Miramar

Aloha! This was my second trip to Oahu and first trip to Kauai. I was torn when deciding which islands I wanted to visit this time, since I was eager to return to Oahu because I love the fact that by staying in Waikiki everything is right at your fingertips. You don’t need a rental car for the full duration of your stay and The Bus does a good job of getting you where you need to go within the city or it’s easy to grab a cab from one of the many hotels. On the other hand, I wanted to try another island as well since it’s impossible to have a favorite if you haven’t tried them all. I’d read and heard that Kauai is known for it’s incredible natural beauty, which I always appreciate, but I was somewhat dubious about going there since it is also known for being calm, laid-back and peaceful. Since I travel alone, I usually prefer an area that is more lively, with shops etc within walking distance for browsing at night. That is why I opted to spend only 3 nights on Kauai and the rest of my time on Oahu.

Day 1 (Friday)
I departed Boston on United’s 6:30am flight to Los Angeles. I had a 5 hour layover at LAX until my flight to Lihue took off around 2:00pm. This made for an extremely long day, but thankfully I had been able to use miles to upgrade to first class, so at least the flights were a bit more comfortable than they might have been. We landed at LIH 5:05pm local time. Luggage came out very quickly and after I grabbed my bag, I walked across the street to the rental car shuttle bus pick-up to get the Dollar Rental car shuttle. While the ride to the office was quick, the line inside was extremely slow —even though there was only one person ahead of me, all the people already at the counter seemed to have issues of some sort that took forever to sort out. Once I actually got to the counter, the rental process went smoothly and took only about 4 minutes. Soon I was on my way out the door to find my silver Sebring convertible. One thing I should mention about the Sebring, (and I am a convertible owner myself at home—so I am used to small and sort of awkward trunk space)-- the trunk in the Sebring is very poor in my opinion. There is room for probably 2 small bags; the rest of the trunk is taken up by the mechanism for the top and won’t be useable, especially if you want to put the top down. If you need more luggage space, I suggest getting a Mustang instead (which I had on Oahu), as the trunk is a better design. Luckily, traveling alone, the trunk is a non-issue for me anyway, as I use the back seat for my luggage. Finally, I set off from the airport and began my drive to the Grand Hyatt. Immediately I was impressed by how green, lush and verdant everything looked. It is a very pretty drive, especially going through the section of road where the trees form a tunnel. It is an approximately 30 min drive from the airport to the Hyatt.

Upon my arrival at the Hyatt, I handed the car over to valet and checked in. The lobby view is impressive. You pull up to the front of the hotel and it is open from the front to the ocean, so you see the ocean clear through the hotel, before even getting out of the car. I was assigned room 3110 in the Shipwreck Wing, which is a ground floor garden view room. The hotel is made up of 2 wings and Shipwreck Wing is the one closest to the pool and is much more convenient in my opinion if you want to use the pool—otherwise, it would be quite a walk from the Poipu wing. My room was relatively large with a patio and was decorated in beige and green color scheme with dark wood furniture. There was a lot of drawer space and a normal amount of hanging space. At first glance, the bathroom appears to be right in the room with you, with the shower and double sink open and visible right when you enter the room. However, there is a sliding door you can close, if you wish to close it off. I was also happy to see that at least for this room, garden view actually meant garden view and not parking lot view.

After changing into shorts, I had a light dinner of chicken satay and a Lava Flow at the Seaview Terrace while enjoying the evening entertainment, a soloist guitar singer. The Seaview Terrace has both indoor and outdoor seating, with the inside section facing most of the entertainment.

Miramar

Day 2 (Saturday)
Today I woke up early to walk around the hotel and catch the sunrise. I got my car around 7am and began my driving tour of the island. My first stop was Poipu Beach. I wasn’t very impressed by it—I didn’t find it especially pretty or unique looking, so I moved on fairly quickly to Spouting Horn. I did enjoy Spouting Horn, as I’d never seen a blowhole before when it was actually blowing, so I lingered there a few extra minutes to enjoy the sights and sounds of the water being forced upward. My next stop was Menehune Fishpond, which I got to by taking Kipu Rd (an alternate side road to Lihue). I enjoyed this drive, but had to pull over a couple times to allow others who wanted to go faster to pass me. It’s a scenic narrow winding road with what I think is sugar cane grass lining the sides of the road. From there I continued on to Wailua Falls, which were flowing strongly (I think) and were fairly muddy in color. I then continued the waterfall theme and continued on to Opaeka’a Falls which is farther away in the distance to view, but I think was prettier. The water looked clearer and the drive up area you can view it from has flowers in the foreground. There is also a nice view off the other side of the road there into a valley and the Wailua River.

