can you give the low down for cheapish accom,transport,preferably somewhere I can hook up with other surfers.thinking about doing a few weeks next December or there abouts,I haven't been before so it would be good to hear from someone who has.probably check out some pro events, I don't mind being a tourist but mostly spend time in the water.ive heard that its crowded and over rated but I don't care some thing just must be done. cheers

shark cove rentals. 5 min walk from foodland, halfway in between waimea and pipe. pretty dodgy accomm relatively speaking, but you're paying for location. it's three share houses on the one block, normally your roomies are good people as you're all there for similar reason. i had a great time staying there. people will talk about backpackers as their prime competition which is just west of foodland. went to check it out with mates while i was there and i can say that the worst of backpackers trumps the worst of shark cove many times over, to put things into perspective. i didn't get to see what the best of backpackers was like.

as you can hear in many surf videos produced about this time of year on the north shore, the 'circus' is a very definitive bunch of travelers/surfers that usually vanish after the volcom pro or thereabouts. if i had the money, i'd go after the contest season ends. the competitions might be over and the pros might have left town, but the swell certainly is still around. i found plenty of waves while i was there for three weeks from dec 8, but i think crowds are more easily avoidable if you go after the contest period. definitely not over rated. got some of the waves of my life, like getting a small waimea day with one other guy out and a sunset double up.

As Sparki said if you stay on the Beach East of Waimea but West of Sunset you could survive without a car i guess, but for me id say you want a car. That way you get to travel around and see the Island. Loads of spots to surf all over and some really cool things to see. Car will also make it easy to get down to Haleiwa were loads of great food is available. The busy breaks could have 30 plus surfers (and really good surfers) but not too far away you could surf spots that will blow your mind still with only 5 people out.

Most of the population is touristy but in reality other than surf, the other tourists are often their just to watch the surf. I did notice buses and but i think if they run on Hawaiin time you could spend most of the day sitting on one or waiting for one. Seems to hot to ride any real distance IMHO.
I guess a scooter would work well if you travelling light, but i didn't really see people with boards on scooters.

I would say when the Comps are on it would seem like a circus. It would be unreal to see first hand, but the place will grid lock like nothing and parking will be almost impossible, so i guess in that case, you may have to walk or bike.

You will want boards longer than you think, and you will want to be paddle fit, as many of the breaks are a long way off shore.

But it is a absolute must IMHO. The North shore is simply a surfing hot spot that needs to be experienced. Ive only been once and i can't think about anything else

We stayed on the beach, at a spot call Leftovers. I had the family in tow and they like me, they will talk about nothing other than the North Shore

Ask straight away at Foodland for a discount card. It will save you heaps. Eating at restaurants you can often split meals if you want to save. I saw one group splitting one plate between three people the serves are that big.

Embrace Acia bowls and Shaved ice.

Dollar at $0.82 exchange though will hurt the pocket..

Definitely invest in a car if you intend to tour the island a bit. I was on the island for 3 weeks so I bought a bike and two surfboards upon arrival and sold one board and the bike when I left, effectively 'cheating the system', as my accomm owner called my strategy. You can ride to Haleiwa from the stretch east of Waimea, but you either have to be rather fit or have a bike with gears. It's quite a pleasant ride actually, I reckon. You can check all the breaks on the way too. Just one thing that disappointed me about the stretch is that there are no real point breaks. Sure you've got Rocky Point, but it's not a true 'point' as much as a Rincon or a Malibu might. It more a short stretch of reef that dish out wedgy peaks. On a N/E swell it seemed to turn into quite a walled right. I didn't go out when it was like that as I wanted to have a go at Sunset, but there was only one guy out getting long pretty lengthy rides. This was during contest period. Would definitely go back to try that.

jb is spot on about the bus. Super handy when you run into it for obvious reasons. It also has a bike rack on the front. But I waited for it for over an hour with friends waiting to get from Turtle Bay back to my accomm one day. It's often better to hitchhike, which is still practiced regularly on the north shore. It's so lax there.

When there's swell, it gridlocks as there's only one lane. Especially around Waimea. Everyone wants to see the phenomenon. You can breeze past all the cars on a bike, laughing. Also as jb suggested, longer board. I'd suggest doing what I did and buy or rent something while you're there. Boards over there are a different animal. I never surf anything over 6'4 and normally squash tail in most places around the world that I've surfed, but I was riding a 6'6 pintail Lost board most of the time there. The pros also tend to leave a few boards at the local board shops once they get out. I found a 7'0 Michel Bourez Firewire in as new condition at the local boardstore selling for $400. Was frothing!! Could have shipped it home to still sell at profit! Anyway, whatever you ride at home, make sure you go for something longer, bit more volume and with a rounder/pin tail... unless you plan to go for Ehukai beach park the whole time.

I was their for three weeks in Oct and it was hot most days. Around 33 degrees and i can't imagine riding a bike to much. Maybe December gets cooler? Either way, you can catch a bus from all around the island. If thats your thing.

Sparki did you ever see Puaena point breaking well? The day i went out boating from Haleiwa it was all time and from the channel looked like so much fun.. Im also a bit sorry i didn't surf anywhere past Turtle bay. Apparently their are some really fun spots that side also.

I really would like to drive up around Makaha region and check that side out. Three weeks wasn't anywhere near enough time sadly

I guess the temp rather dramatically drops after that time of year then. Never once wore a jumper and never once felt too hot in the sun. Gotta love a tropical winter! Certainly can catch the bus around the island, but certainly don't recommend it! haha

No I didn't. Unfortunately I went with a share house buddy to Haleiwa on a 1-2ft day. Nothing looked decent. Haleiwa was a left hander it was that small.

Agreed, it's not quite enough to get everything in. Would probably take 3-4 weeks per side of the island! surfed waikiki once and another reef a 10 minute walk east of there, both at 1ft. both fun in their own right. so much potential!!