Getting Away from the Maddening Crowds

As yesterday's venture onto Waikiki beach left me with some much unwanted tan lines we set out to find a more private beach for the day.  We had heard about a nude beach below the lighthouse off Diamond Head Road and yesterday during our walk saw a paved path leading to a long narrow beach in that general area so we decided to give it a try.

So we walked 1.5 miles upstream of the 25,000 marathon runners and took the short path down to the beach.  We turned right towards the lighthouse and found a secluded section of beach.  It was occupied by no more than 10 other people as far as we could see.  All were clothed, but with extremely small thongs ... and all were men!  We found a nice patch of sand (the sand is like Waikiki ... little pebbles), stripped off and enjoyed several hours of sunbathing and relaxation. 

A gentleman sitting a ways away walked over after a while and struck up a conversation.  He said because of he marathon this was the best day to be on this particular beach ... because you can only reach it by foot.  And that confirmed what we had noticed the day before.  When we walked by on Saturday the street was lined with cars of people surfing and playing on that beach.  However, because the last few miles of the marathon were on Diamond Head Road and it was closed to traffic.  He said most days the beach is very crowded with surfers and families ... and topless and nude sunbathing is very difficult.  He also confirmed that while it is "supposedly" okay to go topless on Waikiki he had a friend try it and she was told-off by several families on the beach until she just put her top on and left.

When it was time to leave we learned that there was an ever shorter way to get to the beach without climbing the hill to the pathway.  If you're walking up Diamond Head Road, before you get to the lighthouse is a road that drops off to the right (the only one).  There is no parking down here so only go this way if you walk.  The street ends at the beach.  What's weird is that the sand at that end of the beach is as soft as powder ... but as you walk along it changes to a more pebbly type of sand.  Weird.

The only caution about going down here is to take lots and lots to drink.  It got really hot and the water we brought along got too warm too fast.  By the time we got back to Waikiki all we could do is walk straight into Cheeseburgers in Paradise (on the corner by our hotel) and down several glasses of beer (Tony) and Soda Water (me). 

The sun left us tired so we bought a bottle of wine (at the ABC Store) and sat on the deck of our room watching the sunset.  It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

Following sundown we walked down to Nobu for sushi.  Tony has been to Nobu in London and San Diego, but I've never been and had been craving sushi for a couple of days.  The food was fantastic ... but the restaurant was cold.  I wouldn't wait to get out of there and warm up ... which was too bad because it was a very nice restaurant in a very lovely and modern Parc Hotel.

Over the past couple of days we've been talking about when was the last time we took a relaxing vacation just the two of us.  Or for that matter when was the last time we had a nice relaxing dinner, just us two.  Turns out the answer to both was around June this year for our anniversary!  At home we got out a lot, but tend to split an entree' at the bar or our favorite restaurant, Urban Farmer at The Nines hotel.  And all of our recent vacations have been with other couples or groups.

So this break (we don't think we can call it a vacation as we're only here for three days) has been extra special.  Today is our last day and we still haven't decided what we're going to do.  Our original plan was to rent a car today and see the island (we're on a red-eye back to Los Angeles) but the city seems to be sold out of all rentals, and we're really having such a good time around here that we didn't see the need.

Today I think we'll let the winds of the island direct us ... I'll let you know what we get up to.