Trip planning
How do I get from Waikiki to the North Shore, and is it worth the drive?
Answered by Hawaii Glider Rides
The answers
How long the drive takesTimingAsked most
One hour if you leave Waikiki before 8 in the morning. Sixty to ninety minutes between 9 and 4. Coming back, avoid 3 to 6 when Honolulu traffic builds. On big winter surf weekends the coast road in front of the beaches can crawl, so go early.
The routeDirections
Take H-1 west out of Waikiki, then H-2 north toward Wahiawā. Stay on Kamehameha Highway past the pineapple fields and it drops you into Haleʻiwa. For Mokulēia and Dillingham Airfield, turn left at the Haleʻiwa bypass onto Farrington Highway and follow it west for 15 minutes.
What the North Shore actually isGeography
The stretch of coast from Kaʻena Point in the west to Kahuku in the east. Haleʻiwa is the town. Waimea Bay, Pipeline and Sunset Beach are east of town. Mokulēia and the airfield are west of town, where it gets quiet. Turtle Bay is at the far east end.
Car, bus or shuttleGetting there
A rental car is the answer if you can. TheBus runs to Haleʻiwa from Ala Moana, but plan on two hours each way and no stop at Mokulēia. Tour shuttles do a set loop with fixed stops. If you are flying with us without a car, take a rideshare to the airfield and book the return ride ahead, since drivers are thin out here.
Do it west to eastThe plan
Most people drive to Haleʻiwa and turn east. Do the opposite. Start at Mokulēia at the west end, then work east through Haleʻiwa, the turtles and the beaches. You beat the crowds at every stop and finish near Sunset Beach as the sun goes down.
What to book at the far endWorth the drive
The North Shore from the ground is beaches, shave ice and turtles. From the air it is the whole coast at once, the reef, the ridges and the surf lines, with nothing to hear but wind. A glider ride from Kawaihāpai (Dillingham) Airfield takes 20, 30 or 60 minutes, and is the reason to make the drive early. Book the first slot of the morning when the air is smoothest, then spend the rest of the day working east.