Tag Archives: hawaiian outdoors

outside activities in hawaii

Atlantis Submarine

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On my last Monday field trip for summer, we went to the Atlantis Submarine in Waikiki. I was actually pretty excited about this, because they go about 100 feet under water to the reefs below to check out the marine life off the coast. The water was pretty cloudy, but it was still awesome!

View of Waikiki from the boat on our way to the submarine.
The submarine.
Diamond Head.
First sighting of fish!
Our submarine.
An old plane. It didn’t crash down here, they placed it down here as part of the artificial reef for wildlife conservation.
All the bubbles as we rise up to the top!

The Day of the Honu

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This past week, I had friends visiting Oahu after the wedding in Maui. On Saturday, we did the tour of the North Shore and on our way stopped at a beach close to Haleiwa to check out all of the sea turtles (Honu). There were probably about 20-30 turtles in the water that we could see and many of them came up on the shore. I hadn’t ever seen anything like it and am so happy I got to see these unique creatures up close while I live here!

Loved this one!
Turtles of all sizes in the water.
Thinking about going back in….

Maui: Trip 2 – Day 4

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On Tuesday, Josh got up SUPER early and left for Honolulu so he could go to work (sooooo sorry for him). I stayed for the rest of the day to spend some quality time with my friends. I got up and had breakfast with Brent and Colleen and then we hung out at the pool and the beach until it was time for me to go home.

My view at the pool.
Frozen grapes! One of my favorite snacks and they were handing them out!
The beach at the resort. So peaceful.

Maui: Trip 2 – Day 3

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Laura and Jim’s Wedding Day!!!

On Monday, we woke up and headed down to have breakfast at the resort. After that, Josh and I drove to La Perouse Bay to hike around and see what it was all about. It was beautiful, but very windy. Snorkeling is supposed to be great in the bay, but the ocean was pretty rough. On our walk, we saw several goats just hanging out on the beach and in the wooded area. It was kind of hilarious to see goats hanging out on the beach. I feel like that would happen only in Hawaii.

The bay.
Looking towards Haleakalā.
A little sea arch.
Tiny beach. I loved this little beach. It looked so small compared to all of the black lava rock around it.
Goats!
Goats like the beach too.
One day he will learn to like having his picture taken.
Looking at the storm clouds coming in.

After we got done with La Perouse Bay, we went back to the hotel to grab lunch at the pool bar and then got ready for the wedding! We went to the wedding around 4:00. It was in such a gorgeous location! Everyone looked so beautiful and it could not have been more perfect! I am so incredibly happy for both of them :). Towards the end of the night, Laura and I even got to dance to our song (Wouldn’t It Be Nice by the Beach Boys). The night could not have been more perfect for the two of them!

The backdrop for their wedding.
They did it!
Colleen and I.
Josh and I.
After the ceremony.
Rainbow!
First dance.
The food was amazing!
Me, Laura and Colleen. Boiler up!

Maui: Trip 2 – Day 1

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On Saturday, Josh and I arrived bright and early on Maui to celebrate my friend Laura’s wedding. Our plan was to meet them around 9:30 to do the Four Waterfalls hike on the Road to Hana. Since we landed a few hours before that, we decided to stop in Paia for breakfast and to kill some time. However, before we even made it out of the airport Josh’s bag decided to quit on him. In a matter of 30 seconds he had all three straps break. First, the carry strap, then he picked it up by the handles and one of them broke and then finally we started walking again and the last one broke. He had to carry it the rest of the way without any handles. This early in the morning, we found it absolutely hilarious as it just disintegrated in front of us.

Josh and his disintegrated bag in the Maui airport.

Josh and his disintegrated bag in the Maui airport.

We headed to Charley’s in Paia because we were starving and it had great reviews for breakfast. I ordered the breakfast burrito and Josh had an omelet. We had planned on sharing (thank goodness) because mine was HUGE. I ate about 1/4 of it and made Josh eat the rest. All of it was delicious and I would highly recommend it to anyone. To top it all off, it is Willie Nelson’s favorite place for breakfast and we are 98% sure he walked in as we were finishing and hung out at the bar.

