Events:
· JIB Breakfast ($8.25)
· Snorkeling at Ko’olina (free)
· Aoki Ice ($2.50)
· Matsumoto’s Ice ($11 sandals)
· Snorkeling at Shark’s Cove (free)
· Romy’s Shrimp Shack ($24)
· Sunset Beach, Chu’s Beach, Bonzai Pipe, Turtle Beach (free)
· Shorebird Restaurant at Outrigger Reef on the beach ($52)
Up early, grabbed a bite from Jack-in-the-Box on Kapahula and ate it as we drove to Ko’olina. It’s about 30 odd minutes depending on traffic taking H1 across until it turns into a highway. We took the Ko’olina exit and soon you are entering a private resort area. Marriott is the main owner, I guess, but there is also Paradise Cove which is one of the big 5 luau’s you can do on Oahu. Also there are some condo/houses, a golf course, and I think at least one other big building builder. Marriott has a few Marriott Club International timeshares going on there though (prices are 33k to 60k-ish, not too cheap for a week a year) plus the JW Marriot Resort (category 7 hotel/resort/spa) is over here. Anyway, the draw to Ko’olina is there are 4 man made lagoons along the west shoreline which are really great for snorkeling. Pools 1 and 3 are roundish in shape and are the better ones for snorkeling in my opinion as they have deeper channels that go out to the ocean. This is where all the fish hang out in teems and teems. Also you are protected from rough waters by a break wall in the channels as well. Just stay out of the middle channel which does not have a break wall and you’ll be fine. Otherwise, the west shore is pretty rough and there really isn’t much beach. Our last trip out we went to Hanauma Bay and by far preferred snorkeling the lagoons at Ko’olina. Just as many fish, just as many varieties, and a LOT LESS people. And it is free, free parking, no movie to watch, no dangerously shallow coral areas waiting to rip you apart. So it proved again, that the conditions are great for fish watching. I tried getting some pictures with our underwater camera with 800 film and a flash. We’ll see how they turn out. Last time out it was a bit iffy. Underwater photography with a $15 camera usually yields 1 good shot for every 5 taken. But that is still cheaper than getting a real underwater camera, but Pentax has tempted me a few times with their little underwater digital square camera that floats… Maybe next trip.
Jenivee snorkeled a little while too, but lay on the beach for about half the time we were there. They have great beaches at these lagoons. Lagoon IV has all the parking, about 100 public spaces. The other ones only have about 15 0r 18 spots and unless you go early in the morning, they are going to be full.
After snorkeling and laying in the sun, we headed out for Hale’iwa. We took the 750 up and the 99. We stopped in Haleiwa and went to Matsumoto’s and Aoki’s shaved ice shops. The line was super long at Matsu’s so we got our shaved ice at Aoki’s and then Jenivee bought some sandals at Matsumoto’s. Very interesting little ice shacks…
We then went up to Shark’s Cove to snorkel. Pretty cool snorkeling. At first I was thinking it was not that great, but once you get out in the Cove a little bit; WOW! All kinds of fish! I was trying compare with Ko’olina for snorkeling, and if I had to choose one or the other ONLY, I would say do Shark’s Cove. However, I would say they are more different than better or worse than one or the other. So do BOTH! The fish were good, some bigger types here, but mostly the same, and Ko’olina had a few that were better varieties as well and bigger too. So, different, not necessarily better or worse. They both had Tang, Surgeonfish, Snappers, Chubs, Boxfish, Porcupinefish, Moorish Idols, the famous Humuhumunukanukaapoaa, Butterflyfish, Trumpetfish (very interesting!) and MORE. And Ko’olina is definitely less crowded. I did see a huge eel at Shark’s Cove (probably a Yellowmargin Moray, kinda had leapord spotted skin with yellowish edging) that would stick its head out of a rock and make menacing faces with jaws wide open every so often when BIG sunfish would come by. Otherwise, it ignored the little fish that approached, and as soon as little fish would come by and see the eel inside, they would quickly take off. The big flat fish, like the big Tang fish that were bigger than my head and the Yellowfin Surgeonfish, almost seemed like they would come up to the eel hole and float sideways over it, taunting the eel to come out. Usually the eel would stick its head out, make some grimaces, and the big fish would eventually swim away. I got it to stick its head out a little by diving down and waving the camera in front of the hole, but it didn’t seem too interested. I was a little scared to taunt it too much either. It had a pretty vicious looking mouth. It had to be pretty big because it’s coiled up body looked like it was about 6 inches in width and I could see it coiled around at least twice in the hole. Hopefully one of those pictures turns out.
After snorkeling until we couldn’t stand it anymore, we drove up further along the North Shore and looked for a shrimp shack. We knew Giovanni’s and Romy’s were supposed to be good. We found Romy’s first and got Sweety & Spicy and the Garlic plates. A bit spendy ($11 each plate) but it was pretty good. They make it fresh, so you have to wait. They grow their own (or get locally) their own prawns, so those are what they are known for. Pretty messy too. They were NOT shelled, so we got butter and sauce all over. We pulled over at Sunset Beach (or Chu’s beach) and ate them up and then went out to the ocean to wash off. Then we just headed down the beach. We stopped at the Bonzai pipeline beach (Ehukai is the real name; it is across from a green painted school building and soccer field). The waves aren’t big this time of year, but there were still a few surfers and boogie boarders. They were filming a wedding scene some Japanese film on the beach and we had to cross the set a couple of times. They were trying to keep the section of beach foot print free and between the people and loose dogs, it took them a while to get the shot. Kind of interesting to watch. It was raining off and on as well, which probably didn’t help them.
We finally found Turtle Beach and sure enough, there were at least a half dozen turtles floating in the surf near the shore. None on the beach though, probably not a warm enough day for them and there were a fair amount of people around.
After hanging out at all the beaches for a while, we drove back to Honolulu. We cleaned up and went to the Shorebird for dinner. It’s in the Outrigger Reef, a bit past the official Waikiki strip, but still generally called Waikiki, near Hale Koa. They have live music, and you cook your own steaks on hot hot grills. I got a bug top sirloin, and Jenivee got the Hukilau basket. Excellent grub. Maybe not hoity toity, but just plain good. Plus I cooked the steak just the way I like it, about 3 minutes on each side, very very pink in the center. It came with a salad buffet as well which was good too. It’s right on the beach so the view and atmosphere are great. We listened to the music for a little while, walked back along the beach, and crashed at the hotel. Only one more day! It starts to dawn on you that you have to leave soon! How sad!

« »