Tidepools & Dragons nostrils

This is one of my favorite places on island, and actually my second time blogging about it.  I first went to the tide pools with our wardroom for our halfway party during deployment.  I was finally able to take Nic and was excited to swim around and relax in the pools.  Once we got down we were greeted with some absurdly large waves.  Needless to say we didn't get to relax in the pools, but I was able to get some awesome pictures.  There's a less visited pool that I've wanted to go down into, but there isn't an easy path to get to it.  In true Nic fashion he figured out a way to get there and I'm excited to go adventure once the waves die down.

Diving Sharks Cove

Island Divers, who we were open water certified with, has a monthly dive club. They went to Sharks Cove for their event in May and we were so excited to go until we realized Nic had duty and couldn't find a switch.  Thankfully they decided to go back to Sharks Cove in June and we were able to get our dive on.

It's a fantastic deal. If we were going to be here longer we would just purchase the club membership, but instead it's $25 per certified diver, per dive and that includes all equipment rentals and you can dive twice if you want.  I haven't been out since we were certified so it was a good refresher.  Our friend came with us and tried out discover scuba which is actually a cool concept.  If you're interested in getting open water certified, but not sure if you like the idea of breathing under water, you're able to try it out!

It was a little bit of a dreary day. The drive to North Shore was overcast and rainy, which was terrible but once we got there we were greeted with a bit on sunshine!  Either way, once you're in the water it doesn't really matter if it's raining.  The walk down to the water was awful.  If you're going and have fins with booties you will be so much happier than your counterparts without them.  It sucked because of mud and the weight of the tank, BCD and weights but I felt relatively secure with my footing thanks to my booties.

Sharks Cove is gorgeous but we weren't terribly impressed with corals or the fish we saw.  We did see a turtle which was gorgeous.  If you can go while doing a certification, or during a cheap dive event we recommend it.  If you have to pay a ton just snorkel it and take a boat charter out diving.  If we were to go back again we would try and go in the overhangs/caves but I still would rather do a charter and just snorkel there vs pay a ton to dive it.  BUT I am SO happy we did it especially because we figured out that I need a new mask.  Leaking and fogging caused problems the entire time, and I can't imagine doing an advanced certification with that thing.

Yay for checking things off of our Hawaii Bucket List!

 

SaveSave

The Mokes

We finally made it out to the Mokulua Islands which are the two islands that sit off of Lanikai beach. We've wanted to kayak out here since we arrived but never made the journey. Thanks to a friends birthday, the long weekend, and a BOGO coupon we decided to venture out.

We rented our kayaks from Kailua Beach Adventures.  With a coupon we were able to get a good price for two tandem kayaks for half a day.  Pair that with some decent weather, a long weekend and a friends birthday and it was a recipe for an adventure!

The Mokes are actually a bird sanctuary. You're only able to land on Moku Nui which is the one to the left.  The day we went there was some decent wind which made the water choppier than usual, especially for this side.  None of us tipped, but we did get soaked from the waves on the way out.  Once we landed we enjoyed a little picnic and then got to the adventures!

I had heard there was a cliff jumping spot but didn't really read where it was.  I thought it was to the left,  but we overheard a women saying there was a tide pool you could jump into to the right and we decided to venture. After passing it (it really didn't look like something to jump into.. ) we kept going and walked around the island until we came to the bay where everyone was jumping. We happened to be on the wrong side and had to shimmy down and get in to get to the right side.  The ocean isn't something to take lightly.  Mother nature is a beast and you always need to be humble and remember that when you're out in the wild.  That thought, the surges and my nerves made the venture take a little longer but I trust my husband and he knows my limits.  Once we started going it wasn't even remotely as scary as it looked.

The boys cliff jumped a few times while Kristin and I relaxed.  Eventually, I may work up the nerve to jump off of something into the water.  Probably not, but I like to pretend I will.  Once we were done we finished walking around the island and kayaked back to Kailua Beach.  It was an amazing day and now it's crossed off of our bucket list!

SaveSave