Hawaii - Tips to Make Your Tropical Vacation More Enjoyable!

When we first planned to fly to Hawaii, we were thinking of leaving early in the morning so we could have more time in the island--but we forgot to consider that we were leaving on a Friday--during rush hour--to Oakland International Airport. To make things as easy as decently possible, we had packed our luggage--carry-ons only--the night before.

The flight to Hawaii from Oakland was pleasant (as pleasant as flying can be now that airlines have seats resembling sardine-can accommodations). We were also surprised that a packaged breakfast was served on the flight--and the inflight movie was not too bad (King Kong).

We arrived just after noon. The air was fragrant (well, you could smell an interesting fragrance of flowers and the ocean salt-spray mixed amongst the jet fuel fumes). The air was humid--but not uncomfortable. In the central area between the security checkpoints and the departure areas was a wide concourse--that overlooked a beautiful tropical, almost Zen, garden. Centered in the garden was a huge banyan (strangling fig--of the genus Ficus) tree. Surrounding the tree were elephant ear plants, bird-of-paradise plants, orchids, hibiscus, plumeria, and anthuriums. A concrete or stone Japanese lantern stood amongst a gravel river bed that led to a koi pond teeming with the colorful carp. Definitely exciting.

At the baggage claim area, we met our greeter (we had arranged our trip and the ride to our hotel through Travelocity). She gave us all flower leis and then took a picture of us at the arrival pickup area sidewalk.

Our van then arrived--and the driver helped us put the baggage in the van. Although rush hour hadn't started yet, construction on the freeway had turned it into a parking lot. It was fun and interesting, though--so the delay was not a problem for us.

We passed by a company with the sign "Wet Okole, Inc" ... they make seat covers for cars frequented by surfers, divers, snorkelers, and beach-goers. ("Okole" means "butt" or "behind" in Hawaiian). We saw a sign for a vacuum company that said "Our Business Sucks, but It Is Picking Up". Amusing already.

We got off on Ala Moana street and then connected with Kalakaua street... as we passed by the harbor, we saw the Aloha Tower and a cruise ship that was in port and tied up almost on the road. An amazing sight.

We pulled up on Kalakaua Avenue (across from Waikiki Beach) in front of our hotel--the ResortQuest Waikiki Circle Hotel. A smaller, circular, 15-storey hotel amongst the high rises on either side of it. The lobby was open-air and opened out onto Kalakaua Avenue with Waikiki Beach across the street. We were on the 9th floor and from the balcony of our room, we had a great view of Waikiki Beach and Hotel Row.

We quickly went up to our room to drop the luggage, checked out the cool view (looking down across the street to Waikiki Beach), and then hustled back down the elevator to hit the beach and the sights and the shopping.

Just walking on the beachside street was a hoot. We walked down the street and back--passing the Royal Hawaiian (the big pink one that was built in the very early 1900s), the Ala Moana (another old one from the early 1900s), the Hilton Hawaiian Village, the Hyatt Regency, the Outrigger, the Marriott, and bunches of other hotels...

One thing we noticed were ABC Stores all over the place... sort of like AM/PM Minimarts... and in addition to the touristy things like T-shirts, postcards, disposable cameras, film, souvenirs, they also had food, vitamins, medicines, suntan lotion, coffee, and all sorts of necessities (good things to have if the airline loses your luggage!).

I returned to being a photography nut (hadn't been so at one with the camera since my early photography days on Guam!)--the myriad of flowers was just begging to have their pictures taken.

The old International Marketplace wasn't as I remembered it from when I visited it in 1969, 1972, 1976, and 1981 (when I had passed through Hawaii on the way to Guam)--it had sort of fallen into disrepair. Many of the former shops and kiosks there were closed and the ones remaining were mere trinket shops with the sales clerks hocking their wares. Still interesting, and worth some pictures.

(And I've heard that although it was destined to be leveled and a new high-rise hotel was going to be built on the site, the locals fussed and now it has been planned for renovation and restoration to its original fun and interesting style.)

We returned to the hotel around 5 o'clock (8 o'clock California time) to get ready to go to dinner that night. We got cleaned up and wandered down to Kalakaua Street below to eat at a great Japanese-Korean teriyaki-yakiniku restaurant for dinner--across the Ala Wai Canal and down the street from the Honolulu Zoo.

