Turtle Bay Resort from "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates"
LOCATION
The beautiful Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu's North Shore, as seen in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates".
ADDRESS
Turtle Bay Resort
57-091 Kamehameha Hwy
Kahuku, HI 96731
turtlebayresort.com
STORY & PHOTOS
I've always wanted to go to Hawaii; even though it's part of the United States it seems so lush, exotic, and different, like a paradise completely unlike Maine, where I grew up and have lived most of my life. I could watch movies like "Blue Crush" and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" on repeat because the gorgeous Hawaiian settings somehow soothed me. And ever since I saw "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" I'd been dying to stay at the Turtle Bay Resort, which serves as the major backdrop of the film. In July 2016 I finally checked this off my filming location/life bucket list and it was just as good as I'd hoped.
The entrance of the resort itself is pretty grand. The above screencaps are from "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and are a pretty accurate representation of what you'll see when you drive up to Turtle Bay (although I didn't get a lei - what?!). In the film, Peter (Jason Segel) heads to Turtle Bay to try to, well, forget Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), his actress ex. That plan is flipped on its head when she turns out to be staying at the same resort, with her new boyfriend Aldous (Russell Brand). The same entry is showcased in "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates" when Mike (Adam Devine) and Dave (Zac Efron) arrive for their sister's wedding with their dates, Alice (Anna Kendrick) and Tatiana (Aubrey Plaza):
Here's how the entry looked when I arrived in July of 2016, only three days after "Mike and Dave" hit theaters:
"Mike and Dave" also shows off the stunning exterior view you get of Turtle Bay when you drive up:
This is almost the exact view you get IRL and, trust me, it makes you never want to leave:
In the "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" scene where Peter checks into the resort with the help of Rachel (Mila Kunis), the gorgeous lobby is put on display:
The resort has either moved the reception area since the film was made, or they mocked up the reception area to be over near the big glass windows with the beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean, because now there is a snack bar/coffee shop over where Rachel's reception desk is, and the actual reception is behind Kristen Bell and Russell Brand in the above screencap.
You can see a more current version of the lobby in "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates":
According to a very nice housekeeper that I spoke with at the resort, the production of "Mike and Dave" took over the whole second floor, using half the rooms for production offices and half the rooms for filming. There are little to no changes made in the hallways between real life and filming:
The glass-walled yoga house where Peter awkwardly takes a yoga class with Sarah and Aldous in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is also on Turtle Bay's property (and fun fact: Kristen Wiig plays the yoga instructor in that scene).
In the background of one of the above screenshots, you can see a wedding taking place. That's totally realistic, because the movie's yoga house is located right near the resort's wedding pavilion.
In "Mike and Dave", the boys' sister and her fiancé are staying in one of the resort's ground-level bungalows, which can be found on the beach side of the hotel.
Here's what they look like from the beach:
And those bushes are the ones Mike and Dave jump out of in a scene you might remember from the trailer:
The beachside bar where Mike and Dave's family gets drinks with Tatiana and Alice before taking the ATV tours in "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates" sadly doesn't exist anymore!
The nice man working at the snorkel rental hut told me that it got damaged in a storm and is being rebuilt and renovated, but he did point out the spot where it had once stood, so I posed there for a photo:
And here's the view of the hotel and beach from that bar area:
Turtle Bay, of course, also has a couple of gorgeous pools overlooking the ocean, and that's where the opening reception of the wedding week takes place in "Mike and Dave". Here's what the pool looks like:
And here is that same area in the movie:
There is a poolside bar called The Point, which can also be seen in the movie:
The Point is a fun place to grab a drink or some quick snacks around sunset:
And the gorgeous point after which the bar is named (and where there is a fire-lighting ceremony with dancing and music at sunset!) is where the early-movie mingling takes place:
Here's what it looks like when filming isn't in progress:
Beautiful, right? The more I look at these photos the more I wonder how I ever convinced myself to leave this paradise. Honestly, grab your piggy bank and start saving up for a stay at Turtle Bay.
STORY & PHOTO CREDITS
Written by Christina LeBlanc
Location photos by Christina LeBlanc and Patti LeBlanc
