Despite all the population and tourism growth on the north shore of Oahu in recent decades,

the state and locals have done a really good job staving off commercial real estate development.

In the seven-mile stretch from Veland in the far north to Lani Achaia in the south,

there's one gas station, one grocery store, about a dozen food trucks, which

are all but permanent, and there's one hotel in that stretch of waves which houses your five

restaurant options. Then, just two miles south of Laniakia on Cam Highway, is the old plantation town

of Holly Eva, the functional center of North Shore commerce.

The iconic rainbow bridge marks your entry and your crossing of the Onahulu River that

pours into the Wailua Bay, which houses the Hollyiva Boat Harbor, and the eponymous and iconic

right-hander, and perhaps the most high-performance wave on the North Shore.

It also marks the first stop of the Triple Crown of Surfing each year, an event that today's guest won in 2009.

Haleeva Town spills out south of the harbor, and the kitschy and bright yellow and red sign for Holly Eva Joe's seafood grill

is your first alert to the slightly more frenzied energy to come, complete with multiple

options for groceries, dozens of restaurants, which now includes sophisticated options,

vegan fare, right alongside the traditional shave ice and barbecue chicken right off the back of a truck.

There's even a couple of residential tracks, fine art galleries, and even a Starbucks.

Despite this development in and around Haleiva, or perhaps because of it,

City Hall in Honolulu designated H Hollyiva a state historic district and has protected

30 of the historic buildings to preserve the plantation style architecture that was influenced by the

Wai-Lewish Sugarcoe dating back to the late 1800s. In fact, the Old Town Center could double as a western

town if it weren't for the pastel

paint colors and the wine bars in place of saloons.

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