Categories
Food & Drink Recipes

#CookingRoxy: Baked Teriyaki Salmon

I’d definitely say cooking and baking is one of my hobbies, but most days I’m too lazy to do it so I try to meal prep for the week so I’m not eating a ton of junk food or takeout all the time. I’ve been getting a lot of messages and positive feedback on my Instagram for my #CookingRoxy stories. I like doing them in stories because they’re overly simplified and I don’t have to make sure every pic / boomerang is insta worthy so I apologize now for the low quality photos! I’ll try to take better ones next time.

I get most of my recipes from Pinterest but I always end up modifying them. For this Teriyaki Salmon recipe I combined two recipes that I found – one used way too much honey and the other had too many extra ingredients I wasn’t sure about (rice vinegar and sesame oil for teriyaki?! wut?! – so I just did my thing and I’m happy with how it came out.

Just a few side notes on this one – it’s probably a Hawai’i thing, but I prefer using Aloha Shoyu soy sauce, especially for marinades. I definitely used the stainless steel garlic press from my Amazon Prime Day haul and it’s so much better than my last garlic press! Anyway, hope you enjoy. 🙂



love this garlic press!

Ingredients

  • 3 salmon filets
  • 1/3 C low sodium soy sauce (I prefer Aloha Shoyu )
  • 1/3 C honey
  • black pepper
  • red pepper
  • minced garlic cloves

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. Mix all marinade ingredients.
  3. Add salmon and marinate for 15 – 20 minutes (in fridge or not).
  4. Place salmon filets on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
  5. Eat!
Step 2: Whisk marinade ingredients together
Step 3: Marinate salmon 15 – 20 mins



Let me know if you tried this recipe!

Categories
Destination Mexico Playa del Carmen

Adventuring through Xplor in Playa del Carmen, Mexico

I haven’t been traveling much this year since I’m really buckling down and focusing on my financial goals so I’m living vicariously through myself and going through old photos. I realized I have a ton of trips I haven’t blogged about (I’m still backlogged on Hawaii earlier this year) so I figured, why not post all #laterblogs! I totally forgot I had this post sitting in my drafts so this Travel Thursday, we’re starting with Xplor theme park.

Xplor is an adventure theme park near Playa del Carmen, Mexico – about halfway between Cancun and Tulum. A coworker told me about it because she went ziplining there and loved it and I mentioned it in passing to one of my friends and she really wanted to go. I’ll be honest, I was not all for ziplining – I’m afraid of heights and the complete opposite of an adrenaline junky – but I am the friend who’s down for whatever so ziplining we went.



Admission is broken up between the day park and night park, which they call Xplor Fuego. The day park is open from 9 AM – 5 PM and Xplor Fuego is open from 5:30 PM – 11:30 PM. We opted for Xplor Fuego because we wanted to zipline through a ring of fire.

there are maps of the park all over

We looked on the Xplor website and found admission tickets for $89, but we didn’t have a car and needed transportation there so we talked to the concierge and got a round trip shuttle bus ride plus admission for $129. The shuttle bus picked us up at 3:30 PM, we made a few pit stops to pick up more people, then transferred at a bus station. Once we arrived at the park, we waited in line to get our helmets and a locker key then were let out into the park.

I wasn’t sure that we would need all 6 hours to see everything, but you really do. The major activities were:

  • Ziplining through a nine circuits and ending through a ring of fire and into the water.
  • Driving an Amphibious Vehicle through the jungle and caves.
  • Swimming in a 437 yard Lava River inside ancient caves
  • Paddling through 580 yards of underground river with special hand paddles
paddling through the underground river

I surprisingly really liked ziplining. I hate that feeling in your stomach you get when you drop on a rollercoaster, but it didn’t feel like that at all. It is scary being that high up but it’s so quick and there’s so much of the view that you wanna take in. The swimming was the most draining for me, mostly because I do not swim well so it took forever but it was still pretty cool. There’s also a decent dinner buffet and rest stops with coffee, drinks, and snacks. I wish I had better pictures, but I had to take my old waterproof camera and it was too risky taking it out while we were adventuring. Overall, if you’re into theme parks, I think it’s definitely worth a visit.

tons of cave photo ops walking to your next adventure



Have you ever been here? What's the best theme park you've been to?
Let me know in the comments below!

