The following are the highlights of our trip to Oahu and Kauai. I%26#39;m sorry for the delay. Much has happened since my wife and I returned home and it%26#39;s all too brutal after such a wonderful trip. So here goes....
Our trip took place starting on Aug.24th. We flew into HNL arriving at 11:43 am. We picked up a Sebring convertible and hit the road. We stopped at Sam Choys for lunch and then decided to head up to the Punch Bowl. It was different than I remember as a 5 year old boy...maybe due to the fact that the trees in the middle are larger? Not sure. The smells there were definite memory joggers. My wife said it was a mix of Plumeria and Ginger. After the Punch Bowl we headed to Walmart to pick up things for the beach the next day...then we proceeded to the Waikiki Marriott for check in. One word of caution when it comes to booking packages. A package...such as the Marriott Sanddollar Package where you are gauranteed an upgraded room ...doesn%26#39;t mean that you%26#39;ll get the upgrade and still keep the same bed type or non smoking/smoking as requested. I realize this is often not gauranteed even without the upgrade but we paid for the upgrade from partial oceanview to oceanview without considering the decision could come upon check in. We could have our king ns...or we could have the upgrade with two doubles. With this all said, I would emphasize to others to listen to their secret inner voice on this subject. What we found, and suspected but ignored, was that the room would be just a place to sleep and a launch pad for our daily excursions. One final thing I will say about Marriott. The bed was so comfortable that my wife and I would look at each other on every night just after lying down...exclaim something like... ';goodness gracious this bed is comfortable';!
Before making it to bed that first night we managed to stand in front of Dukes Statue and then head on down to Dukes for dinner. We had an ';outside'; table reserved. What this means is a table on the outside row...or next to the outside row. Our table was nice enough but not literally outside. If you want outside and the white tables..under the trees and next to the tiki torches you need to book those and specify as such that you want a bar table outside. There is a waiting list and reservations for those tables separately. The menu is similar and has many duplications...although not all the same things as inside.
The next morning we ate at the breakfast buffet at our hotel (included in the price). It was a pleasant buffet with good food. After breakfast we hit the road. We decided to do the windward side in reverse to try and miss the crowds. We proceded northward on the Pali Hwy stopping at the outlook. When we arrived there were very few people. The view was clear and beautiful and we did the requisite picture taking. We then proceded to a convenience store for ice and on to our first stop. I can%26#39;t remember the name of the first beach...I can only tell you it starts with and M and gives you direct swimming access to Goat Island. We found ourselves a nice spot under the trees and then decide to go right away on our snorkel swim out to the island. This isn%26#39;t a great snorkeling spot...at least from what we saw...but the island was a neat target for us to swim to. We spend time at the sandy beach there and my wife was quite happy. We were alone and away from the throngs in Waikiki. It was about 10:30 to 11 am at this point. After about 45 minutes we made our way back to our beach mats. This spot under the trees at the edge of the beach was probably where we should have spent the day....but I couldn%26#39;t leave well enough alone and we wanted to continue down the shore. As we left out of this park we had a flat tire. So I did my fastest work to change into our little temp spare like it was an Indy Pit Stop. We called Dollar and they said to bring the car for exchange at our convenience. I didn%26#39;t know whether to be upset with them or not...but decided waiting for them or meeting them somewhere would just slow our progress...so we moved on. We stopped at Hukilau Beach...but decided it was much the same as our first beach...but a bit more crowded. So we kept moving. Next stop. La%26#39;ie Chop Suey! :) Not bad...a good place to get some fast and delicious Chinese food. I thoroughly enjoyed it...but would say not to expect too much. It%26#39;s basic atmosphere and good value are the main reasons to go there. Probably about on par with L%26amp;L BBQ.
After lunch we drove to Kualoa Beach Park. We took pictures of Chinamans Hat. It was a beautiful open park...with gorgeous views of the mountains behind...but the beach seemed a bit short on sand. We felt we had seen enough and wanted to move on to Kailua. By the time we got to Kailua all we saw were lots of people. So we drove on to Lanikai. Lanikai was much less busy..very fine sand and gorgeous water. My wife loved the water here. It was very nice...not too crowded but a little short on shade. So we decided to move on again. It was about 4 in the afternoon and we never stopped to relax along the way...but we were seeing a lot of places. Our next stop was Waimanalo Bay Recreation Area. Nice Trees...a very pleasant park. By this time my wife was not interested in going back in the water and wanted to get back to the hotel. I would%26#39;ve gone in...but agreed it was getting a little late in the day. Our next stop was Halona Blow Hole/ Halona Cove. Here we found a few people watching the blow hole...we then figured out where the trail was to the famous beach featured in From Here to Eternity. We hiked down and my wife watched as I jumped in with a few kids that were there. It was fun to time the waves rolling in so you can jump off of a higher rock. It was a pretty scene...dark blue water rolling in with some waves dashing against the rocks further out.
