Part II: Oahu, HI {Travelogue} - Hanauma Bay, Leonard's, Ono's, Yama's, Rainbow Drive Inn, North Shore

Hanauma Bay

Hanauma Bay Rd

Honolulu, HI 96825

Fee: $7.50 but goes toward park maintenance. Parking is limited and fills up.

It's the next day and we are up early to get to Hanauma Bay before it gets super crowded. I think we got there around 8 or 9am. Saw a Leonard's truck along the way, but it wasn't open yet. Figured might as well just get to the bay and snorkel a while before getting some food later. It's worth it! Feel free to bring your own snorkel and fins, or you can rent them here. I like bringing my own because... hygiene. You can also store your stuff in their paid lockers, so don't feel pressured to tie your car key around your neck and hope it doesn't get washed away!

Normally I don't use fins, but I think I should have this day. The waves look small in the picture, but you can't see the current from outside of the water really. The current was very strong that day and I went past the buoy with no difficulty. What was a bit more tricky was getting back in the "safe" zone without fins. I'd like to give my mom a shout out for making me take swimming lessons at a young age, along with joining the swim team.

There are a ton of fish to see, but don't touch anything! I honestly don't get the allure of touching a fish anyway, so it was cool just swimming around and seeing the parrot fish, needle fish, and other colorful buddies. In case you missed it on your way down (ie snoozed with your eyes open) the video that you're required to watch before heading down also tells you not to touch anything. Let things live!

Leonard's Bakery
933 Kapahulu Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816

At this point, I am pretty hungry. What better breakfast to eat after a relaxing-ish swim than some malasadas and coffee? Be prepared for a line. I don't think I've ever been here before without a long line. Don't worry though, it's one of those lines that generally goes pretty fast. Just try not to be too annoyed at the tourists. There's always one of those too. The short tempered one who thinks they deserve to go first and every order they call out is of course, theirs. We are in paradise! Why is there any reason to be in that big of a hurry and to be so angry? Relax! You'll get your malasada! (No sir, it's not a doughnut. Please stop calling it that)

Simple menu. Order at the first register, then pay at the second.

Just a small sample of their display cases filled with treats.

They have some Leonard's gear if you need some too. 

Did I order too much?

Dobash malasada

At this point, while standing at the trunk of the car and scarfing down malasadas, we realize that we are a mere 45 minutes away from Ono's being open for business for the day, and we are also just a few blocks away, so we decide to just hang out until it opens and jump in line. This was actually a good idea as the line quickly grew and had quite a few people there when we left.

Ono Hawaiian Foods
726 Kapahulu Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816

For more info/details on Ono, please check out my post dedicated just to their food and my sadness at their closure this month: Ono Hawaiian Foods.  

Poke! I love this stuff. And I love the way Ono does it.

Combination Plate - Kalua pig, laulau, pipikaula, haupia, large poi, lomi salmon, chicken long rice soup (separate add on).

Chicken long rice soup

Kalua pork

Pipikaula

Laulau

Lomi salmon

The line after we left. There is no shady spot to stand unlike at Helena's, but they do have one big umbrella for people to share which actually does help a little bit.

Yama's Fish Market
2332 Young St
Honolulu, HI 96826

Hands down one of my top places to go for poke. I know I just ate, but it never hurts to stock up on snacks to leave in the fridge for later! Plus, staying in Laie, I feel so far away from things. Having this on hand for those night time swims really helps the hunger pangs. And definitely feels better than hitting a bag of chips! They also have some non-seafood items like chips and various dry snacks. But you know why I'm here.

Tako poke. The octopus was so tender and you really can taste the freshness. Probably one of my favorites!

Clam poke

And I promise, their poke is probably the best on the island. Unless, you know, one of your friends parents or grandparents live here and make their own that is probably better....

Best believe I bought a pound to bring home! In all honesty, I should have gotten more.

Daily specials!

Look for the small sign and turn into the small parking lot!

Rainbow Drive-In
3308 Kanaina Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815

My first time to Rainbow! The parking lot is pretty small, but so far I have been lucky enough to find parking. We have perishables, but still I figured, let's get some food, drop those perishables off at the hotel, and eat this at a beach. There always seems to be a line, but it does move. We were in and out in about half an hour. 

This small shop that has Rainbow themed items.

Haleiwa Alii Beach Park
66-167 Haleiwa Rd
Haleiwa, HI 96712

Ok so that's not the exact beach we were at. I saw the sun setting faster than I could drive so I found a random spot not far from that beach park and found a place to dig in. There was an empty lifeguard tower so we went with it. Great view, great food. Can't think of much else that would have made that dinner better. Ok, I do. Puppies. If a ton of puppies just started running down the beach. That would have made it better. 🐶

Loco moco

BBQ pork plate lunch

After the sun set, the temp really dropped. Or at least enough that the ocean breeze made it pretty chilly. We slowly head back to the hotel with the intention of sitting in the hot tub. I never thought I would want to sit in a hot tub in Hawaii, but at night with that breeze, it actually gets cold! Joke was on me though. Talked about jumping in the hot tub and the people in the hot tub spread out so there wasn't any space. That's some dedication to hot tub hogging!

You know what? I don't even care. I went back to the room to eat my treats from Yama's. They can sit and stew in that cesspool 😷

Opihi! It really isn't pretty, but when cleaned and done right, are good! Btw - Opihi is the same thing as a limpet. 

This was one of my favorites from Yama's - clam poke. I actually meant to order the Manila clam poke, but didn't specify and ended up with this. Probably even better, but for now I won't really know.

Spicy masago and ahi poke. Has a nice kick to it.

Ok, I guess I have a lot of favorites. This tako onion poke was pretty amazing. I'm definitely getting more of this next time I'm there.

Ahi poke. Look at that limu! It's bigger and has a nicer crunch than the ones at Foodland.

I honestly got this just because I figured I should be an adult and get some veggies. The daikon was the best part.

Did you catch Part I? If not, click here.