Capturing the Moment

Tidepools and Offshore islands lit up by the full moon Makapu'u Beach A couple of days ago some friends and I met up at the eastern most point on the island to view the first full moon of the year 2015. The colors of the setting sun were a nice foreshadowing of the beauty to come with the moon rise.  At first we were in the wrong spot, as the one cliff in between us and the ocean was blocking the initial rise. But after some quick moves down to the shoreline we were greeted with an amazing view. From Makapu'u beach we could see the full moon rising from the ocean towards some low lying clouds. It was so bright that everything, including colors were still visible along the shoreline. A couple of offshore islands and nearby tidepools aided in capturing some memorable long exposure images. Welcome 2015. Full moon rising over the Pacific

View from the old Pali Highway Old Pali Highway hike   A full day of adventuring here in Oahu included waterfalls, botanical gardens, and exploring some of the back roads with my mom. We found dramatic overlooks, old highways long since forgotten, ancient battlefields, the longest beach on Oahu, and even a chance stop at a polo match. It is always good to have the flexibility and adventurous spirit while traveling, you never know what you may come across. Luckily my mom has that in droves.    The Nuuanu-Pali overlook was a great place to start. This is the ancient battle site of the final stand of Oahu warriors defending against the invading Kamehameha. Many of the defenders ended up falling to their deaths off the steep cliff. Around the corner from the overlook we found the remains of the old Pali road, determined to clutch tightly against the sheer cliffs. Nowadays the old Pali road is open for hikers and provides some beautiful views of the Ko'olau range a...

  After finally convincing Nate and Kelly to make the move out to Maui, just as Heidi and I were switching islands to Oahu, they were finally able to island hop over to see us on our new island. We only had two and a half days and I wanted to make it count so we crammed a lot into their quick Oahu visit. We had great weather, beautiful sunsets, fireworks, exploratory snorkels, and surf sessions. Eternity Beach Makapu'u Lookout   These pictures are from our exploration of the southeast coast of Oahu. The beautiful bay pictured above is a tiny stretch of beach called Eternity Beach. It was made famous by a movie in the 50's called 'From here to Eternity', starring Burt Lancaster. The cave goes from the beach all the way back under the highway. The pics below are from an overlook high above Makapu'u beach. The offshore island behind us in Rabbit Island, which did have a bunch of rabbits populating it at some point. Can you find Heidi, Nate, Kelly,...

Skinny trail to the Lighthouse   One of my new favorite hikes is the Makapu'u Lighthouse hike on the southeast side of Oahu. There is a parking lot for this trail shortly after Sandy's beach but before you get to Makapu'u beach. The trail is nice and paved, although quite steep in some sections and no shade at all along the trail. A few offshoots of the main paved trail lead around to the lighthouse itself and down to some incredible tide pools at the bottom of the cliff. The tidepools are big enough and deep enough to snorkel in. Beautiful East Coast of Oahu There is foliage in every shade of green along the trail but the magnificent colors here belong to the ocean. From here the turquoise tropical waters are breathtaking. If you stop and scan the ocean for awhile during the winter it is also a great place to spot migrating humpback whales. Once you are at the top of the trail you are awarded with a majestic view of the coastline heading North as well as a few ...

Hanauma Bay, Oahu   Oahu's southeast shore is very rugged and has some real gems if you look hard enough. A very popular one is Hanauma Bay. Over a million visitors come to this idyllic bay every year to sunbath and go snorkeling. But just around the corner you can find almost deserted beaches, hikes out to lighthouses, and some amazing shades of blue water.    Hanauma bay is so popular because of the easy, protected inner reef. It is a great place for people learning how to snorkel or who just want to sunbath and take a quick dip to cool off. This spot use to be notorious for people walking on the reef and the effects of this can still be seen today. Old, dead reef, which should have new coral growing on top of it still remains dead close to shore. Luckily conservation efforts were slowly put into place, and in 2002 visitors were required to pay a small fee and watch an educational movie about how to not harm the reef ecosystem. It will take a while for the inner re...