Turtle Bay, Oahu

Last updated
Turtle Bay, Oahu Turtle Bay, Hawai'i - panoramio.jpg
Turtle Bay, Oahu

Turtle Bay is located between Protection Point and Kuilima Point on the North Shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. State of Hawaii.

Contents

Green sea turtles were known to feed in the bay, so residents renamed the area "Turtle Bay". This name predates the completion of the former Kuilima Resort Hotel and Country Club in May 1972, although it is not the bay's original name. [1] The Bay is currently home to the famous Turtle Bay Resort, which includes hotels, cottages and a golf course. The James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge preserves a small pond adjacent to the golf course. [2]

Geography and environment

The Hawaiian monk seal is an endangered species, endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiian monk seal (1).jpg
The Hawaiian monk seal is an endangered species, endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

One of the last undeveloped areas on Oahu, Turtle Bay is recognized for its rock formations, wild coastal beaches, threatened green sea turtles and endangered Hawaiian monk seal [3] habitats, whale spottings, traditional fishing areas, small local agricultural lots and Hawaiian ancestral burial grounds.

The beach is sandy but the swimming conditions are poor because the ocean floor near the shoreline is rocky. There is a large limestone shelf that spans almost the entire length of the bay. [4] The coastal underwater formations are home to one of the most striking limu (algae) found in the Islands.[ citation needed ] Martensia fragilis grows on rocks in tide pools and on reef flats. This iridescent species ranges from light blue to pink and orange in color. [5]

The bay is surrounded by about 5 miles (8.0 km) of beaches and 12 miles (19 km) of trails.

Attractions

A World War II concrete bunker stands at the tip of the bay's western point. It is located at 21°42′6″N158°0′6″W / 21.70167°N 158.00167°W / 21.70167; -158.00167 , just north of Route 83, which is known as Kamehameha Highway. To the west of the point is Kawela Bay, and to the east, the former site of Kahuku Army Airfield.

The Turtle Bay Resort [6] has the North Shore's sole large hotel. The resort rests on 840 acres (3.4 km2) [7] including the former airfield runways. Other accommodations on the resort include the beach front Villas (built in 2005) and the Kuilima Estates Condos (built in the early 1970s). The resort took the "turtle bay" name officially in 1983. Previously the area was called Kuilima, and the point was Kalaeokaunu. [8] A $45 million deal to preserve nearly 630 acres of open space with the Turtle Bay Resort was finalized in October 2015. [9] [10]

Sports

Located just north of the famed Banzai Pipeline, Turtle Bay is the site of the Rainbows Break surfing spot. [11]

The bay is also one of a number of spots used for kayaking on the North Shore.

Turtle Bay Resort has two championship golf courses, the Arnold Palmer Course and the George Fazio Course.

In October 2015, Turtle Bay hosted "The Stand Up World Series", a professional platform for the world's best stand-up paddle racers to determine the legitimate men's, women's, and under-16 world champions. [12]

Television and film

Turtle Bay is a common area for filming because of its still largely unspoiled landscape, natural environment, and large waves, along with its proximity to Honolulu. [13]

The prologue to the 1974 film Death Wish , depicting Charles Bronson and Hope Lange as a married couple on vacation, was shot in Turtle Bay.

The area was the setting for the 2008 Universal Pictures film, Forgetting Sarah Marshall . Produced by Judd Apatow, filming began in April 2007 at the Turtle Bay Resort. [14]

With its rock formations and constant rolling surf, Turtle Bay served as a backdrop for the ABC TV series, Lost. In addition to outside locations, a World War II-era bunker in the area was used as both an Iraqi Republican Guard installation and a Dharma Initiative research station. [15]

On 25 March 2012, the Discovery Channel's MythBusters TV show episode, "marooned on a desert island" with only duct tape and a few other items, was filmed on location at Turtle Bay. [16] [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oahu</span> Third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands

Oahu, also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O’ahu and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands constitute the City and County of Honolulu. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oʻahu's southeast coast. Oʻahu had a population of 995,638 according to 2022 U.S. census estimates, up from 953,207 in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haleiwa, Hawaii</span> Census-designated place in Hawaii, United States

