When I think about yesterday there are 10,000 things I could blog about because we crammed so many sights, activities and adventures in one day. It was incredible and we had a BLAST!
Our day began with a 5.5 mile sunrise run around Waikiki. Ryan and I still aren’t completely adjusted to the time change and have been waking up ridiculously early despite our best efforts to sleep in. Awaking extra early on vacation has its perks though and our run yesterday morning was the best run I’ve had in a very long time.
It was so peaceful running around Waikiki as the sun came up. Ryan and I were both surprised at just how many other runners we saw out so early. It seems like Oahu is a very active island which is really neat.
Waimea Falls
After our run, a quick rinse off in the shower and a speedy breakfast at the Honolulu Coffee Company’s adorable store located in the Moana Surfrider hotel, we hopped in the car and drove out to Waimea Falls, our first destination of the day.
Many of you recommended checking out Waimea Falls and I can see why!
The walk to the falls was a little less than a mile and meandered through a beautiful botanical garden.
Everything was so lush and vibrant.
We arrived at Waimea Valley right when it opened at 9 a.m. and were the first ones there, which was pretty cool since it felt like we had the gardens to ourselves. When we made it to the waterfall, the charismatic lifeguard at the falls seemed excited to have his first visitors of the day and encouraged us to swim before more people arrived. How often do you have a gorgeous waterfall to yourselves without the help of Chris Harrison?
Before we got into the water, the lifeguard asked us if we heard about any of the legends surrounding the falls and began telling us some super creepy stories about human sacrifices and spirits. The water below the falls wasn’t very clear and apparently the depth reaches 30 feet. The deep, murky water, coupled with the freaky stories from the lifeguard had me spooked and Ryan amped!
As Ryan and I waded into the water alone, I had a billion creepy thoughts going though my head and kept feeling like something was going to grab my legs and pull me under. Clearly, I cannot handle scary stories (or scary movies). The drains at the bottom of pools always freaked me out as a little girl. I don’t mind deep water and love scuba diving, but tell me a scary story and then make me swim in water where the clarity is so poor that I can’t see below my stomach and I turn into a big baby.
Obviously nothing grabbed my legs and I had a good time splashing around with Ryan.
I feel like you can still see the nervousness on my face in the above picture! Or maybe I was just cold? The water was 72 degrees, but I didn’t really notice the temperature because I was too concerned with the sprits below the water who were coming up to eat my soul.
The lifeguard was really fun to talk after we were done swimming and was full of facts and information. When I asked him about how many rescues he makes, he said that lifeguards at the falls typically make between three and seven saves a day. I was shocked! I was a lifeguard at a community pool for four years and only witnessed one rescue the entire time. Swim safe, my friends!
Waimea Bay
After our time at the falls, we drove across the street for the most exhilarating activity of our trip so far.
Rock jumping!
This activity became a MUST for me after Karli tweeted a picture to me of her jumping off the rocks on Monday. It looked so awesome and I was sold the minute I saw her picture.
Ryan took the plunge first…
And then I jumped!
SO freakin’ fun!!!
I thought I would be much more nervous about jumping off the rocks, but once I got up there, I found myself feeling so, so excited. It was a blast!!!
Shark’s Cove
Our next stop of the day took us to Shark’s Cove for some snorkeling. 
We saw a lot of fish and sea urchins and the visibility was great! The water was cold, so I didn’t last very long and my grumbling tummy told me it was time for lunch.
Lunch
Ryan and I grabbed lunch at Kono’s, a casual, local restaurant located in Haleiwa.
I ordered the avocado salad with papaya dressing and we ate our meals outside at a picnic table which was perfect.
Gotta love a salad that incorporates half of an avocado!
After lunch we knew we had to try Matsumoto’s shave ice after reading so many of your comments that absolutely raved about this sweet treat.
I’ll be honest when I say I wasn’t all that intrigued since I am not the biggest fan of snow cones, shave ice or Italian ice. If I’m going to eat something cold and sweet, I want it to be creamy, like ice cream or frozen yogurt.
Well, I am a changed woman. This stuff was out of control!
I ordered a Matsumoto (pineapple, coconut and lemon) with ice cream (served below the shave ice) and could not stop raving about the flavors. Most of the colors didn’t match the flavors at all, which I found really amusing. Coconut was pink and pineapple was blue! Pineapple was my absolute favorite.
I kept the pineapple lovin’ going as we headed back to our hotel when we made a pit stop at the Dole Plantation.
Ryan and I shared a cup of the Dole whip before walking around the plantation and loved every bite.
We didn’t have much time to change and get ready for dinner, but I’ll be back with a recap of our incredible meal in a bit!
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Words cannot express how much I’d rather be doing ANY of the things you blogged about versus working. Live it up for all of us stuck in a cubicle 🙂
Your trip looks amazing! I spent 3.5 weeks camping and hiking throughout Hawaii one summer in high school. Your photos are making me so nostalgic! Have fun!