After a brief stop at the Coconut Marketplace for some quick souvenir shopping, I drove on to Kilauea Lighthouse where there is a bird sanctuary and you were able to observe the many Albatross and nesting babies. I had a quick lunch at Kilauea Bakery/Pau Hana Pizza in the Kong Lung Center. Lunch consisted of a piece of cheese pizza and a chocolate chewy bar (chocolate, coconut, puffed rice and banana cake batter). I thought it was okay, but not my favorite. The pizza was very cheesy which I like, but could have used more sauce. The crust was interesting however, and appeared to made like a braided dough. The chocolate bar lacked flavor.

After lunch I continued on and had wanted to get a frostee at Banana Joe’s but they had a sign out saying they were closed until Oct 22, so I continued on to Princeville, where I drove around some of the streets in that community.

I continued on and stopped at Wishing Well Shave Ice. I thought the shave ice here was the best I had the whole trip. It was finely shaved, the syrups were very flavorful and the ice cream was a good consistency—not too hard. They offer many syrup flavors and also offer several choices of ice cream flavors if you want ice cream on the bottom. I chose to get the 4th of July mixture (vanilla, strawberry and coconut) with macademia nut ice cream on the bottom.

I stopped at several beaches on the North Shore, including Anini, Hanalei Bay, Lumahai, Ha’ena and Ke’e Beach. My favorite was Ke’e. I also enjoyed what I think was Lumahai, but may have actually been a different beach—I’m not sure. Ke’e is nice because it has the mountains directly behind it with coconut trees and rocky shore in front of the mountains. The rocky shore then turns into a sandy beach section where all the swimming takes place.
Lumahai, I viewed from above and liked it simply because it has a nice picturesque setting in a small cove.

After all the beach stops, I visited Limahuli Gardens. This is not a cultivated floral type of botanical garden. It is more foliage than flowers and it very pretty and well done. With your admission you are given a very good guide book that takes you on the self guided tour. The book includes much detail on what you are seeing. The tour takes you through different plantings representing different periods in Hawaii’s history. It’s a lovely setting with views of the mountains and the ocean from the top of the trail.

Next I drove back to Hanalei to look in the shops and stop for a Mocha Anu at Java Kai and sat on their porch while enjoying my drink and people watching.

The drive back to Poipu took approximately one hour and by now it was 5:30pm. A little early for dinner, but I didn’t want to drive back to the hotel, so I decided to eat early at Keoki’s and there was no wait. I got a table by the water in the dining room section and enjoyed the tropical atmosphere and the tiki torches which were lit later on. The food was tasty—I had a pina colada and the coconut crusted chicken. The chicken came with a nice mango sauce and is served with rice pilaf.

Since I’d eaten early, I made it back to the Hyatt in time for the torch lighting ceremony and keiki hula show and finished my day off with a swim in the pool, which is open 24hrs.

Day 3 (Sunday)
Picked up the car at 7am from the valet and drove to Port Allen Marina for my Na Pali coast cruise and snorkel with Holo Holo charters. I was there early, as the drive took 30 minutes and check in was not until 8am. The tour is conducted on a sailing catamaran, Leila. There is a covered cabin—open toward the stern with some bench seating inside there. There is also bench seating for about 8-10 people outside in front of this cabin. You can also stand along the sides of the vessel or sit on the 2 trampolines on the bow. They don’t use the sail (they put it up, but it’s pretty much motor sailing. They said sometimes they sail if the winds are strong enough—approx 25 knots), so you can also sit or lay on top of the cabin. If they were actually using the sail, you couldn’t do this, as you could get hit by the boom. Early on, they have a continental breakfast set up which includes coffee cake, bagels, scones etc. On the way out we saw spinner dolphins, flying fish and green sea turtles. The Na Pali coastline is very pretty, but before you get there you go along the south shore of the island for a good distance. This has nice views too, but none of the impressive cliffs of the Na Pali coast. After the viewing of the Na Pali coastline and some sea caves (this boat is too large to enter the caves, but you can get pretty close for viewing), we snorkeled for about 45min. There was not a lot of variety of fish. There were plenty of fish to see, just not a lot of variety in what you saw. After snorkeling they had lunch set up which is served buffet style. It is make your own sandwich and includes a choice of bread, cheeses and various cold cuts. There was also a pasta salad, fruit and chocolate chip cookies. We returned to the port at 1:30pm. I enjoyed the tour and would go with this company again.

