Day 5: Swim with sharks, North point of the island, and gliders!

We started the day bright and early loading up at the pier at 5:30 am...yes, am.  We boarded a boat that took us a couple of miles off shore then dropped a cage in the water.

As soon as we arrived at a specific bouy we had some visitors!  I guess the fishermen have fed the sharks in the area, so any time they hear a boat coming, they think it's dinner time.

 There were quite a  few of them, and some were pretty big...probably 12 or 15 feet long!

 They dropped a cage into the water and sent in some divers with masks and snorkels.  They had about 20 minutes to hang out with the sharks!

 We were pretty excited for our turn!  I was surprised at how close they would come to the cage and how many there were!! I counted 15, but it was hard to see them all because they were all around us!  They seemed to be curious and came close to where we were.  I made sure to keep my tasty hands and feet inside the cage, but Dale really wanted a chance to touch one! He stretched out with his hands and feet as far as he could go to get a touch!

 We survived...a little cold and wet, but so much fun!

 A view of the next group visiting the sharks with the North Shore behind them.  It was SUPER fun! I would do it again!

 Once we dried off and grabbed a bite to eat at 7-11 (Musubi) we headed to the northernmost point of the island.  We were told there were seals that lived out on the rocks and that it was an Albatross preserve.

We drove down a road not fit for traffic other than a 4X4 in our little rental car and ended up at the entrance to the preserve.

 After a nice hike, we found the very end of the island! It's suppose to be a very spiritual place, the place where your spirit leaves the island when you die.  

 Didn't see any Albatross or seals... but the wind was ferocious and we could look down both sides (North and West) of the island! Pretty cool!

There was a pretty cool tower at the edge we just had to climb up to get a better look.  It was a little scary...the wind was trying to blow us off!

On our way back from seeing the point of the island we were talking about going for a hike.  We had heard about a good one near the air field so we stopped to get directions and decided to go for a glider ride instead!  It was AWESOME!

We went in separate planes....I just wanted a tour and Dale wanted to do some acrobatics and learn to fly himself.

My cool little glider.

 Dale talking to the guys.  Turns out he went with someone else, but he got some instruction from these guys first!

 Ready or not...

 The pilot, Tall Don. He was in interesting guy.  I had a great time and he showed me the whole island!  We paid for a 20 minute ride.  After an hour I was wondering if he was ever going to bring me down!! He was having such a good time he didn't want to land!  If you ever go to Oahu, find Tall Don!

 I was the best way to see the island!

 I even got a pretty good picture of Dale flying his plane!

 Another one

 It was breathtaking!

 Dale landed just a few minutes after I did.

I think Dale's ride was pretty exciting!  He was able to fly the glider and did some fancy maneuvering.   We loved it!