Famous for its gigantic waves, the North Shore - the north-facing coastal area of O'ahu between Ka'ena Point and Kahuku Point - is a mecca for surfers from far and wide. This area is home to the settlement of Hale'iwa. Thanks to the waves originating in the stormy North Pacific, winter is the busiest season in the area, which welcomes surfers from all over the globe who flock to famous surfing spots such as Waimea Bay and Sunset Beach.
No surfing spot on the North Shore, however, is as popular as Ehukai Beach, famously known as the Banzai Pipeline. Its proximity to the beach make it ideal for competitions, allowing spectators, judges, and photographers to get a superb view of the action. Every December Ehukai Beach hosts three competitions - Reef Hawaiian Pro, O'Neill World Cup of Surfing, and Billabong Pipeline Masters - which constitute the Triple Crown of Surfing. Meanwhile, the neighbouring island of Maui hosts three women's competitions, which are the Reef Hawaiian Pro, the Roxy Pro Sunset, and the Billabong Pro.
There's a good chance you've already seen the North Shore on a documentary or filming. Given its landscape, swells and proximity to Honolulu, this area is a popular area for filming. For instance, the documentary film Bustin' Down the Door (2008) reports on the rise of professional surfing in the early 1970s. There's also a TV show named after the area. Much of the famous TV series Lost was filmed on the North Shore. The North Shore was also the setting for famous films such as Blue Crush and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, as well as being fictionalized for the animated film Surf's Up.
The North Shore is home to many professional surfers and celebrities. Some of the professional surfers who live in the area are Rochelle Ballard, John John Florence, Bruce Irons, Jamie O'Brien, Frederick Patacchia and Makua Rothman. Some of the celebrities who call the North Shore home are Brian Grazer - Oscar-winning film and television producer -, Jack Johnson - folk rock singer-songwriter -, Clark Little - photographer-, Konny Reimann - German reality TV star - and American travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux.
With a prolific career that includes 20 novels and 10 travel books, Paul Theroux chose Honolulu as the setting of his new novel, “Hotel Honolulu.” The writer, with 40 years of experience, discussed his new novel with CBS News Sunday Morning correspondent Jerry Bowen. Theroux disclosed that his novel features erosion and litter. “There are very, very creative murders here. There's weird goings on in hotels by public figures. Not the stuff of the Hawaii tourist board. But they happen and they're more interesting to me than hula girls. There are very few hula dances in this novel.”
Theroux also alludes to himself on the novel. “I find it very, very hard to write anything without being self-referential,” he said. “In the past 10 or 11 years, I've had a very big transition in my life. I started off in the states. I travelled around the world. I lived in various countries. I remarried and I have, you know, different life. To understand it, I find I had to write about myself inevitable a lot.”
This Hotel Honolulu makes reference to a fictional place which takes after the kind of hotel Theroux likes to stay in during his travels, which is a place that sees characters passing through and it's a place with character itself.
The author continues to feel curious about the world. “The travel experience is always different, according to… who's running the show. Some countries are not ready for prime time. In general, those are the places I'm interested in.”
After being a frequent visitor to the Hawaiian islands, Theroux moved there 11 years go. He lives on a six-acre compound on Oahu's north shore, which is a tropical retreat where he grows herbs to cook, and even keeps bees for honey.
He also works on a special desk: “This is where all the action takes place, or rather, inaction,” he explains. “This desk was made in Singapore, at a time when I found it very hard to write in 1969. I had sort of writer's block, I guess. So I said, ‘If I had the right desk, I can do it.'”