Categories
Beauty Lifestyle Shopping

Amazon Prime Day Haul 2018

Dislcaimer: This post contains affiliate links, but all opinions are my own. 🙂

If you don’t know what Amazon Prime Day is, you’ve probably been living under a rock! But really, Prime Day is a one day shopping event in for Amazon Prime Members – it’s kind of like Black Friday online in July. I think it launched a couple years ago, but I participated for the first time last year when I bought this Roomba for half the original price (~$200):

I still use that Roomba at least once a day and I love that thing, even though it’s kind of noisy. Anyway, if you know me I hate going to the mall and although I can throw down plastic when I feel like it, shopping is just such an inconvenience. I basically live off of Amazon Prime and of course, even though I wasn’t eyeing anything in particular, I ended up buying a ton of random, unnecessary things for Prime Day 2018. Thanks, Jeff Bezos. I posted a screenshot of my sins on my IG stories yesterday and people kept asking what I got so I thought I’d share my haul while patiently waiting for my stuff to arrive in the mail tomorrow.

First up – this set of Non Slip Memory Foam Bath Rug Set. Original price: $33.90; Amazon Prime Day Price: $24.60. Did I need this? Absolutely not, but I’ve had my current bathroom set for years and my dog, Yeyo, chewed some of the corners so it’s probably time for a replacement. Besides, do you know how hard it is to find a matching set I like at Walmart?! (I’m being sarcastic, but I try to avoid Walmart if I can!)

Next, a box of 100 18″ Disposable Pastry Bags. Original Price: $16.50; Amazon Prime Day Price: $11.53. Again, did I need this? Hell no! But #cookingroxy just ran out of piping bags for when I make cupcakes and who doesn’t need 100 just in case? Don’t judge me, cause I think I make a decent cupcake.

While, we’re in the kitchen, I also bought this 10″ Stainless Steel Frying Pan. I’ll be the first to admit that my cheap cookware is not cutting it anymore, but I wait til things get so bad that I can’t use them anymore before I replace them and I kind of needed a better frying pan. I got a cheap non stick frying pan from TJ Maxx when I moved to Dallas and it’s so rusted, it’s unusable. My Dad always says stainless steel is the way to go, so why not? Original Price: $39.29; Amazon Prime Day Price: $32.29. Did I need this? Maybe a little. I saw the same frying pan listed on Target for $49 so I don’t even feel bad about this one at all.

The last of my kitchen things, this Stainless Steel Garlic Press. My dad would be so proud of me for buying stainless steel! Did I need this? YES. It’s stainless steel, it comes in AN ELEGANT BOX! I’m kidding, about the box, but if you cook with a lot of garlic and don’t have a garlic press, wtf are you doing in life?! I’m kind of skeptical about this tube roller thing, but my current garlic press is falling apart and this one looked pretty. Original Price: $17.97 Amazon Prime Day Price: $11.50.

Another thing I don’t need, but probably would’ve bought at full price anyway, Evlution Fat Burner. I’ve tried it before, but wasn’t really consistent on working out and eating well so I wanted to try it one more time. Original Price: $19.99; Amazon Prime Day Price: $14.99.

I definitely did not need these Memory Foam House Slippers, but you know what, I’ve been wanting house slippers for a while and they were on sale so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Original Price: $16.95; Amazon Prime Day Price: $13.56.

One of the things I got that was actually really worth it to me was this set of Clarisonic Brush Head Replacements. I’ve had a Clarisonic Mia for years and it’s replacing the brush heads every few months always felt like a hassle so when I saw this as one of the Deals of the Day, I had to get it. I will argue that I definitely needed this and I got it for almost half the price! Original Price: $44; Amazon Prime Day Price: $25.

