DAY 3 in HAWAII

Today we decided to explore East Oahu. There was much to see...

HANAUMA BAY

We woke up early today, grabbed some breakfast at the hotel to carry in our coolers, and headed toward Hanauma Bay. Hanauma Bay is a crescent-shaped bay on the south-eastern end of Oahu and the main attraction here is snorkeling.The word hana means “bay" and the word uma has several meanings, one being “curved.” One translation of Hanauma is therefore “curved bay,” certainly appropriate. A big portion of the movie "Blue Hawaii" starring Elvis Presley was filmed on the beach beside this bay. The coral reefs in the bay are clearly visible through the turquoise waters of this sunken volcanic crater and it's become a designated marine preserve. It's best to go early in the morning before the crowds arrive because the parking lot gets full quickly. We had to watch a short marine and coral reef preservation video before we were allowed to go down to the bay below.

We went down the path, found a place in the sand to put our towels, adjusted and put on our snorkel gear, and got in the water. It was my first time ever snorkeling so it took me a little while to get the hang of it, but Josh was pretty good at it, like he does it every day. He stayed with me a little while in the shallow area to help me and give me tips, but soon we were out swimming around through the coral reefs. We saw lots of fish in many varieties, some were so tame that they would hang out near us. It was an amazing experience!

When we got tired, we headed back towards the beach. We laid on our towels and took a short nap in the warm sun. That was the life!! I could've stayed at Hanauma Bay all day, but we had more sight-seeing to do today.


SPITTING CAVE OF PORTLOCK

Just a few miles away from Hanauma Bay, we drove to the town of Portlock. At the edge of the town, next to the water, there was a short path down a steep, unnervingly constant slope. We emerged from the path onto a rocky, layered cliff with an incredible view of the ocean. What a beautiful sight! The Cave of Portlock is below the layered shoreline. Each layer represents a different volcanic explosion, and the waters are clear and blue. The cave is where the ocean is constantly chiseling its way inland. We watched as the waves would be driven into the cave, which would cause the ground to tremble beneath our feet, and then water and mist would explode out for an extraordinary display.

Joshua made me nervous as he climbed down the steep layered cliff

You can see the spitting cave at the ocean's level, below Joshua on the left

The water was being driven into the cave ....

.... and water and mist exploding out!

HALONA BEACH AND HALONA BLOWHOLE

As we continued going down the highway, we came to Halona Beach and the Halona Blowhole. Just to the right of Halona Beach there was a Japanese guardian statue right next to the road that is said to preside over the dangerous waterways. Just behind this statue is very steep ridge which we walked out on and were treated to a wonderful view of the Halona Blowhole and the beach below. Though this vantage point was more distant than the dedicated blowhole lookout 500 feet up the road, this perspective shows the size of the blowhole eruptions in relation to the people on the platform above it. I was feeling a little nervous on this ridge, like a strong wind could knock us right off, but it was a pretty neat viewpoint. I didn't want to stay for long...

The film "From Here to Eternity" was filmed at the Halona Beach below. Locals call it the 'From Here to Eternity Beach'. We walked down the short, natural boulder stair-step path near the road to get to the beach. It's just a small beach and the surf was high that day so we didn't get a chance to swim. Behind the bay was a tunnel into the rock that passes under the highway. We decided to walk through it, but at the end, the tunnel was so low that we would've had to slide on our stomach to get out, so we went back.

Julie on the ridge high above the water and Halona Beach

See the the ridge we were on? Pretty high! (taken from the Halona lookout)

Water spewing from the Halona Blowhole

Walking down the staircase to Halona Beach

Joshua on Halona Beach The waves were coming in strong today

SANDY BEACH

An ultra popular beach with locals for bodysurfing. The sandy shoreline is steep and the waves have a powerful shorebreak. Anyone who isn't experienced is likely to get pile-driven into the sand. We heard that this is the only beach on the island of Oahu that has an ambulance on stand-by at the beach. It was fun to watch the bodysurfers.


KAILUA BEACH AND LANIKAI BEACH

After lunch at "Teddy's Burgers" in the town of Kailua, we spent the rest of the afternoon on two of Oahu's most beautiful beaches. First was Kailua Beach which is a 2-mile stretch of delicious sandy beach that fits nearly everyone's profile of a beautiful, tropical paradise. This beach never gets monstrous waves, so it's great for swimming. We saw many people renting kayaks on the beach to take a trip over to the off-shore islands in the distance.

Beautiful Kailua Beach

We spent even more time on Lanikai Beach. This beach was a few miles to the east of Kailua Beach, and very similar to Kailua beach in that it was also seriously dreamy -- It had a tropical look that postcards and paintings are made of. Joshua splashed around in the water for awhile while I basked in the sun. We liked this beach better because there were a lot less people. We felt like we had the beach to ourselves.

There were some seriously huge, beautiful beach homes that backed up to Laikai beach. Someone told us that the homes in Lanikai are the most expensive on the island. What a view to wake up to each day! I would take full advantage of a home like that!

Lanikai Beach had stunning blue water and two idyllic off-shore islands called Moku-lua, meaning "two islands".

DINNER & FIREWORKS CRUISE

After going back to our hotel and cleaning-up, we drove down to the Kewalo Basin in Honolulu for a 2-hour sunset dinner and fireworks cruise on the Makani Catamaran. The Makani literally means wind, and the boat has a real sleek design and ripped through the waves fast and steady. It was pretty windy that night, and both Joshua and I wished we had brought our jackets. The owner of the boat was on-board for the cruise that night and told us that no expense was spared when the boat was being built. It is top-of-the-line. He said that the carbon fiber mast alone cost $400,000.

Our dinner consisted of several kinds of tortilla wraps, spring rolls, pasta salad, and fresh baked cookies. Then, after sunset, we were treated to a fireworks display over the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki Beach. There were trampolines on the bow that Joshua and I relaxed in after the fireworks were over and as we made our way back to the harbor. It was a nice end to our fun day.