optimystic's O`ahu and Kaua`i trip report
Sep 27th, 2007, 04:14 AM
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optimystic's O`ahu and Kaua`i trip report
Just back yesterday from Hawaii and trying to relive all the memories before I forget them all. I've not written a trip report before but I've got so much info from other trip reports I'm going to give it a go.
ABOUT US My new husband (Andy) and I are in our late twenties and are from the UK. We'd been to O`ahu and Maui on a trip in 2005. I've actually been to O`ahu twice before that as well when I was a teenager. We both love Hawaii and when deciding on a destination for a honeymoon we went through a host of new destinations (Brazil, Mauritius, Seychelles) before realising we were looking for somewhere just like Hawaii... so decided to go back there.
We pretty active on trips and particularly like hiking and surfing. On this trip we did alot of relaxing too. We spent a week in Waikiki and a week on the north shore of Kaua`i.
FIRST NIGHT! As an aside, the first night of our honeymoon did not go too well. We booked into the 4-star Runnymede hotel near Heathrow. It was £200 a night ($400) which is much more than we'd usually pay and we actually only live 30 minutes from Heathrow, so it was a splurge moment. But during our romantic first night as a married couple there was a fire in the hotel kitchen and we were all evacuated until the fire brigade declared it safe!! Not a good start when we had to be up early for our flight the next day...
THE JOURNEY One reason we were initially reluctant to revisit Hawaii for our honeymoon is the long journey and time difference from the UK. It's 7,500 miles, an 11 hr time difference and about 16-17 hours flying time, but of course there are no direct flights. We flew American Airlines via Los Angeles from London to Honolulu. I was actually pretty impressed with AA. As a Brit, I'm a Virgin or BA girl usually, but AA had better connections through to Hawaii. I thought there was good legroom on the London-LA leg and the films selection was ok. The worst thing is only free drinks on the LA-Honolulu leg. Its a six hour flight - they should definitely provide food!!
ABOUT US My new husband (Andy) and I are in our late twenties and are from the UK. We'd been to O`ahu and Maui on a trip in 2005. I've actually been to O`ahu twice before that as well when I was a teenager. We both love Hawaii and when deciding on a destination for a honeymoon we went through a host of new destinations (Brazil, Mauritius, Seychelles) before realising we were looking for somewhere just like Hawaii... so decided to go back there.
We pretty active on trips and particularly like hiking and surfing. On this trip we did alot of relaxing too. We spent a week in Waikiki and a week on the north shore of Kaua`i.
FIRST NIGHT! As an aside, the first night of our honeymoon did not go too well. We booked into the 4-star Runnymede hotel near Heathrow. It was £200 a night ($400) which is much more than we'd usually pay and we actually only live 30 minutes from Heathrow, so it was a splurge moment. But during our romantic first night as a married couple there was a fire in the hotel kitchen and we were all evacuated until the fire brigade declared it safe!! Not a good start when we had to be up early for our flight the next day...
THE JOURNEY One reason we were initially reluctant to revisit Hawaii for our honeymoon is the long journey and time difference from the UK. It's 7,500 miles, an 11 hr time difference and about 16-17 hours flying time, but of course there are no direct flights. We flew American Airlines via Los Angeles from London to Honolulu. I was actually pretty impressed with AA. As a Brit, I'm a Virgin or BA girl usually, but AA had better connections through to Hawaii. I thought there was good legroom on the London-LA leg and the films selection was ok. The worst thing is only free drinks on the LA-Honolulu leg. Its a six hour flight - they should definitely provide food!!
Sep 27th, 2007, 04:27 AM
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ARRIVAL ON O`AHU! So, 21 hours after taking off from London we finally touched down in Honolulu. We were about half an hour late, so no major delays.
I had booked a lei greeting since it was our honeymoon, and this was nice. The only thing was I had booked a shuttle in conjunction with this and that was my mistake, we should have just got a taxi. The shuttle took about half an hour to arrive after getting our bags - but it seemed like hours! It was nice to chat to the others on the shuttle who were very nice in congratulating us and it only made 3 stops (we were the second).
