip current that occurs at this beach.