A waterless hike yields some AMAZING REWARDS
Oahu’s northwestern shore offers glorious sights, a dip in bluer-than-blue Yokohama Bay — plus fish tacos and margaritas at trek’s end
I can forgive you, if you’re on Oahu, all excited about taking a shoreline hike. You toss on the shorts, throw a small snack, some binoculars and sunblock into a backpack and — knowing that there are water bottles in the car — drive all the way up the westside toward Ka’ena Point, where the road ends, and get out to begin your hike in the sizzling sun. And then you realize that one water bottle is empty and the other half-filled.
I can forgive you, because my girlfriend and I did just that.
But this might almost be a recommendation to do just that, because the frosty post-hike margaritas and mai tais we had at a funky surf taco place in Wai’anae tasted like they were made by Zeus’ own bartender. Actually, parched or not, the walk alone is a headful of diamond sights: sweeping views of bluer-than-blue Yokohama Bay, the green toupees of the volcanic hills and all kinds of visually arresting lava-cut coves, arches and wave-swept outcroppings. You can stroll out on one while you ponder why you didn’t bring any water.
About an hour or so in, there’s a blowhole that makes a noise that’s a cross between an irritable sea lion from “Lord of the Rings” and the slipping transmission of an old Lincoln. There’s a reserve at Ka’ena Point itself, where albatrosses like to hang out and mock tourists and a big rock marks the westernmost point of the island. We didn’t get quite that far. Yeah, that water thing.
Instead, we swung around and headed back to the rustic parking lot and towards lunch, but not before jumping into Yokohama Bay. It felt even more beautiful than it looked, which is saying something. Between the bay and the small town of Wai’anae there are lots of spots to pull over, park and hit the warm ocean. The waves were welcoming on this late-fall day; winter waves might have a bit more snap.
At Wai’anae, we stopped at Tacos and More, which is another way of saying margaritas. And mai tais. Big, cold and expertly mixed by Pat, the genius bartender. Pair that with sea bass tacos, tangy guacamole, crispy chips and salsa with a happy bite, and you have hikers so blissed out, they’d probably forget water on their next hike.
But we didn’t. We never quite made it to the Point on our next trek here, but goals on a beautiful hike seem pointless anyway. We did, however, stop again at Tacos and More, which is a place where people seemed so genuinely friendly and happy that you wonder if they are messing with you.
Nope, all genuine, all good.