HOTEL - MOANA SURFRIDER No longer a Sheraton, its now Moana Surfrider, a Westin Resort. We absolutely loved this place. We became Starwood Preferred members and booked a rate online of $359/nt for a Deluxe Ocean View Tower room. We also noted on the reservation that it was our honeymoon. I think both these things helped us get a room on the 19th floor with an amazing view of Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head. I could have sat forever on the lanai watching the view and surfers in the water.
It is worth saying that we don't usually stay in such expensive places (last time in Waikiki we stayed at the Circle) but I couldn't fault it. All the staff we encountered were lovely and friendly (especially Greg, who whenever he saw us would say, "England, right?"!). The Banyan court and pool area are gorgeous and we enjoyed many times laying out by the pool. For me, the hotel had a lovely charm and exuded elegance and calm. Great attention to detail - they even change the mat in the lift (elevator) three times a day (Good morning, good afternoon and good evening). The have a lot of Japanese brides through each day (one day I counted six and that was just ones I saw!) - I loved watching them and checking out the dresses!
I had spent ages deciding on exactly which hotel and we made the perfect decision for us as the hotel is right in the centre of the action, near to the beach and surfing, and the view was great.
To be continued... next: First day, Dolphin Excursion, and surfing Waikiki's waves!
I had booked a lei greeting since it was our honeymoon, and this was nice. The only thing was I had booked a shuttle in conjunction with this and that was my mistake, we should have just got a taxi. The shuttle took about half an hour to arrive after getting our bags - but it seemed like hours! It was nice to chat to the others on the shuttle who were very nice in congratulating us and it only made 3 stops (we were the second).
HOTEL - MOANA SURFRIDER No longer a Sheraton, its now Moana Surfrider, a Westin Resort. We absolutely loved this place. We became Starwood Preferred members and booked a rate online of $359/nt for a Deluxe Ocean View Tower room. We also noted on the reservation that it was our honeymoon. I think both these things helped us get a room on the 19th floor with an amazing view of Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head. I could have sat forever on the lanai watching the view and surfers in the water.
It is worth saying that we don't usually stay in such expensive places (last time in Waikiki we stayed at the Circle) but I couldn't fault it. All the staff we encountered were lovely and friendly (especially Greg, who whenever he saw us would say, "England, right?"!). The Banyan court and pool area are gorgeous and we enjoyed many times laying out by the pool. For me, the hotel had a lovely charm and exuded elegance and calm. Great attention to detail - they even change the mat in the lift (elevator) three times a day (Good morning, good afternoon and good evening). The have a lot of Japanese brides through each day (one day I counted six and that was just ones I saw!) - I loved watching them and checking out the dresses!
I had spent ages deciding on exactly which hotel and we made the perfect decision for us as the hotel is right in the centre of the action, near to the beach and surfing, and the view was great.
To be continued... next: First day, Dolphin Excursion, and surfing Waikiki's waves!
Sep 29th, 2007, 11:56 PM
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ooops... sorry! I've been hit hard with the jet lag the last few days. You know, where you go to bed early exhausted but then wake up at 3 a.m. wide awake and have to get through a day at work! But I'm back to try and continue... ok here we go.
Ok, so first day, we managed to sleep ok the first night, despite the time difference making the day topsy turvy. We awoke before sunrise so watched Waikiki waking up from our lanai. What a great way to start the trip! Since we had arrived very late the evening before this was our first chance to appreciate our fantastic view - had I mentioned how great it was?! ;-)
The first person we met in the lift was another Brit! Its interesting how you pick the accents out when theres not so many. Anyway, we had breakfast at Hula Grill next door at the Outrigger. We got a table in the second row... although the first row was pretty empty. It amazed me, people actually make reservations for breakfast! Anyway, great breakfast - we ended up going back there 3 more times in the week. I had pancakes with fresh fruit. Big portions and reasonable prices ($30 for the both of us with tax and tip) given its oceanfront. Love it!