After our return, I drove onward to Waimea and went to JoJo’s for shave ice. They offer a huge variety of syrups to choose from, but the line takes forever because there was only one person working. She takes about 3-4 orders and then goes and fills the orders, then comes back and takes more orders to fill etc. I got a small with macademia nut ice cream on the bottom with coconut, chocolate and banana flavors. It was good but not as good as Wishing Well. The ice cream was too hard and the ice not as fine.

I drove back to the hotel to use the pool. Unfortunately there was a rain shower and it then stayed cloudy and sort of drizzly looking for the rest of the afternoon. The pool complex at the Hyatt is as wonderful as people say it is. You pick up towels and get a wristband to use the waterslide at the Recreation Desk. At the top is the adult pool. From there you can swim under a bridge and then take a small slipslide down into the river pool. This pool is like a lazy river (except there is no current to carry you) and it winds around thorough rock walls and has waterfalls with caves for you to duck into (watch you feet on the rocks if you go into the caves). You can then climb out and use the waterslide to enter the lower pool below. This pool has a small island in the middle, volleyball net and a waterfall.
Beyond this freshwater pool complex is the man-made salt water lagoon with a sandy beach. Here you can swim or rent kayaks. This lagoon is very pretty and there were never very many people using it. It’s like swimming in one of those decorative, ornamental garden pools that is usually for decoration only and not swimming. Despite the fact that I prefer freshwater, I loved using the lagoon because of it’s beautiful landscaping.
Lastly, there is the actual ocean, but the water is very rough and there are rocks, so it is advised not to swim there.

For dinner tonight I drove to Koloa and ate at Tomkats Grille. It is an open air restaurant and there are cats that roam freely throughout and will sit near your table. Snowball decided to come sit right next to my table, which I enjoyed. However, the food was not good. The Lava Flow was alright, but the burger (with american cheese and bacon) was of the low quality, fatty, tough variety. So I skipped dessert there and went to Lappert’s instead where I enjoyed a double scoop—one of Kauai Pie and the other of Coconut Macademia Nut Fudge.

Once again, I finished my night up with a swim in the pool.

Miramar

Day 4 (Monday)
Today was my last day on Kauai, so I had to make the most of it. I got the car around 6:15am and drove to Waimea Canyon. I drove up the canyon on Route 550 and stopped at various points along the way. I drove as far as the Kalalau Lookout and then drove back down on Route 552. I was lucky in that there was no cloud cover, so I was able to see everything clearly.

After viewing the canyon I drove back and stopped in old town Hanapepe to see the swinging bridge and then made a brief stop at the Hanapepe Valley Lookout before heading back to the hotel to spend the rest of the morning at the pool before heading to the airport. Today at least was sunny at the pool, so I had at least one day of using the pool while it was sunny and nice out. I had lunch consisting of a cheeseburger at The Dock, which is the poolside restaurant. The seating is open air either under umbrella tables or under a portico.

I got the car at 12:15pm and arrived at the airport approx 12:45pm. I dropped off the car and then was through security by 1pm. Way too early for my 3:46pm flight. The airport was really fast—I’m not sure if it’s always like that or if I was lucky that I flew in and out on weekdays and at afternoon times, but I was impressed with it’s speed. So often it’s the smaller airports that are the slowest or least efficient, so this was a nice surprise. Unfortunately it meant I had a long wait for my flight. Finally it was time to board the plane, and once on board, the Hawaiian Airlines flight took about 25 minutes or so. Luggage came out really quickly at the HNL inter-island terminal, but I think mine might have come in on the earlier flight since I was so early to the airport, as it never came out on the conveyer belt, but instead I found it in the unclaimed luggage section.

