How to live the 'Blue Crush' life, the Kate Bosworth way

American actress Kate Bosworth has many a hit to her credit, but one of her earliest movies continue to sing to everyone who calls themselves a "beach person". So we couldn't help get the actress to give us a guide on how to get down to that perfect Hawaii escapade. 

When I shot the movie Blue Crush in Hawaii, I was fresh out of high school. I remember driving along O‘ahu’s North Shore for the first time and watching the waves from the car. I’d never seen anything that compares; they were like avalanches in the water.

Surf culture is so relaxed. People come out of the water, put on a T-shirt, board shorts and flip-flops, and then go out to eat. Even the nicer restaurants are still very chilled. In the town of Haleʻiwa, there’s a Thai place called Rajanee, named after the owner’s grandmother, who cooks everything herself. She makes a ginger salad, which is one of the best things you’ll ever eat. Her coconut shrimp and spring rolls are amazing.

I love to visit Waimea Bay, where Lost was filmed. You can go on hikes around the area and they do full-moon walks at night. If you’re there for the day, it’s a wonderful spot to set up a barbecue, blankets and a tent if you don’t like being in the sun.

My favourite restaurant is a tapas place called Maya’s. It’s lit by candles and the tables are made from overturned barrels. On the menu is a delicious coconut guava limeade, which is one of the best drinks I’ve ever had – and you have to get a shaved ice when you’re there. That’s an essential.

Go to Banzai Pipeline for surfing. Even if you’re not a surfer yourself, you will get to see hundreds of photographers standing on the shoreline watching the huge waves and the people who dare to ride them. It’s a real spectacle.

Honolulu is about 45 minutes away from the North Shore. It’s probably the most crowded part of the island, but it’s a good place to be if you’re just learning to surf – the water is gentle, almost like a wave machine. To get there, you can either drive straight through the middle of the island, past the Dole pineapple fields, where you can stop to walk around and try the pineapple, or you can do the beautiful drive along the east coast.

To me, Roxy is the ultimate brand of the North Shore. My essentials are a bathing suit, an oversize T-shirt, comfy sweatpants and sunglasses. I also pack sunscreen, obviously – I really like Supergoop and Coola – and I bring Sun Si’belle, which is tinted SPF, so you don’t need foundation. Then, I’ll take a good hair mask and shampoos; I switch between Aveda and Pureology.

 

I lived on Sunset Beach with my co-stars Sanoe Lake and Michelle Rodriguez. Now, I stay at the Turtle Bay Hotel, which is at one end of the Seven Mile Miracle surfing stretch. It has little bungalows with their own outdoor spaces and hammocks, and a great restaurant called Beach House by Roy Yamaguchi, which serves excellent Hawaiian cuisine and sashimi. Right beside it, there is a stand that sells fresh pineapple, papaya, mango and coconut grown on the island, and crazy-good fried banana – when I’m there, I sometimes go twice a day.

There are tonnes of little trinkets to take home. I’m a fiend for chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, and I bring boxes of those back – they’re just not the same anywhere else. Hawaii is also famous for its Kona coffee, so I buy some as gifts

 

Photo credit: @katebosworth / Instagram