One Final Farewell!
July 21, 2026
We’re back for our final trip update!
Last time, we had just finished a wonderful hike along the NaPali Coast. Lucky for us, the next day we woke up just as early to see a new view of the coast!! We filed into the van before the sun was up and made our way to Polihale State Park to sea kayak along the NaPali Coast. Everyone split into groups of 2, and we embarked on our 10 mile ocean journey. Cameron and Heath were number one joke crackers the whole way. Anyone who passed by them was left dying of laughter. Bella and Ella got to hitch a ride with the guides! It made their paddling experience a little more enjoyable, haha. Once we got to our halfway point, we stopped for sandwiches and cold sodas with our guides. The views were amazing! After lunch, we hit the water paddling to make it back to shore! Paige and Abby only flipped about…. 4 times. Nonetheless, we all made it back in one piece. It was a strenuous day, but some pasta and meatballs made it all the better. Our LODs Abby and Alden had a wonderful idea to close out our Moonup. They had a dance battle! We ended the night with laughter and fun.
On to the next morning! Another early wake up for our final day surfing. We headed to the beautiful Hanalei Bay and caught some gnarly waves. Jack and Mimi were surfing USA all morning! They caught so many waves, and they made it all the way to shore almost each time. After surfing, we hung out on the beach all day. We headed to a local shopping center for some final gifts for people back home. It was a great day!
On our final full day in Kauai, we got to sleep in! Everyone woke up well rested as we loaded the van to head to a new beach stop. The beach was STUNNING! Gigi and Charlie played some intense beach volleyball. Luckily, they were able to wash all the sand off in the ocean. We enjoyed a delicious beach picnic of sandwiches and wraps along with cookies and carrots. It was a well balanced meal to get us geared up for ziplining! As everyone soared over the sky on the longest Hawaiian Zipline in the world, Lucy was cracking jokes left and right. She was laughing so hard she could barely see the view. The best part of the zipline was the water hole! The hole was created by lava rock. So everyone swam in a volcano! On the way home, we couldn’t not get ice cream! So to celebrate our final full day, we stopped to chow down on some delicious scoops. The day ended with an awesome rap battle hosted by our LODs, Charlie and Ella. It was a great day.
Alas, all good things must come to an end. We woke up on banquet day to a delicious pancake breakfast made by Gigi, Alden and pro chef Abby. They whipped up some yummy Kodiak cakes and sausage to fuel everyone up for the final day. As we packed up and headed away from camp, we hit the thrift store! Everyone got assigned a different group member to shop for. Some show stopping included a mandalorian mask and a bumble bee floaty. Everyone headed to banquet looking like they came straight off the runway. We enjoyed some island vibes of açaí bowls and cheeseburgers for our final meal in paradise.
This trip has been nothing short of amazing! We are so grateful for all of these memories and exciting moments we’ve created in the last 2 weeks. Thank you all for an amazing trip!!
Fun in the Sun!
July 17, 2026
Annnnnddd we’re back! But this time, coming at you from Kauai!
Before we headed to Kauai, we had one final day on the Big Island. What better way to end our final day than on a boat? Everyone finally got to venture out on the dive boat for our final day of certifications! Abby and Cameron got to do their identification dive. They saw finger coral, an octopus, and lots of yellowfin fish! All of our open water certification divers got to lead a dive at the Turtle Pie dive site. They killed it! After two dives, some swimming, and a lot of sunbathing, we had a 100% passage rate!! YAYYYYYYYYYY. Best day ever. But it didn’t stop there. After everyone passed, we headed into Kona for our local food stop. Gigi got some delicious sushi with spicy tuna. She said it was the best ever. Charlie treated everyone to brownie bites and some strawberry and lychee flavored mochi. He says it was like edible Play-Doh. We hopped into the van and headed back to the harbor for our manta ray dive. Everyone suited up in their wetsuits, snorkels, and goggles, and we headed back out to sea. We jumped into the water, held onto the surfboard, and waited. Jack was the first to see a manta!! He yelled through his snorkel, and we watched the magic happen. Over the course of the evening, we saw 5 mantas. Hannah, our amazing and awesome HQ visitor, shared the joy everyone had. It was genuinely a magical experience. After the snorkel, we all showered off the back of the boat and sat in awe of what just happened. After the most amazing final day on the Big Island, we headed back to camp for sleep.
We woke up on travel day ready to rock! We stopped for some coffee at a local drive-up coffee truck and then headed to the airport. The flights were just long enough to go into the air and land. Once we landed in Kauai, we headed to Costco. Everyone was split into teams to shop for our food for the week. Ella and Bella were teamed up for breakfast. They skated through aisles and slayed all the pickings for breakfast! Once we finished up there, we headed to camp to make dinner. Some chicken tacos were just what we needed to welcome ourselves to our beach campsite. We had a wonderful Moonup, led by our LODs Ella and Heath.