Once back at our hotel we made ready for a trip to La Mariana Sailing Club. The guide book had this one right. It%26#39;s like something out of a movie. Strange scene....but something to remember. If you go you%26#39;ll never forget it. :)
Day 3...Saturday.. We ate breakfast number one and then proceded to Leonards for breakfast number 2. The malasadas are indeed delicious. We tried the regular, chocolate filled and cinnamon versions. I liked the regular best and my wife like the cinnamon best. The chocolate might have been my favorite if I had squeezed a bit of the filling out. Others might think me crazy for saying this.
We then headed on Using H3 towards the PCC. We left early enough to visit Valley of the Temples - Byodo In Temple. This place is very beautiful and peaceful. One thing though...use insect repellent!!! We had to leave as we were being eaten alive. I will go back some day...I hope...but will be prepared. After being eaten alive we drove down the road to La%26#39;ie Point. It was beautiful....but honestly...I could have skipped this stop. Next stop PCC. We had a very nice day at PCC. Did the package with the Ali%26#39;i Luau. Really enjoyed things. We made sure to visit Tonga, Samoa, Hawaii and touched on other villages in abbreviated form. We saw the IMAX film and watched the Canoe Pageant. It was all very nice. The visit to Samoa and Tonga were our favorites. We also enjoyed the Luau. Keep in mind...you can go back through the buffet a second time if you wish. :)
After PCC...we headed back to the hotel. On this night as well as others we would hit ABC store and then proceed to the room to clean up and ready for the next day.
Day 4... Sunday - We got up and made ready for Pearl Harbor. We skipped breakfast at the hotel and headed for Starbucks and Leonards. We made it to the line for the Arizona Memorial by 7:30 am. It took us about an hour and we were watching the film presentation inside. Pearl Harbor was a not to be missed excursion. Like Dusty and others have said...you just need to go. After visiting the memorial we headed over to Aloha Stadium for the swap meet. We walked all the way around and hit as much as we could stand. There are a lot of deals there...but I managed to walk away with nothing. My wife snagged a few shirts...and that was it.
Our next target was the north shore. We headed up and drove past a few beaches before realizing we were hungry. We turned around and went back to Haleiwa where we ate at Breakers. The food was good...really enjoyed the fish and chips. After lunch we headed out to hunt for our first beach stop on the north shore. But first we had to stop at Aoki%26#39;s for shave ice. This was delicious...we both have the tee shirt to prove it! :) Then we drove on and decided Sunset Beach would be a good stop. We found parking and thought the beach to look much less crowded than Waimea Bay. The water was so perfect for swimming. It was nice and cool and hit the spot. But as you might have guessed...we only stayed about an hour and moved on down the road. Our next stop was at Kawela Bay. This was, as described, very secluded. It was nice and cool and away from the crowds...but honestly....a bit murky and really low on any wave action. It only takes about 3 minutes to walk to this beach....but do so only if you absolutely want to avoid the crowds...otherwise we believe there are other better beaches...regardless of what the book might say. We stayed at Kawela for a while and relaxed...learning a bit of a lesson from the earlier day where we tried to do too much. After this we headed back to Waikiki. On this particular night we decided to eat near the hotel and walked next door to Tiki%26#39;s Restaurant. The food wasn%26#39;t Dukes...but the atmosphere was nice and we were seated withing 20 minutes without a reservation.
Day 5...Monday, This was to be our last day on Oahu and so we decided to do the north shore again. This time we headed up to Sharks Cove and did some snorkeling. We were in the water by 10am and the snorkeling was really great. My wife and I really enjoyed Sharks cove. Don%26#39;t know how it is later on in the day but at this time of the morning it wasn%26#39;t crowded at all. Next we decided to head over to Romy%26#39;s for Shrimp. We stopped at a stand on the way and grabbed some Kahuki Sweet Corn. We took our corn and ate at Romy%26#39;s. We both had the fried shrimp. Very good. This was a good informal place to just sit and relax in grubby beach attire. After lunch we proceded Matsumotos for Shave Ice. It too was very good. My wife liked that they had Tangerine flavor (Aoki%26#39;s did not)...but we felt the texture of the ice was better at Aoki%26#39;s. They were both very good!
As the day wore on we decided to just head back south. I think we made it back to our hotel by about 4:30. We decided that our last night on Oahu would be spent back at Dukes. We went without reservations and managed to get our same table at about the same time. Oh...btw...on our first visit to Dukes my wife had the Hawaiian style steak and I had the Prime Rib. Both were very good. I felt the Prime Rib was well above average...or in plain speak...darned good! At the end we shared a piece of Hula Pie. So back to our second visit....we had a nice meal..really enjoyed the salad bar...but I just can%26#39;t remember what we ate! :)
Day 6...Tuesday...we pack and head off to the airport to catch our flight to Kauai. This was seemless. Oh...by the way...I forgot to mention that we waited until after La Mariana Sailing Club on that second day to drive over and change cars. Doing this later in the evening didn%26#39;t cut into our daytime plans. So we turned in our second car and made it to Kauai by noon.
Our first stop was Dukes. Okay...let me say that I was wanting something different at this point...but my wife wanted Dukes? So... we ate at Dukes and then drove to Waimea Canyon. Waimea Canyon was beautiful...but you have to decide for yourself if this is truly your gig. We drove to it because it was ';not to be missed'; What can I say...it was beautiful but I wouldn%26#39;t sacrifice beach time on a short stay in order to see it. After this we were primed and ready for shave ice. We stopped at Jo Jo%26#39;s and enjoyed our treat. The guidebook was right...slow...but tasty.
