Dolphin Adventure!

We decided we could afford to go on one adventure tour while we were in Hawaii. After comparing several, we decided on a dolphin viewing and snorkeling excursion on the western Waianae coast. They take you out on a nice, two story boat to view some wild dolphins. Then after a lunch of custom cheese burgers, you go snorkeling with sea turtles! We missed out on the dolphin swim in New Zealand, so I couldn't pass up this opportunity to get close up and personal with some majestic marine life.

Excited for the adventure to begin!

Incredible views of the Waianae coast from the boat.

Before we reached the area where the dolphins were hanging out, we spotted some incredible flying fish and this large sea turtle!

The dolphins were right below the railing - so close I could have touched them if I wanted to.

They loved showing off for the cameras!

The water out there was SO clear that we could see them perfectly. It was an incredible experience! Our captain followed the pod around for about thirty minutes, but the time flew past and before I knew it, it was time to head back to shore to drop off those who would not be snorkeling with us. On the way back to port they served us some delicious hawaiian style cheeseburgers (with avocado and grilled pineapple) for lunch. The food was delicious, which was fortunate as I ended up tasting my burger twice... But I'm getting ahead of myself.

After we dropped off the non-swimmers, we headed back out into the open ocean and received some guidance on how to use our snorkel equipment. Then we changed into our suits and flippers, de-fogged our masks, and took the plunge. Our snorkel guide showed us some beautiful reefs and caves where tropical fish linger. We were even lucky enough to see an endangered Hawaiian monk seal!

A little hard to see, but there's the monk seal swimming out of that cave!

One of my favorite memories from the trip - swimming hand-in-hand with my love and seeing the fish!

When we first boarded the ship, they gave us some natural ginger pills to fight sea-sickness. But I guess after four hours they worr off and I started to feel bad. I must have also swallowed a lot of sea water because I got extremely sea sick. My body always has the WORST timing when it acts up. The second leg of our snorkeling tour was what I was looking forward to most. The spot they took us to was a shell cleaning station for sea turtles. Somehow they know that if they come to this spot, the fish there will eat the algea off of their shells. So it was a guarantee we'd see some turtles out in the wild. But I was too sick to get back in the water.
James knew that one of the major reasons I went on this tour was for the pictures. So while I sat miserably on the boat fighting the rocking sensation, he had my blessing to take the underwater camera and enjoy himself out there swimming with the turtles. He got some spectacular shots while I heaved up my lunch. It's crazy how the best and worst moments of our trip happened within an hour of each other. Still - when I look back on our excursion I only remember the good.

Duke, Breakfast & Bellows

The next few days were a bit of a blur. Looking back at the end of our trip, I didn't remember specifics of what we'd done and seen (thank goodness for my visual diary). But my impressions of the next few days could be summed up just like the title of this blog: Duke, breakfast and Bellows.

I'll explain that in a minute. But first - a note for those who are reading this and getting ideas for a future trip to Hawaii. There are two towers at the Hale Koa - the "newer" Maile tower, and the original tower that was recently rennovated. We stayed in both towers and if you have a choice - I'd definitely recommend the recently rennovated rooms. They are MUCH nicer, and have a better "partial ocean view" as well!

Alright, back to the account. Sunday evening we decided to have dinner at Duke's. By all account's Duke's is the quintessential Hawaiian restaurant. The whole establishment celebrates the life of Duke Paoa Kahanamoku - the father of modern surfing. It's extremely popular, so we anticipated a long wait. After putting our names down on their list, we took a long stroll down the beach at sunset, taking pictures and watching the surfers. Then we walked back up the boardwalk and arrived just in time to be seated! The food was delicious, the atmosphere was fun - over all, the experience was well worth the wait!

James, with Diamondhead in the background

James and Duke

Duke

The next few days were pretty laid-back. Our big events involved food - namely, breakfast. American breakfast is something that's very hard to come-by in Asian restaurants. So for most of the trip, we had two meals - a very large brunch, and dinner. (This was also a financial necesity. Hawaii is many things, but cheap is not one of them.)

While he was in town, Jon highly recommended we try Eggs 'n Things. The 45 minute wait was definitely worth it. We both enjoyed a monstrous stack of fruit pancakes. For James, blueberries. For me, banana. They were phenominal. If you're in town, I second Jon's recommendation!

There's nothing better than stuffing yourself full of buttery deliciousness than lounging by the pool all day. Except, maybe, doing the same thing on the beach with friends.
On Tuesday, we headed back up the Winward side to meet Melissa and Savannah at Bellows Beach. Beforehand, we stopped at another delightful breakfast place Melissa recommended. It's called Cinnamon's. I insisted on getting something spiced at a restaurant with that name, so I enjoyed some apple cinnamon pancakes this time. We got some of their signature red velvet pancakes to go for our beach buddies.

