Beyond Honolulu: Exploring the Island

If you can afford the splurge, rent a bright, shiny convertible -- the perfect car for Oahu, since you can tan as you go -- and head for the North Shore and Hawaii's surf city: Haleiwa, a quaint turn-of-the-20th-century sugar-plantation town designated a historic site. A collection of faded clapboard stores with a picturesque harbor, Haleiwa has evolved into a surfer outpost and major roadside attraction with art galleries, restaurants, and shops that sell hand-decorated clothing, jewelry, and sports gear.

Getting here is half the fun. You have two choices: The first is to meander north along the lush Windward Coast, through country hamlets with roadside stands selling mangoes, bright tropical pareus, fresh corn, and pond-raised prawns.

The second choice is to cruise up the H-2 through Oahu's broad and fertile central valley, past Pearl Harbor and the Schofield Barracks of From Here to Eternity fame, and on through the red-earthed heart of the island, where pineapple and sugar-cane fields stretch from the Koolau to the Waianae mountains, until the sea reappears on the horizon. If you take this route, the tough part is getting on and off the H-1 freeway from Waikiki, which is done by way of convoluted routing on neighborhood streets. Try McCully Street off Ala Wai Boulevard, which is always crowded but usually the most direct route.

Once you're on H-1, stay to the right side; the freeway tends to divide abruptly. Keep following the signs for the H-1 (it separates off to Hwy. 78 at the airport and reunites later on; either way will get you there), then the H-1/H-2. Leave the H-1 where the two "interstates" divide; take the H-2 up the middle of the island, heading north and following signs directing you toward the town of Wahiawa.

The H-2 runs out and becomes a two-lane country road about 18 miles outside downtown Honolulu, near Schofield Barracks . The highway becomes Kamehameha Highway (Hwy. 99 and later Hwy. 83) at Wahiawa. Just past Wahiawa, about a half-hour out of Honolulu, the Dole Pineapple Plantation, 64-1550 Kamehameha Hwy. (tel. 808/621-8408; www.dole-plantation.com; bus no. 52), offers a rest stop with pineapples, pineapple history, pineapple trinkets, and pineapple juice, open daily from 9am to 6pm. This agricultural exhibit/retail area also features a maze kids will love to wander through, open daily from 9am to 5pm; admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children 4 to 12 (free for ages 3 and under). The Pineapple Express is a single-engine diesel locomotive with four cars that takes a 22-minute tour around 2 1/4 miles of the plantation's grounds, with an educational spiel on the legacy of the pineapple and agriculture in Hawaii. The first tour departs at 9:30am, and the last tour gets back to the station at 5:20pm. Cost is $7.50 for adults, $5.50 for children 4 to 12 (free for ages 3 and under). The Plantation Garden tour is a self-guided tour through the various crops that have been grown on Oahu's North Shore. The tour costs $3.75 for adults and $3 for children. "Kam" Highway, as everyone calls it, will be your road for most of the rest of the trip to Haleiwa.

On the central plains of Oahu, tract homes and malls with factory-outlet stores are now spreading across abandoned sugar-cane fields, where sandalwood forests used to stand at the foot of Mount Kaala, the mighty summit of Oahu. Hawaiian chiefs once sent commoners into thick sandalwood forests to cut down trees, which were then sold to China traders for small fortunes. The scantily clad natives caught cold in the cool uplands, and many died.

On these plains in 1908, the U.S. Army pitched a tent that later become a fort. And on December 7, 1941, Japanese pilots came screaming through Kolekole Pass to shoot up the Art Deco barracks at Schofield, sending soldiers running for cover, and then flew on to sink ships at Pearl Harbor.

If you're on the North Shore, don't miss Puu o Mahuka Heiau, the largest sacrificial temple on Oahu and the Waimea Valley Audubon Center, which has a huge park and kid-pleasing activity center.

Haleiwa: Surf City -- Only 28 miles from Waikiki is Haleiwa, the funky ex-sugar-plantation town that's the world capital of big-wave surfing. This beach town really comes alive in winter, when waves rise up, light rain falls, temperatures dip into the 70s, and practically every surfer in the world is here to see and be seen.

Officially designated a historic cultural and scenic district, Haleiwa thrives in a time warp recalling the turn of the 20th century, when it was founded by sugar baron Benjamin Dillingham, who built a 30-mile railroad to link his Honolulu and North Shore plantations in 1899. He opened a Victorian hotel overlooking Kaiaka Bay and named it Haleiwa, or "house of the Iwa," the tropical seabird often seen here. The hotel and railroad are gone, but Haleiwa, which was rediscovered in the late 1960s by hippies, resonates with rare rustic charm. Tofu, not taro, is a staple in the local diet. Arts and crafts, boutiques, and burger stands line both sides of the town. Haleiwa's busy fishing harbor is full of charter boats and captains who hunt the Kauai Channel daily for tuna, mahimahi, and marlin. The bartenders at Jameson's, 62-540 Kamehameha Hwy. (tel. 808/637-6272), make the best mai tais on the North Shore; they use the original recipe by Trader Vic Bergeron.

Once in Haleiwa, the hot and thirsty traveler should report directly to the nearest shave-ice stand, usually Matsumoto Shave Ice, 66-087 Kamehameha Hwy. (tel. 808/637-4827). For 40 years, this small, humble shop operated by the Matsumoto family has served a popular rendition of the Hawaii-style snow cone flavored with tropical tastes. The cooling treat is also available at neighboring stores, some of which still shave the ice with a hand-crank device.

Just down the road are some of the fabled shrines of surfing -- Waimea Beach, Banzai Pipeline, Sunset Beach -- where some of the world's largest waves, reaching 20 feet and more, rise between November and January. They draw professional surfers as well as reckless daredevils and hordes of onlookers, who jump in their cars and head north when word goes out that "surf's up." Don't forget your binoculars.