Delicious Orange Juice.
My giant breakfast burrito.
Josh’s Omelet

After breakfast, we changed and headed towards Hana to where we would start our hike. The hike would take us to four waterfalls. Two of which you could see staying dry. If you wanted to see the third and fourth waterfalls, you had to swim. We came prepared with our dry bag so we could take our camera to take pictures. We met up with everyone (SO HAPPY to see some of my best friends) and then started the hike. There were about 20 people total of friends and family that had come for the wedding. We hiked to the first and stopped for a bit to take pictures, then continued to the second to take more pictures. After that, we hiked up a ladder (with the help from a few ropes) then boulder hopped to the stream where we had to jump in to swim to the third waterfall. It was a BLAST!!! We all jumped in and swam up to the third waterfall. After that, we had to climb the falls and boulder hop again upstream to get to the final and biggest of the falls. It was beautiful! But I will say, the journey is what made it so fun. It was a great hike to do with a big group of people. See the pictures below!

The first waterfall with everyone hiking over boulders.
The view downstream from the first waterfall.
The second waterfall.
Brent and Colleen at the second waterfall.
Laura, Colleen and I at the second waterfall.
The beginning of the boulder hopping.
People starting to boulder hop after climbing up the ladder.
The fourth waterfall.
Swimming at the fourth waterfall.
We were a large group!
Fourth waterfall.
The beginning of the hike was almost all bamboo forrest. It was beautiful.
Loved this picture looking at the sky.
A little bridge we had to cross over to get to the first falls.

After returning from the hike, we changed and drove back through Paia for lunch. We stopped and ate at the Paia Fish Market. It was delicious! Josh had a sandwich and I had blackened cajun fish. We then wandered around the town and headed to our hotel in Makena to check in and take much needed showers.

My blackened cajun chicken. Delicious!
Josh’s fish sandwich.

We checked in and then headed over to Big Beach to hang out with everyone for the rest of the day. It was beautiful and the sun was setting. After that, we headed back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. We all met at the bar in the hotel to just hangout and eat. I had one of the best cocktails ever (Dancing Koi). I don’t even know what was in it but it was fantastic. After hanging out and dinner, we all called it a night and headed to bed. It was a long day!

Big Beach
Laura and Jim hanging out on Big Beach.

Hau`ula Loop Trail

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On Monday, we hiked the Hau`ula Loop trail with the kids. It is a 2.6 mile loop and was a great workout. We had nice weather with the exception of the major humidity. We were all soaked by the time we were done!

We all started out together, but definitely ended separately.
The riverbed was almost completely dry. Easy to cross.
It was super shaded on most of the trail.
Pretty flowers lining the trail in places.
Loved the shots of the sky and ocean through the trees.
Loved this.
First view of the valley. Gorgeous.
More of the valley.
Random palm tree in the middle of the woods.

First Peak of Olomana

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On Saturday, Josh and I hiked the first peak of the Olomana Trail. It has three peaks, but the first peak has the best views and is the highest. The other two peaks require you to be a much more advanced rock climber and since the best views are of the first peak, we didn’t see a need to hike past it (plus Josh has already done this hike a few times..including all three peaks). We could not have picked a better day to hike it. What can be a very muddy trail was dry and in perfect condition for hiking. It was a VERY humid day, but it made it quite the workout. We had a pretty steep incline the whole way there and towards the end, you had to start using ropes to hike up the rocks. I LOVED the rock climbing portion! Once we got to the top, the views were absolutely breathtaking. We could see Molokai, Maui and Lanai all at the same time. I didn’t even know that was possible! We had a beautiful 360 degree view of Kaneohe, Kailua and the Ko’olau mountain range behind us. One of the BEST hikes I have done on Oahu yet. Pictures below!

Walking down the road on the way to the trail.
The start of the trail.
Random abandoned buildings.
Starting to climb.
Little sign to water the Koa tree.
Pretty plant.
The start of the rock climbing.
At the top!
One side of our view from the top.
Maui, Molokai and Lanai. Amazing to see them all so clearly.
Mountain side from the top.
Mountains meeting the ocean.
Kailua (where I work).
So green.
Climbing down!

