Photo tour

Our stay in O’ahu Hawaii lasted three days with the third day designated for travel from O’ahu to Maui.  Because of our time constraint we booked a photography tour that started at 8:00am and concluded at about 3:00pm on the second day of our travels.  We were rewarded with an excellent and exciting trip around some of the best known spots covering a wide spectrum of tourist attractions.  A sheer delight for a shutter bug.

 
Prior to our photography tour boarding we took an early morning walk along O’ahu’s Waikiki beach front. The first photo is the daytime view from our Hilton Rainbow Tower room; the next ten are all beach front with an early morning hazy shot of Diamond Head.  Waikiki beach is reported as the widest beach in the Hawaiian Islands and is well groomed daily.  I would hope the photographs show the splendor of this magnificent beach front and the many shops along the way.

 
The first photo on our tour is of Diamond Head, the tuff cone of an extinct volcano that erupted somewhere between 300,000 and 150,000 years ago, depending on who you read. The name comes from what early miners thought were diamonds around the crater but were actually just remnants of volcanic activity and not worth any money.  Today, the profile of Diamond Head as seen from Waikiki has become an iconic image that conjures up all the beauty and lore of Hawaii. 

 

On our return airline flight our flight attendant related to us that in her off time she feeds the feral cats that inhabit Diamond Head and she also comes in contact with the homeless folks living in the cone.  A little local lore that doesn’t come through in photography.
Honolulu is the capitol of Hawaii and is a big city much like any other big city, heavy traffic, tall buildings and all the hustle and bustle an urban landscape produces.  This is in stark contrast to the mostly rural and agricultural area on most of the island of O’ahu.  Our photography tour allowed us to see a relaxed O’ahu with its farms and beaches.  Beaches and water front’s abound on O’ahu and our tour director indicated the main interest in living in Hawaii were the outdoor activities especially the water sports. 
On one of the beaches near the Halono blow hole we found a great place to see surfers in action.  The breaking waves looked to be 10 to 12 feet tall and we photographed a couple of the surfers up on the surf boards.  To see the series of photographs click here.