It's the North Shore, Brah!
My friend texted me on a Tuesday that she was going to Hawaii and invited me to go. And within a week I was sitting on a plane bound for Oahu. It was one of those rare moments of pure spontaneity that don't seem to happen too much anymore since I have become an "adult". In a world full of planned events, it was a nice way to remind myself that I can still be "free", even if it doesn't happen all that often.
One of my buddies from Grad school won the Billabong Sweepstakes in early January 2017 but all of his close friends thought it was a scam. He had won a trip with airfare and a 4 nights/5 days stay at the Billabong Pipeline House on the North Shore of Oahu. If you have ever watched Billabong surf videos this house is always in it since it sits right on the beach in front of the break "Off the Wall". Since so many of his friends thought it was a scam he had a hard time convincing people to buy plane tickets. So he picked some dates to stay at the house and promptly forgot about it.
Fast forward about 9 months. Since all of my friend's good buddies thought this was scam, this left open the opportunity for me to go! There are daily non-stop flights from San Diego and I learned that this is the low season so last minute flights weren't too expensive.
We hit the ground running, we get off the flight and immediately get the rental car and head towards the North Shore. It is such a unreal transition from the city to the North Shore, slowly but surely the city slips away and it gets more rural and tropical. I love it. I love how remote the North Shore feels. I haven't been to Hawaii since I was in high school and for me, it has always been - no pun intended - a pipe dream. I spent 6 months living in Costa Rica after college and I loved it and ever since then I thought living in Hawaii would be the best, the ability to live in a tropical setting, but with the ability to work (legally anyway -- I couldn't really work in Costa Rica).
The Billabong Pipeline House is a beachfront property that is rented out until the end of 2018! From my understanding there is private owner, who exclusively rents out the house to the Billabong Pro Surfers during the winter months and for the rest of the time rents it out on VRBO. It is a 7 bedroom, 5 bath house that sleeps 16. There are three kitchens!! It is pretty amazing.
We did not do too much island exploring but rather stayed mostly on the North Shore. The house was only a 2 minute car ride to Shark's cove and 8 minute car ride to Waimea Bay. I decided to scuba dive two of the five days but more to follow on this experience. The days that I didn't go diving were spent at the beach and then back to the house for lunch and an afternoon nap. Then we usually went on an afternoon excursion: either back to the beach or a hike to the Pillbox.
I loved Waimea Bay. I even jumped off the 20ft rock that sits on shore of the beach. And it was even more beautiful at sunset. Honestly, the entire beach was filled with young, fun, energetic people -- really was a good time.
These are my favorite trips. Packing some stuff in a bag and having no expectations. Top it off with some beautiful sunsets and good people, couldn't ask for anything more.
