Kayak Adventure in Lanikai, Oahu

It was a beautiful day for an adventure. A big north swell is showing up tomorrow so we decided today would be the day for kayaking. I visited Lanikai a long time ago with a good friend from the Big Island and had not been back until today. I remember walking out to the beach and seeing the most beautiful turquoise water and two offshore islands just waiting to be explored. It is a scene that has always stuck with me. The picture above is that scene! It felt great walking out onto the beach and seeing this tropical vision in front of me.

  We launched the kayak and headed out towards the two islands collectively called Na Mokulua. A tiny turtle swam up beside us at one point but quickly darted off after noticing the kayak. The islands got bigger and bigger as we paddled out farther. By the looks of it the north swell may have started wrapping around to the east side of the island already. A couple of stand up paddleboarders and even a kayaker had the small waves all to themselves. We paddled out around the smaller island and I jumped in to check out the deeper water. I could easily see the bottom but there was alot of silt in the water column. The bottom was just sand covered rock and not too exciting. I waited around for a couple of minutes to see if anything big was going to swim by but no avail.

  We could see a bunch of people on a little beach on the bigger island so we paddled over there next. As we pulled our kayak up to the beach through the surf we noticed a huge Hawaiian monk seal on the beach, surrounded by beach goers! Luckily there were signs posted and most people kept their distance. However every once in a while a new kayaker would paddle up and have to divert at the last second when they noticed the seal.
  Heidi and I attempted to walk around the entire island. It was a bit rough in locals (flip flops) and at one point after some serious rock climbing we had to turn around. It was pretty wild to see the different colored tide pools and the big waves pounding the backside of the island. We also stumbled across a couple baby shearwaters at the entrance to their underground nests. Seems this offshore rock is more than just a far off spot on a postcard.
  After getting our fill of rock climbing Na Mokulua and a bit more snorkeling we paddled our kayak back across to Lanikai, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.