I got a cab to the hotel and it took about 30 min and $35 to get from the airport to Waikiki. There was quite a bit of traffic on H1 or it would have been quicker. I had booked the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach. This was my second time staying at this hotel so I knew what to expect. The street is on lower lobby level and you must go up one level to the check in desk on the lobby level. The lobby is decorated with island art and a large outrigger canoe as the center piece. I was assigned room 730, an ocean view room facing the direction of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. The Royal Hawaiian is under construction, but I was not bothered by any noise—perhaps because I was never in the room during working hours. This is the same side of the hotel I was on before and the downside to being on this side is that you hear a large fan from the mall next door when the lanai door is open. This does not bother me, but may bother some people. The rooms are decorated with tropical bed spreads, green carpets and dark wood furniture. The decor comes together to create a nice, tropical Hawaiian look. The walls are thin at this hotel—I did hear noise from the room next door 2 nights, but after that never heard them again. They must have checked out. I enjoyed this hotel as much this time as I did the first time 3 years ago. I like the decor, convenient location and 3 restaurants.

Dinner tonight was at the Hula Grill at 6:30pm in the hotel. I made a reservation about a week and a half prior to the date I wanted and requested a table on the railing. I got a table on the rail and enjoyed the view of the beach at sunset. I had a pina colada, the tomato and onion salad served with garlic vinagrette, steak kiana with a mushroom cream sauce and served with mashed potato with lilikoi butter and for dessert had the ice cream sandwich. It is 2 large chocolate brownies with vanilla ice cream in between and served with whipped cream and raspberry sauce. I’d say after a large meal it is big enough for 2 people to share. I loved my meal here—it was one of my favorite meals the whole trip.

After dinner I needed to do something to walk off the large dinner, so I walked the walkway along Waikiki Beach. A slight disappointment is that they no longer have all the tiki torches lit along Kalakaua Ave. It’s small thing, but I missed it, as it adds to the atmosphere. One of the things I love about Oahu and staying in Waikiki is how convenient everything is—no car is needed. You just walk out of your hotel and stroll along the sidewalk or along the beach (which is pretty well lit in the hotel area) and you never know what you’re going to find as far as entertainment. You can shop in the many stores along Kalakaua or you can pop into one of the dozens of hotels and maybe find a hula show or music performance going on. The possibilities are endless.

Day 5 (Tuesday)
Today was a day I was most looking forward to. It was my surf lesson with Hawaiian Fire. I surfed with them the last time I came to Oahu and could not wait to do it again. It’s a must do for me when on Oahu. My pick up point was the Sheraton Kaiulani Hotel at 7:15am. They pick you up in their van and drive about 40 min west of Waikiki to Barber’s Point. The waves there are gentle and consistent and it’s not crowded at all. They give you a rash guard and reef walkers to wear and then take you over to the tents set up on the beach for the safety briefing and on-land instruction. There were 10 students and five had their on-shore portion conducted in Japanese while the rest of the English speakers went to a separate tent for a lesson given in English. The on-shore part lasts about 40 min and they teach you paddling technique and how to pop up. After that, it’s into the water for an 1 hr and 15 min of surf time. This is more than enough time if you are not used to it, as it’s 90% paddling which can be tiring. There were about 5 instructors and they start out by pushing you into the waves that they choose for you and telling you when to start paddling. I’d done it before so was able to stand up right away and toward the end of the lesson was able to catch some of my own waves. While you’re surfing they have a photographer on shore taking pictures of you so when you come back in, they’ve downloaded the photos to a laptop and they show you a slide show. You then have the chance to purchase the CD of all the photos for $40 or you can wait until you get home and then order individual photos online. There are bathrooms with showers at the beach so you can change your clothes before the drive back to Waikiki. I was back in Waikiki by 12pm. I highly recommend using Hawaiian Fire—they are nice, fun and professional. I’ve used them a total of 3 times-two lessons on my most recent trip and one lesson on a previous trip. Each time I’ve dealt with them has been a pleasure.

For lunch I had chicken quesadilla at Duke’s bar in the Outrigger. I ate quickly, as I was due to pick up a rental car from Hertz at the Hyatt. I got the car, a Ford Mustang convertible by 1:15pm and was on my way for some sight seeing. My first stop was at Waiola Shave Ice, where I had banana, coconut and peach. The ice was shaved extremely fine, but the syrups lacked flavor to me. I then continued on to Round Top and Tantalus Dr. Round Top and Tantalus are long uphill roads that wind their way through very pretty trees and other foliage. There are also some nice views of Honolulu from Round Top Drive and I stopped at Pu’u Ualakaa State Park as well.

