Moving to Oahu and need some advice.

[MondoMarcus]

Hi, my name is Marcus and I love the ocean. It's pretty much my whole life. I surf all the time where I'm from in Huntington Beach and am currently addicted to freediving. Me and a buddy just did an amazing skindive right off of "Seal Harbour" in Catalina Island. I'm looking to get SCUBA certified within the next month and I can't wait.

Anyway... I'm planning on moving to Oahu for an extended amount of time. I'd like to do the North Shore as it's a surfer's paradise for the most part. I know places like Fiji, Tahiti are more exotic but this will be my first real move away from California, so I'd like to stay in the US to ease my fears in a sense.

Do you all have any advice? I'm thinking about just getting a bicycle and taking the bus to wherever I need to go. I've heard the bus system on Oahu is VERY reliable and a good way of getting around. How long do you think it would take to find work? A job? Can I camp on beaches etc. until I find a place to stay? I'm also willing to sleep on someone's couch and pay for rent (I would actually PREFER that).

The reason for the move is to find myself again after some recent events in my life. I plan on doing as much SCUBA/freediving/surfing/hiking as possible. I know this might seem like a strange thread to post on a SCUBA forum, but I didn't just want anyone's advice. I wanted to talk to divers and surfers... people that love the ocean because let's face it... we're all a different breed.

I look forward to learning about diving here and I can't wait to contribute to some awesome coversations.

-live slow, surf fast

 

[Tom Winters]

TheBus will get you anywhere. The Pipeline was my home break although I surfed all over the island until it just became too crowded in the lineups.
I had 20 great years on Oahu, and did everything I had to do so I left. I worked in the dive industry there as well - had a great time, made a huge pile of money, retired, and left.
I wish you all the best of luck there. I will most likely never make it back there even though I will always have a large local family there. Just not enough of me to go around in the time we all have left.

 

[Mike Boswell]

Hi Marcus and welcome to ScubaBoard. I am sure you will fit right in and learn to love it as much as the rest of us. You can learn a lot here - there are people from all over the world, doing all kinds of diving, with a million years worth of combined experience. Just try not to become a ScubaBoard addict, okay?

I was born and raised on Oahu. I did a little surfing but mostly fishing and diving. I left there for California 27 years ago so my info might be a little dated, but we have several members here who live there now.

The main things I will say are that Hawaii tends to be more expensive than California, and Oahu has gotten kind of crowded, so rents may be higher. For somebody without much money, that might be a problem. You can get a look at rooms to share here: hawaii rooms & shares classifieds "north shore" - craigslist

Good luck.

 

[MondoMarcus]

Thanks for all the kind words, guys. I'm going to check out those personels now.

 

[antonanton73]

I am just leaving Oahu on the 3rd fortunately my company owns a shipyard here and i get to come once a year to work. Im just endeing a 2 month stay. A few tips on diving: the north shore is awesome. sharks cove a personal favorite, Keeau beach is good(lock up all valuables as they will be stolen by the homeless if not). If your certified take a boat trip with a dive shop to see the corsair, and sometimes there are a few seals there a few seals there. As far as work, try Leeward Marine Corp. They are always looking for laborers and firewatches. Also BAE always has openings for general labor, these are shipyard positions so sometimes long hours and hard work are required! good luck to ya! Aloha!

 

[vinegarbiscuit]

The North Shore is a lovely place to live and play, but although The Bus is a good way to get around, the commute may grow real old, real quick if you find a job in Honolulu or Kailua/Kaneohe. (I speak from experience: we first moved to Laie, on the far north windward side of the island, and my bus commute to Honolulu took 2-hours each way. We share a car, so driving my fiance to his job at a dive shop in Kailua, and then driving myself to Honolulu from Kailia, took 1.5 hours each way - not much better.) As Mike_Boswell's already said, Oahu's not a cheap place to live - not just in terms of rent, but also in terms of basic food and services. That's partly because of the shipping costs, but also because of the sodding excise tax that's applied to everything.

North Shore diving, as I'm sure you know, takes place reliably during the summer months only. It's absolutely superb, but in the winter, you'll need to look elsewhere (namely, the leeward and southern sides of the island) to get your 'fix'.

Some people find Hawaii to be a veritable paradise, and having moved there, can;t dream of living anywhere else. Others, like myself, get island fever and grow increasingly frustrated by its isolation - in fact, after less than 18-months of living here, my fiance and I are already looking to move back home to New York. The diving and hiking are beautiful, and the scenery is lovely, but there's so more to living here than just those things. Not all of them are good. I don't say these things to dissuade you or be a wet blanket...just so you can make the move, if you choose to make it, with your eyes completely open.

Good luck.

 

[MondoMarcus]

No, I welcome ALL advice. Wether you have good things or bad things to say about the islands, then I want to hear it. I know I'll get lonely and feel isolated at some point so it's good to hear that I wouldn't be alone in feeling that way in a sense.

I would probably end up going for six months to a year and then either moving back home or over to Austrailia. I figure this is a dream of mine and I need to do it now while I don't have anything at home. I'm kind of in this in between period and leaving (just taking a leap and scaring the heck outta myself) is something I need to do

 

[MondoMarcus]

So how much money would be good to take with me considering I'll be homeless and jobless when I get there? I'm considering selling my Jeep Wrangler (coulp possibly get 4,000 for it). A one way ticket with two surfboards would cost me roughly $600, and whatever is left over from there would be living money until I found work. I'd take a tent and some basic camping gear with me as well.

I'd work for anyone who would hire me, but I'd like to find a serving job as I have experience in that field. Would it be reasonable to assume I could get work waiting tables?

I don't plan on purchasing any SCUBA gear until I find work out there, but I am planning on bringing a relatively cheap speargun to hunt for fish. This would not be my only means of eating of course as I'm not very good, but what are the policies with taking a speargun on a flight out of the mainland?

Thanks for all of your help so far.