Honolulu, Hawaii
DAY 4: JULY 5, 2023
The Dole Plantation
This morning we decided to take a drive up the west side of the island to see some turtles and the North Shore. So after a quick Panda Express leftover breakfast, we packed up some fried chicken, soda, snacks & beach & swimming gear and set off up north.
Dan had told us that we could find turtles up by the Turtle Bay Resort, makes sense right? But since the Dole Plantation was on the way, we stopped there first.
Apparently, they have 3 different tours there, but after waiting for about 30 minutes for tickets, we found out we’d have to wait upwards of another hour for the tour to start. NOPE!
Since that clearly wasn’t happening, we grabbed a hot dog and a drink, then continued on our way.
Sunset Point Beach Park
On our way to Turtle Bay, we saw a nice beach with several beachgoers and decided to stop for a bit and check it out.
The Turtle Bay Resort at Kawela Bay & North Shore
A little further up the shore, we found the Turtle Bay Resort. I was surprised to see that the famed North Shore was as remote and unpopulated as it was compared to how it was at the South Shore. I was told that it’s popular in the winter when the waves are super high, and that brings in the surfers, the competitions and tourists.
Anyway, we saw our way to the resort and it was interesting trying to maneuver this big truck thru the large parking lot with limited parking. So much so that Lisa accidently drove thru two large planters/barriers, one of which they clearly didn’t reposition well after opening it up for another driver. The planter wasn’t marred, but the truck’s front driver’s headlight and bumper had noticeable boo-boos. There was also a scratch on the rear driver’s side that I didn’t notice until later.
She didn’t see the planter there nor did I, but one of the attendants there saw it happen and came over and asked Lisa if she was drunk. She laughed and said she didn’t see it and he told us where to go to park.
Once parked, I asked a couple other attendants where to find the turtles and he said we were in the wrong place. Interesting that a place called the Turtle Bay Resort wouldn’t have any turtles, but he pointed us to one of their beaches at the resort where they come sometimes and another one where it’s better for snorkeling. We went to the latter, laid out and snorkeled for a bit.
Those guys also told us that we needed to go to Laniakea Beach if we wanted to see any turtles, so that’s where we wanted to go next. They were really nice.
The Road to Laniakea Beach
On our way to see the turtles, we drove down the highway that had a long long bike path on our right (beach side). I thought how cool it would be to have a long path like that right outside my door. I spotted some chickens on the path and Lisa saw a ball swing and had to stop and take her Miley Cyrus “Wrecking Ball” moment. Of course, I had to also.
Laniakea Beach – Basking Hawaiian Sea Turtles
So we made it to the beach where the turtles are. It’s actually one of the few beaches in Oahu where they lay their eggs and bask, so it’s protected. There were signs there instructing people to stay away from the turtles and also volunteers to make sure people followed the rules.
There weren’t any there when we arrived, but we could see them in the waves trying to get on shore. Not sure how they land on this rocky shore but a volunteer said they do.
But just a few minutes after we arrived, people were talking about the turtle that showed up to the right of us on a less rocky area of the beach. So we shimmied our way over the rocks to catch a glimpse. And boy did we get lucky. Soon after we got there, another one beached itself and then a third.
Thankfully, everyone was respectful of their space, probably in large part to the volunteers and their roped off area around the turtles.
We stayed for a while asking the volunteers questions and admiring the beauty of these gentle giants and found out that we could actually snorkel where the turtles arrived provided we stay clear of them, so we decided we’d like to come back the next day.
After a bit, we decided to head back to get ready for dinner, and I took a few pics on the way of the faraway mountains in the mist.
Hale’iwa 
Wahiawa 
Honolulu
SKY Waikiki Raw & Bar Rooftop Restaurant
Lisa had called her friend in LA whom she remembered had a daughter who lived in Honolulu and worked at a rooftop restaurant walking distance from our hotel: SKY Waikiki Raw & Bar. So she made a reservation thinking she could fool her friend’s daughter, not realizing the caller id on her phone would unmask her. Thankfully she was able to get a reservation for us and Dan whom agreed to join us for dinner. Our treat of course.
She also told him about the damage to his truck and he was actually pretty chill about it.
Once we got back, we showered, changed and walked over to pick up Dan on our way to the restaurant. We also showed Dan the damage to the to his truck and he was still pretty chill. Phew!
Needless to say, the restaurant was beautiful and the view even more beautiful. The food was very good too. We ordered the Poke Nachos, Grilled Octopus (I think) and I think the Calamari Karaage.
Dole Whip & Heyday ‘Swing’ Bar & Restaurant
After dinner, Dan took us for a bit of a tour of the neighborhood. We grabbed a Dole Whip which you can find anywhere on the island. It was pretty good, but I found it’s one of those things you can only have a few bites of before it’s too much.
We also checked out a few other places, one of which was a ‘swing’ bar called Heyday where you sit on swings instead of bar stools.
From there, we walked Dan back to his place then went back to the hotel and called it a day. A very fun day.