Haleʻiwa is a North Shore community and census-designated place (CDP) in the Waialua District of the island of Oʻahu, City and County of Honolulu. Haleʻiwa is located on Waialua Bay, the mouth of Anahulu Stream. A small boat harbor is located here, and the shore of the bay is surrounded by Haleʻiwa Beach Park and Haleʻiwa Aliʻi Beach Park. Further west from the center of town is Kaiaka State Recreation Area on Kiaka Point beside Kaiaka Bay. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a population of 4,941. The 2018 estimate was 4,040. It is the largest commercial center on the North Shore of the island. Its old plantation town character is preserved in many of the buildings, making this a popular destination for tourists and residents alike, visiting surfing and diving sites along the north shore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kahuku, Hawaii</span> Census-designated place in Hawaii, United States

Kahuku is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. In the Hawaiian language, ka huku means "the projection", presumably a reference to Kahuku Point nearby, the northernmost point of land on the island of Oahu. As of the 2010 Census, Kahuku had a population of 2,614.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kawela Bay, Hawaii</span> Census-designated place in Hawaii, United States

Kawela Bay is a census-designated place and small community in the Koʻolauloa District on the northern coast of the island of Oʻahu, City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. In Hawaiian, ka wela means "the heat". As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a population of 325.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kapalua, Hawaii</span> Census-designated place in Hawaii, United States

Kapalua is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaiʻi, United States. A resort development by the Maui Land & Pineapple Company extends inland from Kapalua Bay and Honolua Bay. The population was 495 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waimea Bay</span> Bay on Oahu in Hawaii, United States

Waimea Bay is located in Haleiwa on the North Shore of O'ahu in the Hawaiian Islands at the mouth of the Waimea River. Waimea Valley extends to the east of Waimea Bay. Waimea means "reddish water" in Hawaiian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punaluʻu Beach</span> Black Sand Beach, Big Island, Hawaii, US

Punaluʻu Beach is a beach between Pāhala and Nāʻālehu on the Big Island of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The beach has black sand made of basalt and created by lava flowing into the ocean which explodes as it reaches the ocean and cools. This volcanic activity is in the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Punaluʻu is frequented by endangered hawksbill and green turtles, which can often be seen basking on the black sand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big wave surfing</span> Surfing waves at least 20 ft high

Big wave surfing is a discipline within surfing in which experienced surfers paddle into, or are towed into, waves which are at least 20 feet high, on surf boards known as "guns" or towboards. Sizes of the board needed to successfully surf these waves vary by the size of the wave as well as the technique the surfer uses to reach the wave. A larger, longer board allows a rider to paddle fast enough to catch the wave and has the advantage of being more stable, but it also limits maneuverability and surfing speed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banzai Pipeline</span> Surf reef break in Hawaii, United States

The Banzai Pipeline, or simply Pipeline or Pipe, is a surf reef break located in Hawaii, off Ehukai Beach Park in Pupukea on O'ahu's North Shore. A reef break is an area in the ocean where waves start to break once they reach the shallows of a reef. Pipeline is known for huge waves that break in shallow water just above a sharp and cavernous reef, forming large, hollow, thick curls of water that surfers can tube ride. There are three reefs at Pipeline in progressively deeper water farther out to sea that activate according to the increasing size of approaching ocean swells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mānana</span> Islet in Hawaii, United States

Mānana Island is an uninhabited islet located 0.75 mi (1.21 km) off Kaupō Beach, near Makapuʻu at the eastern end of the island of Oʻahu in the Hawaiian Islands. In the Hawaiian language, mānana means "buoyant". The islet is commonly referred to as Rabbit Island, because its shape as seen from the nearby Oʻahu shore looks something like a rabbit's head and because it was once inhabited by introduced rabbits. The rabbit colony was established by John Adams Cummins in the 1880s when he ran the nearby Waimānalo plantation. The rabbits were eradicated about a hundred years later because they were destroying the native ecosystem, an important seabird breeding area.

