So our Plan A was to hike Diamond Head first thing this morning and drive to Hanauma Bay for snorkeling – provided we could get a late checkout, before heading to Haleiwa. That way we could do what we wanted to and still come back to the room to shower and check out. Unfortunately, the latest checkout time we could get was 12:30 and we just weren’t sure we could make that happen. So we went to Plan B – we just grabbed breakfast and checked out early. It sucked to have to drive north all grubby but I guess there are worse things. The biggest issue with that plan was we wouldn’t have the hotel beach towels for snorkeling. I guess we’ll have to buy some then. 

Diamond Head is only about 15 minutes from our hotel. We arrived at 7:30 (am, not pm) and could not believe how crowded it was. You would’ve thought it was mid afternoon. Seriously. It was so crowded the parking lot was completely full. We had to turn around and park at a scenic overlook about 1/4 mile away. Let’s just add some more steps to the day shall we? I think Bob was ready to throw in the towel at this point. He didn’t seem overly excited to be climbing the crater anyway. Funny how we compliment each other at times. I was the one pushing to just do it this time. We’d come this far and who knows when we’ll ever be back again. So we locked the car and prayed it would still be there (intact) when we returned. You just never know.  So we paid our $1 entry fee and started walking.


After our 8 miles yesterday neither one of us were overly excited about another hike this morning but it had to be done, so we sucked it up. Even at this early hour the temps were heating up. I can’t imagine doing this hike in the afternoon – not only because of the heat, but the crowds too! People were passing us already on their way out. What time do this people get up? Do they not sleep? C’mon, I was awake before 6am and thought that was early but these fools made us feel like we were late to the party. Whatever.

The first half of the trail is paved and the grade is pretty easy. After that it gets a little rocky. And steeper. At the end there are nearly 100 stairs to climb to take you to the peak. Everyone was huffing and puffing at this point. I even considered bailing and taking my money shot just shy of the top. But then Bob and I look at each other and he says, “we can’t come this far and not go to the top.” Well hell. I mean the views were pretty and all but I wasn’t sure they’d be worth all that, ya know? Anyway, box checked. We did it. Don’t need to do that particular one again.  Here are the views and yours truly at the top. šŸ™‚

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It took about an hour to climb and about 20 minutes to come back down. But we didn’t stop for pictures on the way back down either – or to catch our breath. I got a t-shirt to commemorate my climb. Bob didn’t see anything he couldn’t live without. We made it back to our car (and yes it was still there and unharmed, thank goodness), and headed towards Hanauma Bay. I guess we just drew the short straw today when it comes to crowds. We were turned away from that parking lot too – it was full. The attendant just said to try back later. Ummmm, really?  We thought about it – for maybe 5 minutes. Decided to skip waiting and trying again and just started the drive to Haleiwa (pronounced Ha-lee-va). We could’ve taken the more direct route up the interstate through the middle of the island, or the longer scenic route up the east coast. My vote was the scenic route since we’ll be coming back to Honolulu by interstate on Thursday. The scenery was beautiful. The mountains are so different than any others we’ve seen before. The way they’re shaped almost look as if they’re ruffled. It so neat. The combination of these lush green ruffled looking mountains with fluffy low hanging clouds sitting on them make for a dreamy image. Unfortunately, there really wasn’t anywhere we could stop and take nice shots. The road goes through towns with houses and small businesses on either side. So even if we had pulled over on the side of the road to snap a few shots it wouldn’t have done them justice.


(Side note: my observation driving this route was that the life style here on much of the island is similar to what we’ve seen on other islands in the Caribbean. Not so much poor as simply neglected. The buildings just look as if no one has paid them an attention in decades. And landscaping? Not a priority. That does change when you get to the tourist areas and resorts of course. The little touristy towns have a higher standard as well, but the general lifestyle of the locals seems to be very simple and carefree.)

We arrived in Haleiwa around noon. Much to our dismay there was a ton of traffic! We could not believe it. Here we thought we were escaping the madness of Waikiki and look where we landed! Now this traffic was on a much smaller scale but still, it was way more than we expected. Since it was lunch time (and trust me, we had worked our breakfast off long ago) Bob really wanted to eat at Giovanni’s Shrimp truck (it gets fabulous reviews).  So we googled the directions and wormed our way through all the cars and town to the spot. Hells bells we couldn’t even get in the parking lot – for real. It was that busy. Rolling the windows down the different aromas wafted into the car making our mouths drool. It smelled so good. There are several trucks at this one spot so there were quite a few different things we were smelling – but the garlic shrimp was the strongest. We tried, we really did, but in the end we had to leave. We were too hungry and it was going to take way too long for us to get food. We have the rest of the week to get there. With lines that long, there’s a reason they’re that long.

We ended up at Haleiwa Joe’s – a popular restaurant right on the marine. From what we’ve read it’s a great spot for a sunset dinner. A beer, some shrimp for me, a fish sandwich for Bob and football on the tv made for a great lunch. We stopped by the little market for a few groceries and finally got to our condo around 2:00. Look at our views!


By the time we checked things out, unloaded the car (up three flights of stairs – we really needed more stairs dontchaknow) it was after 3:00. I’ll tell ya, that water felt mighty good. We floated for a good hour or so before climbing out to dry off a little.

After getting cleaned up we enjoyed a wonderful snack out on the lanai people watching and listening to the waves. Oh and reading the entries in the guest book. Some of them are hilarious! People from all over the world have stayed in this condo. It’s so cool to read about what they did and enjoyed (or not) during their stay.


As the sun started sinking the birds started coming home for the evening. Oh my word were they just full of themselves! We’ve never heard that kind of racket before! Totally entertaining. Bird Symphony This is what these little guys who are making all that racket look like …

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The clouds had really come rolling in so I didn’t think we had much chance of a pretty sunset tonight. The lower it sank the more color we saw. Grabbing our cameras we got out there just in time to snap a couple of these guys …


Most people we’ve talked to, or read about from staying here at the condo, say the snorkeling right out front of the condo is pretty good. We’re excited to try that tomorrow, we just didn’t have the energy today. I’m sure Bob will be up way before the crack of dawn again – even though he has not set his alarm. By the time we get to Kawai he’ll finally be on local time – for a week. Then he’ll milk being on Hawaii time for another week after we get home. For real. I’ve given him permission to wake me up if the sunrise is photo worthy. I don’t want to miss that. Will see. For now, I’m closing up shop.