Oahu North Shore: Beachfront ATV Tour & Native Planting

4.67

(734 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I still smell the red dirt under my fingernails. That’s what stuck with me most from our Oahu beachfront ATV tour — well, that and the salty wind that whipped at my face as we rattled along the North Shore fields. We’d barely buckled our helmets when our guide, Kaleo, grinned and told us to “drive like you mean it.” I don’t know if he was joking, but I definitely hit a few bumps harder than intended. The farm dogs barked as we passed, chasing shadows in the sun. It’s not every day you get to drive your own 4-wheel ATV right by the ocean; I kept looking over my shoulder to check if the waves were really that close.

Kaleo stopped us under a crooked palm and started talking about Kapukapuakea — honestly, I’d never heard of it before. He explained how this spot connects all the way back to Taputapuatea in Polynesia, which made me feel weirdly small (in a good way). My shirt was already streaked with dust when he handed out tiny green plants — native ones, he said, for restoring Hawaii’s shoreline. I picked one that looked like it needed some luck and tried to pat it into the sand without breaking anything. There was this earthy smell mixed with sea air, and for a minute everyone just went quiet. Even the kids got serious about planting.

Afterwards we met their animal ohana — pigs snuffling around in muddy pens (apparently they help rejuvenate the soil), chickens darting between boots. Kaleo laughed at my muddy jeans and said nobody leaves clean here anyway. The whole thing felt more like hanging out with friends than a tour group. By the time we peeled off our helmets, I had dirt in places I didn’t know possible — but also this weird pride about leaving something behind on Oahu’s North Shore. Not sure my plant will survive, but maybe that’s not really the point.