Our time in Hawaii drew short. It was a wonderful two week with visits to Maui, the Big Island, and Oahu, and now only a couple of days remained. So we focused a little further-flung from Honolulu, around the outer edges of Oahu. I hadn’t spent much time out there on my previous trips and I wanted to experience it. When might I get another chance?
This final article is a composite of several excursions presented in an approximately counterclockwise manner along the shoreline. We didn’t do this as a single drive. I’m not sure it’s even possible. So think of this more as a miscellaneous list of interesting things.
Roads Around the Rim
First, let’s talk about the roads. Sure, Oahu has highways built to Interstate standards serving Honolulu, but those taper off away from the city. Roads around the perimeter hug a rocky coast with all of its irregularities. Topography generally limits routes to a single lane in each direction with scant passing opportunities. You’re going to get stuck behind that car doing ten miles below the speed limit until you want to yell. Get used to it.
The photograph above is an atypical situation on the Kamehameha Highway, a rare passing zone, although notice how the road clings to the shoreline. Oahu isn’t all that large but it takes longer to get anywhere than distance might otherwise suggest.
Most paved roads in Hawaii resemble something like this. Some might be “highways” in name but they don’t necessarily resemble their counterparts on the mainland.
Sea Life Park Hawaii
We visited the Honolulu Zoo earlier so we might as well visit some sea creatures too. This was Sea Life Park on the southeastern edge of windward Oahu (map). It’s not huge so it’s important to coordinate with the daily schedule of shows and activities to make it worthwhile. We enjoyed the large saltwater aquarium filled with sharks and other oceangoing fish, as well as the exhibit of Hawaiian monk seals. It’s also a beautiful setting whether looking back towards the mountains or out to sea.
Makapu’u Lighthouse
Hawaii has lighthouses. Lots of them. After all it’s a rocky chain of volcanic islands with jagged reefs and edges that ships would rather avoid. However, surprisingly, it has very few good lighthouses, by which I mean worth visiting and photographing. They’re completely functional but most of them are basically LED’s on a pole, and that’s fine. They do their job. My favorite one, again from a purely aesthetic perspective, was probably the Diamond Head light, but I already saw that one on an earlier trip.
I thought I might not see anything worthy of my Lighthouse Adventures collection. I wasn’t going to include the many light bulbs on sticks I saw all over Maui, Oahu, and the Big Island. Yet, I discovered a tantalizing possibility: the Makapu’u Lighthouse on the southeastern shore of Oahu (map). Unfortunately this one required a hike and the family overruled me.
I guess the fates fell sorry for me because I spotted the Makapu’u Lighthouse in the distance during our Sea Life Park visit. My camera had just enough zoom to capture a decent image. This beauty dates to 1909 and perches on a cliff 647 feet (197 metres) above the ocean. I’d rather get closer but I’ll take what I can get.
Maui Brewing – Kailua
No, we were not on Maui but, as I explained earlier, many Hawaiian breweries maintain outposts away from their home islands. Maui Brewing is perfect case in point. They operate a branch in Kailua, on the island of Oahu. We visited their flagship location on Maui at the beginning of the trip and now we visited their Kailua location at the end.
This was our final Hawaiian brewery adventure for the ever-growing list. It was a great place to stop for a leisurely lunch. Then we drove around as much of the island as we could before our evening flight.
Nu’uanu Pali Lookout
I’ve been to the Nu’uanu Pali Lookout (map) before so I won’t bother with a detailed explanation. Users can look at that earlier article from a few years ago.
However, the rest of the the family had never experienced it and I wanted to take them there. There aren’t many roads extending shore-to-shore across southern Oahu because of the mountains and the quickest way is Interstate H3. I purposely took a less convenient route, the Pali Highway, just so we could stop at this particular spot. Once there it doesn’t take much time, just park and walk to the overlook. Honestly the scenery is worth the effort. It’s pretty wonderful on a clear day and a lot better than the Interstate.
Kualoa Ranch
We had an extra day on Oahu after the Kalawao debacle. All of our flights and accommodations were booked by the time it fell through so we had a gaping hole in the schedule. None of us wanted to sit around all day and we were done with the beach. So I hunted around for things to do and found Kualoa Ranch about halfway up the eastern edge of the island (map). They have a ton of activities like zip lines, horseback riding, ATV’s, mountain biking, and scenic tours of various types. Surely we could find something that everyone would enjoy.
Totally Jurassic
The kids selected the Jurassic Adventure Tour which focused on the Jurassic Park movie franchise. Many of the outdoor scenes for the sequel Jurassic World took place here. A couple of minutes of the original Jurassic Park movie were also filmed here, although most of the action happened in Kauai.
Does this valley look vaguely familiar? A lot of movies and television shows use this backdrop, at least 250 so far according to Kualoa Ranch. You’ve probably seen it without even realizing it.
Crossing the Border
Original Hawaiian land divisions were narrow wedges that ran from summit to sea called Ahupua’a. I mentioned this in an earlier article referring to the Kaloko-Honokohau historical site on the Big Island. They existed here on Oahu too. Drivers see frequent road signs delineating them all along the perimeter roads. But paved highways and aluminum signage are recent developments. Traditionally, Hawaiians marked each division boundary with a carved boar’s head often set upon an ahu, a small altar.
Kualoa Ranch included a replica of a traditional boundary marker. I think this one marks the line between Kualoa and Hakipu’u immediately to the south. I took the photo on the Hakipu’u side.
Is it weird that I enjoyed this as much as the movie sets?
La’ie Point
We drove up to Oahu’s North Shore during our final afternoon. We had limited time so it was more of a windshield tour than an actual visit. However, we did leave the car to stretch our legs occasionally, especially at scenic spots. La’ie Point State Wayside (map) certainly qualified. Kukuihoolua Island sat just offshore, a seabird sanctuary with a wonderful sea arch that resembled an eye.
Banzai Pipeline
Then we curved along the northern rim of Oahu to Sunset Beach Park in Pupukea (map). This is the home of the Banzai Pipeline, one of the world’s most well-known surfing spots. I didn’t see any of the famous waves; maybe they were further out to sea or it was the wrong time of the year. Even so, the beach was really nice and a great final stop before heading home.
I wish we could have enjoyed it longer. Because, after that, we wandered down to Interstate H2 and fought our way through late afternoon traffic to get to the airport. Then it was an overnight flight to Dallas followed by another flight to Washington, DC that was diverted to Baltimore while in the air, then a really expensive Uber ride back home. And that’s a different story.
Articles in the Hawaii Series
- No Cigar
- Maui: Kihei & Wailea
- Maui: Haleakala
- Big Island: Kona
- Big Island: Lava
- Big Island: Mauna Kea
- Big Island: Windward
- Big Island: South Point
- Oahu: Pearl Harbor
- Oahu: Honolulu Metro
- Oahu: Perimeter
See Also: The Complete Photo Album on Flickr.
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