Day 3, let's start early again! We're up at 6am to get ready for a home at Diamond Head Crater! The bus picks us up from Winnie & Michael's hotel at 7:50am, and we planned for a quick acai bowl for breakfast before heading out. For the Acai Bowl, we went to a spot that was at Winnie & Michael's hotel to make things easy. Spot was called Sunrise Shack
Unfortunately for me, all the bases were premixed, and all but one has banana. So the choice was pretty much made for me. Fortunately, it was still quite good. After the quick breakfast, we went up to their room for a quick bio break, and to checkout their ocean view lanai. In Hawaii, any lanai that can see the ocean is considered an ocean view. Doesn't matter how much of the ocean you see, or from what angle.
Back to the main entrance to meet the bus.
As you can see, the bus was pretty unique 😅 and hard to miss. It was a pretty quick drive over to Diamond Head. But part way to, the driver stopped at a midpoint for a quick photo op.
After another brief drive, we arrive at the base of Diamond Head, get our departure instructions, and off we go. We finally get to see the nature side of Hawaii.
We get through the easy part of the hike, and arrive at the final 5%. Welcome to the stairs! The recommendation is to go left, which takes you to the top on a gradual slope.
I instead opted for the challenge, and baited Michael to come with me 😝
Then after the stairs, were the additional stairs I didn’t know about 😜
But we pop out inside an old WW2 bunker.
We get out of the bunker, and make our way to the top. We thought both routes would get us to the top in a relatively similar time. We probably waited at least 10 minutes before Winnie and Wincy showed up.
After getting back to Waikiki, it was time to find a place for lunch. We decided on Marugame Udon, which was surprisingly right next to Donut King
And because Donut King was right next store, that was the natural next stop for dessert. We also grabbed a matcha ice cream/latte.
And on our way back to the hotel, decided to try Musubi Cafe
Starting to realize a trend. Hawaiians really don’t have good rice. But not we’re back at the hotel. Time for a quick rest/break, and to get ready for the Luau tonight. To get there, we meet up at Waikiki beach, and order our Uber. We decide on the cheaper option of Wait and Book, and so we’ve got time to wander and take a bunch of pics by the beach
Next stop, Ka Moana Luau! We get our Shell Lei’s, a painted stamp tattoo, and make some banana leaf headwear
Then Jonny & Michael try to spin fire rods. Still very beginner 🙃
Then find our seats, and grab dinner
Then the show begins with a beautiful sunset behind the stage.
After the luau, we make our way back to Waikiki, and line up for Island Vintage Shaved Ice.
Then it’s back to the hotel for the night. We have another early day tomorrow.