We got home by around 11pm... (2am California time whew!) But had a great first day in Hawaii!

It was hard to sleep, because we were anxious to hit the ground running as soon as the sun came up (maybe even sooner!).

It was exciting to be in Hawaii!

The roar of the ocean kept us up most of the night. And we were on California-time... 3 hours ahead. So, even though it was 4am in the morning, we felt that it was 7am. And time was a'wastin'. I ran down to get some early morning pictures at the beach.

Our Travelocity greeter had given us an arrival packet that indicated that we should be at a neighboring hotel for an "official welcome, breakfast, and orientation". Although we weren't thrilled about some sort of hokey "orientation" or what we perceived might be a "timeshare presentation" or something like that, we decided that we might as well go and partake of the breakfast.

Going to the breakfast was the best thing to do.

The orientation was a good thing to do as well.

Here's their (Travelocity's) logic: Ya don't have a lot of time during a weeklong vacation to see and do everything there is to see and do. So you shouldn't be wasting a lot of time when you get to your destination digging through the brochures and then trying to figure out what to do.

By having an orientation, it's possible to present a bunch of sightseeing tours and other events with the timing involved so you can fit everything reasonably in without scheduling conflicts and without chaos. We had already sort of set up similar planning before we started our trip. And we had already scheduled a flight to Kauai. So our schedule was already sort of planned. The orientation meeting just helped us to get it all quickly arranged from one location.

Obviously, your schedule would fit your interests, timing, and health.... but here's what our family came up with:

That morning (Saturday) after the orientation:

• Submarine tour


• Wander around a bit on Waikiki before getting ready for Germaine's Luau

Sunday:

• Breakfast at Pacific Beach Resort Hotel by huge aquarium


• Flight to Kauai


• Get settled at hotel


• Rent a car

Monday--Kauai

• Drive to Waimea Canyon


• Drive to North Shore and the Pali

Tuesday--Kauai/Honolulu

• Return rental car at Airport


• Get flight back to Honolulu


• Visit Ala Moana Shopping Center

Wednesday--Oahu

• Bus pickup at neighboring hotel for the ride to Captain Bob's Snorkel tour

Thursday--Oahu

• Bus pickup at neighboring hotel for the ride to Polynesian Cultural Center


• Lunch at Polynesian Cultural Center


• Tour Center


• Dinner and Show at the Cultural Center

Friday--Oahu

• Quick breakfast before heading to Honolulu Airport for Flight Home

We found out that we had time to schedule a submarine ride and a luau for our first full day on Oahu.

We scheduled some snorkeling on a day-trip cruise for Wednesday after we got back from Kauai.

And we scheduled a tour to Polynesian Cultural Center on the Thursday before our last day on the island.

A feature we considered was that for many of the tours, events, and locations we signed up for, a meal (or meals) and a bus ride with a tour guide were included in the price on our plan. This would be better than "renting a car"--because when you are driving, it's hard to appreciate the scenery and the sights. When someone else is driving (and knows the ins and outs of the traffic and all the local information), it gives you time and space to take pictures and ask questions and really enjoy the ride!

So... the show at Germaine's Luau also included not only the food, but also a fun tour guide who pointed many things out as we rode to the event. Her commentary was entertaining and educational.

The snorkeling excursion with Captain Bob's (not to be confused with Snorkel Bob's) also included the bus ride from the hotel to the pier and a barbeque lunch on the catamaran while between snorkel locations. Again, the tour guide on the bus pointed out interesting sites on the way over and back.

Finally, the tour of Polynesian Cultural Center included ice cream during the tour, and dinner/luau in addition to the presentation and show, and another great tour guide providing entertaining commentary about the sights we passed.

That's one reason why we chose not to go on the "Round the Island Tour" (just a long ride on a bus)--because with our tours to Germaine's Luau, Captain Bob's Snorkel Cruise, and the Polynesian Cultural Center, the buses and tour guides pretty much covered everything (or almost near everything) we would be seeing. (In fact, once we got through all the tours, we noticed that the tour guides all had the same jokes and made the same comments about the places we saw--so they must have a tour guide handbook with all these things in them somewhere!)

