The sights of Oahu

Hanauma (pronounced "ha-na-OO-mah", in Hawaiian) is a marine embayment formed within a volcanic cone that collasped and allowed the ocean waters into its shallow base. Located along the southeast coast of the Island of Oahu, Hanauma is both a Nature Preserve and a Marine Life Conservation District. If you plan a trip here get there early! This is an extremely popular place and they limit the amount of visitors to protect the environment. If it gets full, you will get turned away. Some of the best snorkling and swimming to be found in the Hawaiian Islands. 

http://www.honolulu.gov/parks/facility/hanaumabay/information.htm

                                           Hanauma Bay   

Waimānalo Beach (the town) lies along the eastern half of Waimānalo Beach (the beach), with an overall length of nearly 5.5 miles the longest stretch of sandy shoreline on Oahu. The drive along the East coast really gives you a sense of how Hawaii was years ago. There is much less development here and the scenery is amazing for mile after mile. The waters along many of these beaches are very calm due protection from offshore reefs. This allows for great swimming and snorkling in the calmer waters.

Waimanalo Beach

Oahu’s North Shore is home to the world famous Sunset Beach, Banzai Pipeline and Waimea Bay. Oahu’s rustic North Shore is famed for big wave surfing during the winter months but offers calm, swimming beaches in the summer and beginners can learn more about surfing by taking a class at a North Shore surf school. 

North Shore Canoe Club

I visited the North Shore on a beautiful sunny calm day in the month of February. By all apperances the surf at first seemed calm and peaceful. Then my ears picked up the sound of bigger surf and when I looked further out the waves coming over the reef were about 8 feet high on a calm day. There are beaches along the North shore that a more protected and calm, and there are some where you should not go unless you are a very strong swimmer.

         Smaller Waves Hitting Lava Rocks Along The Beach 

Big storms far out in the Pacific Ocean generate the giant surf that reaches the North Shore of Oahu in the winter. So even on a nice day, the surf can be enormous, and very dangerous.  

                    Big Waves Reaching The Beach

I waded out a few places but soon realized that the undertow and surf was far to strong for my average swimming skills. If the waves throw you into the coral it will shred you like a cheesegrader. so I was content to say on the beach and just get marvel at the power of the big surf.

  

                     Big Waves Hittng A Wall of  Lava Rocks 

The Island of Oahu has an amazing amount of attractions to visit and natural beauty to experience. I could simply not get them all in with only spending three days on this island. Being the beach person that I am, that is where I choose to spend the majority of my time. My next stop was the Big Island (Hawaii). Here is a good link for more information on the Island of Oahu.

http://www.visit-oahu.com/default.aspx

  

Waikiki Beach

When I planned my trip to Hawaii, I flew in and out of Honolulu, which is located on the Island of Oahu. Honolulu is a city of about 400,000 people, but it feels much bigger since much of it is packed along the famous Waikiki Beach. Oahu, an island occupying 597 square miles, is the second oldest island in the Hawaiian chain of visitable islands. She lies between her sister islands Kauai and Maui.

Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, HI.

With its calm waters, the beaches of Waikiki offer a great place for swimming as well as your very first surf lesson.  Waikiki is known in Hawaiian as “sprouting waters”. The water is very calm and a great beach to relax on and people watch. It will get pretty crowded though with the urban population so densley packed around it. I really enjoyed the sunsets from the beachfront area though.  The sunsets  I experienced in Hawaii were pretty amazing. Pull up a beach chair and have a cooler with some relaxing adult beverages and watch the show.

                             Sunset from Waikiki Beach

The weather on Oahu is ideal, and tempreatures range between 75-88 degrees F.  With moderate humidity and constant ocean breezes, even the hottest months are very comfortable. There are many great attractions, and resturants in the Honolulu area. I knew that Hawaii was going to be expensive, but the sticker shock to my conservative (cheap) mid-western values was painful. It is very easy to bust your budget trying to see and do all the tourist things you want to do while you are there.  I only had three days to spend on Oahu, so I rushed around to see as much as I could fit in and afford. At least the sunsets were free.

 

          The Sun Sinks Slowly Into The Pacific Ocean  

I think this photograph is a good representation of the Honolulu area. Beautiful but somewhat crowded. You see a commercial air plane, cruise ships, sailboats,and swimmers and surfers in the water. Although I prefer my beaches to be less crowded, Waikiki is a very cool place to hang out.

 

                           The Honolulu Pier after Sunset

This was my favorite photograph of my numerous attempts at long exposure shots and sunsets. The sun had dipped below the horizion and left the orange after glow in the sky. I took numerous exposures to try and capture people when they were not moving much so they would retain their forms. This was my best shot of the bunch.

Diamond Head Volcano

Diamond Head is one of the most famous landmarks on Oahu and the entire state of Hawaii. It has once been an active volcano, but hasn’t spewed any ashes for more than 150,000 years. The extinct crater and lookout point at the peak of it is a popular hiking destination for many. In fact, Diamond Head is one of the most photographed and painted spots on Oahu, adorning many wall calendars and postcards. So I naturally had to do the classic postcard shot as the sun set into the Pacific Ocean behind me.  

Looking East toward Diamond Head from Waikiki Beach

Located at the eastern end of Waikiki and right on the ocean, Diamond Head has already made an impression to early sailors. In 1825, British sailors noticed small sparkling calcite crystals in the beach sand nearby the crater and named the mountain Diamond Hill. This name was later changed to Diamond Head. This is how the crater got its English name.The Hawaiian name for Diamond Head is Le‘ahi, a contraction of lae, meaning point of land and ‘ahi, meaning yellowfin tuna. So Le‘ahi means “point (of the) ahi fish.” From a distance, the mountain looks like the dorsal fin of the ahi fish, hence its Hawaiian name Le‘ahi.

Honolulu from the summit of Diamond Head

I thought it would be great to hike up to the top of Diamond Head and take some beautiful sunrise photos and night scenes of the city of Honolulu. There was only one problem, it is a state park, and it does not open that early. ( I think 06:30 Hrs.) Soooooooooo I had to find another way in and made the hike up in total darkness. Diamond Head Crater measures 3,520 feet across and 760 feet in height. A hiking trail leads from the crater up to a lookout point. But be prepared to climb some stairs. In fact, there are two stairs, one has 99 steps and a second one has 76 steps. There’s also a 225-foot hardly lit tunnel through which you’ll have to go. The tunnel is a remnant of the former military use of the crater. So you should be in good physical condition to do the hike.(Which I am not, so I was pretty gassed) But it’s definitely worth the effort once you reach the top.

As usual, Murphy's Law kicked in for me on this hike. I had not attached my tripod plate to my camera yet and had left it attached to the tripod. Well somewhere along the route of sneaking in and hiking in total darkness, my camera plate fell out of my tripod on the way up. So when I finally caught my breath and started to set up my camera I noticed the missing plate. This rendered my tripod useless. So I had to prop my camera on a concrete ledge of the lookout platform at the top and use my self-timer on the camera.

           Sunrise looking East from the top of Diamond Head

There are many things to see do while you are visiting the Island of Oahu, but if you are physically able, you will want to make the hike to the top. Amazing views that go on forever to the curve of the earth. As for my now useless tripod, I had to go buy another new tripod since no camera store could get me the correct plate for mine. I then shipped my useless tripod home in the new tripod box. Let me tell you that shipping stuff from Hawaii is expensive.