Snorkelling in Oahu

[scubadrewvideo]

Sharks cove (when flat surf) is IDEAL for beginners. It has been flat all week and great snorkeling, just bring aqua shoes for the walk, lava rock is brutal on bare feet!
I see first timers all the time and even do a snorkel tour on occasion with first timers.(Gabe can attest to that) Three tables just down the street is just as good with a beach entry, however facilities and parking can be less convenient. Weekends parking is tough anywhere.

 

[MeiLing]

Weekends parking is tough anywhere.

There's a trick to this whole parking at the beach thing that most folks haven't mastered: patience. Yes, the parking does fill up quicky at Three Tables and there is nowhere to wait for an open space. Firehouse, next door is fairly easy to find parking at, even on the weekends as folks are always coming and going. If you just plan to snorkel and hang on the beach at Three Tables and you can't find parking right there , I'd recommend parking at FireHouse just a short walk away down a bike path. Shark's Cove also has lots of parking, a place to wait while jockeying for a space, and folks coming and going all day.

The nice thing about Firehouse is the tall pines which provide quite a lot of shade in a nice little bit of lawn area which is great for picnics and BBQ's.

Both Firehouse and Shark's Cove have restrooms right nearby.

 

[bluemagoo]

Shark's Cove is my special place; has been since '65 and still is. But I wish you all could've seen it then.

 

[justleesa]

oh man...in 1965 I couldn't even swim yet....

 

[bluemagoo]

The clan used to annually rent a beach house for a long summer weekend. It began on Ke Nui Road with bonfires on the beach and then moved up the hill, not far from the sprawling Sullivan estate -- the house is still there on the far right as you look up at the hill but there're a lot of new neighbors. The tidepools were miniature aquariums, full of life. Juvie raccoon, milletseed, and threadfin butterflies. Anemones and darting wrasses and aholehole (flagtails). Little schools of manini (convict tang) and the usual pugnacious mamo and kupipis (sergant majors). Perky bright-eye damsels. The occasional baby eel. Even a Potter's angel. And we haven't even got into the Cove yet. In the Cove, there's schools of papio (juvie giant trevally), ulua (adult giant trevally), kagami (threadfin trevally with flashing mirror-like flanks), rays, unicorn surgeons, two massive schools of manini (easily 2-300 fish in each), clouds of nehu (a minnow-like baitfish), fluttering wrasses, turtles, lobster antennae waving out of holes and crowding the caves like cockroaches on a warm stonewall. And we're usually the only ones there -- all day, all night.

 

[Lopaka]

I am still very ignorant of much of where most of these spots are on Oahu, particularly North Shore. Is there a web map or such showing where Sharks Cove, Firehouse, Three Tables, etc. actually are? They certainly do not show up on MS Streets & Trips.

 

[MeiLing]

I am still very ignorant of much of where most of these spots are on Oahu, particularly North Shore. Is there a web map or such showing where Sharks Cove, Firehouse, Three Tables, etc. actually are? They certainly do not show up on MS Streets & Trips.

Three Tables is the first beach you see just after Waimea Bay. When you hit the stoplight, you're at FireHouse named for the Firehouse right there. Turn left at the light to get into the parking lot at Firehouse. The next beach/park beyond just after the Foodland is Shark's Cove.

The Highway that you travel along on the North Shore is Kamehameha Hwy. The intersection where the Foodland is is Pupukea Road. The whole area right there is also called Pupukea.

If you're up for a little local culture and adventure, you can drive up the hill to see Pu'u O Mahuka Heiau (old Hawaiian place of worship - largest on Oahu). Drive up Pupukea Road. Just past the switch backs on the right you'll see a Hawaii visitors' sign (Hawaiian chief) marking the road. Turn right there and keep going. Disregard the Deliverance soundtrack that will start playing in your head after a few hundred yards! You're safe there during the day. You can't miss it at the end of the road and the views are incredible! Watch yourself though on the Waimea side - don't get too close to the edge! And keep an eye on your car, if you've left valuables in it. Oh and don't take any of the rocks!

 

[Lopaka]

Thanks Lisa, good descriptions!