So.... after breakfast and signing up (and paying for) the tours, we wandered around Waikiki a bit before heading to the pickup spot outside a neighboring hotel for the submarine tour.

The Submarine Tour

We walked down Kalakaua Avenue to the Hilton Hawaiian Village dock where the "Sub Tender" leaves for the submarine ride.

Unlike Disneyland or other "amusement parks", this submarine is a real submarine--in that it isn't on tracks or in a confined pool course. The boat ride from the Hilton Hawaiian Village out beyond the beach and reef area to the submarine rendevous area was choppy--the boat was bucking around on the waves and swell. Probably not good for anyone with a tendancy for sea-sickness.

The submarine had large portholes, each passenger had one directly in front of them. There were sea-sickness bags in holders mounted between the portholes. One family with two kids was having a great time--except for the mom--she had to use one of the sea-sick bags... and when the submarine tour was over she had to be assisted with climbing up the ladder to the deck and over to the main boat.

Beside one of the shipwrecks (artificial reefs put down by the University of Hawaii Marine Laboratory), we passed some SCUBA divers who waved and posed for the submarine tourists. The submarine was an excellent way to see a close-up of the coral reefs of Hawaii.

On the forward deck of one of the sunken ships, two large sea turtles rested--maybe waiting for food to come along. You can also see a yellow butterfly fish swimming in the foreground near the uppermost sea turtle. We managed to get down to about 120 feet. A digital depth gauge indicated the depths.

On the shuttle boat, there was a small snack and souvenir shop. So... after the submarine tour and we had climbed back aboard the shuttle boat, we wandered around, got some goodies from the souvenir shop, and also posed for pictures.

We returned to the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel and explored the gift shops and the surrounding grounds and peeked into the restaurants there. Then we got back on our shuttle bus to go back to our hotel to get ready for that night's luau.

We investigated more of Honolulu--found two cybercafes near International Marketplace where we were able to check our email (yeah, like we really should be doing that!) and a post office annex from which we could send out some post cards. Then we wandered over to the hotel front entrance from which our shuttle bus would take us to the luau.

Germaine's Luau

The commentary by our tour guide was entertaining and enlightening. We took the Nimitz Freeway west out of Honolulu, past Pearl Harbor and some former sugar cane fields and sugar cane processing plants, and on to the coast near a lighthouse.

We piled off the bus with our "good-lookingcousins" (seems like everyone in Hawaii calls everyone else "cousin" or "cuz") and before entering the Luau area got our "souvenir picture" taken. Then we went into the Luau area to find a place to sit--we sat up front near the stage (on mats on the sand next to coffee-table-height tables).

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While we lined up to go to the tables of goodies--kalua pua'a (pit-roast pig), pipi (teriyaki steak), poi (mashed taro), salad, rice, coconut pudding, fruits (pineapples and papayas), and of course, the mai-tais, margaritas, and pina coladas....

The show began with some singing and some hula.

Of course, they have to ask folks to participate in some fun hula lessons... first, they asked the guys to send up some volunteers--who cut up a bit on stage. Then, they invited the women in the crowd to go up and have a spin at learning how to hula.

Then, after the cutting-up fun, we got down to having a nice dessert while the rest of the show continued. The show started with Hawaiian music and dancing.

Then, the Maori dancing and singing was presented.

Samoan dancing and music came in next.

For the grand finale, the Tahitian dancing and music came through.

The Samoan flame dancer was also impressive.

The full moon shining through the thin clouds amidst the gently waving palms in the warm air really set a wonderful mood.

The show was finally over and we shuffled out back to our tour buses. Our buses had a little competition on the way back to the hotels of Waikiki--we had to keep our "ugly cousins" on their toes. So we waved to them as our bus passed their bus. They, of course, reciprocated by waving to us as their bus passed us. Then we set our cameras to flash and we all flashed them as we passed their bus again. And so on and so on back to Waikiki by way of the Nimitz Freeway.

Time to get some sleep to rest up for another exciting day in the islands!

(And, of course, we now had bunches of ideas for having our own Tropical Luau Parties when we'd be getting home!)