Today was 9/11 sixth anniversary. I'm not sure its appropriate to mention that but it was interesting to experience the anniversary from a US perspective. All the flags were at half mast.
We spent most of the day just chilling by the pool and on the beach. It's a hard life!! Not having stayed at a beachfront hotel in Waikiki before, we really enjoyed and made the most of its location. I'm not sure if (hopefully when!) we go back to Waikiki I can go back to a budget hotel! (this trip we did push the boat out financially since its our honeymoon).
We had our first Hawaiian cocktails and lunch at the Banyan Court (I think its called that) which is the beach cafe/bar at the Moana Surfrider. Absolutely love this place as well! It expensive, but what a lovely location and I loved the evening music (we went back there on some evenings and of course could enjoy the music from our lanai).
Just looking through my notes and I didn't write down where we had dinner that evening. I can't remember for the live of me where it was. Anyway, it can't have been that memorable!
That evening we went to Food Pantry, the little supermarket on Kuhio Ave and bought some muffins and juice for breakfast the next day. Our pickup was for 5.45 a.m. so we needed something to start the day. After that we crashed in our room, falling asleep in front of the TV by 8.30 p.m.
Ok, so first day, we managed to sleep ok the first night, despite the time difference making the day topsy turvy. We awoke before sunrise so watched Waikiki waking up from our lanai. What a great way to start the trip! Since we had arrived very late the evening before this was our first chance to appreciate our fantastic view - had I mentioned how great it was?! ;-)
The first person we met in the lift was another Brit! Its interesting how you pick the accents out when theres not so many. Anyway, we had breakfast at Hula Grill next door at the Outrigger. We got a table in the second row... although the first row was pretty empty. It amazed me, people actually make reservations for breakfast! Anyway, great breakfast - we ended up going back there 3 more times in the week. I had pancakes with fresh fruit. Big portions and reasonable prices ($30 for the both of us with tax and tip) given its oceanfront. Love it!
Today was 9/11 sixth anniversary. I'm not sure its appropriate to mention that but it was interesting to experience the anniversary from a US perspective. All the flags were at half mast.
We spent most of the day just chilling by the pool and on the beach. It's a hard life!! Not having stayed at a beachfront hotel in Waikiki before, we really enjoyed and made the most of its location. I'm not sure if (hopefully when!) we go back to Waikiki I can go back to a budget hotel! (this trip we did push the boat out financially since its our honeymoon).
We had our first Hawaiian cocktails and lunch at the Banyan Court (I think its called that) which is the beach cafe/bar at the Moana Surfrider. Absolutely love this place as well! It expensive, but what a lovely location and I loved the evening music (we went back there on some evenings and of course could enjoy the music from our lanai).
Just looking through my notes and I didn't write down where we had dinner that evening. I can't remember for the live of me where it was. Anyway, it can't have been that memorable!
That evening we went to Food Pantry, the little supermarket on Kuhio Ave and bought some muffins and juice for breakfast the next day. Our pickup was for 5.45 a.m. so we needed something to start the day. After that we crashed in our room, falling asleep in front of the TV by 8.30 p.m.
Sep 30th, 2007, 12:10 AM
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DOLPHIN EXCURSION This was the only trip we booked in advance for the whole of our holiday. We booked the early bird trip online (http://www.dolphinexcursions.com/) about a month before for the second day of our week in Waikiki, the idea being, it would be alot easier to get up at 5.30 am then than once we had adjusted to the time difference (this was definitely the right decision). It cost $105 each, which we thought was quite expensive, but I think compared to other excursion and activities in Hawaii it is reasonably priced.
We were picked up by the minibus just before 6 a.m. The drive out to Waianae (where the boat leaves from) took over an hour, but it was an interesting drive. The traffic the other way was unbelieveable. Crazy that there is so much traffic on such a small island. It was quite shocking to see the tents/homeless shelters on the beaches for this part of the coastline. A marked contrast to the highrises of Honolulu.
One of the ladies in the minibus first of all started asking the driver guy if there are are sharks out in the ocean where we were going, then started talking about the film Open Water where the boat leaves people behind. I hadn't even considered these things until she mentioned them but she made me quite nervous!!!!! Luckily I forgot about it once we got on the boat.
