February 2021 - Oahu
Part 2 of our trip to Hawaii (part 1 is here). We went to Hanauma Bay to do the obligatory snorkeling. It's supposedly better than its been in a long time thanks to being closed for months, but for people with our expansive snorkeling experience, it was pretty bland. Overall poor snorkeling. Then we hiked Makapu'u Point to see the lighthouse, which was a lovely hike. And we saw some whales out off the coast! We ended that day at Lanikai Beach, which was lovely. The next day started at the Dole Plantation, also obligatory. Our North Shore stop was the Liniakea Beach (Turtle Beach), so-called beacuse sometimes turtles like to hang out on the beach. We went hoping there would be one but figured the odds would be really small - but there actually was! We loved it! The final day we hiked up to the Wiliwilinui ridge. The trail was excellent. A bit muddy in places, which was challenging because it was also steep, but we survived that aspect and the views were stunning. Our final evening was spent on Waikiki Beach, which gets a bit of a bad rap for being ultimate tourist beach, but it really is a lovely beach for swimming at. The water was noticeably warmer than the other beaches we went to, and nice calm water.
Part 2 of our trip to Hawaii (part 1 is here). We went to Hanauma Bay to do the obligatory snorkeling. It's supposedly better than its been in a long time thanks to being closed for months, but for people with our expansive snorkeling experience, it was pretty bland. Overall poor snorkeling. Then we hiked Makapu'u Point to see the lighthouse, which was a lovely hike. And we saw some whales out off the coast! We ended that day at Lanikai Beach, which was lovely. The next day started at the Dole Plantation, also obligatory. Our North Shore stop was the Liniakea Beach (Turtle Beach), so-called beacuse sometimes turtles like to hang out on the beach. We went hoping there would be one but figured the odds would be really small - but there actually was! We loved it! The final day we hiked up to the Wiliwilinui ridge. The trail was excellent. A bit muddy in places, which was challenging because it was also steep, but we survived that aspect and the views were stunning. Our final evening was spent on Waikiki Beach, which gets a bit of a bad rap for being ultimate tourist beach, but it really is a lovely beach for swimming at. The water was noticeably warmer than the other beaches we went to, and nice calm water.
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| The sun rising over Hanauma Bay | Snorkeling! | Under the water - pretty bland relative to our other recent snorkeling destinations |
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| Some nice corals here and there | Plenty of fish around! | |
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| Really beautiful from above! (Actually more scenic than in the water...) | ||
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| A whale flapping around on the surface of the water | ||
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| The Makapu'u point lighthouse | ||
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| Looking up the northeast coast of the island | Cool islands | Action shot! |
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| In the other direction - the south coast | A Zebra Dove really posing | The lighthouse way up on the cliff |
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| A Red-tailed Tropicbird | A White-tailed Tropicbird | Obligatory shaved ice |
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| Lanikai beach in the late afternoon | ||
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| IMG_3023 | Riding the train | |
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| Pineapple fields! | A hedge maze | |
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| Some dole whip. It's really not that good. | There were a couple of Saffron finches foraging in the grass | |
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| A Red-vented Bulbul | A Red-crested Cardinal | |
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| Checking out the birds at Dole | The long stretch of Laniakea Beach | A turtle resting on the beach! |
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| The turtle blends in surprisingly well with the rocks | Just sleeping | Lots of beach! |
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| A little bit of rain passed through while we were at the beach, but it wasn't much of a bother | The Laie temple | |
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| We came across a tree that was jam packed with sleeping Java Sparrows. It was so cute because they all paired up to sleep! | This adorable couple was cudding under a leaf | Hiking up to the ridge |
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| A beautiful White-rumped Shama singing in the trees | Looking back over the rolling hills to Honolulu | |
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| The sun rising over the ridge | The valleys heading out to sea | |
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| Hiking action shot | The ridge was really narrow in places | Approaching the peak - except it wasn't really, there was a higher peak behind that one. |
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| At the top of the ridge, looking across to the other side of the island | Incredible views of the entire bottom half of the island | |
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| The ridge is so steep on the east side, a sudden drop off of a couple thousand feet or so | ||
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| In the other direction, a great view of Diamond Head | Towns creeping up the valleys | The trail was steep on muddy on the way back, so ropes were helpful |
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| Waikiki beach! A bit busy and full of hotels, but it's really a lovely beach for swimming and hanging out at. | Diamond Head sets a beautiful backdrop for the beach | |
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| Beach time! | An old tree that had a few White Terns hanging out in it | A White Tern flying back to his nest |
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| A couple having a private moment behind a leaf | Doing some grooming | |
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| Checking out the terns from the beach | Our final sunset in Hawaii |