Another day... And another rainbow appearing outside our lanai (Hawaiian for "veranda" or "porch") as the sun started to peek over Diamond Head. Surfers were already out there on the waves and joggers were already jogging along Waikiki. I got cleaned up and went downstairs to explore for a while. Our flight wouldn't be leaving for a while, so there was some time to explore a bit.

We wandered down to one of the ABC stores that seem to be all over the place to get some supplies (batteries for the camera, sunblock, and so on) before heading to the airport for the flight to Kauai.

The flight to Kauai left at around 1pm and it was only about a half-hour long. The flight attendants had time to run up the aisle and distribute sodas or small coffees and then had to run back down the aisle ro pick up the empties before the landing at Kauai Airport. If Honolulu Airport was busy, Kauai was a laid-back, almost deserted airport. We made our way through the arrival area to the streetside of the airport, where we called a cab take us to our hotel, the Outrigger Lae Nani Resort on the East Shore between Lihue and Kapaa. Yeah, I know, we should have just arranged to rent a car right there at the hotel--but at the time, we didn't know where the hotel was, so we figured that a taxi would be a better bet.

We didn't realize that the ride out of the airport in the outskirts of Lihue to the hotel was so short... but since we weren't driving we were able to observe the streets and the traffic on the way to the hotel and we'd be more familiar with the area when we got on those same streets.

We pulled off the main road and up a short drive to the hotel--a very nice entrance lined with large banyan trees (Ficus sp) overhanging bananas, helicornia, plumeria, bird-of-paradise, spider lilies, ferns, ginger, and other plants. After checking in to the office, we found our suite on the first floor--the kitchen looked out over the counter/breakfast bar through the dining room and living room out onto the grounds that fronted a lava-rock-lined beach.

We could see the ocean from our room. And hear it as well. Its roar was even louder than that in Honolulu.

We got our luggage settled, got straightened out a bit, then explored the hotel grounds. Straight out from our lanai (porch) was a large landscaped grass area that lead to the beach. The waves were so rough that not much beach was there--at least not a beach for "catching some rays". There was a salt-water ponding area surrounded by black lava rocks that seemed to be an area partitioned out for those wanting to enjoy saltwater swimming without having to deal with a rip-tide.

The hotel was U-shaped, and in the U, was a large fresh-water swimming pool. Then, straight out from the pool (away from the open U) was an ancient Hawaiian Heiau (an old Hawaiian temple area)--now just an open grassy area surrounded by large, black, volcanic rocks that overlooked the shallow beach and ocean. The Heiau was surrounded by plumeria, wild hibiscus, and bird-of-paradise plants. Along the steep beach incline were large piles of driftwood.

We spent some time walking along the beach around the hotel area and seeing the flowers and bananas and papayas and pandanas and coconuts growing all over the place.

Then, we went back to the hotel room to freshen up before heading out to find a place to eat. We walked down the roadway from the hotel in the Kapaa direction and found the Coconut Marketplace mini-mall... and found one of the two nice restaurants there.

The service was great, the food was excellent, and the atmosphere was unbelievably nice. We ordered dinner at around 5pm and by the time dinner had arrived at our table (along with the pina coladas!) a musician set up his guitar and started playing some cool and gentle Hawaiian and tropical style songs...

After dinner, we walked back along through the mini-mall and investigated some of the shops and were amused by some of the names and signs for the stores.

Then we returned to the hotel and visited the beach once more before hitting the sack for the night.

Whew! So much fun and so little time!

Monday in Kauai... the birds were going nuts in the trees around our building... the sprinkler system came on ... at 5am... and the roar of the ocean was also something to contend with... Ah well... we didn't want to waste time sleeping anyway--plenty of time to do that when we got back to the mainland.

We quickly got up and about. Walked down to Coconut Marketplace for breakfast--Hawaii-Style. Spam, Rice, Eggs, and Toast (well, also, some French toast and banana-pancakes) with Kauai-Macadamia-nut Coffee.

Then, we took a taxi to the Hyatt Regency just outside Lihue to rent a car... The hotel lobby was beautiful -- an outrigger canoe surrounded by a rock garden and tree ferns formed the centerpiece.

We explored the grounds of the hotel before finally finding the rental car office. A huge koi pond in the central parklike area teemed with the colorful fish.

