The plan for today was to hit the south portion of the island, Hanauma Bay, Diamond Head, Punchbowl Cemetery and whatever else that we could see on our way.
We hit the road at around 7AM and headed south around the southern tip of the island. After I realized that I didn't bring hiking attire and had to go back to the condo : ) Thankfully we weren't too far away. We also stopped at SafeWay to grab a quick breakfast, but there wasn't much to choose from. I thought it was really odd. No donuts, bagels or anything, just a few things left from the day before. Due to our late arrival we weren’t as quite up for a sunrise as we thought that we would be due to the time change. Our first spectacular view was from a lookout at Makapu’u Point. Surf, mountain, and beach, absolutely gorgeous.
As we continued to Hanauma Bay, we saw that the Halona Blowhole was blowing and decided to stop on our way back home later today. From my previous trip, I had remembered that Hanauma Bay was very calm and was hoping that it would be an easy start for snorkeling. Waves were a bit higher than I think I would have preferred, and definitely higher than Shawnna would have liked. But we did get a little bit of snorkeling done. We saw some fish, but all in all, it wasn’t that spectacular.
It was really neat to see fish so close to the shore, but because the water was so choppy I didn't feel comfortable at all.
Next we went to Punchbowl Cemetery because it was almost noon and we didn’t think it was a good idea to hike Diamond Head at that hour. Punchbowl was very impressive and it was interesting to go back to these things that I had done previously but didn’t always remember fully. We only managed to get lost a couple of times on our way to Punchbowl and down to Waikiki for lunch. We realized that the maps in the guidebooks and travel brochures are not quite enough unless you know exactly where you are going. So, we broke down and bought a map and proceeded to continue getting lost but at least we knew where were lost. Waikiki for lunch, just Subway, but we got a little taste of Waikiki, which is definitely different than where we were staying on the east side of the island.
Diamond Head Crater was gorgeous. The hike to the top is only 0.8 miles, but 600 ft of elevation change make it seem a little bit longer. The views from the top are very pretty, especially of downtown, Waikiki and down the coast. After that it was almost 5:30PM and time to get headed home if we wanted to get dinner. We stopped at a Japanese Fishing Shrine near Halona blowhole and ended up getting a great view of the blowhole.
We then continued past it and stopped at Sandy Beach. Shawnna was getting the requisite picture of feet in the surf, when all a sudden a “rogue” wave came in and soaked her about half way up her shorts. The best part is that I was ready to take a picture at the same time and actually got a picture of the wave and her reaction. Priceless.
On our walk back to the car, Shawnna found her first piece of “sea glass” which was something she had been looking forward to since she had seen it online. It is a piece of glass that had been roughed and smoothed by the ocean so that it has a smooth frosted look. By this time it was getting late and we hadn't gone grocery shopping yet. Finally back home after grabbing some quick groceries and some sushi for dinner. This is the beach where Dan gave me my anniversary gift : )
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