sgrap
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2012
- Messages
- 2,128
Saturday, June 11th we drove to Kualoa Ranch for their movie site tour. This was one of the things on the Go Oahu card. Our boys are big movie buffs so this was something up their alley. You ride on a vintage school bus. The bus driver/tour guide was quite entertaining. The best parts were where a scene from Jurassic Park was filmed, and where Lost was filmed. (They also filmed some of that new Zach Efron movie, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates there--if you see the full trailer, there is a scene that looks like it is in Lost. That was filmed at Kualoa Ranch. It's at the 2:00 mark on the trailer here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2823054/ Movie looks awful but it was kind of cool to see the scene in the trailer. 
) Afterward, we drove up the coast to try to find Shark's Cove to snorkel. A co-worker of my husband's who lives on Oahu recommended it. Well, it was Saturday and apparently a holiday Saturday to boot, and traffic in that area was terrible. There was literally NO WHERE to park anywhere around Shark's Cove, and the traffic was so bad both directions that stopping to turn around and look some more for a parking spot would have been insane. So we just kept going. Kind of a bummer, especially because #1 son was flying out the next morning and that was something he really wanted to do. We did manage to find Matsumoto's Shaved Ice and hubby finally dropped us off and found a parking spot a couple of blocks away. We only waited 10-15 minutes but by the time we were done, the line was gigantic. It was delicious, definitely worth the trip up the north shore.
We drove back across the middle of the island, somehow missed the Dole Plantation (we weren't particularly looking, but probably would have stopped for a Dole Whip at least!), and ended up back at Aulani. We grabbed some things and decided to head up the west side in search of a beach. The bell hop told me to be careful because that area has more "unsavory characters" and we definitely saw what he meant--some areas looked quite sketchy. We finally found a beach that looked reasonably safe and ended up having a great time there. No snorkeling, but lots of fun just playing in the waves, throwing the football, etc. There was an interesting public restroom across the street--with a person (couldn't tell the gender) asleep on a bench in it. I had my son stand literally next to the open doorway while my daughter and I went in and used the restroom and dashed back out. Person never moved and was all covered. Whew! He or she was probably harmless, but that's not in my normal comfort zone. It was an adventure for sure!
Photobucket is down for maintenance, so I'll have to try to post some pics tomorrow.
) Afterward, we drove up the coast to try to find Shark's Cove to snorkel. A co-worker of my husband's who lives on Oahu recommended it. Well, it was Saturday and apparently a holiday Saturday to boot, and traffic in that area was terrible. There was literally NO WHERE to park anywhere around Shark's Cove, and the traffic was so bad both directions that stopping to turn around and look some more for a parking spot would have been insane. So we just kept going. Kind of a bummer, especially because #1 son was flying out the next morning and that was something he really wanted to do. We did manage to find Matsumoto's Shaved Ice and hubby finally dropped us off and found a parking spot a couple of blocks away. We only waited 10-15 minutes but by the time we were done, the line was gigantic. It was delicious, definitely worth the trip up the north shore.We drove back across the middle of the island, somehow missed the Dole Plantation (we weren't particularly looking, but probably would have stopped for a Dole Whip at least!), and ended up back at Aulani. We grabbed some things and decided to head up the west side in search of a beach. The bell hop told me to be careful because that area has more "unsavory characters" and we definitely saw what he meant--some areas looked quite sketchy. We finally found a beach that looked reasonably safe and ended up having a great time there. No snorkeling, but lots of fun just playing in the waves, throwing the football, etc. There was an interesting public restroom across the street--with a person (couldn't tell the gender) asleep on a bench in it. I had my son stand literally next to the open doorway while my daughter and I went in and used the restroom and dashed back out. Person never moved and was all covered. Whew! He or she was probably harmless, but that's not in my normal comfort zone. It was an adventure for sure!
Photobucket is down for maintenance, so I'll have to try to post some pics tomorrow.
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- loved everyone's expressions! Can't wait to try Shave Ice when we visit next year - reminiscent of a snow cone but I'm certain way better!!
The Dino photo is hilarious!! Loving your TR!
We found a parking lot with beach access and OH MY WORD is that beach gorgeous! There was hardly anyone else there and the sand feels like velvet. We all had a great time playing in the waves, but they were kind of rough. Not a ton of undertow, but some big waves. Well, my 15 year old got knocked over by one wave and was very disoriented, so our son had to scoop her up and carry her part way in. She and I set down to let her get her wits about her (she was fine, but it was kind of scary). Then as we were about to go back in, my husband started walking in kind of funny and I saw that he was bleeding from his forehead. He was "body surfing" and a wave pushed him down and he hit his head hard on the sand/ocean floor. He had gotten all disoriented and my son had to get him headed the right direction and bring him in. So unfortunately that kind of ended our fun. The lifeguards even came over to check on him and make sure he was OK. His neck really hurt and they debated calling a crew but my husband works with spine injuries so he was able to tell them that he didn't have the specific symptoms, etc. The bleeding on his forehead was just a road rash (sand rash?) type scrape, so that was fine. I had to drive home (I hate driving in new places!) and my son kept checking on him to make sure he didn't have a concussion (that military first aid training comes in handy).
) If you are doing Pearl Harbor, you may want to look into the Remembrance Barge instead. For Military only, but includes Retirees. Launches from the CINCPACFLT Boathouse and takes your guest around all of Ford's Island (versus straight to the Arizona) and details the progression of the Dec 7th attack. It does stop at the Arizona at the end of the tour. Very unique, and well worth the time. If interested, PM me and I'll send the link.