Geese, ducks, and other aquatic birds waddled around the paths surrounding the pond. Tree ferns and bird's-nest ferns grew amongst the orchids, cycad palms, plumeria, hibiscus and moss under the canopy formed by the banyan and flame trees.

We had some fun chasing around some lizards that had made their home in a Japanese garden within the grounds.

Finally, we got the rental--a 2006 Ford Explorer. We picked up the car and headed out from the hotel to find the way to the Waimea Canyon (on the southwest side of the island).

We drove to the south shore of Kauai...and then up into the hills and mountains of Kauai to the lookout vista of Waimea Canyon.

After gawking at the canyon for a while and posing for the typical tourist pictures, we headed back the steep, narrow, and winding road to village of Waimea, where we stopped to look at some souvenir shops and just to stretch some legs.

Then we continued our drive back to Lihue. On the way, we stopped at the Kauai Coffee Plantation--where we saw coffee trees growing up close and personal and were able to buy some authentic Hawaiian coffee.

After getting our dose of caffeine, we continued on to Lihue, where we stopped at Namura's Saimin Shop for dinner. Saimin, Hawaiian-style, is an excellent dish consisting of a soy-sauce-flavored soup broth with thick noodles, slices of pork and/or chicken, slices of fishcake, sliced hardboiled egg, and various vegetables. A hearty meal!

When we filled ourselves with the delicious Saimin, we continued our drive back through Kapaa through the Hanalei Valley Overlook Road through the town of Princeville.






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It was getting dark by the time we reached the end of the road at the dry caves and wet caves. So, we parked briefly at the beachside parking area and listened to the roar of the waves for a moment. Then, as a light rain started to fall, we turned our rental around and headed back towards Princeville and down to our hotel at Kapaa.

Tuesday morning in Kauai came way too soon. We had a morning flight back to Oahu so we had to get our luggage together and get the rental car back to the airport for turn-in. But before we headed to the airport, we scooted down the road less than a half mile to the main road to a local family-style restaurant in Kapaa. Then we got the car back to the airport to catch the flight back to Honolulu.

We spent the rest of the day enjoying the sights and sounds of Honolulu.

We walked down Kalakaua Avenue to the Ala Moana Shopping Center, where we had a delightful meal before heading back toward our hotel on the main drag on Waikiki.

Excited to start the day, we stopped by McD's and got some breakfast Hawaiian-style--spam, eggs, rice, and Kona coffee, of course! Then we wandered down the street to the hotel where we picked up our shuttle bus to Captain Bob's Snorkel Tour.

Thursday morning, we got up early as usual, and I headed back down to Waikiki to continue playing with my camera. (Boy, it was fun getting reacquainted with my original hobby from junior high, high school, and college--photography. You can probably tell, huh?) We then walked over to a neighboring hotel to catch the Shuttle Bus for our scheduled day at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Even though our flight wouldn't be leaving until about noon, we had to get up and out of the hotel by about 8 AM--because our shuttle bus had to pick up other passengers as well, and we needed to have time to go through the security and get to the boarding gates.

So, we packed quickly and had a quick breakfast at the small restaurant at the base of our hotel, then brought our bags down for the trip to the airport.

It was really tough to get on the plane to head back to the mainland. I really wanted to just say, "heck with it" and stay on the islands. (Maybe next trip, eh?)

Yo! Hawaiian kama'ainas (old timers) are sensitive that Hawaii is a state--so, therefore, you should use the term "mainland" rather than "stateside" when you talk about the continental U.S.

Not only should one be respectful with how you say things, but it's also helpful to understand a little of the Hawaiian language (which is very similar in grammar and vocabulary to Tahitian).

One of the most well-known words in the Hawaiian language is "Aloha" -- which has multiple meanings centered around "hello", "goodbye", and "love" and "loving spirit"... depending on the context in which it is used.

Another word that may also be somewhat well-known, but used less often, is the name for the reef triggerfish, humuhumunukunukuapua'a. This little fish, now which is officially the Hawaiian State Fish (almost got knocked out of that title, but then won it back by popular vote!), is commonly seen when you are snorkeling and scuba diving in the beautiful waters around Hawaii (and in other places in the Pacific as well... such as Guam and the other Micronesian islands.

Old-timer Hawaiians are called "kama'aina" and newbies to the island are called "malahini".