| Today we decided to head out early to Waimea Bay to get our snorkel on and to see if we could find the courage to jump off the famous rock that towers 40ft out of the ocean. BROTIP: GET HERE EARLY. The parking situation is garbage and this place fills up super quick. Once it's full your only choice is to sit around hoping someone leaves (they won't) or drive to the Waimea Valley parking lot then walk half a mile to the beach with all your stuff. | |
This beach is massive and the sand is scorching on a sunny day. Wear flip flops.
The jump rock, some large rocks in the bay that you can swim out to and an area near the shore that seems to attract honu are all on the west side of the beach. I'm not sure why this side of the beach is less popular but I am not complaining.
The rock and it's "this is dangerous, don't do it!" sign that everyone ignores.
Honu eat seaweed off the rock in the foreground. You can safely snorkel out to the ones in the background. On clear days you can easily see the bottom 40+ feet below you.
We found an emtpy spot, popped open a couple beers and surveyed the scene while eating sandwiches we picked up on the way from Foodland. The rock would be conquered first and then we would see how the snorkeling was and swim out to the rocks in the bay.
The first jump is always the scariest....
With a few jumps under our belts we put on our fins and goggles to see if the visibility got any better away from the beach. Unfortunately, it didn't so underwater shots were a waste of time. We did see a honu in the same spot I mentioned earlier but the water was too murky here to get a pic. Boo.
Min took this looking back towards our spot.
| | After Waimea we headed back to the Honu House to clean up and grab some gear before heading out to Ka'ena Point. This is the northwest tip of the island and said to be a sacred place where souls jump off into the afterlife. These days it is a protected seabird sanctuary as well. |
Once the road ends you're looking at a ~3 mile trail that can be walked (don't, we did this in 2012 and it sucks bad.) or (if you were smart and rented a Jeep or other capable SUV) driven carefully. Don't pop a tire out here or get stuck and expect to call for help; you're violating your rental agreement.
How much you wanna make a bet I can throw a football over them mountains?
The fence and it's an "airlock" of sorts meant to keep animals out.
Yes, I am wearing two hats.
Oahu doesn't get more remote than this.
This looks like it used to be upright.
North Shore on your left, Leeward side on your right.
Time to leave, driving back in the dark will be fun!
...annnnd we're done.
RSS Feed