Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Getting to Know Hawaii: Laie Point State Wayside


The Need to Knows:
  • Laie Point State Wayside is located at the end of Naupaka Street in Laie, Hawaii 96762.  It's exact location is here:
  • The park is open during daylight hours every day and it costs nothing to visit.
  • The parking lot is very, very tiny, so please be mindful of where you park since this is a neighborhood (no blocking driveways!).
  • There are no bathroom facilities here, but there are trash cans available.
  • Since there are obviously no railings or safety measures here, be smart in your judgement when it comes where to explore.  Also be careful if you're wearing flip flops!
  • There's also no shade, so if you plan to stay a while for lunch or something else, I'd recommend a hat or some sunscreen.

Laie Point State Wayside is a small outlook area overlooking the Pacific Ocean on the northeastern corner of Oahu.  It offers gorgeous views of a few smaller offshore islands as well as powerful waves crashing against the rocks.  Although it's not a very big area and you'll probably only spend a few minutes of your day here, I absolutely think it's worth checking out just so you can check out another view of Oahu's rugged, beautiful coastline.


Some of the rock stacks left by people brave enough to venture up the island
There's a plaque here at the point that goes into detail regarding the Hawaiian legend of Laie Point.  Essentially, a great Hawaiian warrior named Kana defeated a giant lizard (mo'o) here, chopped it into five pieces, and scattered each piece into the ocean.  Each of the offshore islands is a piece of the mo'o.




When the waves aren't going crazy, a particular spot off this point (not pictured) becomes a very popular jumping point into the ocean.  You actually may have seen this before if you've ever seen the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall or this crazy awesome video from YouTube user shibbystylee:


Personally, I'm more of a stay-on-dry-land-and-not-drown kind of girl, so I'll be leaving the cliff jumping to the professional risk-takers!

WARNING:  If you choose to jump from this spot or anywhere else on island, you do so AT YOUR OWN RISK.  Spitting Caves has had two tragic deaths in the past few months (both young Navy sailors) because of jumping into rough ocean waters.  Please be WARNED and be KNOWLEDGEABLE of the risks of this kind of activity before participating and STAY SAFE.  If the ocean looks rough and/or you aren't a strong swimmer, DO NOT JUMP AT ALL.



It's pretty fantastic to just sit here and watch the waves crash against the rocks.  It's a raw, natural beauty that I've learned to associate with all of the Hawaiian islands and it's definitely hard for me to get my fill of it.  This would be a great place to bring a plate lunch from a restaurant over in Laie and sit, eat, and contemplate the power and beauty of the ocean and the islands.



Where's a place you like to go that leaves you in awe of nature?

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