I don't know what kind of boat it was but it went fast! Kind of a thrill ride in places, which was a lot of fun! The crew quickly spotted a pod of dolphins and we watched them for quite a while and they were fairly playful jumping into the air and such. It was great to see them in the open ocean. The boat pilot (who I name Capt. Gordon Ramsay due to his likeness with the chef) told us alot about the dolphins, though I am ashamed to admit I can remember nothing of it, I was so mesmerised by them.
At this point we got ready to go in the water with our snorkelling gear. We were dropped further down from the dolphins and then they swam right under us (quickly!). We did this twice. I think sometimes they can be more playful but not today. We were strictly instructed not to approach them and to make sure we looked in the water if we wanted to see the dolphins, not at the scenery. Andy says he could hear the dolphins underwater but I don't remember this.
After this, Capt. Gordon took the boat and anchored off Papaoneone Beach for some snorkelling. Good snorkelling here, and for me, a particularly cool moment where I was the first to see a sea turtle and watched it alone but many other noticed it.
When we came off the boat, the well-oiled merchandising machine went into operation as they tried to flog us t shirts and photos. Actually the photographers shots (he was on the boat with us) were incredible, so we bought a CD (containing photos from our trip) for $20.
Overall this was worth doing. The highlights were - seeing dolphins in the open ocean, the spectacular scenery of the Waianae coast viewed from offshore, and my moment with the sea turtle!
Hopefully I'll be back later with the next installments - surfing Waikiki underneath a thunderbirds air show and driving around the island in our convertible Mustang!
Also I'm trying to get some photos online (just trying to select the best from 800-900 shots!!) and I will post the link when its ready.
We were picked up by the minibus just before 6 a.m. The drive out to Waianae (where the boat leaves from) took over an hour, but it was an interesting drive. The traffic the other way was unbelieveable. Crazy that there is so much traffic on such a small island. It was quite shocking to see the tents/homeless shelters on the beaches for this part of the coastline. A marked contrast to the highrises of Honolulu.
One of the ladies in the minibus first of all started asking the driver guy if there are are sharks out in the ocean where we were going, then started talking about the film Open Water where the boat leaves people behind. I hadn't even considered these things until she mentioned them but she made me quite nervous!!!!! Luckily I forgot about it once we got on the boat.
I don't know what kind of boat it was but it went fast! Kind of a thrill ride in places, which was a lot of fun! The crew quickly spotted a pod of dolphins and we watched them for quite a while and they were fairly playful jumping into the air and such. It was great to see them in the open ocean. The boat pilot (who I name Capt. Gordon Ramsay due to his likeness with the chef) told us alot about the dolphins, though I am ashamed to admit I can remember nothing of it, I was so mesmerised by them.
At this point we got ready to go in the water with our snorkelling gear. We were dropped further down from the dolphins and then they swam right under us (quickly!). We did this twice. I think sometimes they can be more playful but not today. We were strictly instructed not to approach them and to make sure we looked in the water if we wanted to see the dolphins, not at the scenery. Andy says he could hear the dolphins underwater but I don't remember this.
After this, Capt. Gordon took the boat and anchored off Papaoneone Beach for some snorkelling. Good snorkelling here, and for me, a particularly cool moment where I was the first to see a sea turtle and watched it alone but many other noticed it.
When we came off the boat, the well-oiled merchandising machine went into operation as they tried to flog us t shirts and photos. Actually the photographers shots (he was on the boat with us) were incredible, so we bought a CD (containing photos from our trip) for $20.
Overall this was worth doing. The highlights were - seeing dolphins in the open ocean, the spectacular scenery of the Waianae coast viewed from offshore, and my moment with the sea turtle!
Hopefully I'll be back later with the next installments - surfing Waikiki underneath a thunderbirds air show and driving around the island in our convertible Mustang!
Also I'm trying to get some photos online (just trying to select the best from 800-900 shots!!) and I will post the link when its ready.
