A Visitor and a Surprise

This past weekend was a big one. I was mostly through my first week here when Will, a good friend of mine from Bowdoin, flew in pretty late on Thursday. Our fun really started on Friday when we wrapped up work (we both work remotely) around noon and went into town for lunch at a Japanese restaurant called Marukame Udon. The place was bustling, with a line out the door, but it’s buffet-style and we got our food and sat down within a few minutes. After lunch, we took a short stroll to the Royal Hawaiian Beach, one of the most popular sections of Waikiki beach. We had been relaxing and swimming when we noticed two people standing idly by a Spikeball net. We decided to ask them if they were looking for a couple more players and sure enough they were. If you know Will or me, you can imagine how elated we were to unexpectedly stumble into a game of Spikeball. The two people we played with were Ryan and Stephanie, two friends that just graduated from University of Washington in Seattle and were here on a graduation trip. They had planned on coming with two of their other friends, but the others caught Covid at the last minute so it was just the two of them. We played several games of Spikeball and swam with them before exchanging numbers, thinking we might link up for another game at some point. Will and I started heading back to the apartment before sunset and were passing by the Sheraton hotel and its unguarded infinity pool at a particularly gorgeous moment in the day. We couldn’t resist the temptation and got in the water to watch the sunset. The water was pleasant and the view from the pool was pretty unbelievable. To the dismay of our fellow swimmers/loungers in the pool, a large boat passed by the sun at the very moment it was dipping below the horizon, resulting in a collective booing that was surely not heard by the captain of the boat. I think I might have to make a habit of catching the sunset from the infinity pool because it brings it to another level.

That night, we made a curry for dinner and took it to the 5th floor of my apartment building that has a pool and spacious outdoor deck. I think it might have been the highest possible compliment to our cooking (or at least mine) when a guy came into the elevator as we were descending, and at a volume far too loud for elevator conversation, referred to our food as “SMACKING”, not once but twice. Riding that high, we enjoyed our food and the breeze on the deck. Later we met up with Ryan and Stephanie at a nearby bar called Arnold’s, strengthening our budding friendship.

On Saturday Will rented a car, so we knew it was going to be a day of adventure and traveling, but we didn’t know where. At the last minute, we invited Ryan and Stephanie along and they joined us! Most main roads of the island run along the coast, so we knew we’d stay along the coast, which is where many of the attractions we wanted to see were located anyway, but we didn’t know whether we’d start by going east or west. On the way to Ryan and Stephanie’s we decided we wanted to go cliff jumping. Luckily there was a spot right along the coast in the east direction, so after picking up our new companions we stopped at a spot called China Walls. We parked in a fancy neighborhood that looked like it could have been in Beverly Hills if not for the ocean in the background. From a cul-de-sac in the neighborhood, we followed a short path down to the cliffs and water. Some people in the area told us where to jump and we went for it. It was about a 15-foot jump to the water, but the distance to the water varied as the swell came in and out. The water was incredibly refreshing and fun to swim in because of the waves. The waves weren’t massive, but the current was surprisingly powerful (we all resurfaced a few feet from where we had entered the water).

To get out, we climbed up on a rock staircase. It was harder to reach the stairs when the water was low, but when the swell came in, we were buoyed up and practically lifted up onto the stairs, making the exit easier. The view from the cliffs was wonderful; we looked out at a lovely coast and over a gulf that extended to Diamond Head Crater. We explored more around the cliffs, walking on the lower level rocks we had jumped from alongside steeper, higher cliffs. We were looking for the nearby Spitting Cave, a place we’d heard had 75-foot jumps. We found a treacherous jump that may or may not have been Spitting Cave, and I think we were all content to have jumped from China Walls instead.

Our next stop was Waimanalo Beach. The drive to the beach is stunning: steep cliffs on the left and pristine beaches on the right. It’s no surprise that there are only a few main roads given how rugged and mountainous the land is.

The windward side of O’ahu (northeastern shore), where Waimanalo Beach is, experiences dramatically different weather from Waikiki, Honolulu, and basically any place along the leeward side (southern shore). While the leeward side has sun, very little rain, and temperatures in the 70s basically every day in the winter, the windward side is windier, rainier, and cooler. Even so, the beach is lovely with some of the finest sand we’d ever seen and beautiful turquoise waters. Perhaps the most notable aspect of the beach is the precipitous rock face on the eastern end of the beach. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a flat beach next to such jagged rocks.