After the shave ice we drove up to the north shore. It was getting late in the day and we needed to get to our cottage. We stopped in Princeville at the Foodland and bought groceries. Oh and did I mention that Kauai is just gorgeous! The further you drive towards Haena the more lush and green your surroundings. Finally we arrived at our cottage. My wife and I enjoyed a meal at our picnic table. We were staying at Hale Makai Cottages in the #4 cottage. We loved how peaceful it was there. Our surroundings were more like one would imagine from the Hawaii of days gone by.
On the next few days our activities blur a bit. Not because there were so many....but maybe because there were so few. We snorkeled at Tunnels Beach twice and Ke%26#39;e Beach twice. Ke%26#39;e was our favorite for snorkeling. We saw at leas 5 turtles and were able to watch one turtle for over 20 minutes as it fed and didn%26#39;t care that we were near by. We managed to do some shopping in Hanalei and caught a few meals there too. All in all Kauai was much slower for us and very relaxing. Other than the two previously mentioned beaches the only two other ocean spots we visited were Sea Lodge Beach (were we swam and snorkeled by ourselves) and Queens Bath were we just hung out for a bit. All the spots we visited were awesome. We even enjoyed just staying at our cottage. It was indeed very beautiful. On one of our days we took a Napali Coast tour with a company called Napali Catamaran. The Napali Coast was beautiful and this company runs a good trip. They leave out of Hanalei so that you don%26#39;t spend the majority of your time bouncing up and down while coming up from Port Allen.
Another big highlight of our trip to Kauai was swimming under Opaeka%26#39;a Falls. It was a tricky and somewhat dangerous hike to get down to the bottom...but I just loved it. I would do this again for sure.
The Sunsets on Kauai and the ability to find peaceful spots away from it all made for a great finish to our trip. We packed up on our final day and decided to hit a bit of shopping, did a drive to Wailua Falls and then went looking for one last shave ice. Since it was Labor Day the shave ice stands were closed. We went to Haimura
Saimin looking for their shave ice. The shave ice was not being served...so we decided to make our last meal there instead. Very good special saimin and very tasty beef skewers. It was obviously a non tourist spot. Had an ambience of its own. They have the coolest shirts!...but didn%26#39;t have any XLs in stock. So after dinner it was time to slink off to the airport. The flight home was brutal. Note to self...don%26#39;t get a seat near the restooms...you%26#39;ll never sleep.
One final thought about all of the things mentioned previously. We had a great time. It was a wonderful trip. I only mention things that sound negative because I want to help the next person better prepare.
I really appreciate all the help we got here at trip advisor. It made a huge difference in how our trip went. Biggest tip of all = Don%26#39;t try to hit too many beaches. Drive until you find one you like...count yourself lucky and relax. If you drive around like we did on Oahu you will have fun...and you will know what beaches you want to return to next time....but you won%26#39;t get to enjoy them to the extent that one should when trying to enjoy paradise. If we make it back...we%26#39;ll definitely know exactly what we want to do...no more...no less.
Kevin
Trip Report Oahu and Kauai - Very Long
Good trip report! Thanks for sharing.
You are so fortunate to have swam with the turtles - for over 20 minutes. What a great memory to have. I am glad that you were not invasive or try to touch them. Thanks for respecting their environment. It sounds like Kauai would be an island that I would like to visit one day.
NatureCat
=^..^=
Trip Report Oahu and Kauai - Very Long
Nice TR.
';I can only tell you it starts with and M and gives you direct swimming access to Goat Island.';
Malaekahana State Recreation Area
Thanks Dusty! That%26#39;s the one...and it%26#39;s a mouthful! :) I%26#39;m at work and didn%26#39;t have my guidebook to help me out :)
Yes swimming with the turtles was wonderful...and yes we did hang back so as not to harrass them. I do think this particular turtle that we spent so much time with was used to people because it didn%26#39;t swim off like the other turtles. We imagined it was thinking something like ';don%26#39;t these people have anything better to do than to gawk at me while I%26#39;m eating';? :) Btw...Ke%26#39;e was our favorite snorkle spot. Kauai was definitely a little more our speed as far as relaxation goes...but we really enjoyed Oahu as well. I think we will go back to both...but do a bit larger bit of the time on Kauai. We definitely wouldn%26#39;t mind doing some of the things we missed on Oahu...and know exactly what beaches we would like to spend more time at next time. Many people avoid Oahu altogether...and we thought we would think the same after our first visit. The nice thing about the idea of a second visit is that the pressure is off. We saw so much the first time that I think we could take it a bit more slowly and savor our favorite spots next time.
Yes, I know what you mean. That is exactly how we feel about Lana%26#39;i. On our first trip, we got to hit all the hot spots. But on our return, we can just relax and visit our favorite ones. We like to explore nature and do not like the crowds or craziness. It sounds like maybe Kauai is about the same speed? I would love to see some turtles.
NatureCat
=^..^=
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