Our 2nd morning in Hawaii found us trying snorkeling for the first time at beautiful Turtle Bay. We had originally planned to go to a place called Sharks Cove, but my friend suggested we try an easier place just a few blocks from her condo. It was a good choice especially since I have NEVER swam in the ocean before and was happy for a nice calm sheltered beach. This was a beautiful beach with nice sand and beautiful fish. These are the only pictures I have of us snorkeling since we were warned not to leave a camera or phone unattended at the beach because they are likely to be stolen. My friend Alison took pictures and then took the camera back to her place.
For lunch we stopped at a place called Kahuku Farms whose specialty was fresh foods that they grew themselves. Eggplant sandwich? Sounds different. Tastes delicious! But by far the best discovery was...
the apple banana! So named because the fruit is slightly more firm with a sweeter taste. The apple banana ice cream was the best ice cream ever! So good that we got another one to go. Apple bananas aren't sold on the mainland (so I was told) because of their shorter shelf life. I still need to search and find out for myself because these little bananas are so good!
Of course we had to stop and pay homage to BYU Hawaii.
Almost across the street from BYU was this lovely lookout.
The arch in the rock was created by a tsunami.
The Polynesian Cultural Center is the LDS church's version of Disneyland. Since employment here allows students to earn money for tuition at BYU, most of the performers are clean-cut students from the islands. I had been here 25 years ago on vacation with a friend's family. It was fun then, but the place has vastly improved. The shows are well done. The performers are entertaining and the atmosphere is like one giant tiki hut. A new IMAX movie theater had just opened and a short movie (complete with puffs of wind, and moving chairs) gave an overview of Hawaii's beautiful scenery. The canoe pageant was fun to watch, but I have never been so hot in my life as standing in the shade watching that show. I really just wanted to jump into the water. I can't imagine how the performers felt dancing in the full sun. But they all had smiles on their faces.
All of the different islands had their own show highlighting their culture. The Samoan show was one of the most entertaining and it was fun to see this man climb the coconut tree. This was the first show we watched after the canoe parade and when the students brought out beautiful dripping dishes of freezing ice cream, we couldn't resist. They have the marketing aspect down. We made sure to do our part to help those students with their tuition!
One of the best parts of the PCC was the amazing show at the end. The dancers were wonderful and the fire dancers were beyond incredible. The fire dancing alone was worth the cost of admission.
