Diamond Head Hike and Snorkel Day

Diamond Head scenic vies

Potluck family and Preston

Walking the plank in snorkeling lagoon

Beautiful blue waters

Snorkel girls

On top of Diamond Head with Waikiki in the background

The pleasant Hawaiian temperatures have allowed us open windows and ceiling fans for sleeping comfort.  In the morning we are awakened to the sound of the local tropical birds.  Amusingly enough, this morning we also heard our host family’s 4 year old son, Preston, loudly declaring he was not going to school.  He had decided to call in sick and spend the day with the “Pot Luck” family.  That’s us, the Pot Luck’s in a variation of Pletcher created in the 4 year old mind.

Preston is a wonderful addition to our family’s adventures, and our first one this morning is to hike from the crater to the ridge of Diamond Head.  It is only a .8 mile trek, but it is quite steep, and switch back heavy.  It is also tourist heavy, and a little game I have always played was to look for goofy tourist shirts.  I got the kids involved in this one, and Ryan found a tourist wearing a goofy shirt with Tigger with wings, and some weird logo with the words “Control Bear”  But the winner for the day was from a Hispanic guy wearing the following: “Relax Gringo, I’m here legally”   It passed the time on the climb and descent, and Rachel made the insightful comment, “This is the first hike where we haven’t complained.”  It seems like having Preston, and his most pleasant demeanor is a good influence on the Pot Lucks.

Near the top of the ridge, there was a walking tunnel, narrow and dark.  My claustrophobic wife took off on a sprint through that which got smiles from our family, and looks of annoyance from the opposite direction foot traffic.

We reached the top and were kissed by the sweet Pacific breeze, and rewarded with the scenic elevated views of the South shore of Hawaii.  Very beautiful.  The water was so so blue, and ignited our interest to go snorkeling.

As we headed back down to the base of the crater, the kids eagerly anticipated the shave ice truck awaiting us at the hike’s finish.

We grabbed some lunch at Subway, and went back to wait for the Comerfords.  I had left my NFCU check card in the ATM machine at Pearl Harbor, and had the approval for Jed to pick it up for me.  Of course, the ease of the phone call was not the experience Jed had.  However, after some phone calls, they allowed him to pick it up.

We gathered our crew, and gear, and headed over past Hanauma Bay to snorkel in the secret spot.  It was a little lagoon that we had to hike to at the base of some volcanic hills.  A very scenic underwater scape filled with tropical fishes as if in an aquarium comprised the snorkel experience.  The kids also did some jumps, dives, and flips off a plank which had been set up at the rocky shoreline.

Dylan and Mason also hiked up the towering hill.  Dylan in flip flops (aka slippers, Hawaiian) and Mason in barefeet.  A true Hawaiian, who exclaimed that he was toughening up his feet.

On the way home we stopped for little pucks of mochi ice cream, which has become a family favorite.  Dylan loves mochi, and I’m not sure how they use rice flour in the ice cream, but it sure was delicious.

Being Tuesday, we needed to hit the local “Taco Tuesday” at Wahoo fish tacos.  It was a very cool little local place with some yummy tacos.  Our evening was concluded with an awesome pie baked by Tracy.  It was her auntie’s recipe of macadamia crust and fresh mango.  Just listing the ingredients is testimony to the wonderful dessert.  With mango pie and conversation, we capped off another day of Hawaiian fun.