Last but not least, the thing that people have most asked me about, this Kingdom Beauty Facial Steamer! This was absolutely an unnecessary purchase, but I was sucked into Prime Day and I wanted it! My sister bought one last year and I’ve been wanting it, but forgot about it so when I saw it on sale, into my cart it went. I’ve been really getting into skincare in the last 6 months, especially K-skincare, and my skin has improved a lot, but there’s still some stuff that bugs me so I’m still trying some new stuff. I’m hoping I love this thing, but if I don’t, it didn’t break the bank at all. Original Price: $25.99; Amazon Prime Day Price: $14.69

Honorable Mention, which I did not end up purchasing but seriously debated enough to put an poll on my story, this Philips Air Fryer. I’m kind of glad I didn’t buy it because it looks like the Amazon Prime Day Price is the same today at $99.86! I do really want an Air Fryer, but I think I’m going to need to do a little more research before I decide which one. I usually cook for myself and $99 is kind of a lot for a kitchen appliance, even if that is half price.



Did you get anything from Amazon Prime Day this year? What'd you get?!
Let me know in the comments below!

Categories
Destination Hawaii Oahu USA

Hiking Lanikai Pillbox on O’ahu

Lanikai Pillbox is one of my favorite hikes in Hawai’i because the hike isn’t really difficult and the views are amazing. Located in Kailua, it’s called Lanikai because of the views of Lanikai beach and ‘pillbox’ because of the old concrete bunkers that were used in WWII and got repurposed into rest stops and vantage points on the hike.



 

The hike isn’t super long and you get beautiful 360 views of the ocean and mountainside the whole way up. You have to park in a neighborhood to get to the trailhead. It can be confusing finding the entrance, so be careful not to trespass into the neighbor’s homes! The first stretch of the trail is uphill and if it’s rainy, it can be muddy, but there are ropes to help you up along the way. Once you past that little uphill slope, the trail is pretty easy to follow. There are usually people on the trail up and early so if you do get lost, you can just follow someone else.



 

As you make the trek up, you get a view of Lanikai on the ocean side and lush, green view of Kailua and the golf course on the mountainside. I think I’ll say this about every place in Hawai’i, but my pictures will never do it justice.



Have you been to Lanikai Pillbox? What’s your favorite place to hike?
Let me know in the comments below!

Categories
Dallas Destination Fort Worth Texas USA

Takashi Murakami’s “The Octopus Eats Its Own Legs” Exhibit at The Modern Art Museum Fort Worth

Last weekend I went with a few friends to see Takashi Murakami’s “The Octopus Eats Its Own Legs” exhibit at The Modern in Fort Worth, Texas. Murakami is a Japanese artist whose work you probably recognize – he designed Kanye West’s Graduation album and did several collaborations with Louis Vuitton. I love the work he did with Louis Vuitton so I definitely wanted to check it out!

This wasn’t part of the Murakami exhibit, but I loved this shot!

The Modern is located in Fort Worth, Texas, not far off the I-30. We went on a Sunday and the line was ridiculously long! I found out later that they offer half-price tickets on Sundays and free admission on Fridays. I would say 1.5 – 2 hours is enough time to get through the exhibit. I personally really loved this exhibit, his art is so colorful and there’s so much detail in every piece it kind of boggles my mind! It’s definitely something you should see in person. Honestly, I never read super long commentaries so I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves. 🙂

the 2nd floor of The Modern decorated with Murakami’s design – reminded us of Lisa Frank!
I really loved the detail in his work.

Mr. DOB panda edition?

The Kanye West bear

This room seriously made me so happy!

Probably my favorite in the whole exhibit – the detail and colors in this one is RIDICULOUS!

Sculpture with little creatures hidden
I thought this room was empty but Mr. DOB was hanging out up top

 

These flowers seriously made me so happy!



Have you been to any art exhibits? What has been your favorite?
Let me know in the comments below!