Sep 30th, 2007, 10:02 AM
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Optimystic, I am loving reading this so far, and looking forward to the next chapters. Congratulations on your marriage.
Love hearing about your stay at the Moana.....I love the Banyan Court, walking through the lobby and historic area, sitting in the rocking chairs.
Writing a trip report is hard work for me, I am impressed that you have yours going so soon after your return home, and with such a great time difference. I didn't notice any typos either.
Love hearing about your stay at the Moana.....I love the Banyan Court, walking through the lobby and historic area, sitting in the rocking chairs.
Writing a trip report is hard work for me, I am impressed that you have yours going so soon after your return home, and with such a great time difference. I didn't notice any typos either.
Oct 1st, 2007, 02:30 AM
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First of all, thankyou for all your congratulations!
aloha, writing a trip report is hard work, but I've been inspired by all the fantastic trip reports I head on Fodors, which are my favourite part of the forums. And, writing this is allowing me to relive it all and now I have a record of it.
I said the next installment would be surfing, but actually I've changed my mind and thought I would talk about dining out next.
EATING AND DRINKING IN WAIKIKI
I said I couldn't remember where we had dinner the first night - the reason is it was at Subway! Although the smell of this place makes me feel slightly nauseaous we went to various ones in Waikiki for a quick sandwich when we just wanted a quick bite. Particularly early in our trip we often weren't hungry at the "right" times, so just grabbed a sandwich because we thought we should eat to help us get onto Hawaii time.
Later in the week we re-discovered the Saint-Germain bakery on Kuhio Ave. Perhaps not as French as the name suggests, but the bread is good and they make delicious sandwiches to order. (An aside, does no-one put butter on their sandwich bread in the US? What is with the cheese?!! This is something I really missed from the UK).
For breakfast we alternated between Hula Grill (mentioned before), Keoni's at the Ohana East and LuLu's surf bar on Kalakaua Ave at the ResortQuest Waikiki on the beach. Keoni's is very cheap if you eat off their specials but otherwise it is about the same price as the Hula Grill, and the food and setting aren't as good. Still we ended up here a couple of times because it was an old haunt for a low-priced special. We enjoyed sitting at the railing at LuLu's for breakfast, with a fantastic view of the boogie boarders at Kapahulu groin. Scrummy strawberry and blueberry pancakes (large portions). We enjoyed it but only went once as it was a bit of a stroll from the Moana Surfrider. We are not buffet people so we never had breakfast at the Moana, whose ala carte breakfast was very expensive! If we had done a buffet it would have been at Duke's which seemed well-priced at $15 each.
aloha, writing a trip report is hard work, but I've been inspired by all the fantastic trip reports I head on Fodors, which are my favourite part of the forums. And, writing this is allowing me to relive it all and now I have a record of it.
I said the next installment would be surfing, but actually I've changed my mind and thought I would talk about dining out next.
EATING AND DRINKING IN WAIKIKI
I said I couldn't remember where we had dinner the first night - the reason is it was at Subway! Although the smell of this place makes me feel slightly nauseaous we went to various ones in Waikiki for a quick sandwich when we just wanted a quick bite. Particularly early in our trip we often weren't hungry at the "right" times, so just grabbed a sandwich because we thought we should eat to help us get onto Hawaii time.
Later in the week we re-discovered the Saint-Germain bakery on Kuhio Ave. Perhaps not as French as the name suggests, but the bread is good and they make delicious sandwiches to order. (An aside, does no-one put butter on their sandwich bread in the US? What is with the cheese?!! This is something I really missed from the UK).
For breakfast we alternated between Hula Grill (mentioned before), Keoni's at the Ohana East and LuLu's surf bar on Kalakaua Ave at the ResortQuest Waikiki on the beach. Keoni's is very cheap if you eat off their specials but otherwise it is about the same price as the Hula Grill, and the food and setting aren't as good. Still we ended up here a couple of times because it was an old haunt for a low-priced special. We enjoyed sitting at the railing at LuLu's for breakfast, with a fantastic view of the boogie boarders at Kapahulu groin. Scrummy strawberry and blueberry pancakes (large portions). We enjoyed it but only went once as it was a bit of a stroll from the Moana Surfrider. We are not buffet people so we never had breakfast at the Moana, whose ala carte breakfast was very expensive! If we had done a buffet it would have been at Duke's which seemed well-priced at $15 each.
