Hawaii honeymoon, part 1

It kind of took forever to get here, but I finally wrote up what we did on our honeymoon in May 2010. It was done in part to share with some relatives planning a trip there and looking for advice, but since it is now done, seems like a good idea to share. Will be posted in 2 parts. We went to 4 islands: Oahu, Kauai, Big Island and Maui. Part 1 is Oahu and Kauai

Our general advice for Hawaii:
- Buy the Revealed books. Totally worth it.
- Do NOT overpack. Almost every place is completely casual. (less so in Waikiki if you want super fancy dinner). We washed undies and t-shirts in the sinks at the hotels and did fine. Plus, there’s Walmart conveniently located on each island (maybe not Oahu if you don’t have a car) in case you are desperate.
- If traveling from the east coast, book early morning stuff for days you first get there and days right before you leave (while you’re still on East Coast time or trying to get back on it).

Oahu
There for 2.5 days. Stayed at the Pacific Beach Hotel. (almost all hotels are in Waikiki unless you can afford Turtle Bay on the North Shore.) Hotel location was quite good. I’d say greater than 50% staying there was Japanese. Views were good. I believe we were in an ocean view room on the top floor (free honeymoon upgrade). Nice park nearby. Beach across the street. Breakfast included (this was the only hotel with that.) We did not rent a car on Oahu. We had one on every other island.

We did the Discover Hidden Hawaii circle island tour. We booked the Pearl Harbor and North Shore tour, but when given the option to continue on with the circle island rather than head back to Waikiki, we stayed with the circle group to see the rest, which was worth it. You get picked up VERY early (before 7) and dropped off around 5 (3 I think for the north shore one). Pearl Harbor is first. On this tour, there is enough time to see the Arizona and walk around the grounds. You do not have time to do the Bowfin or the Missouri. There’s a brief stop at the Dole Plantation (think giant tourist store with yummy ice cream and a few cool things on the grounds). Get the dole whip and (some fresh pineapple for later) FIRST and then walk around. Then it goes up to the north shore and stops at several beaches and Laie Point. You go past the Kualoa Ranch (more on that below). Stop at Tropical Farms (coffee and macadamia nuts. Buy them. They are good.). Lunch at some country club. Nothing special food-wise, but view is nice. Stops at a bunch of other places including Pali lookout and Halona Blowhole. It was a nice way to see a lot of stuff in a short period of time without having a car. We liked our tour guide, which helps. If we went back to Oahu, we might rent a car, at least for a day, to explore on our own.

The next day we did the KOS Hummer tour at Kualoa Ranch. Many movies were (are) filmed there as well as Lost. The tour shows you where a bunch of Lost stuff was filmed and the guide will help you recreate scenes for goofy photos. Other things filmed there – Jurassic Park, 50 First Dates, Tears of the Sun, You Me & Dupress, Godzilla, Aztec Rex, Mighty Joe Young. Tour was 5 hours. Also picks you up early (I think there is a PM tour as well and they have longer and shorter tours). Not really an issue because you’re still on east coast time and wide awake with the sun. We had a lot of fun on this tour. The ranch is gorgeous. And we only had one other couple with us (you can only fit so many people in a Hummer.) It was really amusing to see how many different things are filmed in a smallish area. You’ll be able to easily pick out things filmed at the ranch in the future if you do this. The ranch itself also has a bunch of different tours you can book if movies and tv don’t interest you – ATVs, horseback riding, etc.

Beach at Waikiki – smaller than we expected (narrow), but not quite as crowded as expected. (Though we were there in May, which I guess is a low season). Spent some time there on day 2 and the morning we left.

Restaurants and bars:
Duke’s – best Mai Tais in Hawaii. Live music early in the evenings. Really good poke. (I ate poke as much as possible in Hawaii.) We went there multiple times.
Margaritaville – touristy, yes, but we were looking for a quick lunch and fruity beverage. Poke was okay, not great. Pieces were too big and too much soy sauce.
Barefoot Bar at Hale Koa – met a friend for drinks there. Terrible Mai Tais. Terrible.

