Day 2 – Visit the world famous North Shore
Turtle Beach (quick stop on the way to Haleiwa)
On your way to Haleiwa (2 minutes west of Waimea) stop for a few minutes at Laniakea Beach, sometimes called “turtle beach”. Park on the left side of the road in the dirt lot and carefully walk across Kam Highway. The beach is right there and you will see turtles on the beach or within 20 feet of the shore. Sometimes as many as 25 sea turtles will be right there. It’s illegal to touch them so be careful… This won’t take long but well worth your time.
Do you want to see the Lost Beach Camp?
If you want to be more adventurous and see more turtles with little to no people, walk west (looking at the ocean it will be to your left). There are houses past the point and a very secluded beach. The further you walk the more secluded the beach becomes and the more turtles you’ll see. Past the first point you see from Laniakea is a small bay. This is the bay where they filmed the base camp for the hit TV show Lost (15 minute walk down the beach from Laniakea), you’ll recognize it when you see it. Small secret that most people don’t know about. Map Website
Ka’Ena Point (whale watching)
On the north westernmost point of the island is a huge point called Ka’Ena point. It’s a very remote part of the island but only 15 minutes away from Haleiwa. The paved road will end and turn to dirt. Go as far as you are comfortable and park, you will be right on the water and from there you can watch for whales. If you haven’t already seen whales passing by the north shore, you certainly will from Ka’Ena point. Whales sometimes come as close as 100 yards from shore and put on quite the show. Most of the time you will see multiple whales breaching at any given time. I’ve been there with my family probably 20 times and only 1 time did we not see whales but I think it was only because the ocean was really rough. Even without seeing whales we had a great time searching the remote beaches for sea glass and sea shells.
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