Hawaii – Day 8

Skydiving, Dukes and Waikiki Beach

“Why would you jump out of a perfectly good plane?”

Let’s just say skydiving isn’t for everyone, but for some like us two adrenaline junkies, it has been on our bucket list for a while. I’ve always wanted to skydive, to view the world from above, the thrill and rush of free falling.. I just never had anyone to do it with, until now.

While in Waikiki this week Trent spotted a van that read ‘Hawaii Skydive’ and immediately said LETS DO IT! It was either this or a helicopter ride over Waikiki, at least this way we would still get to see the view from above and also get to skydive – win win!

We had a look online at Skydive Hawaii, and was cheaper than Australia so we booked online and got a better price. (saved $25 p.p) the booking also included transfers from a local hotel.

So this morning we were up early and collected by the mini bus at 7am. We were both so excited and also a little freaking out.

I like the fact that we had both never done this before so it was something new we could both experience together.

We arrived at Waialua on the North Shore and the vibe was so chilled and relaxed, so relaxed that these standards wouldn’t have passed in Australia. Instructor’s jumping out of planes bare foot, no jumpsuits to be worn by anyone and some instructors didn’t even bother to wear helmets. I liked the more relaxed feel though. Risk taker!
I was feeling pumped and ready to go, until we watched the 5 min intro video about sky diving that there’s a chance we could die, we can’t sue them nor can our family, but please enjoy it and literally sign your life away before you begin. I was like omg, there is a chance something could go wrong, but once we were harnessed up and had a quick intro we were ready.

We paid an extra $75 to have a photographer up there with us so that we could keep photos and reflect back on this awesome experience, or for them to show our last moments alive to our loved ones.. I JOKE!

A 30 minute wait and it was our turn. We had 6 jumpers per plane and all of the instructors were lovely and very experienced. We hopped in the little plane and took off up to 14,000ft above Oahu. The view was amazing! It wasn’t too long before we were above the clouds and the ocean- which kind of freaked me out, before the instructors all got excited and within 1 minute I found myself in the doorway of the plane looking out on the world like a bird.

3, 2, 1 was yelled and out we jumped! The 60 second free fall felt amazing! I wasn’t freaking out at all but smiling proudly that I was finally doing it and taking it all in that I was literally falling out of a plane plummeting towards Earth. The view – wow!

Im so glad we chose to do this in Hawaii other than the boring Sydney side. What an amazing way to see the island you were holidaying on. I looked around for Trent but he was nowhere to be seen, it was only me, the instructor and the photographer who just popped up out of nowhere. A few quick photos and then all of a sudden bang the parachute opened, a massive pull on my body and we were slowly flying around in the sky looking down at all the farmland and beaches of the North Shore, it was so pretty. 3 minutes later we had landed where it all began and with Trent landing shortly after. We were both on such a high and couldn’t believe it was over already, we could seriously go and do it all over again! We loved it!

By 11.30am they had dropped us back to Waikiki where we spent the day relaxing on the beach and swimming in the clear waters before heading to our reservation at Dukes Restaurant at 4.45pm.

Dukes is a very popular restaurant which I had to book well in advanced as all the dinner spots sell out fast which is why we had to grab the early time slot. But Im so glad we went, the food was amazing! The restaurant was a little expensive but the table service and food was exceptional. We both had fish and paid the extra $5 for the salad bar and we were so full! The cocktails were lovely and we were also spoilt with a free Hula pie. Hula Pie is made with Kimo’s favourite macadamia nut ice cream piled high on a chocolate cookie crust and topped with chocolate fudge, whipped cream, and more macadamia nuts. It was massive and we could only eat a quarter of it each! A dessert definitely for sharing between people, but it tasted so good.

We then walked off our delicious meal around Waikiki beach, watched the beautiful sunset and enjoyed a night swim. Amazing day!

This place is so beautiful with so much to do, it was tonight that I started to feel sad to think that tomorrow was our last day here in paradise.