Gerry Lopez, aka Mr. Pipeline, is an American surfer, shaper, journalist and film actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peahi, Hawaii</span> Big Wave Surf beach in Hawaii

Peʻahi is a place on the north shore of the island of Maui in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It has lent its name to a big wave surfing break, also known as Jaws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hālona Blowhole</span>

Hālona Blowhole is a rock formation and a blowhole on the island of Oahu, Hawaii off of Hanauma Bay at Hālona Point overlooking the Pacific Ocean. In Hawaiian hālona means "lookout".

The Turtle Bay Resort is a resort with cottages on the North Shore of Oahu island in Hawaii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kamakahonu</span> Historic Place in Hawaii County, Hawaii

Kamakahonu, the residence of Kamehameha I, was located at the north end of Kailua Bay in Kailua-Kona on Hawaiʻi Island.

Nīnole is the name of two unincorporated communities on the island of Hawaiʻi in Hawaiʻi County, Hawaii, United States. In the Hawaiian language Nīnole means "bending". Nīnole also has the highest percentage of people of Italian descent in Hawaii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holualoa Bay</span> Historic Place in Hawaii County, Hawaii

Hōlualoa Bay is a historic area between Kailua-Kona and Keauhou Bay in the Kona District of the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. The community now called Hōlualoa is uphill from this bay. The name means "long slide" in the Hawaiian Language, from the long trail that went from a forest on the slopes of Hualālai, to a site where the logs were made into canoes into this bay where a large royal building complex was built over several centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamie O'Brien (surfer)</span> American surfer

James Duncan O'Brien is a professional surfer from the North Shore, Hawaii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaupulehu, Hawaii</span>

Kaʻūpūlehu is the site of a historic settlement on the west coast of Hawaiʻi island, the largest of the Hawaiian Islands. Devastated by a lava flow, the area is now the home of luxury hotels such as the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Shore (Oahu)</span> Coast of Oʻahu

The North Shore, in the context of geography of the Island of Oʻahu, refers to the north-facing coastal area of Oʻahu between Kaʻena Point and Kahuku. The largest settlement is Haleʻiwa.

References

  1. ↑ "Hawaiian Dictionaries". wehewehe.org. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  2. ↑ "Home - James Campbell - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service". www.fws.gov. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  3. ↑ "Campaign to Protect Turtle Bay (HI)". The Trust for Public Land. August 2008. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Turtle Bay". To-Hawaii Travel Guide. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  5. ↑ "Limu of the Day - Turtle Bay, Oahu". Hawaiian Time Machine. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "Turtle Bay Resort". Official Turtle Bay Resort Website. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "Turtle Bay Resort". Conde Nast Traveler. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  8. ↑ John R. K. Clark (2004). "lookup of Turtle Bay". in Hawai'i Place Names: Shores, Beaches, and Surf Sites. Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library, University of Hawaii Press . Retrieved November 7, 2010.
  9. ↑ "Turtle Bay conservation deal on Oahu's North Shore finalized". Hawaii Tribune-Herald. Oahu Publications, Inc. 25 October 2015. Archived from the original on 30 October 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  10. ↑ "ACT 121, SB284 SD2 HD2 CD1". Governor of the State of Hawaii. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  11. ↑ John R. K. Clark (2004). "lookup of Rainbows ". in Hawai'i Place Names: Shores, Beaches, and Surf Sites. Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library, University of Hawaii Press . Retrieved November 7, 2010.
  12. ↑ "Last Event: 2015 World Series Finals at Turtle Bay, Oahu". Waterman League. Archived from the original on 11 October 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  13. ↑ K.C. Connors (22 July 2010). "Keeping country is good for isle film industry". Honolulu Star-Advertiser . Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  14. ↑ Abel, Ann. "A Hawaiian Classic, Better Than Ever: Turtle Bay Resort On The North Shore Of Oahu". Forbes. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  15. ↑ "By Geography". Lost Virtual Tour. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  16. ↑ MythBusters: Duct Tape Island Aftershow : Video : Discovery Channel
  17. ↑ "See More on IMDb Pro » MythBusters: Season 10, Episode 1 Duct Tape Island". IMDB. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.