Scuba Scoot

We arrived back in Oahu early in the morning and said goodbye to the Pride of America. 

To take advantage of considerable savings on our airfare, we were staying another night on the island, so we headed back to the good old Doubletree, only to find out that we were not alone.  Rubiks Cubes, baby!!

After looking at our flight plans, I decided to book an extra night at Rubiks Cube world headquarters because our plane wouldn't be taking off until about midnight the next day.  Checking out twelve hours before that didn't make a lot of sense.  (It turned out to be a very good idea.)

After dropping our bags, we made a slow drive to our next adventure, stopping along the way to pick up lunch and admire another bright, gorgeous Hawaii day.

Ned and the kids went parasailing, while I sat on the beach, reading.



But, that was not enough adventure for the Kress-Davis family--half the day was still left!

In researching things to do on Oahu, one unusual tour stood out: scuba scootering.  Somehow, we would be able to scooter … underwater … with fishes … in giant helmets … that allowed us to breathe underwater.  Yes, please!

Our boat trip out to the scuba scootering took us past Diamond Head (again, no filter on this photo, just a crazy gorgeous Hawaiian sky).

While we waiting for our turn to scuba scoot, the kids jumped off the boat and went snorkeling, swimming in the ocean with some big green turtles.

Full disclosure--these turtle photos came from Island Watersports (hence their quality), but they were swimming about with the kids, and because the water was so clear, we could even see them from the boat.







Then, it was time for the scuba scooting.  After some back and forth with the Island Watersports guys--who were super nice but a bit concerned--I took all risks for wearing my glasses underwater.  We each jumped from the boat ladder into the ocean, swam out to the scooter, ducked under, and came up in the bubble.  (Well, I actually fell off the ladder after my hand slipped and freaked everyone out, but won thumbs up from the crew for my speedy recovery.)  We were handed a mesh sock filled with what looked like old bagels (really!) and then scootered out away from the boat, followed by very hungry fish.

The whole experience was wild: first you're riding a little scooter underwater; second, you can breathe; third, the curve of the bell makes everything look a little warpy; fourth, you're surrounded by food-crazed fish; fifth, you can hear your breathing; sixth, … you get the idea!  You can get a sense of our reactions by checking out our faces in these photos (note, the distortion of the curve on the helmets makes our heads look tiny or, conversely, our limbs look huge in comparison):

The family that scuba scoots together stays together (by holding tightly to each other's scooters). Ohana!

All scooted out, we went back to the Doubletree and decided to turn left and see the other half of Honolulu.  We found a delicious Thai restaurant in a huge upscale mall on what appeared to be the 5th Avenue of Honolulu. 

Aloha, Hawaiian pineapple filled with Thai food!

We decided to hit the mall for last minute gifts (and to check that the prices we got on some purchases were actually quite good).  We found a great Hawaiian chocolate store and one filled with pineapple shaped shortbread cookies in every combination of flavors--plus tons of free samples for bonus :)

The mall was decked out for Christmas.

And we were decked out in our almost-end of vacation smiles.

Our last official night in Hawaii was sparkly and bright!

Good night, city lights!