My husband & I will be staying on the BI in February and since we have always wanted to see the North Shore on Oahu, we've decided to fly over for a day and take the bus we have read about.
Can anyone give me more information on which bus it is that we would take, where we would catch it (closest to the airport) and how long the ride is? I've found the website with the schedules but am clueless about the various routes it talks about.
Thanks much.

Please do not take the city bus to tour Oahu.

Even though Oahu has a good bus system, it is mostly for locals or tourists who take the bus from one point to another.

It will take 5 hours to complete a circle island trip with transfers. And that is without getting off the bus. Add another hour or so for each stop on the North Shore.

Rent a car. You can see Oahu much better even if you are only on the island for one day.

In one day, I would see USS Arizona Memorial, National Cemetery of the Pacific & take driving tour #2 on this list:

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...1&tid=34812564

If you insist on taking the bus, you will have to take #19 or #20 to a downtown transfer point. Then on #52 or #55 circle island bus

http://www.thebus.org/pop/airport.asp

http://www.thebus.org/pop/scenic.asp

I agree with dusty, plus more.....please understand, we live on Oahu.

I wouldn't fly to Oahu just to see the North Shore. Yes, it's nice, but if you are already staying on the Big Island, which is considered rural, there's no need to leave JUST to see Oahu's North Shore. You need to come over for a day or two to take in the historical sites, such as the Arizona Memorial, Iolani Palace, etc. or else you will say to yourself, "Didn't I just leave this on the Big Island?!"

Also if you fly over for a day and catch the bus, it will take all of your time without even getting off. 5 hours is kind of optimistic! (I'm thinking of traffic.)

Thanks for the info. We have been to Hawaii (and Maui & Kauai) many times, but have only been to Oahu for one day when we did Waikiki and Pearl Harbor. My husband is fascinated with the surfing he sees on TV on the North Shore and that is why we thought it would be fun to see in person. As far as I know, there is not a lot of surfing on the BI.

But I didn't realize it would take so long on the bus--just thought it might be a fun excursion. I think you both have talked us out of it.

Dusty and Melissa are real experts and always give great advice and info

Here's my 2 cents worth: Just because The Bus isn't a good option, you don't have to give up the idea of the trip to O'ahu. The beaches on the north shore of O'ahu are really gorgeous. I don't know what the surf is likely to be in Feb. But I think you would enjoy seeing the beaches and the water, even if there aren't many surfers. If your husband is really fascinated by the N. shore surfing, I think it is worth a short trip (or even 2-3 days) to see the area. Here is a neat site he might enjoy looking at http://www.surfline.com/reports/repo...el.cfm?id=4746 If you click on "satellite view" you can see a satellite map of the area, zoom in and out, and move to different spots.

Driving on O'ahu is pretty easy so a rental car would not be difficult. I have never taken a tour, but if you google you can find tours like this http://www.hawaiiactivities.com/us/h.../1165/ag/6249/ that might work for you, if you don't want to drive yourself.

Just some ideas to think about 8-)

Can't tell you anything about the bus but we spent a week on the north shore of oahu in early dec. it was great and if you want to see surf i would recommend it, we went to see the Pipeline masters surf contest and even though the surf was not "epic" like you hear about it was still fun being there. and someone is always out there surfing.
without traffic (which we've never encountered) the drive to and from the airport is a little over an hour. it would be an easy day trip and if you could overnight even better.
where do you plan to stay on the big island?

Here is a link to Big Island surf spots. Maybe you can visit some of them.

http://www.wannasurf.com/spot/North_...and/index.html