Hanauma Bay

Hanauma Bay is a horseshoe-shape bay at the south-eastern coast of the island of Oahu. It is one of the most visited places in Hawaii with a record of three million visitors annually at one time and somewhat overused. In 1967, it was declared a protected marine life conservation area and underwater park.

Halona Blowhole and the Cove

Halona Blowhole is one of the well-known natural attractions on the island of Oahu facing the Pacific Ocean. The blowhole was formed by molten lava tubes from volcanic eruptions thousands of years ago at Halona Point. When the tide is high on a windy day, the ocean breeze sends the waves through the tubes and the water blows high in the air, sometimes as high as 30 metres. This natural occurrence was named the Halona Blowhole.

It wasn't the best time to observe this natural phenomenon during the day of my visit. The blowhole was just blowing smoke-like water vapours as can be seen at the right side of the photo below where there is just a small patch of smoke on the rock formation.

While waiting for another blow, I went around to look at the surrounding area.

I waited for a couple of minutes but there wasn't any blow. When the tour guide was making his last call, I gave up on the observation. Well, at least I had see a small blow.

I requested for another couple of minutes to look around again.

Just to the right of Halona Blowhole is Halona Cove which is a small pit of sand forming a leisure beach for the visitors. Getting down to the beach is not an easy feat as one has to climb down the cliffs. I think the effort was worthwhile for those people down there.

Nuuanu Pali Lookout

The Nuuanu Pali Lookout is situated just a few minute drive from downtown Honolulu, but yet it offers spectacular panaromic view of the Koolau Mountain Range and the Windward Coast. The wind speed at the lookout point can reached a whopping 30 km/h which one can lean against without falling. I did not experience the leaning against the wind as the wind wasn't that strong during my visit, so I just admired the scenery.

Koolau Golf Club

Set beneath the beautiful Koolau Mountain Range, the church-owned Koolau Golf Club is one of the top places for golfing in the United States of America. We were brought to the clubhouse for lunch and a short stroll right after.

I am not a golfer, but anyone into it would have enjoyed a session in this golf course. The Koolau Mountain Range offers a spectacular view from the green itself. To tee off and swing the golf clubs in the green must be an unforgettable experience for those who had played golf here.

The Macadamia and the Lunch

Macadamia nuts have been on of my favourite types of nuts. In fact I like most types of nuts. Before I went to Hawaii, I had never seen a macadamia fruit, not to mention the tree. I was so excited when I was shown the macadamia tree and the fruits outside a local produce outlet. Now I know what a macadamia tree looks like as well as the fruits.

After shopping for the macadamia nuts, our tour group was brought to a clubhouse for lunch. There weren't many choices on the menu, so I opted for the Japanese ramen with ebi tempura and katsu. It wasn't too bad, but nothing compares to having the Japanese ramen in Japan.

Moli'i Pond

The one-day round-island tour that I joined included a visit to the Moli'i Pond, which is a Hawaiian fishpond created some 900 years ago. The nearby Koolau Mountains were used for the filming of Jurassic Park movie series. Do you see the familiar scenes in the movies?

One of the North Beaches at Oahu

There are many beaches at the northern shores of Oahu. This is certainly no secluded beach in Oahu as every beach I passed by was full of beach goers. Our tour guide stopped by a beach for us to have a short glance of the scenery. I think it was Sunset Beach where I took these photos. Well, every beach is beautiful in Oahu.

The Mountain and the Sea

The Hawaiian islands are well known for the landscape and the sea. When I was on a one-day tour around the Oahu Island, I could even snap pictures from the tour bus. It was difficult though taking photos from a moving vehicle. However, I am still quite satisfied with the results.

The Kingdom of Pineapple

Dole Plantation in Honolulu is a classic example of a plantation turning into a tourist destination. Part of the original pineapple field was turned into a tourist centre cum leisure farm.

Behind the tourist centre building is a pineapple field with different species of pineapple. I hadn't seen so many types of pineapple in my entire life before I made this visit to the Dole Plantation. It was so amazing that one can learn all about pineapples here.

The Dole Whip or Dole Soft Serve is the one of the most prominent products of Dole. It is a soft-serve ice-cream with fruit, chocolate or vanilla flavour. The first choice flavour for a first timer like myself was non other then the pineapple flavour. This was also my first time having soft-serve ice-cream with the taste of pineapple. It was really a very refreshing dessert.