After we tore ourselves away from Portlock, we continued east to do a little driving tour of the island and found some fantastic lookout spots and some fun beaches to sink our feet into.
Our first stop was Lana'i Lookout, on Highway 72 about 3/4 of a mile past the entrance for Hanauma Bay. The funny thing about this lookout is that if you can see an island offshore, it is Moloka'i or even Maui, but not Lana'i.
Lana'i Lookout
Another 1/2 mile east is another narrow pullout. This is where you can see Halona Beach (where they filmed the 1950s movie From Here to Eternity) and the Halona Blowhole, where the ocean has undercut the lava and drilled a hole through to the top. Unfortunately, the surf wasn't high enough for us to see the blowhole erupting, but the view was incredible anyway.
Halona Beach
View of Sandy Beach from the lookout.
Our next stop was Sandy Beach, which is a pretty good stretch of, you guessed it, sandy beach. We told the kids they could get out and get their feet sandy and their toes wet. The water was chilly, but beautiful. Kaitlyn is our beach baby. She loves the water, no matter how cold it is or how big the waves are. She has always loved it, from the time we took her, just shy of a year old, to San Diego where the water was chilly and the waves were a bit bigger than the gulf. She loves to get in and wait for the next wave and then run as fast as she can away from them. Ah, the simple joys of being a child. And being around a child.
Soon to be sandy girl at Sandy Beach.
A testament to their very different personalities, Ryan does not like the ocean. When we took him to Myrtle Beach at 14 months and he was not happy. He clung to Mommy for dear life, refused to go near the water, and screamed when he put his toes in the sand. It takes him a long time to warm up and won't even think of going in if there are any waves. He loves the calm water of the pool and the Gulf beaches, but wants nothing to do with the surf.
Daddy's girls!
Ryan not happy that his girls are in the water.
The happy couple.
The next stop we made on our East Oahu drive was at the easternmost point of the island. From this scenic outlook you get a great view of Makapu'u Beach and two islands that are believed to have been formed by the last eruptions on the island. The shorter, and closer, island is Kaohi-ka-ipu and was made from a traditional lava flow when the ocean level was lower and that was all dry land. It looks dark and burnt because it is so young, relatively speaking. The larger island, Manana Island is a tuff cone and created by a steam explosion.
Makapu'u Beach as seen from the lookout point.
Manana and Kaohi-ka-ipu Islands
After a snack and some whale watching, we went down to Makapu'u Beach and let the kids change into their suits and play in the water. We enjoyed the incredible scenery and got a few laughs at the expense of our son. Kaity was in hog heaven playing in the sand and surf (I won't even begin to tell you how long it took to get sand out of places I didn't think sand could get in!) and Ryan was beside himself with worry for his sister. Every time a wave would come up to meet her at the shore he would scream for her safety. We got his horror and her delight on the videos below.
Manana and Kaohi-ka-ipu Islands from Makapu'u Beach
Lighthouse from the Beach
After playing at the beach, and cleaning up from the beach, we drove to the town of Kailua for some grub. We stopped by Pepper's Place, another hole in the wall rated excellent for its food. We chowed on some really great, really greasy sausage sandwiches. Think Philly cheesesteak, but with sausage, peppers, and onions and yummier than any cheesesteak we have EVER had. De-lish! We took an inland scenic route back south and, again, had we seen it in the movies, we would have thought it was too pretty to be real. Holy smokes! Talk about the most lush, greenest, and brightest drive. Everything was so vivid and beautiful! We took H-3 back to Honolulu and it dropped us at Costco (okay, so we had to take a few turns) where we got gas (the cheapest on the island if you ever need to fill up and have a membership) and some food for the rest of the week. We got back to the condo in just enough time to throw dinner together and watch the sunset from the balcony before packing lunches and bags for the next day and settling in for the night. It was an amazing first day in PARADISE!!!
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