I then drove by the Royal Mausoleum en route to the Pali Hwy. Off of Pali Hwy is Nuuanu Pali Dr. This road is really nice to drive down—even prettier than Round Top/Tantalus, with vines dripping from the trees and lovely tree canopy. I continued on to the Pali Lookout to enjoy the view of the windward side of the island. I was happy I got to see this view, as when I was there 3 years earlier, it was raining that day so there were clouds and fog obscuring the view. I continued on the Pali Hwy until I got to Rte 72 which I took back toward Waikiki, making a stop at Waialae beach along the way in the Kahala area. This is a pretty beach area and is a little out of the way so there were fewer people there.

Dinner tonight was at House Without A Key, in the Halekulani hotel. You have a choice of seating—there is indoor and outdoor dinner seating at regular sized tables and outdoor cocktail seating at small tables. I love the entertainment there—they have nightly music with a hula dancer and the performers they have are quite good. I had a Hale Passion (rum, cream, almond, coconut and passion fruit juice), onion soup, spaghetti with tomato sauce served with a wedge of garlic toast and the coconut cake with raspberry sauce for dessert. I especially loved the cake and it was a very enjoyable meal.

I then took the opportunity to stroll along and window shop in the new Waikiki Beach Walk. Some of the shops had nice island wares, but some of them are simply repeats of other stores in Waikiki—how many Quicksilver stores do they need?

Miramar

Day 6 (Wednesday)
I left the hotel at 6:30am in the car for my drive to the North Shore. I stopped at Diamond Head Lookout and Halona Blowhole en route to Kailua for pancakes at Boots & Kimo’s. I ordered a glass of guava juice and a short stack of the banana macademia pancakes with the macademia nut sauce. The pancakes were very good and I loved the sauce. It is a very large portion though even for the short stack—2 dinner plate sized pancakes, so there was no way I could eat all that.

After waddling out, I continued my drive to Lanikai and Kailua beaches. I was able to park on the street for Lanikai and use one of several public beach access paths (some of which are poorly marked—probably on purpose). My next stop was the Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden. Ho’omaluhia has the luck of being situated at the base of the Ko’olau Mountains, so most of the photos I took have the mountains in the background. Don’t expect flowers at Ho’omaluhia, but you will see many varieties of palms and other greenery. It’s really a very pretty location and both times I’ve been there I’ve only seen one other person, so it’s very peaceful and serene .

I then continued on to Senator Fong’s Plantation & Gardens. This was a stop I was not sure I would make because I never hear very much about it. I am so glad I made the effort! It was one of the best tours I’ve ever taken. The garden is located down a side road in Kaneohe with the majestic Ko’olau Mountains as a backdrop. They are open for guided walking tours only, twice per day. They also offer lei making. I got there in time for the 10:30am tour and I was the only guest. So, the guide gave me a choice, we could either do the traditional walking tour (1 mile loop) or we could use her car and go farther a field. We ended up taking the car for my private tour and it was wonderful. She spoke about many of the varieties of trees, birds and plants that we passed and even harvested fresh fruit and flowers to sample. We were able to try guava, star fruit and meyer lemons. It is so lush and verdant and some of the path/roads are not used much, it was like being in Jurassic Park, as we drove in a small SUV down narrow, winding dirt roads with lush green foliage brushing the sides of the car. We were able to drive directly into orchards and have a truly private plantation tour that lasted a bit more than the stated hour. This is one of the best tours I’ve ever taken and the property is really gorgeous, with so many different varieties of plants.

