Snorkeling, Kayaking, Hiking . . . Oh My!

Looking at our Hawaii posts so far, someone might think that all we did in Hawaii is take pictures and eat cookies, but the truth is that we were pretty active while we were there.

One of our favorite activities was snorkeling. We headed out to Hanauma Bay on our first morning and we couldn't believe how many beautiful fish were there. The bay is beautiful and the little video they make you watch has some catchy music ("Don't feed us at Hanauma . . ."), but the best thing about about Hanauma Bay is the amazing variety of fish there. We saw some really beautiful fish.We also went snorkeling on the North Shore in the tidal pools at Shark's Cove. Shark's Cove was pretty rocky, but we hopped out to some of the deeper areas and had lots of fun swimming with very different fish than those we saw at Hanauma. Shark's Cove seemed a little more wild. We went back to Shark's Cove a few days later when the surf was high on the North Shore, and we couldn't believe how much the place had changed. Occasionally, the big waves would crash over the outside wall of the tidal pools. The waves were kind of fun until a couple of them pushed Janae up and over some of the rocks. Ouch.Kailua is a great place to go kayaking. After we saw these guys take off one morning, we had visions of gracefully paddling the smooth waters around the island. Unfortunately, our two-person crew was a little less graceful than the one we saw that morning. But we still managed to have a lot of fun kayaking. Right away we set our sights on the Mokulua islands and started paddling. The one on the right is closed, but the one on the left is open to kayakers.The islands are a long ways out there, and we nearly got stranded on a coral reef that we didn't see coming, but we managed to make it. The islands are protected refuges for shearwater birds that nest in small holes that dot the hillsides.After conquering the Mokulua islands, we wanted to stop by the appropriately named "Flat Island" that is just a little ways off from Kailua Beach. The only downside to kayaking was the crazy sunburn that Janae got when she missed a spot on her shin with the sunscreen. Sunburn aside, we really enjoyed kayaking. Even though the beaches and the ocean were wonderful, we didn't spend all of our time in the water. After some snorkeling one day, we hiked to Manoa falls. The hike took us through some great jungly areas. We couldn't believe how green it was and how thick the different plants grew.We liked the bamboo.Although we were mostly interested in seeing the waterfall, the trail itself was pretty fun to hike.We could see the falls from a little ways away. Sadly, you can only see the bottom half of the waterfall from the bottom. But the view is still pretty great. We also went for a hike on the Kuli'ou'ou Ridge Trail. Josh really wanted to hike along the top of one of the ridges, and this hike was a pretty accessible route to get up on top. It was surprising to see how different the vegetation was on this trail. This hike was quite a bit more strenuous than the waterfall hike and a lot longer, but we managed to make it without too much trouble.









After hiking back and forth up a lot of switchbacks that didn't offer much of a view, we noticed this little bench in a clearing. We figured that meant the view was about to get good.And we weren't disappointed . . .

Once we reached the ridge top, things got fun. We were almost running from lookout point to lookout point to see everything we could. The views were amazing.We were up so high, that only the clouds and a few tree branches blocked our view.We wanted to keep going along the trail, but the clouds rolling in threatened to hide the sun away before we got back to the car. We were frequently surprised at how quickly things got dark, so we decided that we should head back down.Hawaii is an awesome place to get out and explore.