Oct 1st, 2007, 02:53 AM
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For Dinner:
My favourite meal in Waikiki was at the Hula Grill. We ended up here unintentionally as Dukes couldn't seat us for 30 minutes and I was very hungry! We shared a platter of starters including their Mango BBq ribs (mmmm!). I had the fish special in a coconut curry sauce and Andy had the steak special. Our most expensive meal in Waikiki but most memorable. We were there for sunset and it was lovely! All tables seem to have a great view in the main dining section (as opposed to the Plantation bar).
Cheesecake factory - not impressed. We'd been before and liked it, but not so much this time. We still enjoyed the meal but a little disappointed. I simply do not understand the wait times here! We waited 10 minutes but arrived at 5p.m. The place is very chaotic. I had Romano crusted chicken on pasta but the whole dish was overpowered by cheese and was enough to feed 3 people, the portions are ridiculous!! We saved space for cheesecake, but I've had better. We wouldn't bother with the wait time again.
California Pizza Kitchen on Kalakaua. I know its a chain, but we don't have them in the UK! We liked it here and came twice, once for pasta and once for pizza. Both good. The Hawaiian pizza was the best I had had - but I think thats to do with the fresh pineapple rather than a specific CPK thing. Nice view of Kalakaua from the railing (though unfortunately they're doing some construction on the front of the Royal Hawaiian shopping center right opposite at the moment).
Duke's - loved it! We got there early for dinner on Sunday and caught the end of their live afternoon music. Loud but good music that created a fun atmosphere. The Key Lime Pie for dessert was yummy!! (much better than cheesecake at the cheesecake factory!)
Banyan Cafe at the Moana Surfrider. We ate here a few times for lunch or dinner. The food is not amazing but the setting and music are! Loved it.
OK I think thats it for food. We're not 'foodies' by any stretch but hopefully thats useful for someone! Hopefully be back later with the surfing installment.
My favourite meal in Waikiki was at the Hula Grill. We ended up here unintentionally as Dukes couldn't seat us for 30 minutes and I was very hungry! We shared a platter of starters including their Mango BBq ribs (mmmm!). I had the fish special in a coconut curry sauce and Andy had the steak special. Our most expensive meal in Waikiki but most memorable. We were there for sunset and it was lovely! All tables seem to have a great view in the main dining section (as opposed to the Plantation bar).
Cheesecake factory - not impressed. We'd been before and liked it, but not so much this time. We still enjoyed the meal but a little disappointed. I simply do not understand the wait times here! We waited 10 minutes but arrived at 5p.m. The place is very chaotic. I had Romano crusted chicken on pasta but the whole dish was overpowered by cheese and was enough to feed 3 people, the portions are ridiculous!! We saved space for cheesecake, but I've had better. We wouldn't bother with the wait time again.
California Pizza Kitchen on Kalakaua. I know its a chain, but we don't have them in the UK! We liked it here and came twice, once for pasta and once for pizza. Both good. The Hawaiian pizza was the best I had had - but I think thats to do with the fresh pineapple rather than a specific CPK thing. Nice view of Kalakaua from the railing (though unfortunately they're doing some construction on the front of the Royal Hawaiian shopping center right opposite at the moment).
Duke's - loved it! We got there early for dinner on Sunday and caught the end of their live afternoon music. Loud but good music that created a fun atmosphere. The Key Lime Pie for dessert was yummy!! (much better than cheesecake at the cheesecake factory!)
Banyan Cafe at the Moana Surfrider. We ate here a few times for lunch or dinner. The food is not amazing but the setting and music are! Loved it.
OK I think thats it for food. We're not 'foodies' by any stretch but hopefully thats useful for someone! Hopefully be back later with the surfing installment.