We woke up bright and early for our first full day on Kauai. It was leader Paige’s birthday!!! What better way to spend the morning than surfing in Hanalei Bay? Lucy caught some gnarly waves. She impressed our instructors from the moment she got up the first time. Surfing was a blast. We spent the morning on the beach playing spike ball, throwing the football, and lying out. It was a blissful morning. For lunch, we finally tried our white pineapple!!!! It was DELICIOUS. After lunch and a quick stop in town, we headed to camp and hung out all afternoon. Boogie boarding, game playing, and just pure hanging out were on the docket. For dinner, everyone had a delicious cheeseburger. The cookout was just what the doctor ordered. But we couldn’t end the day there. Of course, we had to get ice cream!! The ice cream shop had Mimi’s favorite: Cookie Monster. Everyone ate their ice cream (or Dole Whip, yum) with smiles on their faces. The day ended, and we snuggled into bed, ready for the next adventure.
Even earlier than the day before, we woke up and headed out of camp. Today’s task: hiking. It was unbelievable. The view of the NaPali Coast was INCREDIBLE!! We enjoyed sandwiches, apples, pretzels, and GORP while taking in the stunning view. On the way back, Alden led the pack, and we finished in record time! The hike was filled with lots of bonding, wavelength, “traveller,” and some mud here and there. In honor of all of our hard work, we headed to a gas station for slushies and sodas. All worth it in the end!
Kauai is treating us well, and we can’t wait for the rest!!!
Thank yous
Heath- thanks mom and dad and thank you to the mattocks for bringing me to Moondance
Jack- thank yall for requesting me to go on Moondance because I didn’t want to do it but I’m having the time of my life
Cam- I’m having a blast thank you for the opportunity to go on this trip I love and miss yall
Charlie- Thank you brother for convincing me to do this after so many years and thank you parents for the opportunity I love my family and I miss yall
Alden- Thank you so much for sending me on this awesome trip I’ve met the best people everI love you
Mimi- thank you mom and dad I love you I’m having the best time this is the best time ever
Gigi- thank you mom and dad for such an amazing trip I’m having the best time ever
Lucy- thank you mom and dad I love you so much I’m having the best time with the best people
Abby- thank you so much sending me on this trip I’m having the best time I love and miss yall
Bella- thank you mom and dad I love yall so much I’m having the best time
Ella- Thank you mom and dad for sending me on this trip I’ve created the best memories and experiences I’ll remember forever
Shoutouts!!
July 13, 2026
Hey scuba diving here is sick. Awesome Group. See y’all in 2 weeks! – Cameron
What’s up! Everyone in this group is so social and kind, scuba diving has been awesome! – Heath
Hi! This trip has truly been AMAZING! My group is so perfect and my leaders are the BEST! We’ve had so much fun in the rain and the sun! Cant wait to see yall! Love yall so much! Thank you! – Alden
Hey Mom and Dad! Miss you and love you sooo much. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD AND SCARLETT! We have been having so much fun scuba diving and camping, yall would be so proud of my skills!! And hey Laine miss ya! – Ginny Grace
Hi fam! I am having the BEST trip ever. My group is so awesome and I don’t want to leave! Tell my friends and Robert that I miss them and I can’t wait to tell yall about my adventures! Love yall! – Ella
Aloha! Love and miss yall. I’m having a blast hiking and got to see some dolphins scuba diving today. – Abby
Hey y’all to all the folks back in MN I love and miss y’all. I am having the best time ever and can’t wait to see what happens next. Can’t believe I waited two years to do Moondance. – Charlie
How’s life NOT in paradise for yall? I wouldn’t know! – jack
Heyyy we are having so much fun. Everyone is so kind and genuine. I am missing everyone back home and which I could watch love Island but it’s worth missing for this trip love and miss y’all so much – Lucy
Hiiiii family! I miss you guys, but I’m having the best trip ever and I’m getting like so tan! Sleeping in a tent has been interesting….. Def getting over my fear of spiders!!!! Tell Josiah I miss him!!!! ❤️ you guys – mimi
Heyy!! I am having so much fun!! I am so grateful y’all gave me this experience!! Love and miss y’all so much mom and dad!!! ❤️ -Bella
Soaking Up the Sun!
July 13, 2026
Aloha from the Big Island!
We are so excited to be sending some updates from the beautiful Hawaiian Islands! Everyone arrived safely in Kona ready to begin the best two weeks ever. We kicked off the trip the best way know how: a pizza party! Everyone enjoyed some slices of cheese and pepperoni pizza before we headed to camp for our first night under the Hawaiian stars.