After taking advantage of the impeccable sand for several games of Spikeball and enjoying some swimming and relaxing time, we moved on. We stopped in a small town at a poke place and brought our food to the nearby He’eia State Park and ate our food at a grassy picnic area that we had to ourselves.

On the way to our next stop, we passed Kualoa Ranch, a resort that had mountains, hiking, ATV’s and horses. Maybe it was the fenced-in horses, but the ranch oddly felt like it could have been somewhere in California or Wyoming instead of Hawaii. We only drove past the ranch, though, for our real destination was Kualoa Regional Park, a beach along Kaneohe Bay. The beach wasn’t as immaculate as the ones I’ve become accustomed to on O’ahu, but it did feature a cool island called Mokoli’i that looked like a hat about a third of a mile off the shore. Will had heard that people swim out to the island, and we saw some kayakers near the island and hikers on it, so we were tempted to get out there ourselves, but decided against it, thinking it would take too long since sunset was in a couple hours and we still had more we wanted to see.

We continued on, driving along the stunning northern coast of O’ahu. The drive is an interesting mix of mostly profoundly beautiful scenery with a few smaller, rundown towns. It’s much more rural than the touristy, built-up Waikiki area. We eventually got to out final stop of the day, ‘Ehukai Beach on the North Shore. North Shore is the northwestern region of O’ahu and it’s famous for world-class surfing, hosting several global surfing competitions there in the winter, when the waves are the biggest.

We didn’t see any surfers out sadly, but the waves were large and choppy. It looked like it would have been dangerous to get in the water more because of the tumultuousness of the waves rather than their size; the water was swirling and moving in all directions without rhyme or reason, and there were large upward blasts of water as waves coming to the shore collided with those receding from it. I found it difficult to capture the violent nature of the waves on video, but we were all mesmerized.

In the last hour of daylight we hiked the ‘Ehukai Pillbox Trail. It was a short and sweet hike, just 30 minutes to the top, with astounding views.

We made it down just after sunset, when there was still a warm, orange glow coming in over the beach.

We drove back to Honolulu through the middle of the island, a different route from the one we’d taken out to North Shore. It was dark at that point so we didn’t get to see the scenery as well, but I could faintly make out the outline of mountains in the distance.

We got dinner in Chinatown at a place called Pho Vietnam. We tried to get into another place first but were told there was a wait. While waiting, we walked around Chinatown and saw the Hawaii State Capitol building which, in the aloha spirit (and probably because of the tropical climate), is very open. We walked right into the building at night since there are no doors to get into the main area, though the offices, house, and senate are all behind closed doors. We also stopped by the palace where the Hawaiian monarchy used to live.

We’d heard Chinatown is one of the more happening areas in Honolulu, so we were surprised that it was relatively tame. We were there on a Saturday night at 9, and there were barely any people in the streets and only a couple restaurants and one or two bars that had a lot of people. A local from Arnold’s the night before said the night life on O’ahu has taken a beating since Covid, so I bet that’s part of it. I also wonder if people don’t go out as much because they’re busy, or tired from, being active in the sun all day, whether it’s hiking, swimming, sports, or anything else.

On Sunday, we linked up with Ryan and Stephanie again and set out to explore the southwestern part of O’ahu. We made our first stop at Swap Meet Honolulu, a grand market with hundreds of local vendors and fascinating goods. The swap meet is hosted on weekends at the Aloha Stadium parking lot in Honolulu. The vendors each have their own tents, where they’ve moved inventory from their vehicle (many of them needed trucks to hold all their goods) to various tables and racks underneath the tent. It looked like many of the shops would have taken hours to set up, but I’m sure the regulars have it down to a science. The local vendors were friendly and happy to chat, with the exception of one lady who was quite skeptical when I asked about the free sample of “healing” lotion she advertised on her tent (maybe I’m not the target demographic for such a product). I bought a painting from a local who’s lived in Mililani, a city in O’ahu, for decades and helps sell art that his wife and daughter make, another piece of art that’s kind of like a tapestry, and a proper Hawaiian shirt, since my wardrobe before was woefully lacking Hawaiian shirts.

We went from the swap meet to a shopping area with food trucks for lunch. Stephanie and I got acai bowls and Ryan and Will got teriyaki. All the food was delicious and the acia bowls were massive, which was more or less what we expected after we saw a child in front of us receive a shaved ice that was practically the size of his head.

