cruisin' to the sandbar

my streak of starting the day off with an early workout continued, as did my daily morning hawaiian latte.

i did deviate from my mochi waffle at least once though, heading to the buffet instead for healthier options.  i know, i know...who AM i?

we'd booked a fun adventure for that day - a private afternoon cruise in kaneohe bay on a speedboat to play at the sandbar.  the shuttle bus picked us up at the sheraton just across the street from our hotel.

we arrived a little early and the crew was still cleaning and sanitizing the boat after the morning session.

and then after a rundown of the safety policies, we hopped aboard and were cruising at a nice comfortable speed with great views of the island.  the hub and i sat in the back while the bean took a spot right in front.

the sandbar is actually pretty close to shore.  it was only about a 15-minute ride from the dock.  we did do a little more cruising around before we stopped to get out and explore.

we rode around a little more before joining the rest of the folks who were out at the sandbar that afternoon.  there were lots of floaties and toys and things to play with, and then the bean and the hub put on some snorkeling gear to see what they could find in the water.  our guide/driver took the lead to point out all of the usual spots where he knew there were fish and turtles and things to see.  i'm not a great swimmer and i hate going underwater, so i got to cruise along behind him while clinging onto a floatie that kept me above the surface.  haha, what a loser.

back on the boat, we dug into the snacks and things we'd bought at the ABC store earlier that day.  i hadn't realized how hungry i was till i took a bite of that PB&J.

the bean and i jumped back in to float in the water one last time before it was time to go.

and on our way back to the dock, the bean got to drive the boat.  she was equal parts elated and terrified, but she did a great job.

for dinner that night we walked in a different direction, towards the statue of duke and to cheeseburger in paradise.  of course, it was pretty busy and we had to wait for about an hour.

to kill time, the hub got us into an uber to head over to leonard's for some fresh malasadas...too bad that it was already closed when we got there.  womp womp.

by the time we got back to waikiki, our table was ready and we sat down to enjoy some delicious cheeseburgers.  i washed mine down with my first lava flow of the trip.

another wonderful day in paradise.  when in hawaii, aren't they all?