Kauai: Trip 1 – Day 2

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On Sunday, Josh and I got up and checked out of our hotel and headed for the Maha’ulepu Beach Trail. On our drive there, we drove through the “tunnel of trees”. Our helicopter pilot had pointed it out from the air the day before saying how many tourists stopped in the middle of the road to take a picture. We opted to take a picture, but keep moving a the same time. It was definitely beautiful though!

Maluhia Road (Tunnel of Trees)

Maluhia Road (Tunnel of Trees)

We hiked along the South coast of Kauai for about a mile. It was a beautiful mix of sand, rocks and trees. It was a great way to start our day!

The start of the trail.
The rocks were amazing!
I love the contrast in the scenery.
Forcing Josh to take a picture.
Part of the trail.
Wind arch. Loved this picture.
Moon!
Getting ready to head back to the car.

 

After the hike, we drove the short distance over to see what Poipu Beach was all about. It’s supposed to be a very popular beach on Kauai…turns out it is…it was extremely crowded, but looked like it was a fun place to go snorkeling.

Poipu Beach

 

We then drove over to Spouting Horn blowhole. The ocean was pretty calm, so it wasn’t that active. However, it was still a beautiful area…plus we spent time daydreaming about the incredible houses that lined the coast on the way there.

Pretty cool!
I couldn’t resist the picture of this coastline. Gorgeous!

 

After that, we headed back toward Lihue to catch our flight back. SO HAPPY that we finally got to take a helicopter tour!

Kauai: Trip 1 – Day 1

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Josh and I landed on Kauai Friday evening for our third trip to the island for a quick weekend away from Oahu. We were only an hour late (which is pretty awesome on an inter-island Island Air flight), but since everything on Kauai shuts down at 9:00 p.m., we had few choices for dinner. We grabbed food at Duke’s in Lihue and then checked into our hotel (Kauai Beach Resort).

The entire purpose of this trip was to take a helicopter tour of the island. In February of 2012, Josh and I hiked the Kalalau Trail along the Na Pali coast of Kauai. It was an ridiculous trip (for many reasons) and during those 22 miles there and back, we kept hearing all of the helicopters above us. We decided that we were coming back to Kauai and viewing our amazing hike from up above. We went back to Kauai in September of 2012 to do just that, but got rained out for our tour (shocking). However, I am happy to report that this trip was a COMPLETE success! We had the most amazing helicopter tour with Jack Harter Helicopters. We flew in a helicopter with doors off for a whole hour around the island. We had great weather and the views were incredible! It was by far the highlight of our trip :).

Taking off!
The Marriott Resort in Lihue.
Waterfall from Jurassic Park (also known as Manawaiopuna Falls).
Five waterfalls that pour into Manawaiopuna Falls.
Rainbow!
Waimea Canyon.
The Nā Pali Coast. Incredible.
The Kalalau Trail.
Kalalau Beach…the beach we hiked to.
The trail from above.
Hanalei Bay.
Weeping wall.
Looking back through the valley we just flew through.
Wailua Falls.
After the tour!

 

After our helicopter tour, we headed to Wailua River to go kayaking. We kayaked two miles upriver to Secret Falls (120 ft water fall). We hiked (much further than we thought) in extremely muddy conditions to the waterfall. I had flip flops on (horrible idea) and we were covered in mud by the time we left.

Along the hike to Secret Falls.
Rooster in the woods.
Covered in mud!
So peaceful.
Kayaking in action.
Action shot of Josh.
This cracks me up.
Almost done!

 

After kayaking, we went to view ‘Opaeka’a Falls. It was late in the day, so we didn’t get that great of a shot. But it was huge!

'Opaeka'a FallsAfter quickly stopping there, we went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner at Hukilau Lanai. We sat out on the patio and enjoyed some amazing food after a terrific day!

Focaccia Bread
Poke Nachos.
Lobster Curry Bisque.
Caesar Salad.
Opah fish with risotto and vegetables.
Macadamia nut tart and cinnamon ice cream.