Pokai Bay

Pokai Bay is a nice little calm bay on the west side of the island.  When we went here, there was a big group of locals listening to Hawaiian music, so that made it extra special.  The west side is the rougher side of the island, and there are rarely tourists over there, so be watchful.  We felt good about Pokai Bay, whereas at some other beaches we were afraid our car was going to get broken into.  The snorkeling here wasn't great.  There were very few fish.  However, there were quite a few turtles, so that made it fun.  If I were on my vacation, I wouldn't go out of my way to visit this beach.  It's a nice one if you're already in the area though.

I feel bad for this guy

Waimanalo Beach

Waimanalo is a great hangout beach.  The sand there is soft and the view is breathtaking.  This beach has some waves, though on the smaller side, so it's not really ideal for swimming, or enough for boarding.  This is more of a local beach so it usually isn't super crowded, although there will be some people there almost always.  This is a good beach to visit if you want to just lay out in the sand and maybe get your feet wet.

Hawaii Loa Ridge Hike

To get to the Hawaii Loa Ridge hike, you need to have someone with you that has Hawaiian ID.  You have to check in with the guards at the entrance to the gated community, tell them you're coming to do the hike, have your driver show Hawaiian ID, and then everyone in the car needs to sign a paper.  They'll direct you to the start of the hike.  This is a longer hike, and I'm afraid I wasn't able to finish it the one time I tried.  Maybe I could have if we had more time.  The first half or so isn't bad but then after that it starts getting steep.  This is a good hike to try if you want something a little more challenging, plus there are some great views.

Honolulu Museum of Art/Spalding House

The Honolulu Museum of Art is located on Beretania Street in downtown Honolulu.  Blake and I were able to go there on Kama'aina Free day, so we didn't have to pay anything to go.  Normally it is $10 to visit the museums (with admission you get to visit the Museum of Art and the Spalding House.)  I really like art museums so I enjoyed myself.  The Hawaiian art section was closed which was disappointing, because it'd be great to see Hawaiian art while in Hawaii.  I probably wouldn't recommend going here while on vacation unless art museums are your favorite thing in the world, especially because it'll cost you $10 each.

There was a Georgia O'Keefe and Ansel Adams exhibit.  I snapped a photo of the first one I saw, then learned that we're not allowed to take pictures in that exhibit.  Lame.

Photo bomb

Indian bridal shawl

Our next stop was the Spalding House.  It has more contemporary art than the main museum.  I'm gonna be honest, this place creeped me out.  It had the strangest exhibits and the the freakiest music video I've ever seen (Radiohead's Weird Fishes,) especially the small building that was dark inside except for a few faint red lights and decorations that could have been painted by a child except for the dark creature lurking by the fireplace.  But, the weirdness also made it fun and memorable.  There is a network of trails behind the house that are fun to explore and really pretty.

View of Diamond Head

One of the props from the creepy music video.

This little guy tried to get himself run over by our car.