- Location:
- Haleiwa on the island of Oahu, Hawaii state, USA
- N 21° 37.123 W 158° 05.122
Why this is Geocache of the Week:
This traditional cache is located on Oahu’s North Shore at Laniakea Beach, a well known surf spot where the swells are big. The beach is beyond beautiful, and the geocache usually has a good number of trackables inside that have traveled from near and far since Hawaii is a mecca for international tourists and geocachers.
But the magical part of this geocaching experience is the high likelihood of encountering a green sea turtle, or “honu” as they are known in Hawaii. The turtles often come to the shore to feed on seaweed growing on the rocks, or since they are cold-blooded, will come onto the beach to warm themselves in the sun.
You’ll be able to get close, but make sure you give them plenty of space. Hawaiian green sea turtles are federally protected, and it’s illegal and harmful to touch or get close to them. They do not lay eggs until they are 25 to 30 years old, and when the eggs finally hatch, only 1 in 1,000 will mature completely to adulthood.
Encountering a honu is considered “good mana”, or good energy, by Hawaiians. If you see a honu, will you chances of finding this geocache increase?
What geocachers have to say:
“We loved this place. We saw a number of sea turtles coming up to the shore. Many people were snorkeling to see the turtles better. If it was not for this cache, we probably would never have seen this beach.” –SP4FUN
“Wow! What a great view at this cache site. Wes-rx and I wanted to make it up to Turtle Beach and discover the north shore of Oahu, and we were not disappointed. Lots of turtles just a few feet out in the water, so plenty of excitement to distract the muggles. TFTC!” –pharmanimal2016
“What a beautiful place for a geocache! We arrived at a fortunate time. There were 2 sea turtles sunning on the beach and at least 2 more out in the surf. Kudos to the volunteers who care for the area and keep us people from disturbing the turtles.” –MuStash
What the Cache Owner has to say:
We’ve contacted the cache owner, GeoGerms, to let him know his geocache is being featured as Geocache of the Week. He was very excited, but also busy. He is helping with the dengue virus outbreak on the Big Island of Hawaii. He’s an avid geocacher with over 4,700 finds, but hasn’t had time to geocache since fall of 2015. His profile states, “GeoGerms is a tad busy right now helping with the dengue virus outbreak currently happening on the Big Island. Sorry about the lapse in cache maintenance and lack of timely responses to your emails. Hope to be back fully caching soon!”
We wish everyone a speedy recovery, and hope you’re back out enjoying your hobby soon, too.
Photos:
Continue to explore some of the most amazing geocaches around the world. Check out all of the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog. If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, fill out this form.
Hired bikes to cycle round the gardens as so big. Watch out for biting bugs at cache site. TFTC”.
