Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Pūpūkea Beach Park

 

This past weekend I took my daughter to visit some friends that were staying at the Plantation Village located on the North Shore. They rented a nice 2 bedroom unit with full kitchen and BBQ on the patio.  Wild pigs and chickens roam the grounds and provided some entertainment for Kaylyn.  In the photo above, you can see the pigs moving in towards the smell of my Friend's BBQ.


She was a little freaked out from the pigs although they were quite friendly and tame. She was happy Uncle saved her from the vicious boars. I am sure they were pets to one of the neighboring homes, but we didn't stick around long enough to find out. She was too excited to check out the Pūpūkea Beach Park across the street.  


Across the street from Plantation Villiage lies Pupukea Beach Park, just past Waimea Bay on the North Shore.

 Pupukea Beach Park, is a Marine Life Conservation Area. At the south end is Three Tables, a protected beach with three sections of flat coral reefs. At the north end is a lagoon called Shark's Cove which is perfect for snorkeling, beach combing and tide pooling.

 Pupukea Beach Park provides a great alternative to Waimea Bay on the weekends when parking and crowds are an issue there. When we drove past Waimea Bay there wasn't any parking available in their lot. Here parking was readily available and there was minimal people at the beach.







At the entrance is a canopy of trees to take breaks from the intense Hawaiian sun during the summer. The scenery is beautiful as you can see from the photos below.


There were quite few areas for shade and picnics at Pupukea. Across the street there were was a shrimp truck and local plate lunch diner where the family can grab a bite to eat in case you forget the picnic basket. There is also a grocery store right across the street with a full deli to try some fresh poke.



Pupukea Beach Park is known for great snorkeling , diving, and swimming because it is sheltered by the rocks seen in the photo above. I asked a few local snorkelers if they saw anything interesting and they reported seeing " tons of fish on a beautiful reef." They also mentioned this is one of best places to snorkel on the North Shore. Best of all its free to park and play!






    The laid back atmosphere of the North Shore provides a great alternative to Hanauma Bay as well. Keep in mind the North Shore gets rough in the winter time, therefore I recommend heeding to the warning signs and only snorkeling here during the summer. There are plenty of tidal pools for babies and toddlers.



 If I had known the Pupukea Beach Park was so calm , I would have brought her swimsuit and float. We will be back next weekend to go swimming at this beautiful beach. I recommend that your family make this beach a stop while you are on the North Shore. If you have a rental car with a GPS, the address for Pupukea Beach Park is 59-727 Kamehameha Highway Haleiwa 96712.

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