Adventures in Hawaii: Part 1

Hawaii is a great place to go on a family vacation

This past June 2017, our family was able to embark on a 14 day Hawaiian vacation. We visited four of the islands: Oahu, The Big Island, Maui, and Kauai. It was a wonderful vacation that we will remember forever and it was made even better because my parents, my siblings, and their families were able to come as well. I’m hoping that I will be able to give you some ideas for your future Hawaiian family vacation. Since this would be one looooooong post, I am dividing it up into four parts. 

Part 1: Days 1-4

Day 1: On the first day of our travels, our family flew to Los Angeles on American Airlines. Our flight was delayed 2 hours so we didn’t take off from Raleigh, NC until 9 p.m.! I would have picked an earlier flight but my mom picked them so I just went with it.

Travel Tip: Try to book earlier flights in case of delays, especially if you have young children.

We got to L.A. at around 11 p.m. (2 a.m. Eastern). When we landed and went to our hotel, we had a bit of a snafu. Our credit card company thought we had a case of fraud because we didn’t notify them that we were now in California. Oops!

Travel Tip: Notify your financial institution before you leave for vacation in a different state (or country) so your card won’t get declined and they know it is you charging the card.

The first room I had reserved went through but the 2nd room was declined due to the fraud alert. So the hotel sold our second room and we were left with only one room for five people (only 2 beds) because they were completely booked up and full for the night. Luckily, my daughter was able to share a bed with a cousin in another room but it is totally not what I wanted to have to deal with after traveling across time zones. On the bright side, we saved $274 by not renting a second room. 

Day 2: After having only about 5 hours of sleep, we headed back to the airport on the shuttle. As inconvenient as it is, I would still break up the trip in two parts.

Travel Tip: If you have young children and are traveling from a place where the flight would be really long (10 hours for us), breaking up the flight into two days will save you and them from going “bonkers”. I don’t think I could handle it, let alone the kids. I am also glad I spent a little more money and upgraded our seats. We upgraded to Delta’s Comfort Plus seats. The extra inches (up to 4) of leg room is totally worth it on the long flights. The extra inches made it easier for me to rest on the drop down tray. On our other late night flight, there wasn’t enough room to do that so it was incredibly hard to get any sleep.

Since we had an early morning flight, we got into the Honolulu airport at around lunch time. We grabbed our rental car and headed up north towards the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Travel Tip: Rent a car from these companies (Avis, Budget, Advantage, Hertz, & National) at the Honolulu airport to save time since you can walk straight over to the rental counters. Otherwise, you have to waste time waiting on a shuttle to take you over to the other rental agencies. 

Car Rental Center

Polynesian Cultural Center (Oahu)

On our way to the PCC, we stopped at Kualoa Beach Park to use the restroom and see Mokoli’i, commonly known as Chinaman’s Hat. According to Wikipedia:

“It is a basalt islet in Kāneohe Bay, Hawaii. Mokoliʻi is part of Kualoa Regional Park and located 1⁄3 mile offshore of Kualoa Point, Oahu. The 12.5-acre islet is owned by the City and County of Honolulu and is protected by state and federal park regulations. It is open to the public from dawn to dusk. It can be accessed by kayak, boat, surfboard, by swimming, or wading at low tide.”

Chinaman’s Hat

Since it was lunch time, we chose to eat at Pounders Restaurant located at the Polynesian Cultural Center’s new Hukilau Marketplace. The restaurant is named for Pounders Beach, a popular bodysurfing spot located about a half-mile down Kamehameha Highway. Pounders serves produce fresh from island farms, Hawaii-raised beef, locally caught seafood, and bakes distinctive Hawaiian-style pizzas in their brick oven imported from Napoli. The kids can order a pizza and design and make their own pizza at the pizza making station (don’t know the official title). The Mahi-Mahi nuggets were good with the aioli sauce. “Pupu” is another name for an appetizer. You bet the kids and my husband had a lot of laughs talking about how they were going to eat some “Pupu” for lunch!

The Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) is a wonderful place to learn about all the Polynesian cultures. We enjoyed visiting the different exhibits and learning about the Tongans, the Fijians, the Tahitians, just to name a few. One of the young Tongans gave my son a woven grass cube that she had made.  They also got in a little spear throwing. 

Afterward, we went on a little canoe ride there. We watched a video about Hawaii in the IMAX type theater. It is a 4D experience that I will not give away. You need to experience it for yourself.

