Hawaii Pt. 2!

I am a little sunburned today!  I had some time off yesterday so I went over to the east side of Oahu to Waimanalo Bay to hang out on the beach.  I bought some random sc-fi novel for $0.99 on my Kindle and decided to actually try to relax.  I am notoriously bad at relaxing so I thought a little fiction might help since I have not read a fiction book in something like 2 years!

The beach was awesome and after growing up going to the beach in Delaware where its packed with people the solitude was incredible!  There were some people out there, but not enough to encroach on my in anyway.  I could sit there and read without hearing anything but the wind and surf; no loud-ass people from jersey feeding the seagulls either!

Last week I also went snorkeling for the first time.  Me and one of the guys I am here with rented snorkels, masks, and fins here on Hickam ($6 a day, not bad) and drove up to the north shore.  We went snorkeling in a place called Sharks Cove, but we did not see any sharks!  The water was incredibly clear and although the coral wasn't that amazing, the fish were!  The highlight of the trip was getting to see two sea turtles up close and personal!  I got to see baby sea turtles in Malaysia, but missed out on seeing the full grown ones.  One of the turtles was probably a full meter across and the other was much younger and was maybe 1/3 that size.  These pics are of the younger one who was much more playful and photogenic!

Thanks Millward for jacking up the photo!

Fish!

Shark's Cove

We climbed up and jumped off of this a few times...

Shark's Cove

More Fish!

Turtle!

Another attraction I hit up on some time off was Diamond Head Crater.  Most sites will list it as a moderate hike, and although I will concede it is steep, I must saw the most difficult part is navigating around the sweaty, panting, overweight people on the path!  The view from the top was totally worth it though, and the pictures speak for themselves!

Diamond Head Crater.

Honolulu and Waikiki.

I look really bald in this photo... stupid genetics...

I am actually heading home in a few hours so my next post will be from Japan!  I have a lot of stuff going on at home and I will be pretty busy in the next few weeks.  I will be moving houses and starting a new grad school class! Matane!