Categories
Career Finance Fitness Girl Boss Lifestyle

Goals Progress – July 2018

It feels like this year is just flying by because here I am again with another goals update! Unfortunately, June wasn’t that great of a month for me goals wise. I got set back a little financially with the trips and my fitness goals were pretty much shot to hell, but just because you trip or fall doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get back up. I’m really hoping July will be a killer month, but we’ll see! And if you haven’t already, click here to read my original goals post!



 

Career Goals

I finally got my 2nd certification, the PMI-Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) renewed! So we can check that off the list! I signed up for the PMP course to get the PDUs I needed and then realized I had to submit a completed project and take a practice test and there was no way I was going to make it in time for my June 18th expiration. Thankfully, a friend of mine told me you can get credit for listening to podcasts! So I had to listen to 30 hours worth of podcasts to get the 30 PDUs that I needed. (Talk about lifesaver!) I do plan on completing that PMP course so hopefully I’ll be ready to take the actual PMP exam by the end of the year. I’m debating on pushing the PMP goal to early next year if my company has the budget to pay for it, but we will see. Taking the online course reminded me of why I never wanted to pursue higher education, but I digress…

Fitness Goals

I’m still really struggling with my fitness goals. I’m still going to the gym pretty consistently, but the trips in June threw me off and I’ve honestly been eating like crap. I’m taking this weekend to reset, get back on my meal prep, and get back on that regular schedule. It’s so hard to get back on the horse after you’ve fallen, but seriously, I need to just keep going.



 

Financial Goals

Like I said earlier, I hit a set back financially with the trip to Vegas and California. I’m at 20.1% progress in debt payoff which is pretty much the same as what it was last month. I had to make a decision on whether to use the extra $1000 I put on my debt for my trips or to keep chipping away at the debt. If I kept putting it on my loan, I’d be on track to pay off my first loan at the end of August, but if not, it would be pushed to September/October. Not that big of a difference, but I’m really big on seeing the progress and I felt like it would kind of un-motivate me if I didn’t hit the target so I re-evaluated everything and ended up transferring what I spent on a card that has a temporary 0% APR and kept applying the extra to my loan. I hated seeing that balance go up but once I pay off that first loan, I think I’ll feel good about it and I’m not accruing any interest on that balance anyway. I’m actually really excited about paying it off and finally getting to the big fish – my car. I think once I pay off that first loan, I’ll be ready to reveal how much that was!

I did get my old 401ks consolidated like I said I was planning to last month, but that reminds me I still need to do that with my HSAs. I’m happy to report that my overall net worth is positive! I think it has been for a while and I was just obsessing about the debt numbers but I suppose I should celebrate the little wins.

Blog Goals

I don’t know why progress in this area is just slow and steady. I did 3 posts in June, which is the same that I did in May. I decided that I’m putting myself on a posting schedule (I know I should’ve done this a long time ago) and post at least once a week. I was going to pick Wednesdays as my post day but then realized I always end up posting on a Thursday (like today) so Thursday weekly posts it is! I’m going to try to do more than once a week, but at the bare minimum, once a week.



Until next month!

Categories
Destination Hawaii Oahu USA

Makapu’u Tide Pools on O’ahu

Makapu’u Tide pools is located off the Makapu’u light house trail. You walk up maybe halfway through the trail then have to hike down the side of a rocky mountain to get to the tide pools. It’s a pretty popular local spot, I remember hearing about it when I was growing up, but I actually had never been when I lived there! (I was a sheltered little child.)




A friend and I finished hiking Wiliwilinui Trail by lunch time and had time to make it to tide pools. The hike down to the tide pools goes down a pretty rocky cliff. I couldn’t take pictures because I was too scared I’d drop my phone! There’s some markers on the rocks that point arrows in the direction of the easiest way to get up and down, but definitely be careful and watch out for loose rocks.

The water is so clear, it’s seriously unreal. The tide pools are pretty shallow and they’re surrounded by rocks. When the waves break on the rocks and the tide pools will fill up a little, but it’ doesn’t get deep at all. (This is coming from someone who doesn’t swim very well!) We stayed long enough to dip in the water, enjoy the scenery, and take some pics but it’s definitely one of those places you have to see in person. I may be biased, but Hawai’i is still the prettiest place I’ve ever been and places like this remind me there’s no place like home! 



