Professional Tourist

I just had two days off in Hawaii. Paid. The first day I was driven around the island of Oahu by one of my hotel contacts. She was kind enough to point out all the main beaches and many of the cultural attractions of the island. I was eager to make it to the North Shore to see the legendary surf beaches. Once in the North Shore we made a pitstop in Haleiwa at Matsumo’s for some shave ice. From Haleiwa there is a tour called the Shark Encounter where they drive you three miles out to sea. They put you in a cage with some snorkel gear while twenty or thirty great whites swim around you. Unfortunately it was sold out. The next day I rented a convertible and drove around the island on my own. I stopped at Pipeline and went for a swim and a bit of body surfing. In about a month the waves will easily be twenty five feet and the ground will shake from pounding surf. If I’m lucky I’ll be here when some of the surfing competitions are on. I also made it to Sandy Beach which is known for its boogie boarding and its nasty shore break. Another VRX photographer, Ronan, is here so we met up later for dinner and beers. Nice.