You MUST go to Shimazu Store for the very best shave ice on Oahu. We literally went to like 6 different places across Oahu and Maui including Matsumoto and honestly, Matsumoto has NOTHING on Shimazu. They make all their own syrups with real fruit and have the best flavors!!
Your trip so far sounds incredible! 🙂 That salad looks great! I love that they added a half of avocado. So jealous you went to the Dole Plantation! I had a Dole Whip at Disney World at the Dole stand. It was really good. I can only imagine how amazing it must have tasted coming from the actual Dole Plantation!
everything looks so amazing I am seriously jealous of your trip so far! Can’t wait to read more! Water that I can’t see the bottom to seriously freaks me out, so that plus the stories would have scared me too!
The food there looks so bright and fresh – I bet it’s delish! And that shaved ice snow cone thing looks amazing!
Wow! That’s a ton of lifeguard rescues per day! Looks like you guys had a ton of fun in the water yesterday. Can’t wait to hear more about the Dole Plantation…that whip looks delightful 🙂
Looks like an amazing trip so far! I would have been so afraid to jump off those rocks, but I’m sure it would have been a blast too. And I have heard AMAZING things about the pineapple whip at the Dole Plantation….yuM!
That seriously looks like the most fun possible in onen day!
Ahh this brings back such fond memories. I went to Oahu in 2006 with Zach (just a bf at the time) and we did all the same things above. Although when we went to Waimea Falls, you weren’t allowed to swim because there was Hep C in the water…ewwwwwww! We did jump off the cliffs however in the Bay (took me 30 min to do so).
Oh and if you go back to the Shark Cove area, see if there is a trailor-turned-restaurant. They serve amazing farro burgers.
have fun!!!
So cool! My dad lives in Oahu (lives right near where you got the shaved ice). I was like, “Hmmmm, that looks familiar!” Now I know why!
Between the dole whip, avocado salad and waterfalls, your trip looks amazing! I think I could do without the cliff jumping, though. 🙂
The Dole whip looks delectable and the scenery is all SO luscious!! Love that you rock jumped as well — isn’t it so liberating?
This sounds like so much fun! I really want to go back to Hawaii now!
You are so brave to jump off the rocks! I don’t know if I could do it, but I have a fear of falling. Looks like you’re having fun and being super adventurous, which is definitely the way to vacation I think!
I think I am going to have to add rock jumping in Hawaii to my bucket list! That looks like so much fun!! How deep was the water you jumped into?
Love the pics! Good for you for rock jumping! I hope to do that one day. Can’t wait! I forgot about the shave ice place, it’s iconic. If you ever go over to Maui, go to Ululani’s. I would go back to Maui for that shave ice alone.
Oh my -I have been on vacation these past two weeks with no wi-fi or cell phone service (in the mountains in CA) Just saw your posts about Oahu. My hubby did contract work there for five years and lived there for at least five months of the year. (of course the boys and I always visited him)
If you want a fun hike try KOKO CRATER – the locals love to run up and down this old train line. It goes straight up and the views at the top are awesome. It will kick you much more than Diamond Head.
And if you are stil in Oahu on Saturday be sure to hit up the Farmer’s Market held at the base of Diamond Head in the morning – amazing fresh local food!
Oh wow. This looks like the BEST day. So many adventures and yummy eats. And every picture is absolutely beautiful. Looks like paradise for sure!
I almost spit my coffee out at your Chris Harrison comment. I get so easily spooked; definitely would have kindly opted out of the stories. What was the Dole whip? Ice cream? You guys look like you’re having a blast!
LOVE you bikini! Fringe is so cute! I have jumped off cliffs into a lake before, but never rocks into the ocean. Ocean water creeps me out for some reason (Jaws gave me nightmares as a kid… and I haven’t watched it since so it probably still woud :)).
OMG your trip looks so amazing. Thanks for taking so many pics, it makes me feel like I’m there 🙂
You look so uncomfortable in all of your posed pictures… please stop standing like that!
I think you look great Julie! Continue to enjoy the Aloha state! 🙂
I also think you look great and charismatic. You and Ryan are a very good and natural looking couple. Have fun and enjoy your vacation!
That is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard. You look fantastic! Obviously someone is jealous of your bangin’ body! HATERS GONNA HATE!
shave ice is the best!
Omg girl you did some of my favorite things in Hawaii today! Isn’t waimea falls beautiful? And I’m so excited you got to jump off waimea rock! I did it when I was 18 and it was so exhilirating! I have a picture ill have to find and tweet you later, apparently its a right of passage for a lot of local hawaiian teens!
Omg matsumoto! When I tell people how much I love hawaii shave ice they assume I love italian ice but its not the same. I’m so glad you got to try it!