Oct 1st, 2007, 04:16 AM
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Ok, back now after lunch for an installment on surfing in Waikiki...
SURFING
Andy and I love surfing and boogie boarding. But we go on surfing holidays in the UK so we don't overdo it when in Hawaii (theres so much other stuff to do as well!) but we like to partake a little! Really we are "recreational" surfers, since we only get the chance to do it when we go away for the weekend, and Waikiki is perfect for that! We had a fantastic view of the busiest surfing break off Waikiki beach from our lanai and loved watching the surfers from beginners to posers to experts, the stand-up paddlers and some with two people on a board with men lifting women into poses!
We rented big boards from the stand at Kuhio Beach Park that is nearest the Moana (there are two stands there). Board hire is pricey at $10/hr but its right where you want them! We met Todd there, who gave us a surfing lesson when we were in Waikiki a few years ago. He tried to sell us another lesson but we told him he'd already taught us! He didn't remember us, but upon recognising the accent said he might remember if we told him which football (soccer) team we supported; he was a big fan (which Andy remembered). He said he'd been up at 3 a.m. watching the English Football that morning! It made me think, I'd seen bars open at 9 a.m. showing sports in Waikiki - I guess you have to be dedicated to be a fan of some sports there!
Anyway, the first time we went out was on Thursday 9/13, in the morning. Right when the US Air Force Thunderbirds were practising their air display for Saturday (it was for the air forces anniversary... I think?!!). How fantastic to be surfing the waves of Waikiki with this right above!
We took a disposable underwater camera out with us on our boards and Andy would get the camera out once he stood up, snapping pictures of Waikiki, plus of course getting the ultimate picture: on a board in front of Diamond Head. These are my favourite pictures of the whole trip since they are so spontaneous showing us having fun!
We rented boards a couple more times, but Thursday was the best time; the waves seemed to be breaking just right with a good swell and I managed to catch quite a few waves, with not so much luck on subsequent days.
Next... taking the Mustang Convertible around O`ahu, including the Tanalus/Round top drive, Manoa Falls, some Lost location hunting and North Shore beaches.
SURFING
Andy and I love surfing and boogie boarding. But we go on surfing holidays in the UK so we don't overdo it when in Hawaii (theres so much other stuff to do as well!) but we like to partake a little! Really we are "recreational" surfers, since we only get the chance to do it when we go away for the weekend, and Waikiki is perfect for that! We had a fantastic view of the busiest surfing break off Waikiki beach from our lanai and loved watching the surfers from beginners to posers to experts, the stand-up paddlers and some with two people on a board with men lifting women into poses!
We rented big boards from the stand at Kuhio Beach Park that is nearest the Moana (there are two stands there). Board hire is pricey at $10/hr but its right where you want them! We met Todd there, who gave us a surfing lesson when we were in Waikiki a few years ago. He tried to sell us another lesson but we told him he'd already taught us! He didn't remember us, but upon recognising the accent said he might remember if we told him which football (soccer) team we supported; he was a big fan (which Andy remembered). He said he'd been up at 3 a.m. watching the English Football that morning! It made me think, I'd seen bars open at 9 a.m. showing sports in Waikiki - I guess you have to be dedicated to be a fan of some sports there!
Anyway, the first time we went out was on Thursday 9/13, in the morning. Right when the US Air Force Thunderbirds were practising their air display for Saturday (it was for the air forces anniversary... I think?!!). How fantastic to be surfing the waves of Waikiki with this right above!
We took a disposable underwater camera out with us on our boards and Andy would get the camera out once he stood up, snapping pictures of Waikiki, plus of course getting the ultimate picture: on a board in front of Diamond Head. These are my favourite pictures of the whole trip since they are so spontaneous showing us having fun!
We rented boards a couple more times, but Thursday was the best time; the waves seemed to be breaking just right with a good swell and I managed to catch quite a few waves, with not so much luck on subsequent days.
Next... taking the Mustang Convertible around O`ahu, including the Tanalus/Round top drive, Manoa Falls, some Lost location hunting and North Shore beaches.
