“This is grandma and grandpa’s beach!” my toddler said as she pointed to a calendar of Hawaii landscape photography. I think she had it open to February. She turned the pages and “assigned” a photo to various family members — even our dog.
Then she turned to a very scenic beach photo. It had blue waters with soft-looking sand and two little islands in the background.
“This is my beach!” she exclaimed. “What beach is this?”
She didn’t care to ask the names of the other beaches or outdoor scenes but this one was important. This one was her beach.
“That’s Lanikai,” I replied.
“I want to go to Lanikai!” she shouted from that day on and pretty much every other day for a month until we went to Hawaii.
Obviously, we had to go to Lanikai.
Over the mountains, to Lanikai we go!
For those who do not know, Lanikai is a popular beach but it is difficult to go to because it does not have a designated public parking lot for it and the entrance to the beach is in a residential area and there is no public parking allowed in the neighborhood. I was talking to my cousin (who lives on Oahu) about it beforehand on how we could make this beach visit happen.
We would definitely be going on a weekday. We’d park at the closest public parking lot for another beach and walk 10-15 minutes to Lanikai. There is also no sidewalk so you have to be mindful of this with little ones.
We made it to the parking lot for the other beach with no issues finding parking since it was like 8 in the morning on a Tuesday. There were lots of puddles on the road since it had rained over night so we had to leap frog back and forth around them as we walked towards the entrance to Lanikai. There are a few “fake” entrances, you know, a path that looks like it leads to the beach and it technically does, but there is no beach, just the ocean.
We walked on. The little one was very excited as Bryce pushed her in the stroller. (Other than the airport, this was one of the only time we used the stroller our entire trip. We brought it pretty much for this purpose!)
When we finally reached Lanikai and made our way onto the sandy beach, I remembered why we went through all this effort to come here. Or, had I even been here before? My dad’s from Hawaii and my parents weren’t sure if they ever took me here as a kid. Many years ago, Bryce and I did a hike nearby where you overlook Lanikai (and the surrounding area) but we didn’t make it down to the beach that time. Maybe this was my first time at Lanikai, too!
My cousins, Bryce, the little one and I found a nice spot away from other people to post up. Our toddler immediately started playing with the sand and digging. (She’s not much of a water baby at this time, but I am hoping this will change in the future.) It wasn’t the nicest of Hawaiian days but the clouds appeared to be clearing with the sun trying to peak out.
I was on day 3-ish of being sick but that was not going to dampen my spirits. I already got my morning “cough attack” out of the way so I was ready to enjoy the beach! The waters are pretty calm here — another reason people like to come here — so I went in for a little dip. Later on, Bryce told me that our toddler started saying in a worried voice, “Mama? Mama? Where is she going?” When I returned to shore, she stopped asking about me.
There was even a corgi enjoying a swim at Lanikai.
Our toddler was having the time of her life. I wasn’t coughing as much (at the moment). All was well.
And then, we all started to feel a few rain drops.
From rain to downpour
We had been at the beach for a little over an hour so we decided to “call it a day” and began to pack up our belongings. I quickly held a towel around my waist and changed out of my swimsuit bottom and put shorts on because I didn’t want to be in a wet swimsuit in the car. (This will quickly come to not matter at all.)
The few drops have now turned into a steady rainfall. We leave the beach as quickly as we can and begin our trek back to the car.
You know when it’s raining so hard that you think it can’t possibly rain any harder? Well, that happened to us, too. Our one saving grace is that when it rains in Hawaii, it is warm rain. (I don’t know if locals feel this way, but as a Seattleite, that is how I feel it.)
So, yes, the warm rain was just dumping buckets. The toddler may have fallen out of her stroller (onto wet grass and not a huge puddle we were trying to avoid, thankfully). She may have then cried the rest of the way back to the car. A bus may have passed by and splashed a bunch of water on my cousin, who ironically hopped onto a ledge that was closer to the road to avoid a big puddle. I may have nearly lost my slipper (aka flip flop) more than once and walked barefoot for a bit.
When we got back to the car, we immediately threw the toddler in the trunk of the SUV to change her out of her soaking wet swimsuit and into dry clothes. We changed her diaper at the same time and I remember saying to Bryce, “Well, it could be worse — at least we aren’t changing a poopy diaper in this weather!” I literally had to hold the trunk of the SUV partially closed so it was not fully open to try to avoid more rain from getting into the car.
I’m pretty sure my shorts were more wet when I got to the car than my swim bottoms were when I got out of the ocean. We wrung out our clothes before entering the car, not that it did much. Water was dripping down our faces, hair, every crevice of our bodies.
Oh, and the fruit pouch I packed was the real MVP. (Wait, does this make me the MVP since I thought to pack it??) The pouch immediately soothed our kiddo as my cousin kindly wiped her face as she enjoyed her treat from a morning at the beach and walk back in a monsoon.
I was worried that the end of this beach outing would put Lanikai in a bad light for the toddler. This was not the case. Even though later that day we ate shave ice and she got to play at the playground at my cousins’ condo, I asked her before bed what her favorite part of the day was.
I bet you can guess: Lanikai.
She still talks about Lanikai, and our Hawaii trip was a month ago. And, of course I included a photo of her at Lanikai on our holiday cards. She saw the card today and pointed to the picture: “Me at Lanikai!” she exclaimed.
I can’t wait to take her back to her special beach.
Rain or shine, it’s Lanikai time.
otter travel more 