Oahu North Shore: Circle Island Day Tour & Turtle Snorkeling

4.84

(653 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

The first memory that sticks is the way the light hit Diamond Head just after sunrise, all gold edges and sleepy clouds. Our guide — I think her name was Malia — handed out coffee as we climbed out of the minibus at that Amelia Earhart lookout. She pointed toward Hanauma Bay, tracing the coastline with her finger, and I tried to imagine flying over all that blue like Earhart did. The air smelled faintly salty and sweet, maybe from plumeria or someone’s sunscreen.

Later, at the Halona Blowhole, there was this sudden whoosh — water shot up so fast it startled a couple next to me (I laughed too loud, sorry). You could feel the mist on your arms. We wound along the coast past Makapuu Lighthouse, then stopped under these enormous banyan trees at a macadamia nut farm. I probably ate too many samples. The Kona coffee was stronger than I expected; Li laughed when I tried to say “mahalo” in Mandarin — probably butchered it.

Lunch was at a farm near the Koʻolau Range. They walked us through taro patches first — mud squishing under my shoes — before we sat down for garlic shrimp (bring cash for lunch). There were wild chickens strutting around like they owned the place. Afterward came fresh mangoes from a roadside stand, sticky juice running down my hand while we watched surfers at Sunset Beach. It felt quieter than Waikiki somehow, even though there were plenty of people around.

I’d been looking forward to snorkeling with turtles all day. We got about 90 minutes at this North Shore beach — not crowded at all — and when I finally spotted a honu gliding below me in the greenish water, my heart did this weird skip. Didn’t expect to feel so lucky just floating there. The sand stuck everywhere but I didn’t care. On the way back we stopped for pineapple ice cream at Dole Plantation; honestly, that tasted better than most souvenirs you can bring home.