North Shore

Points of Interest

Kualoa Ranch – Private nature reserve offering Humvee tours, ziplines, horseback riding and film tours of where many movies and television shows were filmed; including Lost, Jurassic Park, Hawaii 5-0, and 50 First Dates.

Shrimp trucks in Haleiwa.

Matsumoto Shave Ice in Haleiwa is a must-do while you’re here. Try it with condensed milk on top for a new spin.

Waimea Valley – Historical nature park with botanical gardens and waterfalls.

Haleiwa Joe’s has the best Prime Rib on the island. Get there early, before they sell out!

Big Plus

Picturesque Hawaiian beach lifestyle with unbelievable surfing and low-key culture.

If you love to stick close to home and you own more than two surf boards, North Shore is probably your home. It’s a reasonable commute to Schofield, Wheeler Army Airfield and even Marine Corps Base Hawaii, but comes with a painful commute to any of the more southern bases.

Things to Consider

There’s only one road in and out of the area and if there are accidents or traffic on Kamehameha Highway, it can cause significant delays to an already long commute. North Shore is host to several big surf competitions, which brings a ton of congestion to the meager road system.

Shopping and amenities are thin here and North Shore intends to keep it that way. Small grocers and cute little restaurants are all around, but you will not find large chains for shopping. It’s rural in the best sense.

Stick to the tourist surf spots. Local surfers are pretty territorial with their beaches and good luck breaking into that scene! Trust us — the waves are just as amazing where the tourists go to surf. You may encounter some cliquish groups of locals here, but be open to the area’s culture and respect the surf etiquette, and you’ll be fine!

How’s the Market?

The median home value is $1,076,600 according to the Zillow Home Value Index.

Home Values are forecasted to increase by 3.6% in the coming year.

According to Zillow’s Rental Index, the median rental rate for single-family homes in Haleiwa is $2,973.

School Scoop

Haleiwa has 4 schools. One of the highest rated schools is Haleiwa Elementary School, which has a rating of 10 according to GreatSchools.org.

Hawaii is the only state with a unified school system, meaning all taxes are distributed to the schools at the state level and schools are not grouped into districts.  

When looking at Oahu’s test scores and GreatSchools.org ratings, we advise you to look at the entire picture. Hawaiian public schools are evaluated based on Common Core standards, but many areas suffer a fairly large achievement gap due to socioeconomic disparities, despite offering a better quality education than the ratings imply. Many spouses report that the rankings don’t always reflect a school’s quality of education, so we encourage you to talk to friends, or Scouts, about specific schools.

Geographic Exemptions (GE’s) are available if you wish for your child to attend a different school from where your family is zoned, but these are granted on a space available basis and are at the principal’s discretion. Keep in mind – if your child attends a school while in a temporary lodging facility, he/she will have to move schools when you move out of the TLF if your new home is zoned to a different school. You may apply for a GE, but it isn’t guaranteed. Priority goes to those zoned to a failing school (based on No Child Left Behind standards), children of teachers at the school, and children who already have siblings at the school.

Highlighted Areas

Haleiwa

Haleiwa Town

Waimea