We went diving at a location called The Fire Station near the town of Pupukea on the North Shore of Oahu. It’s called The Fire Station because…well…it’s right next to a fire station. It’s located right between two other well-known North Shore dive sites — Shark’s Cove and Three Tables.
It’s a pretty decent shore dive. The water is flat in the summer. The entry is a bit of a challenge because you have to walk over some lava rock to get into the water, but it’s not too difficult. The waters in this area are part of a marine park, so the fish are fairly abundant. Turtles can be seen regularly. Depths run from 10 to 30-some-odd feet in most areas. On top of that, you can snorkel in this area and the two adjacent dive sites, and there is a rather extensive tidal pool in which to walk around (along with all the toursists doing the same thing).
The biggest challenge is parking. On the weekends in particular, you better get there before 10:00am or you might be outta luck.
After diving, you can head into Haleiwa, which is only a few minutes away. Today, we stopped at Haleiwa Joe’s and had a beer and some lunch on the lanai (not that Haleiwa Joe’s has much in the way of vegan options — just a couple salad options and a side of fries; but it has a great view of the harbor).
