Located between Turtle Bay and Laie on Oahu’s northeast coast, the small town of Kahuku is about 2.3 square miles in size with a resident population of about 2,000 people.
You will see numerous shrimp trucks along Kamehameha Hwy., which is the main street of Kahuku. The trucks park alongside the road and sell their product that was raised on the local shrimp farms. One of the most popular shrimp trucks is Giovanni’s which offers three types of shrimp: spicy, lemon and butter, or scampi (with garlic).
Hollywood has used Kahuku as a filming location many times, from The Diamond Head Game television show filmed in the 1970s at the Kuilima Hotel (now Turtle Bay Resort) to the more recent television show North Shore.
Kahuku means “The projection,” likely referring to the Kahuku Point protruding out into the ocean as the most northern spot on Oahu. A pleasant beach fronts the Turtle Bay Resort with good swimming and snorkeling when the surf is not rough.
Kahuku High School is known for producing many NFL players from their nationally ranked football team and is among the very top schools in the nation for most active NFL players from a single high school. Kahuku High also dominates many other sports from track and field to basketball and is strong in academics and the arts.
Some notable graduates of Kahuku High include the singer and musician Jack Johnson, the pro surfer Pancho Sullivan, and the renowned Chef Sam Choy.