The HTA Haleʻiwa Pro has a holding window of November 5 through 14, 2026. That is about three weeks earlier than last year, and it pulls the town's busiest surf stretch out of December and into the weeks just after Halloween. On October 6 the World Surf League laid out the order: the HTA Sunset Pro from October 26 through November 2, then the HTA Haleʻiwa Pro and Longboard Pro Presented by Hurley from November 5 through 14, then the Billabong Pipe Pro from January 29 through February 7, which WSL says is now a QS 6,000.
Add the keiki contest that opens Haleʻiwa's fall and you get four straight weeks, from Saturday, October 17 to Saturday, November 14. In that time three separate contest windows run in Haleʻiwa or just up the road at Sunset, with a gap of only two days between the Sunset and Haleʻiwa windows.
The window that moved, and the calendars that didn't
Last year's event, the HTA HIC Haleʻiwa Pro, had a window of November 29 through December 7, 2025. Finals ran on Friday, December 5, when Finn McGill and Bettylou Sakura Johnson won. This year the window closes November 14.
Two published local calendars haven't caught up. The North Shore Chamber of Commerce surf contest calendar lists its 2026–2027 "Haleiwa Pro" at Haleiwa Beach Park for November 29 through December 7, 2026. Those are the same dates as last season's slot. The City's triennial permit grid for September 2026 to May 2027 puts the Haleiwa Pro in its December 1 to 12 blocks. The City grid is a permit allocation, and the WSL schedule is the event's own published window. WSL has not said publicly why the Haleʻiwa dates moved.
| Source | Haleʻiwa Pro dates shown | Sunset Pro dates shown |
|---|---|---|
| WSL 2025 event listing | Nov 29 – Dec 7, 2025; finals Dec 5 | n/a |
| WSL 2026 event listing | Nov 5 – 14, 2026 | Oct 26 – Nov 2, 2026 |
| North Shore Chamber 2026–27 calendar | Nov 29 – Dec 7, 2026 | Nov 16 – 25, 2026 |
| City triennial permit grid | Dec 1 – 12 blocks | n/a |
Sunset moved up too. The Chamber page shows November 16 through 25 for it, and WSL shows October 26 through November 2. Both regional Qualifying Series stops that pass through Haleʻiwa traffic now come before Thanksgiving. The Chamber calendar also prints both the Eddie's and Queen of the Bay's 2026 windows as ending in early 2026, so it reads as last season's dates carried forward.
Four weeks, in the order they arrive
Moving the Haleʻiwa Pro up puts the town's own keiki contest and the professional events nearly back to back. Here is the sequence as the organizers publish it:
- October 17–18 and 24–25. The North Shore Menehune Surf Contest runs over two weekends. Its site says rules and details are "Coming Soon!" and points families to its Instagram and a hotline, (808) 637-2544, for contest updates. The City's permit grid places the Menehune event under its Haleʻiwa Aliʻi calendar category for October. The 2025 divisions covered ages 4 through 12, with separate boys and girls shortboard and longboard groups. The 2026 divisions haven't been posted.
- Saturday, October 24. That same second weekend, Haleʻiwa Store Lots holds its Keiki Halloween Costume Contest & Trick-or-Treat at the Kamehamalu Courtyard, 66-111 Kamehameha Highway. The event page lists 5 to 7 p.m. in its header but gives 11 a.m. registration and a noon costume contest in its schedule, so check with the organizer before you go.
- Monday, October 26 through Monday, November 2. The HTA Sunset Pro runs at Sunset Beach, starting just two days after the last Menehune weekend ends.
- Thursday, November 5 through Saturday, November 14. WSL's North Shore preview names Haleʻiwa Aliʻi Beach Park as the venue for the HTA Haleʻiwa Pro Presented by Hurley and Longboard. The Haleʻiwa Pro is a QS 2,000, and the HTA Haleʻiwa Pro Longboard, an LQS 1,000, shares the same window.