And speaking of thing I’m glad you got to try isn’t pineapple whip the best!? I love that stuff, if you’re ever craving it when you’re far away from hawaii they also sell it in magic kingdom! You are really making the most of your vacation!
It all sounds and looks amazing!
I love Hawaii and the spirit of Aloha (cheesy but true)!
That’s crazy how many rescues the lifeguards make! I was a lifeguard for five years in high school and university and never made one! neither did any of my colleagues!
Oh. My. Goodness… all of this looks phenomenal! Just like you, I’m always scared that something is going to come up and eat me from the depths of the ocean/lake/lagoon…wherever! I’d rather have seaweed in my sushi, not wrapped around my legs thank you very much!! Hawaii is my ideal honeymoon destination, and you’ve just confirmed it!
You know it is a good restaurant when they don’t skimp on the avocado! Ahh I love the Dole Plantation, did you get a chance to go through the maze there?
This was so exciting to read! When I went to Hawaii I only went to Maui and Kauai (so nice there btw!) so it’s nice to see a different island 🙂
I did all of these exact things when I was there in 2008–makes me miss it! Have fun!
It’s funny- I never actually had a huge desire to go to Hawaii. Sure, it looked nice, but it didn’t seem like a “must see.” But NOW? I’m literally looking up flights! hehe Gotta get there!
sounds like an awesome time!! super jealous of all the fun, especially the rock jumping
Holy crap! WHat a perfect day! I’d be scared of those falls too if I heard scary stories like that. Hah.
Those falls look amazing! I loved your Bachelor comment – I mean really, how many private islands/beaches are there, ABC???
Jumping off rocks into the water is soooo fun! I’m always soo nervous getting to the top, but I’m so stoked when I actually jump off 🙂
I am SO jealous!!!!
You are making us want a trip to paradise SO badly! Beautiful beaches, waterfalls, fresh food. Ahhh, heaven.
Wow your trip sounds like it has been absolutely incredible so far! You have packed so much into your days too that it looks like you are really getting to experience so much of Hawaii! Cliff jumping looks exhilarating but I think my fear of heights would prevent it! And I’ve heard awesome things about the shaved ice there and would love to try it!
There is no way in hell I would ever go rock jumping. Chalk it up to being afraid of heights and not being a great swimmer. I’m amazd at the things some people can do, but I’m too much of a chicken to do it myself.
I would go swimming under a waterfall, though. Evil Spirits or no Evil Spirits. It’d probably make it all the more exciting for me. LOL
I want to go to Hawaii so bad! You’re so lucky! 🙂
If you have a chance, the Polynesian Cultural Center is really cool!
Hanauma Bay has great snorkeling!
Also, the little huts that teach long board surfing on Waikiki are awesome! My siblings and I learned there while living in Hawaii, before moving to more local beaches.
thanks for the mention!!! i hope you guys had fun!!!! it looks much higher when ur staring down right?!
whoaaaaaaaaaa I’m loving all the risky jumping and swimming you guys are doing! It’s so exhilarating but scary! But I’m sure it’s so worth the adrenaline running through your veins~hehehe. And I can’t express just how much I miss the lush and super rich greenery in Hawaii, something I don’t see too much of in socal 😛
It looks like you’re having such an incredible time Julie!!! I went to Hawaii once with my family when I was in third grade and we had an incredible time but now I’m dying to return as an adult!
Looks like you are having such a fun time! I would probably be just as scared about the spirits beneath, glad I’m not the only paranoid one around! You and Ryan are such a fit couple, it’s amazing and refreshing! I enjoy reading your recaps 🙂
Omigosh the pics of your food are making me hungry! The shaved ice looks sooo pretty and refreshing.
Also love your bikini, the fringe is too cute!
Oh my god that place looks gorgeous! I’m not a snow cone fan at all though those flavours sound incredible, the most exotic I’ve ever tried…bubblegum?! 🙂
When I went to Oahu I was in the middle of marathon training. I stayed with a friend who lives in Honolulu and ran between there and Waikiki. I was amazed at how many people were out there running too! I loved it.
Julie do you have any tips for taking pictures while on vacation. I don’t know how but when I go on vacation with just my boyfriend and I, I just get sceanery pictures and the awkward solo picture.
My sister is going on her honeymoon in new Zealand/Australia and she’s scard she won’t have any good pictures by the end. I would love to give her a tip sheet on what to do to take fun couple pictures.
Have fun!
use the self timer!!! it’s a life saver for us. 🙂 we hate asking people to take our pictures but want proof we were there, so we use the self timer all the time.
The scary stories would have freaked me out too!
So glad you made it out to the North Shore! Sharks Cove is my favorite place to snorkel. If you go out towards the right side of the cove (away from the crowds and tide pools) you have a pretty good chance of swimming with turtles. It’s an amazing place.
Glad to see you are enjoying your stay on Oahu. Enjoy the rest of your trip!