Have you ever been here? What's the prettiest place you've ever been?
Let me know in the comments below!

Categories
Destination Hawaii Hotels Kauai Reviews

Staying at Kaua’i Beach Villas in Lihue

On our mini family vacation, we stayed at the Kaua’i Beach Villas. My mom owns a Wyndham timeshare that doesn’t get nearly as much use as it should and when I went home last March, I really wanted to visit another island and purely based on availability, we decided on Kaua’i Beach Villas. Before we get into the deets, the TLDR;



 

TLDR;

PROS

  • Great size with good amenities – full kitchen, dining and living areas, and washer/dryer.
  • Central-ish on the island. Close to the airport, ~30 minutes to Poipu and ~40 minutes to Princeville.

CONS

  • Decor is a little dated and it’s not the prettiest.
  • There’s no beach on site.

There were 6 of us on the trip and we booked a 2 bedroom suite. It was a great size for the 6 of us. There’s a full sized kitchen, dining room, and washer/dryer in suite. Overall, it’s an okay place to say. I honestly wouldn’t prefer to stay there again – there wasn’t anything bad about it, but there wasn’t anything amazing either. The best thing was how much space we had, but the decor wasn’t the prettiest or most updated. But then again, in my experience, unless you’re staying at a more expensive chain hotel, most Hawai’i hotels have a little outdated decor (think cheesy Hawai’i print styles).



 

The view from our patio was pretty decent. I mostly just love being in Hawai’i where everything is so green and blue. Another downside was there was no beach on site or pool. If I remember correctly, they gave us access to the neighboring hotels pool but even then there was no walkable beach nearby. The staff is pretty pleasant and the concierge did help us get a discount on our Na Pali Coast tour. Parking is gated and I generally felt safe there.

Overall, it was a good experience. If you’re traveling with a big family, it’s definitely great having all that space and the ability to cook or do laundry if you want to. However, if you’re looking for a luxurious place to stay, this wouldn’t be my first choice.

Kauai Beach Villas Living Room
View of the TV in the Living Room
Kauai Beach Villas Dining Room
Dining Area
Kauai Beach Villas Kitchen
Kitchen
Kauai Beach Villas Bathroom
Vanity in the second bathroom
Kauai Beach Villas Bathroom
The bathroom
Kauai Beach Villas Patio
Patio Table



Kauai Beach Villas Master Bedroom
Master Bedroom
Kauai Beach Villas Second Room
Kauai Beach Villas Second Room
Kauai Beach Villas View
View from the patio
Categories
Career Finance Fitness Girl Boss Lifestyle

Goals Progress – June 2018

2018 is just flying by and I can’t believe we’re already halfway through the year. May was much better progress for me in all areas than April was (read my original goals post here) but I think I might hit a little snag here in the financial area this month because I have trips to Las Vegas and LA. It’s honestly really hard keeping up the motivation in all areas because I naturally would rather bum out on the couch than do anything productive! But like one of my favorite Confucious quotes says, “It doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you don’t stop.” I’m constantly telling myself everyday, Don’t stop. Keep going. It’s coming.



Career Goals

Two of my certificates expire this year, my Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) expired in May and my PMI-Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) expires in 2 weeks. I’m such a procrastinator and totally missed the deadline for my CSPO, but luckily they had a grace period. All I had to do was pay $100 for a renewal and it moved the expiration date to May 2020. The ACP cert is harder because I need to get I think 30-35 PDUs (Professional Development Units) which you can get through courses or I think volunteering? I decided to sign up for a self-paced online PMP (Project Management Professional) course so that I can start prepping for that certification, so now I need to get off my ass and actually open the course, but baby steps!

