10 Days in Hawaii - Day Seven: Last full day on Oahu

May 7, 2021

10 Days in Hawaii:  Day 7

For our last full day on Oahu, we tried to cram in as much as possible! We got out of bed by 8am and headed off towards North Shore. It was a 45 minute drive so we stopped in Hawleiwa and had yummy, filling breakfast burritos at Kono’s Northshore. It was a cute little town with coffee shops and a shopping center. We didn’t stay too long as it started drizzling and we had a lot on our plate.

Further up north, we wade it to Lanikai Beach! On Google, this beach was mentioned as the best place to see beached green sea turtles. At first, we were a little underwhelmed as it was fairly rocky where we were, but realized the further down south you went, the beach started to smooth out. The area where we were had its own appeal. As we took a closer look at the water, we saw turtles poking their heads out of the water, aching to get to shore so they could munch on some moss. Finally, an older turtle (or so we theorized) made it to shore after getting tossed around by the untamed ocean. He was slowly making it up the rock towards us and it became our own private meeting with the turtle, whom I named Demetrius. But soon the secret was out. More and more people came by to get selfies and try to get as close as possible without getting yelled at by the conservationist. Maybe 15 minutes later, another turtle made it to shore but by that time there were too many people so Jake and I took our leave hoping that the turtles weren’t too disturbed by those watching them.

We proceeded to go and sit on our towels but then made the decision to try out Waimea Bay, and boy, it was the right one! The sun was poking out more so we wanted to try our luck at another beach for tanning and (drumroll please...) cliff jumping! When we got there, we were stoked! There was a huge cliff, which was actually just a tall rock hanging out on the beach that people were already jumping off of.  This was a much more realistic cliff jump than the first one we were going to attempt, so Jake and I made it the first thing that we did once we got settled! Climbing up the rock, I had no nerves. However, once I got to the edge and saw where I was going to land, the nerves immediately set in! The rock had three different jumpings levels, each one getting higher. I took the middle one and Jake took the tallest one.

Jake took the first plunge! I shake off the nerves after several minutes and jumped too. I’ve jumped off bridges before but this one was even better and bigger. I ended up jumping off three times. Unsurprisingly, the last time I hit my bum really hard and ended up bruising it. Somehow, the last attempt is always the one where things go awry! Plus, I may have gotten a weensy bit burnt. Worth it.

Following the beach, we went straight to Kualoa Ranch for our highly anticipated 2-hour ATV ride. We got checked in, got assigned to our ATVs, put on our helmets, and were off! With our guide Iven, a group of 5 ATVs headed off into the 4,000 acre land that had been used for movies like George of the Jungle, 50 First Dates, and most famously, the Jurassic Park/World franchise. Iven took us through winding roads to beautiful scenery. He generously gave us the opportunity for multiple photo ops and comedic videos. He enjoyed telling us all about the history of the land, and fun facts about Hawaii, like how many islands there are or the nicknames they have.

          

 

Iven also shared with us some of the behind the scene tricks they used for the movies. One example was in Jurassic Park. For a shot where there were many dinosaurs in the back and foreground, the way they mapped where each dinosaur would be was by using cows as placeholders! Just imagine, hundreds of cows all out in the pasture, just hangin’ out. We saw many different sets for movies as well as a cluster of bones that were used in Kong: Skull Island. We zipped around in our ATVs at 18 mph and Jake had a blast making it as bumpy as possible. It was lucky we chose the 2-hr adventure over the 1-hr because the 1 hr definitely wouldn’t have been enough!

To end the night, Jake and I had a nice carb-loaded dinner at Zia’s cafe, an Italian restaurant. I’ve always loved the atmosphere in Italian restaurants. I’m not sure what it is but I always end up feeling at home there. Both of us got pasta, obviously: gnocchi and penne. With ginormous portions, we were almost able to finish it all. Eventually hit with a food coma, we headed home and enjoyed our one last night in Honolulu, resting.

(1) Kono's Northshore: https://www.konosnorthshore.com/

(2) Lanikai Beach: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60652-d526149-Reviews-Lanikai_Beach-Kailua_Oahu_Hawaii.html

(3) Waimea Bay: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60647-d146822-Reviews-Waimea_Bay-Haleiwa_Oahu_Hawaii.html

(4) Kualoa Ranch: https://www.kualoa.com/

(5) Zia's Cafe: https://ziashawaii.com/