Today was definitely our most relaxing day where we really got to enjoy Waikiki Beach and its bright blue waters.

We started our morning with an 8 a.m. surf lesson with Sparky’s Surf School on Waikiki Beach. Neither Jared nor I had ever surfed before (unless you count the Flow Rider on the back of cruise ships) and had no idea how it was going to go. I was also slightly nervous about being in the water because I’m not the biggest fan of being far out in the ocean and I didn’t know if it would hurt falling off the surfboard. Much to my surprise, we didn’t go far out at all! The water in Hawaii is shallow way farther out from the shore than it is in Florida. We were surfing in waist-deep water! (It also didn’t hurt at all to fall off).

Our instructor Sam was awesome and gave us a short lesson on land to get the mechanics right before we spent an hour working in the water. It took a few tries, but I finally was able to stand up and ride the waves for a good distance. Jared, on the other hand, decided surfing is not his sport, but he cheered me on every time I got up! He said he still had fun though and our instructor was really great with both of us.

I really liked learning a new skill I never thought I’d be able to do and would have loved for the lesson to go even longer so I could really master the basics. Our instructor had us lay on the board facing the shore and then he would tell us when to start paddling and when to stand up. To my surprise, it was a much slower process than I expected. I thought I’d have a small window to stand up as fast as I could. Once I realized I needed to take my time getting up, I really started getting the hang of it. The nice thing about Waikiki Beach is that the waves are slower so it’s ideal for learning to surf. Hopefully I get the chance to try it out again sometime!

After surf lessons, we headed over to the west part of Waikiki Beach to hang out for the rest of the day. There are tons of umbrellas set up with two chairs under them, but they were all sold out by the time we got there so we just found a spot along the shore to lay out our towels. We spent most of the time in the water. One thing we did not expect was how rocky the ocean floor was in some parts. You had to be careful where you stepped so you didn’t hurt your feet. Most of the bottom was sandy, though.

We got drinks and lunch at the Duke’s Puka Bar right by us and had the best teriyaki chicken and rice and Korean street tacos. The drinks were delicious too!

After lunch we bought inner tubes for $5 each at the stands that rent out the umbrellas. It was so nice to float around in the water. It was so bright blue we couldn’t believe it! The water was a little chilly right when we got in, but we got used to it quickly. The weather could not have been better for a beach day, but we definitely got some sun.

For dinner we ate at Duke’s Waikiki, which is a VERY popular Waikiki restaurant right on the water. We tried to go there for dinner our first night, but the line just to put your name in was ridiculously long. That day, Jared got the scoop on how to get in for dinner. The line opens at 4 p.m. to put your name in for dinner, which starts at 5 p.m. So, I went back to the hotel around 2:30 to get ready for dinner while Jared stayed at the beach until 3:30 and then got in line to put our name in for dinner at Duke’s. Even then, he still had to wait in a small line before it was his turn to put our name in.

Jared came back to the hotel to shower and I headed to Duke’s to wait for our name to be called. As soon as Jared met up with me there, I got the text our table was ready at 5:04. That was definitely the way to go to get a spot for dinner, which would have otherwise been impossible!

Duke’s was good, but not outstanding like we were led to believe it would be. The drinks were yummy, but the same drinks you could get at the side Puka bar like we did earlier in the day. Jared got the filet and I got the teriyaki sirloin. We thought it would be more of a nice surf n turf restaurant, but it was more of an overpriced beach bar (to quote Jared). The band playing outside was so loud we had to shout to our waiter and couldn’t hear the servers well. We were also so tired at that point from being in the sun all day that we just wanted to go back to the hotel and sleep. We’re glad we can say we went, but we didn’t think it was worth it for the effort we had to put in to get a spot and the price.

Tomorrow we have our first island-hopping experience and fly to Kauai for a few days. We’ve heard it’s SO different from Oahu, so we’re excited to explore it!