“It takes 4 weeks for you to notice a change. It takes 8 weeks for your friends and family to notice. It takes 12 weeks for the rest of the world. Keep. Going.” • I got “serious” about my body goals in the beginning of May and in the first 2 weeks I saw my weight going down. Then all of a sudden I started gaining weight and 4 weeks later I’m almost 10 lbs heavier than when I started. #seriouslyWTF 🙄🙄🙄 The scale is SO discouraging and I have to tell myself everyday to keep going. But I LOVE how much stronger I feel 💪🏽 I’m lifting heavier, HIITing harder, leaner in some places, and rounder in the right places. 🍑 It doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you don’t stop. 🙌🏽 • #wednesdaywisdom #fitspo #fitspire #instafitness #goalgetter #goaldiggers #staymotivated #fitnessjourney #humpday🐫 #dfwblogger #dallasbloggers

A post shared by Roxy Olivas | XO (@xanolivas) on

Fitness Goals

I’m finally seeing decent progress in the fitness area, although I did gain a few pounds and it’s totally discouraging, I’m going to keep telling myself it’s the muscle I’ve been building. I measure myself at my waist, the largest part of my belly (i.e. my problem area), and hips and I’ve lost a whole inch around my waist and belly. This week marks the start of the 5th week and overall, I feel stronger and like my stamina has been building up. Right now my schedule looks like 5 AM HIIT 3 days a week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday), afternoon HIIT Wednesdays and Fridays, and weightlifting in the afternoons the rest of the week. I’ll drop in a hot yoga class here and there when my muscles start feeling tight and sometimes I run when I have to fit something in and I don’t have the time. I hate running, getting up at 5 AM sucks, and the number on the scale makes me want to say eff it, but like I said, I just keep telling myself keep going, it’s coming.



 

Financial Goals

I am really proud of myself in this area because I feel like it’s where I see the most progress. It’s still kind of daunting looking at the total numbers and it really does feel like a huge sacrifice, but it’s really motivating seeing the graphical progress! As of today, I’ve paid off 20% my debt and I’m on track to paying off my first loan in 2 more months. I feel like I’ve been low key obsessive about this goal, but I feel like most people don’t really think about how much money they’re bleeding off of interest rates. For this loan, in February I paid $81.93 in interest, in March $37.70, April $29.25, and May $23.39. That’s a total of $172.27 in interest – which could have been a plane ticket to another city! I’ve consistently put $1000+ over my minimum payment on this loan since February, which is why the total monthly interest charge has been steadily declining, but it really stresses me out thinking about the other ways I could’ve used that money.

But overall progress is great, I can’t wait til I start aggressively tackling my car loan in August/September, but I’m definitely gonna hit a little bump this month because I’m meeting my family in Las Vegas in 2 weeks then meeting up with my sister in Los Angeles the week after. I pay off my credit cards in full every month to avoid interest charges and it just doesn’t make sense to rack up charges when I’m trying to pay off my debt. Also, I’m working on consolidating some of my old 401k and HSA accounts so that I have a better idea of my overall net worth. Jeez, I sound like such an adult!

Blog Goals

This area has definitely been slow and steady. I’ve been more consistent on IG posting and I did manage to put up 3 posts in May, but I really have to get grinding here. I think I over think things too much and really just need to churn out the work. My goal for this month is to post more than I did last month (3 posts) and start dipping my toes in Pinterest marketing.

Categories
Destination Hawaii Kauai Reviews USA

Touring the Na Pali Coast by Sea with Blue Dolphin Charters

All views and opinions expressed here are my own and are in no way affiliated with Blue Dolphin Charters. I was not compensated in any way for this tour.

On our mini family trip to Kaua’i, we decided to do a Na Pali coast boat tour. If you don’t know, Na Pali is the iconic coast line of Kaua’i. It’s inaccessible by vehicle and the only way to see the coast in all its glory is either via boat or helicopter. It’s everything you dream Hawai’i is – the lush green mountains and big blue open sea. Before I get into my experience, as always, a little TLDR; summary for lazy people (like me) who don’t want to read everything!



