Hawaii

Hawaiian Wedding

Surfer at Sandy Beach

KCC Farmers Market

Before we left for Hawaii we read about a famous farmers market that took place on Saturday mornings, KCC Farmers Market. So early Saturday morning we picked up Yvonne's mom at the hotel and brought her with us to the farmers market. There were a lot of local fruits, nuts, and other snacks being sold there as well as many food stalls preparing food and drinks. We got a Vietnamese sandwich from a place called The Pig and The Lady which was another place we read about before going. We also picked up some Hawaiian papaya, an acai bowl, and some taro chips. All really great fresh food.

When we were done we dropped off Yvonne's mom and then drove the the other side of downtown to try a place called Downtown Coffee. Dan read about them and they seemed like an interesting local roaster. Turns out they were really amazing, so we bought drinks and a bag of coffee for Dan to bring back home.

Swimming at Waimanalo Beach

Before heading to the wedding we wanted to get some more swimming in. We decided to head south and check out Sandy Beach. One of our friends recommended it as a cool place to watch surfers if the waves were big. We were both lucky and unlucky. Lucky was that the waves were huge, so we got to see some crazy surfing and bodyboarding (see picture above). The bad news was that the waters were too dangerous for us to go swimming. So after we spent 15 minutes watching surfing and taking photos, we drove a bit further down the road based on a recommendation from the lifeguard to a much calmer beach, Waimanalo Beach Park. Here we were able to enjoy yet another beautiful beach and get some swimming in.

Dan & Yvonne just before the wedding at Waikiki Aquarium.

After swimming we quickly went back to our Airbnb to get ready for the wedding. The wedding was at 6pm at the Waikiki Aquarium. We got there early and helped with a little bit of the setup and just explored the aquarium a bit. The wedding was pretty small (<50 people), but they had a nice ceremony looking out towards the water at sunset and then a dinner in the same area. There was a pretty incredible sunset that night, so it was nice to be down at the water to get a great view.

Yvonne at Waikiki Aquarium

Hike & Snorkel

View of Honolulu and Waikiki from the top of Diamond Head

This morning we woke up early so that we could squeeze in a hike first thing before it got too hot and the hike too crowded. Turns out we were not early enough as there were already a ton of people at the hike and the temperature was almost 90! However, it was still a great hike. We hiked Diamond Head which is a hikable volcanic crater very close to downtown Honolulu. The views from the top were incredible as you are right on the coast and you can see up to downtown Honolulu and Waikiki Beach, and south of there for more amazing Oahu coast.

Dan ready for brunch at Koko Head Cafe

Once we finished the hike we grabbed an amazing brunch at Koko Head Cafe. This is a restaurant of a former Top Chef contestant (which we didn't realize until after eating there). We had some great food and great coffee here. They are famous for their dumplings so we got two orders of them. We also had a skillet and a breakfast bruschetta. We were really surprised by the bruschetta as it was simple but delicious. Sweet toasted bread, macadamia nut yogurt, and fresh fruit on top. 

From there we hit the road to go to the north shore to do some snorkeling at Sharks Cove per a recommendation from a friend. On our way we stumbled upon a coffee grower, Green World Coffee Farm, so we had to stop. Turns out Dan already knew of these coffee growers and was not super impressed the first time he tried them. We had some samples and checked out the place but took off since the coffee was not great.

Sharks Cove

The snorkeling at Sharks Cove was amazing. We rented snorkeling gear right across the street from the cove, got some tips from the dude working the shop and then hit the water. This was one of those places where you walked into the water, put on your gear and then looked under water with your goggles on only to see a ton of fish swimming around your feet. There were so many interesting tropical fish everywhere. We swam out of the cove a bit into the much colder and deeper waters to see if we could find sea turtles. No luck, and plus we started to get a bit scared being so far out and in such deep water. We same back into the cove and had fun swimming in the much shallower, warmer, fish-filled waters of the cove.

Hanging out at Bonzai Pipeline

After we grabbed a snack at some nearby food trucks we drove a mile or two down the road to see if the waves were big at another beach (Bonzai Pipeline) which is famous for huge barrel waves. Unfortunately the waves were not huge at this time so we didn't see much action there, but the beach and water was amazing here just to enjoy. Instead of heading straight back to Honolulu we decided to take the long way home by continuing to drive around the perimeter of the island. We wanted to check out one of the areas that was used to film Jurassic Park. While the scenery was definitely straight out of the movie, we couldn't get close since it turns out the land is privately owned and you need to pay to tour the grounds. They were closed by the time we got there, but definitely worth checking out one day in the future as it looks pretty fun to explore.

Wedding Prep

We eventually made it back to Honolulu where we cleaned up at our Airbnb and then head out for a pre-wedding dinner at the bride and groom's house where they were holding a BBQ for all of the out of town guests. We got to see some family, eat some BBQ, and help decorate some of the table centerpieces. Yvonne did some amazing text on one side of buckets and Dan drew some cartoony sea creatures since the wedding was going to be at the aquarium. These took much longer than expected so we got home pretty late that night but were happy to help out for the wedding. 

Lanikai Beach

Swimming at Lanikai Beach

Still swimming at Lanikai Beach

Today we flew to Oahu for the wedding of one of Yvonne's cousins. The wedding is on Saturday but we decided to come out a few days early to explore Oahu since neither of us have ever been. We left LAX early Thursday morning and arrived in Honolulu in the early afternoon. Since we were so early we grabbed a quick bite to eat at a place called Vegan Hill near our Airbnb. After checking in to our Airbnb in Honolulu we took off right away to go check out the windward coast of Oahu. We decided to get some swimming in before the sun set at Lanikai Beach. We got super lucky with parking right near a beach access path. This took us right to the water where we could set up shop and jump right in the water for some swimming.

Yvonne eating a fresh guava malasada from Leonards

One the sun started to set we decided to head out and grab some food at the place nearby called The Food Company. This was a recommendation of some friends, so we definitely wanted to check it out while we were on this side of the island. The food was local Hawaiian food. We ordered a bento with crabcakes and mochiko chicken as well as some ahi tuna. Once we wrapped up dinner he headed back to Honolulu and checked out Leonard's Bakery to try some fresh malasadas.

Overall we were pretty happy that we were able to get some swimming in and check out some of the island on the same day we arrived!