The Beaches and Beyond

Bob and Jon thought Waikiki Beach, on the leeward side of the island, was too tame. They wanted to ride their rented, genuine styrofoam boogie boards on some bigger waves. I told them they could take a look at the waves on the other side of the island on our bus tour, then come back some day and go for it.

Between Pearl Harbor and the surfing beaches is the Dole plantation area. There are still a few pineapples left, but not for long. By next year, there will be no commercially-grown pineapples anywhere in Hawaii. They will all be grown in the Philippines and elsewhere. On land that was first used for sugar cane, then pineapples, Dole is now planting groves of “designer” coffee and chocolate.

Busdriver Greg grew up in a small town adjacent to the pineapple fields. We enjoyed his personal stories, it added a lot to the trip. He showed us small towns near the northeast side and told us how the people in the area are “vigilantes” who have resisted the county’s attempts to change things, and so far they are successful. The whole island is a single county, by the way.

We stopped at the Dole Plantation store and helped the economy. Several of us bought macadamia nuts. Back in the bus, Greg said, “Eating macadamia nuts has proven to increase reading skills.” I paid close attention, my work involves teaching kids to read, you know. I could be responsible for introducing radical new ideas to our state. Greg continued, “This is because if you eat a lot of them you will sit on the toilet a lot. And you know what people do when they spend a lot of time in the bathroom? Read!”

Bob, who was at least halfway through his recently-purchased package of butterscotch macadamia nuts, carefully folded the bag shut and handed it to me. “Could you keep this in your purse?” he asked. He never has been much of a reader.

The north shore beaches of Oahu are known collectively as the Banzai Pipeline. This time of year the surf there is starting into its wild season. Today, there was a lot of turbulence and no surfers. Greg said it’s because there were strong winds coming onshore. This breaks up the waves. They’re at their classic best when the winds are heading offshore and hold the waves in shape until they break on the beach. We stopped at Sunset Beach, which is where the first picture was taken, and stayed just long enough to get sand in our shoes and lots of wind-tangled knots in our hair. Bob and Jon didn’t say anything about coming back to try the bigger waves.


This second picture was taken at a bonus stop in a residential area right on the north point, where the waves have eaten a hole in the rock. Greg said even in the bad economy any modest-looking home that has a sea view is still fairly expensive. He told us not to buy anything close to the beach, however, because those houses get flooded regularly when the surf is very high.

I doubt anyone on our little bus was planning on buying a house on the beach anyway. Not many surfers in South Dakota. Or Cosumne, for that matter. We were all watching the horizon, keeping an eye out for stray tsunamis and figuring out how long it would take to get to high ground if we saw one.