Exploring the Eastern Coast of Oahu

Our first day on Oahu, we discovered that one of the magical parts of a trip to Hawaii is in the beautiful drives all around the island. After landing in Honolulu and loading our luggage into our car, we made the drive along Highway 83 to the North Shore. With Jack Johnson playing and the windows rolled down, we breathed in the salty, misty air and felt the warmth of the island sun as we made our way along the winding, view filled highway roads.
Coast lines and beaches, jungles and mountains, this drive enchanted us with our first views of Hawaii. We had dreamed of this and it truly was magical and larger than life. There is nothing to compare with natural beauty. I didn’t even want to blink.
Because we were going directly to our accommodations in Kuilima, we only stopped briefly at a few areas along the way to get a better look.
We knew we would have to come back during our trip to spend more time on this captivating Eastern side of the island.

A few days into our trip, we made it a point to take a closer look to explore this gorgeous area with so many hidden treasures. From Kuilima, we made our way to Kualoa Ranch where we walked around exploring the Jurassic Park movie props. Watching the movie growing up and seeing heavy rainforests and jungled landscapes that looked just like it made me feel almost positive that a T-rex or Velociraptor was going to jump out at us from the trees at any moment.

When it was time for our tour, it began with a boat ride across Moli’i fishpond where we learned that the fishpond is believed to be about 800 years old and was created by legendary Menehune to cultivate fish that were easier and less risky to catch than having to fish in the ocean. The fishpond is salt water and allows fish to enter the pond where they can feed and grow. Our guide mentioned that the pond is very bio diverse and full of very large fish. Fishing contests happen in the pond every year and he told us that record breaking fish of all kinds including Barracuda and very large Eels have been fished from the pond. Our kids eyes widened when the guide mentioned that they could lose a finger if they dangled their hands in the water, especially if they were wearing rings or sparkling nail polish because Barracuda’s seem to be attracted to bling. Haha:) ( Me too Barracudas!)
This was such an interesting part of the tour as we learned a bit about Ancient Hawaiian aquaculture and sustainable fishing practices and the mindful stewardship that the Hawaiians practiced then and now to maintain the environment for the water ecosystems in this area.

After a smooth and gentle boat ride across the pond, we landed at Secret Island. Here, we stepped off of the fishing boat and walked
through jungle terrain with a thick green canopy overhead and sand and roots under our feet to a beach where our family took our very first Catamaran ride together. Some of my favorite views from the whole trip were of the Ko’olau mountain range from our Catamaran on the water.

We rose and fell on big swells as we made our way out into Kaneohe Bay. We were able to spot sea turtles and Dolphins as we made our way to see Chinamens Hat, and enjoyed the views of Hakipuu and Kualoa valleys. While we were sailing we also watched a summer storm build and with nowhere to hide, it drenched us in tropical, warm rain.

Our Family’s first time sailing on a catamaran.

Chinamens Hat

The views of the island from the water were dazzling and we saw how quickly the island weather can change from being bright and sunny to stormy to sunny again.

After we finished sailing we made our way back across Secret Island and the pond to the ranch where we stopped at a fruit stand to buy Breadfruit and Pineapples to take back to our condo.

We continued working our way driving down the Island along the scenic highway where we stopped for views of beautiful beaches and Halona Blowhole. One of the fun parts about the blowhole is that it’s unpredictable and so if you have the chance to see it, it will catch you by surprise. It must have been our lucky day because we were able to see it shoot water up into the air while we were standing at the viewpoint above.

While we were waiting and hoping to see it erupt again, the kids spotted the pretty beach below the viewpoint where a few other people were swimming. We found the pathway to get down to the beach and we jumped in to play in the waves. We found out later that this cove is called Cockroach Cove, so named by the locals to try to deter tourists from the beautiful secret beach. We didn’t find any cockroaches but we did find some of our most relaxing moments and favorite swells to swim in.

As evening began to set in, we packed up our beach towels and climbed back up the trail to make the drive to Waikiki Beach to meet some friends for the Friday night fireworks show at Hilton Hawaiian Village. This was such a bustling and exciting place to spend a Hawaiian Friday night and I loved this pretty harbor view of the sunset from a balcony that night.

Soon after the sunset we walked to Hilton Village to find a spot to sit for the fireworks. Seeing fireworks erupt while sitting under palms on a beach and laughing with some of our best friends was the perfect way to end the night.