After going out the night prior, we decided to get up early and go to the North Shore. Thankfully Jess was willing to drive. Driving in Oahu is somewhat scary, so if you are traveling to Hawaii, I'd suggest getting insurance on your rental!
There are tons of things to see in the North Shore and the best part is there isn't as many people compared to Wakiki and Honolulu. The Polynesian Cultural Center is really people for people to go to as is the Dole Plantation... we drove by fields of pineapple! I couldn't believe it. Our first stop was Waimea Valley. There is a beautiful park and waterfalls. Lots of people go here and jump off the falls, but unfortunately the weather had been so bad that it was too dangerous to go swimming. We still enjoyed the walk and seeing the waterfall.
After adventuring around Waimea Valley, we went to Banzai Pipeline, my cousins highlight of the trip. Pipeline is known for the unreal surfing waves and the day we went, there was supposed to be a surfing event. They postponed the event due to the conditions in the water. The waves were roughly 15-20 feet! It was crazy! There were a bunch of surfers still out there, but we sat on the beach and watched.
After watching the surfers and getting free Red Bull, we headed to Turtle beach, in hopes to see turtles... No turtles, but we had a great time in the water and walking on an really unsafe board walk. Afterwards, we got food at Roy's Beach House.
We went back to Wakiki and got ready for the night. From outside our Airbnb, we could see this beautiful view.
Then we went to downtown Honolulu where we hung out in China Town. We didn't realize it, but it was the Chinese New Year! There were tons of events going on and we watched as they celebrated with their dragons chasing fire crackers!
That night we said goodbye to Jess and we went to Poke bar. Instead of just a salad, it is chopped raw fish on top of rice and mixed greens with a delicious dressing of your choice topped over it.
It was absolutely delicious and probably one of the cheapest meals we had. The next day was our last day in Oahu, but we left for Maui around 4 pm so we tried to enjoy as much of the day as we could. We started our day with possibly the best breakfast ever at Eggs n Things.
We then headed to a beach that we hadn't been to. Ala Moana Beach Park was beautiful and there weren't many people there. Wakiki beach and Kahanamoku beach can get crowded quickly and before you know it you are surrounded by tons of people. At Ala Moana Beach Park, you could actually enjoy the beach and water without tons of noise and people.
Before taking off to Maui, we stopped at Wakiki Brewing company one last time...and we watched the Syracuse Basketball game!
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