1800 S Kamehameha Bottles

travelqueen_ @ 2006-01-30T13:06:00

SPENDING time on the North Shore of Oahu, just 30 miles from the urban sprawl of Honolulu, provides a crash course in the hang-10 lifestyle. Old surfboards serve as signposts for the driveways of wooden bungalows, the fronts of shops and the turnoff points for restaurants at this fabled surf Mecca. Even the barbecue delivery car has a surfboard strapped sideways on its roof as a makeshift billboard. There is hardly a waiter, store clerk or bartender around who doesn't have a ripped physique, a sun-burned nose and flip-flops barely encasing scraped-up feet - all signs of the hard-core surfer. Out in the lineup, in the calm water just outside the break where throngs of surfers jockey to catch waves, it is not uncommon to see Hawaiian grandmothers longboarding among teenagers covered in tribal tattoos doing aerial maneuvers. Pro surfers, especially those who grew up on the North Shore, rule the hierarchy. Local surf stars like Fred Patacchia, Pancho Sullivan, Jamie O'Brien and Megan Abubo, who was the stunt double for Michelle Rodriguez's character in the film "Blue Crush," can be spotted hauling groceries to their trucks at the parking lot at Foodland or at Haleiwa Joe's, the North Shore equivalent of the Ivy in Beverly Hills, where pros and potential sponsors dine, and contest victory celebrations are held. On a recent morning at Cafe Haleiwa, decorated like all restaurants here with old surf photos and paintings of giant barreling waves, Ms. Abubo, tanned and muscular, was fielding calls from producers for television programs and commercials looking for stunt doubles and pro surf specimens. The North Shore is now in a rather sticky situation of courting fame while trying to preserve an old-school, precrowd vibe. The throngs began to show up, boards under arms, soon after the release of "Blue Crush" four years ago. The Drew Barrymore-Adam Sandler film "50 First Dates," episodes of "Baywatch" and the WB reality series "Boarding House: North Shore" were all recently filmed here. And the primetime hit "Lost" - its base camp in the tropical vegetation between Haleiwa, the historic town founded by missionaries in the 1800's on the southwest end of the North Shore, and Waimea Bay - has set scenes on dozens of the coconut-strewn sandy beaches and thick jungles here. (An amusing pastime for fans is to ferret out locations like the site of a plane crash scene, which was shot just to the left of a Y.M.C.A. camp on Farrington Highway.

Frommer's Hawaii with Kids

Hawaii

Frommer's Hawaii from $80 a Day

D&B reference book of corporate managements

Let's Go Hawaii, On a Budget