Don’t grow up too quickly, lest you forget how much you love the beach. 
Michelle Held

Well, we’ve been back for two weeks and it’s been cold, dark and rainy on Long Island ever since we got back (with the exception of the past two days…the sun is FINALLY starting to peek out.) All this dark and dreary weather is leaving me with the burning desire to be back in Hawaii soaking up some sun on the beach!

Our home base for our Hawaiian adventure was the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort and Spa, directly across from the famed Waikiki Beach. One of the first things we did when we arrived in Waikiki was go out and explore the beach! After 11 1/2 hours on a plane, you just want to get out and stretch your legs, and what better way to stretch them than a walk on the beach? So we went out walking and soon discovered that there is more to Waikiki than just a beautiful sandy beach. Scattered throughout the various beaches that make up the Waikiki Beach strip are all sorts of different statues and stone surfboards covered in information which we later learned were part of the Waikiki Historic Trail. Later in the week, we grabbed a historic trail map and followed the trail, learning all about Waikiki.

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As we were exploring, I came across this statue….which has inspired today’s post

At first, I was like, “what an adorable statue of a seal and a surfer…I have to go take a picture of this!” And, as I was snapping away, I noticed a plaque describing “Makua and Kila” and explaining that this sculpture by Holly Young was dedicated to Fred Van Dyke’s story, Makua Lives at the Beach. I’d never heard of the story before, so, of course, that night I was off to Google search to see what I could find out about the story.

It turns out, Fred Van Dyke was a teacher, author, and surfer, who moved to Hawaii in the 1950’s. According to his website, he has  published four books, one of them, Two Surf Stories For Children, contains the story I was looking for, the story of the statue! Apparently this  story is quite well known on the island, somewhat akin to Alaska’s Balto. So grab your beach towel and come explore surfing and the beach with us and these classic characters from Mr. Fred Van Dyke.

Makua Lives at the Beach tells the story of a boy named Makua and his unusual friendship with a monk seal named Kila. The two spend many happy days surfing Sunset Beach and the other beaches of Oahu’s Waikiki area. If you’re a surfer, you can experience the same joy of the waves that Makua found even if you don’t have Kila leading you to a great surf spot. Just grab your gear and hit surf line.com to check out where the best waves on the island are in live time. Not a surfer or in the area with children who haven’t learned to surf yet? There are TONS of places to take surf lessons in Waikiki. For a fairly comprehensive list of surf lessons available in the Waikiki area check gohawaii.com. I’m not much of a swimmer (we’ll talk about that later) so surfing wasn’t on my to-do list, but I really enjoyed watching all the surfers out there showing off there skills.

Van Dyke’s story emphasizes the importance of “ohana” or family in the Hawaiian culture. If you’re interested in Hawaiian and other Polynesian Island cultures, you’ll definitely want to either spend a night at a Luau or take a day and head over to Oahu’s North Shore for a visit to the Polynesian Cultural Center. I’ve always been interested in learning all I can about other people and other cultures of the world, so both of these were “must-do’s” on our visit. We attended the highly recommended Paradise Cove Luau and splurged for the “Deluxe Luau Package” and all I can say is, it’s TOTALLY worth it! We and an amazing evening, had such grey views of the dancers that I was able to take detailed videos back to my music students in New York and definitely ate our fill while making new friends and truly experiencing “ohana” with our hosts and fellow guests.

Later in the trip, we drove out to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Although you can purchase packages which include transportation, I’ve got to recommend renting a car and heading out there yourself. It was really easy to find and the drive was GORGEOUS!! Upon arriving to the center, you’ll find a complete offering ranging from a day a the center to fully guided experiences in the different cultural villages and then culminating in a luau style dinner and the much acclaimed evening show, Ha! Breath of Life. We elected to experience the villages on our own, but I’m sure the guided experience would have been amazing. There is so much to see and do, especially if you have children, who will love the hands on, audience participation nature of each of the villages. Don’t worry, the center offers return visits for free with the ticket stub from the first day you purchase! If you’ve read Makua Lives At the Beach with your family, be sure to visit the Hawaiian village and learn more about Makua’s family and culture.

But what about Kila? Well, the odds of you swimming out in Waikiki and happening to bump into a monk seal unfortunately truly aren’t that great. Your best chance to explore all the local sea life is with a visit to Sea Life Park. You can see turtles, dolphins, sharks, sea lions and, yes, even monk seals! Sea Life park happens to be a designated Conservation Center for native Hawaiian monk seals. You can tour the seal rescue center and learn how Sea Life Park is saving, rehabilitating, and protecting these animals, just like Makua did when Kila was injured. Spend some time learning about these amazing creatures and be sure to look out for any of Kila’s family members and see if they might share some of Oahu’s secret’s with you, just like Kila did with Makua. And for an even more amazing visit, check out some of the special experiences that can enhance your day at Sea Life Park.

You might also catch a glimpse of Kila’s relatives if you head out on a snorkel or scuba dive excursion off of Oahu. We went out snorkeling with waikiki.com. We had originally booked the Hilton’s Spirit of Aloha snorkel sail with lunch, but technical difficulties with the boat led the company to place us on the West Oahu Ko Olina Dolphin Snorkel and Sail. We saw a whole pod of bottle nose dolphins which was cool because they were supposed to be migrating away. The sail was great and the snorkel spot was fabulous…or so my husband says and his underwater pictures confirm. I, however, made it exactly 15 strokes away from the boat in my first time EVER swimming in the ocean (which is crazy since I grew up and still live in the Hampton’s), anyway, as I said before, swimming is not my thing, so I swam out away from the boat and was totally terrified so I got back on the boat, but the water was clear enough to see all of the fish while enjoying some delicious traditional food and sandwiches on deck. I even saw the turtles and the octopus one of the guides got to climb on the rescue buoy so that those of us on the boat could see that too. We didn’t see any monk seals, but they’re out there so if you head out snorkeling or scuba diving you just might see one!

So, order yourselves a copy of Fred Van Dyke’s Two Surf Stories For Children and share the story of Makua Lives At the Beach with your family and then start planning your visit to Makua and Kila’s Waikiki Beach. We’ll be waiting here, reading and planning your next amazing adventure through children’s literature!