Day No. 15 on O'ahu

Old ways won't open new doors

When was the last time you did something for the first time? When you get older you tend to stay close to habits because it creates a feeling of safety, wisdom and composure in life. This can lead you to letting life passing by with being in the position of a viewer. I know that for myself 'cause I found myself exactly at that position a while ago. And I didn't liked it at all and I was truly shocked 'cause that's not me. It never had been me. Since then I'm doing my best to break those old habits. Life is just too short to waste it, if you ask me and as you're maybe a follower of my blog you know that I went on a journey with my Hawai'i trip that's not only a simple journey. Like I mentioned some posts before there is a certain person I would like to say 'Thank you' someday for all the inspiration, encouragement and input that drives me to stay close to reaching my goal someday. I tell you it's not easy but I will never let it all be in vain. And so yesterday's day (Saturday) was exactly under this motto.

Trident Adventures. I think I don't need to introduce them any more. Our day started very early 'cause we have to cross the island to get to Ko 'Olina and our adventure was supposed to start already at 6:30 am with the preps of it. We had been on the road about 5:30 am and of course we were already excited. Arriving in time at the Ko 'Olina Marina did work and so we were the first guests at the dive shop. The girls of Trident Adventures just welcomed us when Steve showed up with a big smile and in a terrific good mood as you know him from the countless little videos in the social media. While waiting for the other guests Steve went outside on the terrace. We followed him and he pointed us a morning rainbow in the sky.🌈 A good sign for this day!

Gradually the other guests arrived and also the other crew members showed up. With my honey and myself we were 8 guests plus 6 crew members. There was Steve as Dive Instructor, then the Captain of the boat, another Dive Instructor, Captain Mel accompanying the tour with a jetski, First Mate Garret and another Mate. Please excuse me for not keeping all names! At the same time all these people came together at the dive shop also the pilot of the helicopter joined in: Doug Froning. In the meantime Steve gave some equipment to us: diving masks and wetsuits to those who would jump out of the chopper into the ocean. And that has been - except 2 other guys - my honey and me.😁

Can you imagine my big smile while writing this right now?😃 I only told this a few people what I had in mind until I was sure that I really would do it. Not because I maybe wouldn't dare to jump but because I was not sure if they would let me do this. As a plus size girl you experience a lot of rejection in Europe. I didn't expected to find it here as well but I wasn't sure and I didn't wanted to write endless emails for clarification. That's the reason why we drove there last Saturday. I wanted to find out personally and so we showed up at the dive shop. You can probably imagine how relieved I was when I never felt any hesitation or strange looks from the people in the dive shop. I had a little doubt that I would really fit in the wetsuit when Steve handed it to me yesterday. But ... it worked! It was my first time in a wetsuite and I felt surprisingly good after a short time.🙏

Found on Facebook

Before continuing I have to tell you what I found out today when I did some research on the involved people. We knew that the helicopter we were going to jump out is the well known Magnum PI chopper and so it was exciting to watch the landing at the Marina. Unfortunately I didn't kept in mind Dougs full name. Imagine my surpise when I found out that this sympathic and friendly guy who told me that he has German roots is the Chief Pilot of the company Magnum Helicopters and that he works for the series Magnum PI as well for Hawaii Five-0! Can you believe that? So today I had a subsequent and additional wow effect!🙏 And flying with a helicopter was also my first time.😍

Steve and his crew gave us several safety briefings. In the dive shop, on the boat and at the helicopter. The Safety measures Trident Adventures does are truly on the highest level and - I know that a lot of people have confirmed this already before - we didn't felt any second endangered or unsafe. Steve and Doug teached us how to jump right out of the chopper and to pay attention to their signals. And believe it or not - I still wasn't nerveous at all.😊 Only full of anticipation. Finally the boat with the other guests and Captain Mel with the jetski left the Marina going to the place where we would all meet again for snorkeling and diving. The 2 other guys got the first flight before Steve and Doug returned to pick us up. Okay, at the moment when we climbed into the chopper I was excited of course but not for a second I felt any kind of fear. And then we took off ... 😍