By this time, James was getting tired of waiting for me to take photos of all the food before eating it.

Bellow's Beach was by far the most beautiful one we visited on Oahu. The sand was that ideal, soft, golden texture, the water was an outrageous shade of teal, and the breeze helped cool us down after a couple of hours in the sun. Unfortunately, we couldn't go in the water due to jellyfish and a shark sighting... But we entertained ourselves in other ways. Thank goodness for Savannah! One of the highlights of our trip was making her giggle as we built sand castles, played catch, and otherwise folicked in the sand.

I took this picture and sent it to our kids in the youth group to let them know I was thinking of them.

The sandcastle we built

Celebrating 20 years of friendship!

After we were finished at the beach, we drove down the south eastern coastline back to the hotel and stopped at a few scenic over-looks. At the one pictured below, those pilot eyes managed to spot a wild dolphin having a blast and jumping through the waves. What a sight! That little blip on our camera definitely whetted our appetite for our dolphin adventure the following day.

Turtle Bay

For most of our time in Hawaii, we stayed at the military resort called the Hale Koa on Waikiki beach because it packed the most bang for our buck. But we couldn't resist the temptation to splurge a bit on a two night stay on the North Shore. So we reserved a king sized beach-side cottage at Turtle Bay and drove up there after we were finished touring Pearl Harbor.

This resort is B-E-A-utiful. During our research we immediately latched onto it because we recognized the photos from various movies filmed in Hawaii. It has world-class golf course, beautiful pool complex, luxurious accomodations and ammenities, and its own private stretch of the fabled North Shore beach. In the winter time, when storms roll through, the waves off the coast of the North Shore are massive. This is where they hold all of the major surfing competitions we see on TV. Even in the off season or on a calm day, the coast is lined with cars as locals and tourists alike come and "hang ten".

Neither of us really wanted to try our hand at surfing. We were much more excited to relax and indulge. As soon as we stepped through the front door of our cottage, our jaws literally dropped. We are definitely not used to luxury like this when we travel. Little 10x12' Japanese business hotels with rock-hard "beds" have been the norm for quite a while. Our room had high ceilings, a comfortable four poster bed, gorgeous bathroom with a large glass shower and bathtub. But the best part was the view. There were just a few steps between us and the Pacific ocean. We could enjoy the view from our room, our porch, a hammock, or a stroll along the beach.

We felt like we were on our second honeymoon - and the staff certainly treated us that way. When we walked in, they gave us a couple glasses of fresh mango juice, sparkling water, and some ripe fruit as a complimentary snack. We also had fruit delivered to the room every morning. That first afternoon, all we did was soak in the sun and read. Then we walked to the in-house restaurant and enjoyed a delicious meal outside overlooking the sunset. After dinner, they delivered a complimentary bottle of nice champaign to our room with our turn-down service. We felt like serious high-rollers.

It was a romantic place to say the least.

This resort wasn't named "Turtle Bay" for no reason. There are frequent sightings of wild sea turtles off the coast there, and I was determined to see and photograph one! Bobby and Melissa leant us some of their snorkeling gear, and we put it to the test the next day. First, we tried snorkeling in the hotel lagoon, but there wasn't much to see. Thankfully, our concierge recommended a popular beach about 15 minutes away called Wimea beach where we had much better luck. There were several large, volcanic rocks down there that people like to climb and jump off into the turquoise water. We snorkeled around them, looking at the coral and tropical fish. On our way back to shore, James pointed eagerly ahead. He had spotted a sea turtle floating near one of the rocks, having a bit of lunch. I was so excited that it was difficult for me to hold still long enough to get a photo. What a success! Definitely one of my favorite memories from the trip.

The Beach at Turtle Bay

That night, there was a fantastic sunset, so James willingly submitted to several self-portraits. Then we grabbed dinner at the Italian restaurant before retiring to our room for some much needed sleep.

The next morning we got up early so we could drive down the winward (eastern) side of the island on our way to rendevouz with Melissa at her church. Before we left, we milked the Turtle Bay experience for all it was worth by having breakfast on the porch. While we ate, we watched the surfers just off the coast, catching some Sunday morning waves.

This little kitty really wanted to share our breakfast.

The drive down the winward coast was very scenic. It's much more windy, but the mountains are large and the greenery is lush. We didn't have time to pull over for any photos, so we vowed to return later in the week.