After my tour I stopped at Kahana Beach, Sunset Beach, Banzai Pipeline, Waimea Bay and Haleiwa. There was the Billabong Jr. Pro Championships surf competition going on at Sunset so I stayed for a while to watch that before moving on. Waimea Bay parking lot is crowded, so I had to circle a few times before finding someone going out. Many of the people are tourists like me, and don’t stay too long—we just go to “see” it and then move on, so there are always spots opening up. I stopped for lunch in Haleiwa. Last time I went, I had lunch at Kua Aina and was not impressed, except for the fries. However, none of the other choices appealed to me either, so I decided to give Kua Aina another try. I liked it much better this time. I had a 1/3 lb cheeseburger with american cheese and a small fries. The burger was cooked through—just the way I like it and was served on a hearty, kaiser style roll. The fries are very tasty—very thin and crispy. For dessert I went to Aoki’s Shave Ice—last time I tried Matsumoto’s, so this time I decided to try Aoki’s. I had a small with vanilla ice cream (the only flavor offered) on the bottom, with lilikoi, coconut and banana. I enjoyed it enough, but seem to recall liking Matusumoto’s better—though it was so long ago, it’s not an accurate comparison. I then looked in some of the surf shops and other stores before driving a little farther west on the Farrington Hwy and then turning back to Waikiki via Rte 99 to H1. H1 had a lot of traffic on it, so it took longer than I’d hoped to get back to Waikiki and return the car.

For dinner I went to Keo’s. Funny, I’m not a big fan of Thai food, so it’s somewhat puzzling that I decided to dine there. It’s very attractive from the outside, with tiki torches, lights and flowers etc though, so that is what attracted me to it. I had a Blue Hawaii and a New York Steak sliced thin with a cilantro, lime chili sauce. It was good and relatively spicy, which I like, but I don’t think I’d go there again. After dinner I walked to the Hilton Hawaiian Village and got a double scoop of Lappert’s ice cream—one Kauai Pie and the Other Big Island Inspiration. It turned out they were having their luau tonight at the Hilton and it was visible from the sidewalk, so I watched that for a while. There were a couple of vendors inside the gates of the luau, selling hand carved tikis, so I waited until the show was over and entered the area to purchase one of the tikis. They were all different and unique in color and form.

Day 7 (Thursday)
Today, my first activity was the Outrigger Catamaran snorkel cruise. It takes off a couple times a week at 8am in front of the Outrigger Reef Hotel. Check in is around 7:30am. You board the boat and you motor out not that far off shore from the hotel to a place called Turtle Canyon. We had an hour to snorkel while observing green sea turtles. There were quite a few of them there and many trigger fish as well. After snorkeling you get back on the boat and they put the sails up and turn off the engine so you get 1-1.5 hours of sailing in as well, which was really fun. Sit on the trampolines in front if you want to get wet! This was a fun activity and I’d do it again.

For lunch I went to Teddy’s Bigger Burgers. I got the 5 oz cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate shake. It was really good, though with the size of the burger, I really didn’t need the fries. The shake was really good—very rich, thick and chocolately. Just the way I like it.

I then walked over to the Hawaiian Fire shop on Campbell Ave to pick up my CD of photos and it was nice to have a walk after eating all that food. I then walked back to Waikiki to pick up the free shuttle to Hilo Hattie’s, where I browsed and did buy a few small items. I bought quite a bit the last time I was there and there are only so many Aloha themed items that I can use.
I got back on the shuttle and got off at the Hilton Hawaiian Village to do some photography of their flowers etc. and then walked back to the Outrigger to sit by the pool. The pool is small (as are all pools in Waikiki—with the exception of the HHV), but there was ample seating for people who wanted a pool chair. The pool is also saltwater, which I don’t like so well, so I only swam a little bit in before getting out.

My dinner tonight was an early one at Duke’s. I had called a week and a half early to make a reservation and request a table on the rail. I reiterated my request upon check in and got a nice table, though very hot and sunny at that time of day. I had a Lava Flow, salad bar, Teriyaki steak with garlic mashed potatoes, and hula pie for dessert (oreo crust, vanilla macademia nut ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream).
I planned on an early 4;45pm dinner at Duke’s so that I’d be out in time to catch the free hula show on the Kuhio Beach hula mound. The show is presented every night except Monday from 6:30-7:30pm. I was lucky to get a seat near the front of the lawn. There was a trio of musicians and a male and female hula dancer.
After the show I decided to go by the Banyan Court at the Moana Surfrider and listen to their music for a while before heading over the International Marketplace for some souvenir shopping. Call me crazy, but I think it will be a shame if they renovate the Marketplace. No doubt it will become “upscale” and another Honolua Surf Co, Billabong or Coach stores will move in there to duplicate what is already ubiquitous all over Waikiki. While the stores that are in the International Market are also all of a type and have pretty much the same merchandise, it fills a different niche than those other type of stores and it would be too bad to lose that in my opinion.