TLDR;

  • Take a 5.5 hour boat tour around the Na Pali Coast in Kaua’i with Blue Dolphin Charters.
  • Cost is ~$100 – $150. Tours are rain or shine.
  • They feed you. And give you alcohol (if you’re of age, of course).
  • See dolphins! (And maybe whales and flying fish).
  • Be prepared with sunscreen, towels, and dramamine (if you get seasick!).
  • The sea crew was awesome and definitely made the trip entertaining and comfortable.
  • Definitely worth the cost, but wish it wasn’t rainy when we went. I’d love to do it again when it’s sunny.

The last time I went to Kaua’i was over 10 years ago when I was in high school. We went for a community service thing so we didn’t really get to do a lot of fun touristy things so visiting the Na Pali coast has been on my bucket list. When we checked into our hotel, we asked the concierge about different tours and she got us a deal through for around $500 for 6 of us (my parents, Aunt, sister, and brother in law). We booked a morning Deluxe Na Pali Snorkel & Scuba Tour with Blue Dolphin Charters. That was a complete steal because if you look on Blue Dolphin’s website, regular price for adults are $147, youths are $127, and children are $97.

View from the boat, a little ways out from the harbor.

The tour starts out at the Blue Dolphin home base in ‘Ele’ele, near Hanapepe on the southern part of the island. You have to check in, sign some waiver forms and wait for the rest of the tour group to get there. Once everyone checked in, the boat captain gave a little safety speech, and we were guided like school kids to the boat. The sucky thing about our trip was it was cloudy, a little rainy and cold, so we didn’t get the best views of Na Pali which is why I mentioned earlier that I would love to do it again. But the views are still amazing and it’s one of those places that you have to see for yourself.

Some of the coastline



Look how rainy/cloudy it was!

The trip took us around the west coast then back towards the harbor with a stop at a little snorkeling area. I did jump in the water when we stopped to snorkel even though it was cold, because I HAD to (we were in Kaua’i, YOLO!) but I didn’t swim far out enough from the boat to go snorkeling because I don’t swim very well LOL! They fed us a continental breakfast on the way out and lunch was served after we were done snorkeling. Lunch wasn’t anything fancy, just sandwiches and potato salad, but I actually really liked the sandwich spread they hand. They also had alcoholic beverages, but those were only served after you were done snorkeling/swimming.

Did you know part of Jurassic Park was filmed here?



I would recommend bringing sunscreen, a towel, and Dramamine. My Mom and Aunt got sea sick on the boat ride, so if you’re prone to that, definitely take some Dramamine or other preventative medicine beforehand. They did take some before, but because of the weather and how choppy the ocean was, it was pretty rough out there. You’re not allowed to wear shoes on the boat unless they’re boat shoes and if you didn’t have boat shoes, you had to leave them at the dock. Don’t worry, they’ll have a little place for you to put them!

Probably my favorite pic of the day

I think one of Blue Dolphin’s guarantees is that you’ll see dolphins – and we definitely saw some! I didn’t get any good pictures of them, but it’s always fun to see them out in the wild. (Totally normal for a Hawai’i girl like me.) We saw a couple different pods of bottlenose dolphins (groups of dolphins), but I remember seeing this baby dolphin that was a complete ham! He kept jump out of the water and twirling, it was the cutest thing!

one of the crew members messing with me

Overall, even though I didn’t get the amazing pictures that I wanted, the tour was a great experience and I would definitely recommend Blue Dolphin. The crew was super nice, entertaining, and helpful. When my mom got seasick, the crew members constantly came over to make sure she was okay. They were great hosts, super funny (as you can see from my picture above), and even pretty good photographers. I’ll just leave you with some pictures we took on the trip.



Me and my sister
One of the crew members taking candids of us
I seriously don’t know how people take pretty pictures in the wind.
Me in my element – totally awkward.
I love the ocean



bikini by Triangl

Mini photo shoot when we stopped to snorkel lol!
Love you Kaua’i! \m/



Have you done a boat tour? Where did you go?
Let me know in the comments below!