Adventures on Oahu — Jayme June

Oahu is amazing. There's really no other way to start this post! It has everything for every type of traveler: the super turquoise beaches with calm water and abundant reef, phenomenal hiking, a big city, an awesome hippie town - and crazy waves for the surfers.

I was staying on the North Shore in Haliewa so the first thing I did when I landed was drive out of the city - the north part of the island. The North Shore is a solid hour or so away from Honolulu - but there's a Dole plantation on the way if you want to stop and grab a fresh pineapple for your stay! This breaks it up a little bit and it's literally right off the highway so it's super easy to get in, grab your pineapple and get back on your way.

Haliewa is a super cute small town right on the water - that stretches over the North Shore of the island. In the winter months there are HUGE waves here - but in the summer everything is really calm and perfect for swimming. I went in May - one of those total transition months so things were still a little rough, but easy enough to swim in if you're confident in the water and you're okay getting through the first few waves.

Some of the best shaved ice on Oahu is Island Snow - they’re located in a bunch of different areas on the island. The one in Kailua is located in a great area with a clothing shop connected to it so you can score a bunch of cool hoodies/t-shirts etc. The shaved ice here is delish! Highly recommend.

Near Kailua is Lanikai beach - arguably one of the most beautiful beaches in Hawaii. Turquoise water, a beautiful reef and it’s basically in a little neighborhood so it doesn’t have that state park vibe. It’s so gorgeous. If you’re going to Oahu, put this beach on the top of your list.

Diving on Hawaii can go a couple ways. I do not recommend large outfitters. While they’ll have bigger boats and sometimes nicer gear to rent - there are so many divers that to me it feels really overwhelming. I prefer smaller dive shops that have a more personable approach and only take out a few divers at a time rather than 60+ which is the case with some of the large shops (particularly on Maui). Reef Pirates only takes out six divers at a time - they’re super chill!