Adjusting the jet lag, everyone woke up bright and early on our leader Mill’s birthday! Gigi, Alden and Mimi helped whip up some delicious pancakes and sausage for our first home cooked meal. In honor of Mills’ birthday, the kids wrote out “MILLS” in pancake batter. We sang him happy birthday and chowed down on some delicious pancakes. After breakfast, Jack led everyone in some football routes. Heath decorated the van in marker with an underwater world. He drew a crab, fish, whale and so much more. It looks awesome! After hanging out at camp for some time, we gathered together for our cooking class! Everyone got to learn and practice their knife skills. We cut an onion, green onion, apple, radish and a purple Hawaiian yam. After practicing knife skills, everyone embarked on a garden tour. It was POURING rain, but what better way to see how plants flourish than in the rain! We enjoyed our lunch of beef and purple yam. It was delicious. As our first afternoon in Hawaii approached, we did what anyone would do: go to the beach! Abby and Mimi played some intense spikeball, Charlie and Cameron did some water flips and Bella and Lucy began their transformation into mermaids. It was an amazing afternoon!!
We woke up bright and early on day 2 for our first day of SCUBA! Everyone got the chance to breathe underwater today. Heath, Abby and Cameron went into town and found a white pineapple! We’ve been DYING to try one, and they found it. Updates to come on that Hawaiian delicacy. After SCUBA, the group took a trip up some elevation: 10,000 feet to be exact. We watched the sunset at Mauna Kea! Before we headed up to our lookout spot, we enjoyed a nice hotdog cookout. Everyone got hotdogs, Maui Chips, watermelon, cookies and Peanut M&Ms. It was the perfect preparation for our small hike. The volcano is taller than Mt. Everest from the ocean floor to its tip. Alden and Charlie, our first leaders of the day, led everyone up to the lookout where we got to watch the sunset. At the lookout, we took photos, laughed a lot and got to enjoy our first sunset in Hawaii together. The skies were pink and orange over the volcano. You could see the ocean far in the distance. It truly was a gift of nature.
Time is moving too fast because we woke up on our third full day on the Big Island and packed up our first campsite. Everyone loaded their belongings in the U-Haul and the Van as we embarked on our second day of SCUBA. It was bittersweet saying goodbye to our first campsite, but vibes were high when we got to SCUBA. Abby and Cameron began their first day of advanced dives! Heath got to show off his skills on some fun dives. Everyone else kept working hard their open water certification. The pool was crystal clear to practice some emergency assists and keep learning the best practices underwater. The advanced divers saw an 8ft Tiger shark and a pod of dolphins! After an awesome pool day for the open water crew, we met back up and headed back to camp. In honor of the final pool day and our advanced first dives, we stopped for Hawaiian shaved ice! Everyone got a ton of different flavors and we got to giggle and eat shaved ice under the beautiful Hawaiian sun. For dinner, we headed back to camp and our chefs made us some delicious pasta and meatballs! Abby and Charlie are the new Gordon Ramsey.
Up and at ’em for another early morning, we headed to the harbor for our first day of ocean dives. The advanced crew headed out on the boat and got to go down deep. The ocean can be a little scary when you’re 80 feet underwater, but the sharks they saw made it better. On the other hand, our awesome shore diving crew headed out from the cove just to find a sweet 15 foot tiger, shark named Ginny! Shoutout to our very own GG! Along with our new friend Ginny, we also saw a pot of dolphins and a turtle! That is probably the coolest first ocean dive. Some people can say they’ve ever had. We finished the dives with a delicious lunch and logging our dives in our logbook. In honor of being close to halfway through the trip, we made a fun pitstop to Wally World. Ella took the charge and picked out some nightgowns for the girls and got the boys funny T-shirts. Shout out to Heath for embracing the Hawaiian culture and getting all of the guys a lei! As we headed back to camp, we made a bathroom pitstop at the beach. Who makes a bathroom pitstop at the beach and doesn’t head down to the sand and ocean? Not us! Our short bathroom pitstop turned out to be an amazing sunset beach trip. After a spontaneous afternoon, we headed back to camp for a girl dinner. Hotdogs, quesadillas, mac & cheese and chocolate covered almonds delight!
We are having the best time in the Hawaiian islands! We cannot wait to fill you in on our incoming couple of days. The best is yet to come!
Safe Arrival!
July 9, 2026
Hello Hawaiian Islands Families!
We heard from our leaders last night that the group has landed safely! Please remember that our leaders and students will be unplugged during their trips, but we will post trip updates throughout the trip! This will allow you to follow along with their adventure. You can also follow us on Instagram, @moondanceadventures, to see more of what we are up to!
-Moondance HQ
