The North Shore of Oahu may be the most famous
place on
earth for big wave surfing, and it’s also a great place to own real
estate.The NorthShore is a long narrow strip
of residential
and agricultural land and beautiful sandy beaches.It’s made up of several smaller neighborhoods
that include Sunset, Pupukea, Haleiwa, Waialua, Waimea, Kahuku,Mokuleia, Malaekahana, Kawailoa, and
Laie.
The beauty of the land and ocean will strike you
in a
powerful way on the North Shore of Oahu, where nature is more dominant
than
buildings and homes.While other areas
on Oahu have grown outward and upward, the NorthShore has kept its small
towns feeling
quaint and homey .The beautiful sandy
beaches and the majestic green mountains are only lightly dotted with
homes and
buildings, which is what people love about the NorthShore.Even
though the winter surf brings thousands
of tourists and surfers, somehow Haleiwa and Sunset have managed to
stay small
and simple.
Here on Oahu we call the NorthShore “country,” and it
lives up to
that name in many ways.Life on the NorthShore is slow, even though
it’s
only about 45 minutes from downtown Honolulu.When you’re driving from Waialua to Haleiwa
and through to Sunset, enjoying the beautiful mountain and ocean views,
you
would never know that the 13th largest city in America
is just a short drive down the freeway.
The NorthShore
is where most of Oahu’s farming takes place,
and it’s
where Oahu feels the largest because there
aren’t houses
and buildings everywhere.It’s a very
small town life on the North Shore of Oahu, where most of the locals
know each
other and also what’s happening in everyone’s lives.The NorthShore
is its own little community,
a different world than most of Oahu. In fact it
feels a
lot like living in Kauai or Molokai,
with the farm lands and cowboys walking around.
Beachfront homes on the NorthShore start at about
$1.5million
for a small house and can sell for as much $8million for a large custom
home
around Pipeline.And if you want an
ocean view from a hilltop, then Pupukea might be the best option for
you.Pupukea hills is a great little
community of
larger custom homes with fantastic ocean views. The homes in Pupukea
tend to
have large lots of around 20,000 sqft.For a luxury ocean view home, Pupukea is hard to beat.
If your budget is “limited” and you want to live
on the
beach on the NorthShore,
you can get an ocean front home in Laie that might suit you for just
over a
million dollars. There are great sandy beaches in Laie, and the pace of
life is
as slow as you could want.Also in the
same region is Malaekahana, which offers vast white sand beaches and
calm blue
water year round.Land is cheaper in
Malaekahana because it’s farther from Honolulu,
but you can still get to Town in about 45 minutes. Also Kaneohe
town is only about 30 minutes away from Malaekahana.
If you’re looking for the feel of old Hawaii,
the relaxed country feel that you get on Maui
and Kauai,
but you want to be able to drive to a big city and enjoy the services
there,
then the North Shore of Oahu might be the best of both worlds for you.
