Hawai'i: Part 5

I actually began this post at the airport during my last trip to Kansas. I was able to get all of the pictures loaded for my last two posts on Hawai'i. During my layover in Denver I was going to do the text and be caught up. Unfortunately the wireless at Denver International was not cooperating (not on the way back either) so I am just now getting to this part. It will be good to be done so I can move on to new things!

Our next day in Hawai'i was busy much like our other days. We woke up early and headed over to Diamond Head Crater so we could make the trek up to watch sunrise.

We were running at first but it was pretty steep and rocky so we had to slow it down. When we got towards the top there were a ton of people.There was one spot where you took stairs to a little higher ground. We fought our way through a crowd of people to get there only to immediately turn around and fight our way back down. These terrible little gnats or something were literally everywhere! It was terrible and we couldn't stay up there at all. I was surprised at the the number of people who didn't seem to mind. Yuck!

The view from the stairs just below the highest point was bug free so we stayed there and enjoyed the view just as much (probably more). Behind us you can see the crater where there are buildings and the parking lot we started from.


Sunrise. We enjoyed the hike but I think we would stick to Makapu'u point if we did it again. The bugs and the massive number of people (likely due to it's proximity to Waikiki) would likely keep me away. Plus you had to pay to get in.
The tunnels carved into the side of the crater were pretty cool though. I liked the idea of being in part of a volcano.
Pretty view on the hike back down Diamond Head.
Our next stop was to the hard to find 'Spitting Cave of Portlock'. Once again we were grateful to our amazing guidebook. The public access walkway was hidden in between two houses in a residential area. We walked down and found these amazing layered cliffs as well as the spitting cave.

We stayed for a long time trying to catch the cave spitting since the water was fairly calm. Can you see Kevin at the top of the cliff? You can feel the trembling of the water when you stand above the cave and it is kind of a freaky sensation.
Kevin made his way down closer to the cave (I happily stayed where I was and opted for taking pictures.) There was nobody else on the cliffs until we were leaving and after the crowded crater it was a nice change.
A short drive from the cave was another blowhole that we thought we'd stop at. This is the view from a spot just south of where we were going.
From the parking lot to see Halona Blowhole.
Our guidebook assured us that the sign was for liability only and that it wasn't actually illegal to go down so we ignored the sign and made our way down to the beach and then the blowhole. I think everyone that saw us down there was jealous.

If you look closely you can see the mist coming from the blowhole. If the surf was higher water can shoot up really high but it was a calm day so we only saw small spurts and mist.
Kevin on the lava bed that is home of Halona Blowhole.
After our incredible morning we drove into Honolulu and had an an amazing seafood lunch. We ate at a restaurant called 'Sam Choy's' and we were very pleased. I ordered Mahi Mahi caught that morning and really enjoyed it! Our afternoon was more relaxed and I think I took a nap.

Found this little guy just outside of our hotel.
Our plan for the evening was to take a sunset cruise. We headed down to Waikiki Beach an hour and a half before sunset and boarded our boat.
The boat just drove around for a bit and we kept our eye out for whales and dolphins even though we didn't see any. This is a great view of Diamond Head where we were that morning.
Diamond Head Crater again.
Finally....Sunset! Gorgeous!
Our captain was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed the boat trip.