Miramar

Day 8 (Friday)
I started with breakfast today at the Hula Grill. This consisted of pineapple juice and coconut/pineapple pancakes served with macademia nut butter. These were a favorite of mine my last trip and they were delicious again. Coconut syrup is available if you want it.

My morning activity was supposed to be Oahu Nature Tours- Waterfall Hike, but there was a snafu. The pick up time was supposed to be 8am—I waited for 40 min and no van. So I called them to find out what the story was. They said they had called me and left a message that the guide was out sick for my tour (I never got any message) but I could either get a refund or go on the Manoa Falls hike. In fact as we were speaking, the van for the Manoa Falls trip had pulled up out front to get me. Of course, I’d already done that hike the last time I was there, so I’d wanted to do a different one. But being faced with either not going at all or repeating the hike, I choose to repeat it. It is a nice walk—especially through the bamboo forest part. Overall, it is a very pretty trail, but I hope I get to do a different hike the next time I go. I travel alone, so am not really into hiking off without being with a group, so I’m sort of a captive to going on hiking tours—maybe it will work out better next time.

After a lunch of Nachos at Duke’s, I had my afternoon of leisure. I spent it sitting by the pool and rented a body board for an hour on the beach. The water at Waikiki is pretty warm, so it’s easy to just stay in there for a while. Body boarding, like surfing is all about timing and learning how to catch the waves—I managed to catch 2 while I was out there. It’s pretty fun to go skimming quickly across the water, but it’s harder than it looks to actually catch waves—otherwise they just sort of flow over you.

Dinner tonight was at Hy’s Steakhouse. The bread that comes to the table is a delicious cheese bread. I also had onion soup, peppercorn steak and kahlua chocolate mousse for dessert. The meal was very good and filling. I followed up my meal here with a cocktail overlooking Waikiki from the Hanohano Room in the Sheraton. They make a really good pina colada that tastes very fresh. I finished up my night by strolling around and catching performances at the various hotels—fire sword dancer at the Sheraton and a private luau performance for a group (that was also viewable by the general public from the beach) at the Outrigger.

Day 9 (Saturday)
Today was my last day in Hawaii. This morning I had one more surfing lesson booked with Hawaiian Fire, so I was once again picked up in front of the Sheraton Kaiulani at 7:15am. When we arrived at the beach, the waves were bigger/rougher than the last time, as it was a high tide. It was a bit harder to stand up and remain standing on the rougher waves, but it was still really fun and I can’t wait to do it again.

After being dropped off at my hotel by 11:50am, I had to run to get checked out by the appointed time of noon. Luckily, my room always seemed to be one of the last on the maid’s list to make up, so nobody cared that I was late getting out. I stored my baggage with the bell staff in the lower lobby and went to Duke’s for a cheeseburger for lunch.

After lunch I walked down the beach to the Outrigger Reef to find out if there was space on the 3pm sail for the Outrigger Catamaran. There was, so I signed up and then went back to my hotel for 1.5 hrs to swim etc before boarding the boat. The sail lasts for 1.5 hours and goes out daily at 11, 1, 3pm and they also offer a sunset sail with an open bar. The winds were pretty good, especially out by Diamond Head, so we had some good speed and those of in the front had a good time getting soaked. For the last 15 min they idle a ways off shore and you have the chance to swim off the boat if you want to. There are several different catamaran companies that leave from Waikiki. In addition to the Outrigger there is Na Hoku II which leaves from in front of the Moana Surfrider, MaiTa’i which departs from the Sheraton, Kepo Kai (sp?) which leaves from the Outrigger Waikiki and I think there are others as well.

By now it was 4:30pm and time for me to change for my last dinner before heading to the airport. I had dinner tonight at Chuck’s Steakhouse in the Outrigger. I got a table on the railing on the shady side, facing the Moana Surfrider, with a nice view of the beach. I had a Lava Flow, salad bar, teriyaki steak with a loaded baked potato and mud pie for dessert. It was good, but not as good as the steak teriyaki at Duke’s. As a side note, Duke’s has a live band/entertainment Fri, Sat, Sun nights and I remember it being extremely loud the last time I was there---loud enough to be heard from my room on the side of the hotel with the door closed. I wonder if they have turned down the volume a bit, as I couldn’t hear it from my room this year on Fri and it was not especially loud on Sat night dining at Chuck’s either. The sunset view from Chuck’s was really pretty and I got some nice photos of palm trees silhouetted against the orange sky.