We went on the free trolley tour that took us to see Brigham Young University (BYU) Hawaii. 

BYU-Hawaii

We also visited the beautiful Laie Temple. It is one of 150 or so (and counting) temples owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the world. We were able to tour the Visitor’s Center and chat with the missionaries who volunteer there. It was neat to see scripture printed in many different languages.          

  The Laie LDS Temple

When we returned from the tour, we checked into the Courtyard Marriott hotel (right next door to the PCC) and got ready for the Dinner Buffet and show at the PCC. The PCC is a great place to visit with many options as far as luau’s and shows. We did the evening show which included a buffet dinner before the show. We were all so exhausted from travel and the long day that it was hard to stay awake, however I’d recommend going to the PCC.

Travel Tip: If you book early enough, you get a 10% discount.

Day 3: The next day, we visited Pearl Harbor. I had reserved our tickets online in advance for the U.S.S. Arizona: https://www.recreation.gov/showPage.do?name=landing&landing=/htm/pearlharbor/home.jsp&contractCode=NRSO&parkId=72369

The tickets for the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial site & ferry go on sale every morning 2 months in advance at 7:00 a.m. HST (Hawaii) which is 1:00 p.m. EST in North Carolina where I live. Tickets are free unless you add the audio tour for $7.50 but the tickets are usually all gone within minutes. You are also only allowed to reserve or purchase 12 tickets per account. You may also get free tickets by lining up at or before the museum opens at 7 a.m. They give out 1300. First come, first served. You can also go through a tour company that includes the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial but they are typically much more expensive.

Travel Tip: You must arrive at least 30-60 minutes early so you don’t miss your tour time as you may not be able to go at all. We were just a few minutes late due to a wrong turn and we had to beg the guy in charge to let us try to fit in on another boat to get out to the U.S.S. Arizona. They pack people in tight in those boats, I can attest.

The Memorial was so peaceful and reverent. It is a sullen experience but I am grateful for the service and sacrifice of those service members who lost their lives.You can still see the oil slick on the surface of the water. The oil from the sunken ship continues to leak out and will for many years to come.

U.S.S. Arizona Memorial         Names of fallen soldiers

Oil leaking from the U.S.S. Arizona

Waikiki Beach & Surrounding Areas

After touring Pearl Harbor, we checked into the Armed Forces hotel, Hale Koa, on Waikiki Beach.

Travel Tip: If you are a military member, this is a really nice hotel in a great location for less than $200 a night per room (depending on the time of year) which is amazing. It is common to pay twice that at the other hotels.

We ate dinner at a restaurant on the beach and then walked back to our hotel, enjoying the beautiful evening. 

Waikiki Beach at Sunset

Travel Tip: Each Friday evening, the Hilton Hawaiian Village (next door to the Hale Koa) puts on a free firework show on Waikiki Beach. The fireworks show usually begins at 7:45pm or 8:00 pm depending on the time of year and the daylight hours. The show lasts about ten minutes.

Fireworks at Hilton Hawaiian Village viewed from the Hale Koa hotel

Day 4: The next morning, we explored the resort, went for a jog, and enjoyed more of the beach’s beauty including a rainbow! We enjoyed the pool, swam at the beach, and watched the homecoming of the Hokule’a from a distance: http://www.hokulea.com/home/.       Rainbow over Waikiki Beach       

  Pool area at Hale Koa

Diamond Head

We decided to hike Diamond Head but didn’t plan too well as we thought there was a short cut to the top (my mom said there was) but either we went to the wrong entrance or she was making it up because we ended up hiking uphill, in some very steep sections, for an hour in the mid day heat with little water.

Travel Tip: If you want to hike Diamond Head, go early in the morning right when it opens as parking is limited and the heat takes a lot out of you. Wear a hat, wear sunscreen, and bring water. Only hike if you are healthy. Also, there are no facilities on the hiking trail itself, just at the start of the hike. I believe it is 1.6 miles round trip. My son, Owen, did great considering, but I wouldn’t bring kids younger than five years old unless you want to carry them most of the way. It is an amazing view and was worth it but I underestimated the effort it would take. We did get to enjoy some shave ice right before the climb. 

                                                                 Climb up to Diamond Head                                                              

View from Diamond Head

Next stop: Adventures in Hawaii: Part 2 – Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America!