Kauai
2.5 days. Had a rental car this time - Toyota Corrola.

Hotel: Aston Kauai Beach at Makaiwa (Coconut Coast). Ocean front room (free honeymoon upgrade). Great place to watch the sunrise (which we did the day Charlie was born since we were already up). One con – can’t swim in the water on most of the beaches in this area (waves too big). Pro – hotels are much cheaper in this area and it’s also in the middle so neither the north nor the south is crazy far. Also near the airport which is convenient for an early flight out (which we had – 8 or something like that). Good Mai Tais at the hotel bar.

Arrival day: Stop at Walmart for supplies (on the way from the airport). (Walmart will be your friend on vacation in Hawaii, as will ABC stores.) Lunch at Fish Hut at the Coconut Marketplace (near our hotel). Okay. Decent shave ice. Near our hotel. Drove up to north shore to look around. Went to Secret Beach/Secret Lava Pools. Awesome. Go there. As long as you don’t mind hiking down a hill and parking at the end of a street that looks like just someone’s house. Great beach and really cool rocks to walk along to see the pools. Very not crowded. Dinner at Hukilau Lanai, near our hotel. Decent food, though slightly pricier than some other places we went.

Next day – Up super early because we got a text that our niece was born. So, we stayed up to watch the sunrise on the balcony. Breakfast at Harbor Mall (Market Street Diner). Then Blue Hawaiian helicopter ride. I am very afraid of helicopters. But it was worth the fear. There are many parts of the island you can’t see except in a helicopter. It’s about an hour. Napali coast is beautiful. And seeing Waimea Canyon from above is neat. After helicopter, we drove to Poipu Beach and had lunch at Puka Dog. Do that even if you are not a meat eater (I ate the veggies dogs. They are good.) After lunch, we continued the drive west. Spouting Horn (blowhole) – neat. Then to Waimea Canyon. We drove all the way up to the end of the road (it gets a little rough for the last few miles because the road is full of potholes). The canyon is awesome. It’s red and green. On the way back down, we went to Jo Jo’s Shave Ice. Highly recommended. Looks like a run-down shack, but it is very well known and very good. Get the tropical rainbow with macadamia nut ice cream. Then we stopped at Russian Fort and the mouth of the Waimea River. The Corolla made it, but just barely. Be careful driving there. After a little shopping at Hilo Hattie’s. we went up north to see the taro fields and Hanalai Bay. After sunset, we headed back toward the hotel. Dinner at Verde, a small burrito place. Decent.

Next day – Up at sunrise again to go for a walk. (enjoying the mornings are easy when your body is stuck on east coast time). Then we drove down to the south shore. First we went to Poipu Beach state park to go snorkeling. We brought our own snorkels and fins from home (I’m a crummy swimmer, so we bought them to practice in the in-law's pool the summer before), but you can rent snorkels lots of places. I believe Snorkel Bob’s is the most recommended because they are good and have lots of locations all over the islands so you can rent at one and return at another. Snorkeling at Poipu is easy – you only have to walk out about 20 feet and put your face down. Plenty to see in very shallow water. The only problem – because the water is so shallow for so far there, it’s tough not to hit your knees on rocks. A flotation device (noodle) would be helpful. They sell them at Walmart in Hawaii (see Maui below). Lunch at Puka dog again. Then to Sheraton Beach to go swimming. Nice place to hang out and swim. If it is crowded, parking might be annoying, but we only parked about a block or so away from beach access. Poipu state park has a parking lot. After that, we drove back up the coast and went to the Wailua Falls (aka the Fantasy Island waterfall). That night we went to Duke’s for dinner at the Barefoot Bar. The one in Kauai is good, but we liked the food and drinks a little better at the Waikiki one. Hula pie is a good idea, but share it.

Next time: Big Island and Maui