Contest windows are holding periods. Organizers pick days within them based on swell, so a ten-day window doesn't mean ten days of competition. Last year's Haleʻiwa Pro ran finals two days before its window closed.
The Menehune contest and the Haleʻiwa Pro used to sit at opposite ends of the fall: late October for the keiki, early December for the pros. This year their windows start 19 days apart, with Sunset in the middle.
What stays on its usual clock
Some Haleʻiwa routines don't depend on swell or permits, and they help with planning around the moving windows.
- North Shore Country Market runs every Wednesday from 1 to 6 p.m. at Liliʻuokalani Protestant Church, 66-090 Kamehameha Highway, with free parking, local produce, crafts, food and music. Wednesday, November 11 falls inside the Haleʻiwa Pro window, and Wednesday, October 28 falls inside Sunset's.
- Haleʻiwa Aliʻi Beach Park closes from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., and its comfort station and parking lot close from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., according to the City Department of Parks and Recreation closure list.
- Haleʻiwa Beach Park closes from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., and its parking lot stays closed until 7 a.m. That later lot opening matters for anyone planning an early morning there.
The research for this post turned up no contest-day parking or road notice for Aliʻi Beach Park from the 2025–26 season. Anyone checking for one should watch the City and organizer channels as each window gets close.
The highway in between
Through November, Sunset traffic and then Haleʻiwa Pro traffic share Kamehameha Highway with routine state maintenance. For the week of October 5 through 9, the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation roadwork page listed a roving right-lane closure on Kahuku-bound Kamehameha Highway between Waimea Valley Road and Kalou Marsh, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., for tree trimming. That list covers a single week, and it doesn't show closures for the weeks of the contest windows.
A bigger City project is still in the queue. Honolulu's Complete Streets North Shore page describes shoulder improvements on Kamehameha Highway between ʻŌpaeʻula, the "Twin Bridges," and Anahulu River Bridge. The plan covers repaving, permeable shoulders, curbs, drainage and underground stormwater storage. The page targeted bidding for the third quarter of 2026 but doesn't confirm that bidding has happened or give a construction start. The same page says the Haleʻiwa Road multi-use path is still in planning and design.
Longer-term traffic planning is also in early stages. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported in April that the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority's updated North Shore plan calls for traffic and parking baseline data, peak-time travel advisories, and a feasibility study for a park-and-ride circulator, with fiscal 2027 described as groundwork. The paper also reported that $4.7 million had been secured earlier for a parking hub near Haleʻiwa, with no construction or shuttle start date given.
December with no Haleʻiwa Pro
With the Haleʻiwa Pro finished by November 14, Haleʻiwa's December holds less fixed competition than it did in 2025. The Eddie's holding period opens December 6, 2026 and runs to March 4, 2027, according to Rip Curl's event page. The Eddie's own site says the contest runs only if wave faces consistently reach 40 feet during that period, and its invitee list still shows the 2025–2026 season. The Eddie runs at Waimea Bay, not in Haleʻiwa town.
Back at Haleiwa Beach Park, the Chamber lists the Haleiwa International Open for December 22, 2026 through January 3, 2027. The research found no organizer confirmation of those dates. After that, the next WSL event is Pipeline, where WSL said in March that limited Pipe and Hawaiʻi permits led it to give the January window to a QS 6,000 regional event that "delivers an important opportunity for local surfers."
Here is the full order: Menehune on two October weekends, Sunset from October 26, Haleʻiwa from November 5 through 14, The Eddie's window from December 6, the International Open listing from December 22, and Pipe from January 29 through February 7. A calendar printed before this month shows the Haleʻiwa Pro three weeks later than its 2026 window.
If you're timing a listing, an open house or a move around the contest windows at Aliʻi Beach Park, Ashliey Wasson and the Oahu Lux Homes team can go over how North Shore traffic and timing might affect your plans. Start your Oahu home search, or request a free home valuation.
