On Oahu; February 17-18

Sunday, February 17:
We met the Dolphin Excursion rubber zodiac boat at 8am (see pic). About 20 of us boarded for a whale watch and a swim with the dolphins. Well, we got close to a pod of dolphins frolicking in the ocean. The captain was a little worried that we were in water too deep (safety issues with BIG fish) but he dropped us off the side of the pontoons anyway into the water to swim with them. No such luck. The water was super clear but by the time we got in the water the dolphins were already gone. We climbed the ladders back into the boat. By this time we heard some people yacking from seasickness (chips ahoy!). Glad we took our Dramamine!
So, we took off for a nice reef to the north and dropped in there to snorkel. The reef was pretty deep so we didn't really get too many close looks at fish, but it was fun flopping around in the ocean. We can only handle about 45 minutes in the water before it gets kinda chilly. The boat gathered us back up for a ride back to the harbor. But the captain got word from another boat of a whale spotting. We booked it south again with our double Yamaha 250cc engines. Because you can't approach, harass, impede, corral endangered species we had to pull up about 200 yards away from the whales. But we did get to see them blow and swim. There was a mom, dad and baby whale.
By the time we docked the boat, this one passenger looked AWFUL! He was so sick...I felt so bad for him. Been there, done that. Sorry to dwell on the sick guy but, really, the boat excursion was less than eventful. Advice: do whale watches in Maui...many more whales there.
Anyway, we checked out of the Ihilani resort's luxury (see pic) and headed for Diamond Head.
What can we say about Diamond Head? It's cool that we were in the crater of a volcano. The hike to the top was sweaty. We liked the cool breeze at the top and the view over Honolulu and the surrounding waterfront up and down the east coast was really pretty. I don't know, we so enjoyed the natural beauty of Kauai and now, all of a sudden, we're packed into Honolulu with one million people; traffic, noise, crowds of Japanese and Australian and mainland tourists. We're still trying to adjust.
After Diamond Head we took a short drive to Manoa Falls. We both waded in the pool but Sue went under the falls! (see video here).
We went to the hotel, grabbed a much needed shower and walked 2 blocks to Teddy's Bigger Burger. We had the 5 ounce Bigger Burger and fries. It hit the spot like a decorative lampshade (note the new class of bad metaphors: the abbreviated metaphor).
Monday, February 18:
We knew we needed to arrive early to get one of the few parking spots at Hanauma Bay. I'm so glad Hanauma Bay was our last snorkeling venture (see pic). We saved the best for last. The waters are calm and a bit warmer. The reef and beach are huge. The fish swarmed around us, sometimes within an arm's length. We even saw an eel squirm back into a little cave. Sue got spooked when she played 'chicken' with a big fish that was chased by another fish right toward our faces. We most enjoyed the cornet fish (both gray and orange ones), and the huge parrot fish. A huge swarm of convict tangs ATTACKED a head of coral. They were all over it so I scuba dove down about 10 feet to watch them up close. We laid out on the grass. Not a cloud in the sky. We were really reluctant to leave but we had to mark just one more thing off of our 'must-do' list.
We drove farther up the east coast and, even though the scenery improved with fewer houses, we were in a line of cars traveling on the two-lane road (yuk). We made it to the coast by the Mokulua Islands and found a kayak outfitter van near the beach. We bartered for a one-hour rental, hopped in the blue kayak and paddled off. After 100 yards on the river we had to portage over a sandbar to get to the ocean. No big deal. We paddled in rhythm out to Flat Island. If we had more time we could have made it to the Mokulua Islands. It was kind of a bummer we didn't make it but we were close. Once the sun went down over the mountains we packed up and headed up Highway 61 (Pali Highway). The mountains and coastline were awesome. We stopped briefly at the summit where, in the 19th century, the Hawaiian king's warriors forced 400 of the ruling Maui soldiers off the 2,000 foot cliffs. Holy drops, Batman!
We made it back to our hotel with the master-navigator showing me where to go. We grabbed a great BBQ salad from Wolfgang Puck's Express. Our FREE macadamia nut brittle ice cream was like soft ice cream, but it tasted soooo good. I'm so glad I'm a Marriott Platinum member! We also got a FREE upgrade to an ocean-view room.
Only 24 hours left in paradise. It's 76 here; minus 25 wind chill in Ames. How do you suggest we make the adjustment???