We started our Wednesday with an early morning hike to the top of Diamond Head, an iconic mountain in Oahu.  We had to have reservations to hike it, and we started at 7am, which was good, because it was a bit warm out.  Because you had to also have reservations for parking, but since we couldn’t get them, we parked outside the tunnel and hiked in.  

The hike was pretty steep, at times it went through tunnels, and at the end, there were lots of stairs, but the view from the top was worth it.  There was a fantastic view of the city of Honolulu, the Diamond Head Crater, and the south shore of the island.

I am so glad that Kevin took one for the team and hiked it with me, since after his twelve years in the Army, his aversion to hiking is pretty intense.

They had old military bunkers on the top, which they used for lookouts for WWII, and I had to explore.

I especially loved the view of a lighthouse down on the shore, and wished we had time to go and explore it.  I contented myself with getting pictures of it instead.

After we looked our fill and I got all the pictures, we hiked back down the mountain.  As you can tell by the picture of Kevin, he was super excited about it.  Good times!

After our hike, we swung by our hotel to grab a few things, and then we headed out to a yummy breakfast at pancake house that Madison had told us about the night before.  It was delicious, and just what we needed before our next adventure.

Our next adventure was to go snorkeling at Sharks Cove, where we got to try out our brand new snorkel/mask combo.  I loved it, even though I looked like an alien – ha ha!  Unfortunately, Kevin’s beard made it super hard to get good suction, and so he had troubles with it the whole time.

For me it worked perfectly, and it made breathing so easy.  I could have happily continued for hours.  There weren’t a ton of fish, but I did see lots of them, and a couple times I found myself swimming in a school of fish, which was awesome!!  No sea turtles though, as there were so many people there, I have a feeling that they swam away ;).  Every once in a while, a wave would come over the reef, and the current would become so strong, it would wash us away, pushing us back at least 50 feet.  We would try to anchor ourselves to a rock, but if we were in its path, it was futile.  Kevin accidentally grabbed a sea urchin and got stabbed.  Oops.

It was such a fun activity, and I would have gladly done it every day, but we had other things we wanted to do, and unfortunately, the cove got more crowded by the minute.  It sure was a beautiful place though.

Next, we drove over to Turtle Bay to see if I might find any turtles, and to enjoy the beach.  Although all of my pictures seem to be of the lava flow, and not of the beautiful sandy beach.  Kevin and I relaxed in beach chairs, I read a book, and he listened to a class for work.  Even though it was pretty busy there as well, it was much more peaceful.

And I may not have seen any turtles, but there was totally a sea lion that swam up to the beach.  It was so fun to watch, and not just because all the people were running out of the water away from it like it was a shark.  Good times.

After relaxing at the beach for a while, we headed over to the Kahuku Food Trucks for a late lunch.  I got yummy tacos, and Kevin got grilled shrimp – and for dessert, I got a sampler at Lani’s Funnel Cakes to share.  Definitely a good food adventure.

On our way back to Waikiki, we drove through the center of the island, which not only gave us views of all the pineapple fields, but allowed us to stop at the Dole plantation.  We didn’t stay there long – just long enough to get us some Dole Whips, and they were better than any that we have had anywhere else.  Maybe it was the fresh pineapple juice in the floats, but wow – so good!!

When we got back to our hotel, we crashed for a bit, until we were hungry for dinner.  Since we had no desire to drive anywhere else, or deal with parking again, we walked to a nearby shopping area and found a great foodcourt.  Kevin was hilarious – he got Hawaiian pizza, because what better place to eat it, than in Hawaii?  We ended up talking with a nice couple from Houston during our meal, which was very fun.  It was such a wonderful day.