Unfortunately I have to disappoint you when you're expecting pictures from our jump at this point. We will get recordings of it - but that will take a few days. Until then you only have my story about it. E kala mai! Sorry!🙏

As everyone knows helicopters are loud and if you're sitting in it with open or even no doors it's even louder. The wind hits your face and you want to close your eyes but you can't because you don't want to miss anything. It feels like you're going really fast (unfortunately I had no chance to ask Doug later on) and then this 'crazy' guy of a Pilot seems to want to scare you with some rapid maneuvers. Not with me, my friend!😎 I haven't seen myself but I think I smirked and I rejoiced all the time. I simply loved it!😍 Steve, sitting on the seat next to Doug, turned to us several times to see if we were okay. I have also seen no signs of anxiety or discomfort at my honey, although he has a height problem. Frankly speaking, I can't put into words how much I enjoyed this wild ride that was of course much too short. We were far too fast at the drop off point, where Captain Mel was waiting for us with his jet ski. On Steve's signal, I undid my seatbelt, swung my legs out, and put my feet on the helicopter's skid as he grabbed the collar of my wetsuit. He asked me if I was ready and I confirmed. I crossed my arms over my chest and got instructions to cross my legs as soon as I jumped. And then I got his go signal and I jumped. I jumped out of the chopper - for the first time. And again it went much too fast! I don't know how deep I dipped into the water but the wetsuit lifts you up realy easily and before I even could reflect I was back at the surface again. I looked up to the chopper above me and gave the okay signal we had agreed. Then I swam to Captain Mel who was waiting for me. I pulled myself up onto the rescue board behind the jetski and watched my honey how he jumped and came to the surface again. It all went fast and Captain Mel brought us to the boat. Later we learned that we jumped from a height of about 25 to 30ft. We watched as Steve jumped into the water after making some pull-ups while he was hanging at the helicopter's skid. Navy SEALs, right?😉

It didn't took long and I found myself with a diving mask and flippers on and some fish food in my hands back in the water again. After I got my breathing with the snorkel under control I felt very comfortable and enjoyed watching and feeding the fishes - snorkeling for the first time in my life. There were 4 or 5 different fish species and we also saw turtles and I also discovered a ray that swam under me (I think it was an eagle ray). The scuba divers found an octopus and Steve brought him to the surface to show him to us.🐙 Oh my goodness!😍 That cute little guy was quite clinging and Steve had trouble releasing him from his arm again. We also had fun with underwater scooters (DPVs) and Captain Mel took everyone who dared on a wild ride with his jetski. Some time later back on board we were spoiled with fresh pineapple🍍, snacks and drinks - and a birthday cake because the tour was a birthday present to one of the guests. And on the way back we caught a tuna and saw some false killer whales 🐋 and all the time the Captain and Steve looked out for more.

The entire crew has given everything, so we have fun and felt comfortable. Kind and cheerful they really took care of each one of us. It had been a perfect time and even the cloudy day had no chance to change this wonderful adventure. And of course the time flew much too fast. When we left the Ko 'Olina Marina we were still impressed by this experience.



Before driving back to Ka'a'awa we met up with a friend in Waikiki and enjoyed a coffee together as well as a nice walk on Kalakaua Avenue. 

And as if it had not been enough that day, we found on the way home again some EYE signs along the street. For the third time by accident. This time on the Diamond Head Road close to the Diamond Head Lookout which is known in the series as Danno's favorite place.

Tell me how such a day can be outdone?😍 I think that's not possible, do you?
Mahalo nui loa once more to Trident Adventures for this fantastic experience!💗 You're the best!👍

Aloha! 🌴🌺🙏

⤇  Thanks for reading! Comments & thoughts appreciated. ⤆