The journey continued at the Ko Olina Lagoons in Kapolei. Kapolei is a glamorous part of the island that’s full of opulent resorts and perfectly maintained hedges and palm trees. It’s just off the highway but it feels secluded from its nearby surroundings. The Ko Olina Lagoons were manufactured by one of the resort companies there, and part of the agreement allowing the construction of the lagoons was that they must be accessible to the public. The lagoons don’t try to appear natural; instead they each (there are four of them) have perfectly symmetrical, crescent-shaped beaches and jetties to dull incoming waves to ripples that are safe for young children. I’d heard the snorkeling was supposed to be top-notch but the water was murky when we were there, so I shared the frustration of the nearby 5-year-old pouting that he couldn’t see any fish.

Eventually we were ready for more waves and drove a couple miles to Electric Beach, aptly named after the intrusive smokestack right by the beach (I’ll spare you the picture of the blemish on the otherwise amazing beach).

The waves here were much bigger, probably 3-foot on average, but with some massive 5- or 6-foot ones rolling in every so often. There were dozens of surfers out in the water and many of them were very talented, performing all kinds of tricks on huge waves. More impressive to me were the boogie boarders and body surfers that were going sideways on waves and riding them for probably a hundred feet or more of distance on their best runs. I thought I was a decent boogie boarder and body surfer, but it feels wrong to even refer to the activities I do in the water by the same name after seeing these humble athletes put on a show. Will and I each took the surfboard, which we’d strapped to the top of Will’s rental Nissan Altima, out to catch some waves. I’m just beginning to learn, so the waves were too challenging for me (although I was able to halfway stand up before losing my balance on a couple). Will was able to catch a couple, though!

We caught the sunset at the beach and then got dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Honolulu, wrapping up a weekend of enormous adventure.

Just because the weekend was over, it didn’t mean our fun had to end! After work on Monday, the Ryan, Stephanie, Will, and I went to Waikiki beach for more Spikeball (we probably played 10+ games over the course of the weekend) and swimming.

In the evening we went to a Japanese restaurant called Zigu for dinner. The food was superb and our waiter was even better. He gave us a free sake sample and put on a show when he brought out the triple-sized cocktails we ordered.

Don’t worry, the drinks were for the table, not just me, but I couldn’t resist a picture with these two behemoth drinks. The dinner was outstanding and a fitting way to wrap up the magical past few days we’d had with Ryan and Stephanie before their flight that night. Obviously neither Will and I nor Ryan and Stephanie could have imagined we’d meet each other and spend most of our free time together over the course of a few days. It was an auspicious coincidence that our paths crossed and I think we both made each other’s time in Hawaii fuller and more memorable. I’m not sure when we'll see each other again, but I’ll cherish the memories we shared for a long time to come.

Despite Ryan and Stephanie heading back home to Seattle, Will and I had one more day together. After work we took a bus over to Diamond Head Crater and hiked to the top. The crater has been visible from almost every part of O’ahu I’ve been to (with the exception of traveling to the far corners of the island in the rental car this past weekend). It was cool to get the vantage point from this iconic landmark. We hiked up along an entrance road from the nearest bus stop for 20 minutes before getting to the real start of the trail.

The hike is pretty low-key along a paved path, and there are great views throughout. To the east, we could see over the center of Diamond Head Crater (we were at the highest point, on the east side) to Koko Crater and China Walls, where we jumped on Saturday. China Walls is on the right side of the landmass across the bay.

To the west, we could see all the way past Waikiki beach, past downtown Honolulu, to Pearl Harbor in the distance.

At the top of the hike we had the option to go down through a concealed passage, kind of life a cave, but went for the above-ground route because of the views.

We got one last beach outing and sunset in at the Royal Hawaiian Beach before eating dinner at a Thai restaurant called Siam Square. Back at my apartment, we said our goodbyes and then Will got on the bus to the airport.

Will’s visit was both very exciting and comforting. We traveled all over the island, played so many games of Spikeball, went on hikes, swam, surfed, and lounged at the beaches, and made two new friends. It was also really comforting having such a close friend around while I’m beginning to learn the area and meet new people. Overall, it was a fantastic visit and an amazing saga in my Hawaii chapter. That’s all for now. As always, thanks for reading!