I collected my luggage from the bell staff at about 6:40pm and had them call me a cab to the airport. When they brought my luggage out, they warned me that it was a really big cab—but don’t worry it costs the same price as a normal cab. It turned out that a stretch limo had shown p instead of a normal size cab—which is really funny since I’m only one small person. They were right however that the cost was the same, so it all turned out in the end. I arrived at the airport around 7pm and breezed through the agricultural checkpoint, flight check in and security check point in about 15min. So while I was pretty early for my 9:10pm flight, I took the time to shop for lei to bring home as gifts. It makes me wonder is the Honolulu Airport ever really busy? The last time my flight left at 2pm and it wasn’t busy then either . . with the amount of visitors they get, I’d expect it to be an extremely busy airport with long lines all over the place, but I have yet to experience that.

I had a wonderful trip to both islands and of course I didn’t have enough time to do everything I would have liked to have done on either island. I’m glad I was able to visit Kauai and I’d like to return sometime to do some other activities—maybe a hike or a kayak tour. I can certainly see why Kauai is a favorite for some people, as I found its charm to be in it’s unspoiled natural beauty, lovely beaches and quaint towns. However, Oahu is still my favorite so far. As I indicated earlier on in my report, I think what I love about Oahu is what the detractors don’t like about it. I love the hustle, bustle and international flavor of Waikiki. The fact that you really don’t “need” a car is plus for me—I love being picked up for all my activities right outside my door—or being able to walk out and explore other hotels and Hawaiian music at night so easily. And there are so many things to do—all sorts of things: try a new athletic endeavor whether it may be stand up paddle boarding, surfing or kayaking, go to a museum, enjoy one of the many beaches, hike some of the beautiful trails or do some shopping. There is something for everybody on Oahu if you know where to look. The diversity of the land is also a drawing point. You can be in the city and then within 20 minutes be on a quiet beach or in a rain forest. For my next Hawaiian trip, I’ll likely tray another island too, but I know my itinerary will always include Oahu.

elburr

What a wonderful trip. Thanks for sharing your report. It makes me want to get on a plane today!

ileen

Your trip report is written very beautifully. You are a talented writer as you share a lot of details.
So, I wonder how you jotted down all your details. Did you keep a journal, used a laptop and wrote while eating.
Also, what is the best way to find out about the various entertainment shows at the hotels in Waikiki.
I am planning a trip very soon and seeking more advice so I, too, like you, can enjoy more during my short stay in HHV.
Thanks.

Miramar

Ileen- yes, I kept a small notebook and jotted down short notes each night to help me remember things.

I figured out what music/hotel bars I liked best by trial and error for the most part. First I looked up each hotel online and checked out the entertainment section and made a list of what each one had, hours etc. Then when I got there I just went to different locations and decided what I liked best. And since the entertainment at each location differs on each night, you kind of just have to wander around until you find some you like. For example, the ones I find I like consistently are the Halekulani and Moana Surfrider. I didn't care for the Marriott very much etc.
You can pretty much go into any hotel in Waikiki from 6-9pm (and some later) and find live music--much of if Hawaiian.

carolyn

I enjoyed your report very much. I love Hawaii, and Oahu is my favorite island, too. I have to say that your dessert descriptions have made me want to run down to the kitchen and make a pie!

MBnancy

Great trip report. We were in Kauai at the Hyatt in August. We also love Waikiki, but haven't been there for about 4 years. You visited most of our favorite places, so it was nice to read about your experiences there.

Too bad about your meal at Tomkat's Grille. I had the Mahi mahi coated with crushed Macadamia nuts and it was excellent.

Your style of writing is very easy to read, thanks for the trip report. We fly to Boston this Saturday for vacation. I hear the foliage is good this year!

Miramar

MBnancy- yes, maybe I ordered the wrong thing at Tomkats, as it seemed to get decent reviews overall from various sources.

The foliage here is pretty good-- probably better the farther north or west you go. More of a normal schedule than last year when we still had leaves on the trees in December-- at least where I am.