MikeWatch the beautiful sunset colors, while lying in the sand on a beach lit by torches. Then, experience the magic of a Luau, the Hawaiian party!. Witness a volcanic landscape like no other. Surprise! you’re under the spell of the islands, Aloha..!
Oh, the Hawaiian Islands! There are six major islands, according to gohawaii.com (2021): Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Maui, and the island of Hawaii. The focus of our post will be on Oahu and the Big Island of Hawaii. Like many couples seeking to spend an idyllic time, me and my wonderful wife Claudia traveled together here. It was an exciting trip for us! We landed first in Honolulu, the state capital, located on the Island of Oahu. The trip from the mainland US (L.A.) to here is about five hours. The airport is not far at all from the city, a 10-minute drive.
On our first day here, we walked the world famous beach of Waikiki with the Diamond Head volcano in the background on a beautifully clear blue tropical morning. We learned that you can actually do a two-mile round hike to the top of the volcano rim, which is located in a state park. After a good hike up (my wife’s go-getter attitude is always so helpful!) we made it there and enjoyed a breathtaking view of the Pacific ocean and the city down below. We took amazing selfies here! We highly recommend the spot just for this reason. Just feeling that breeze in our face was exhilarating!
Waikiki, while very beautiful, still gets quite crowded during the summer days. If you enjoy solitude and privacy, you rather opt elsewhere. We did so on our second day, heading for the legendary North Shore, which is located about 25 miles north, a 40-minute drive. While I was expecting to be able to see huge waves there, I was told that this was the wrong season for that 🙁 . We still saw many, many surfers trying to catch that unique wave, and you get to see them just everywhere! Soon after, we had the best Mahi, Mahi fish of our lives in one of the local restaurants! Very pristine beaches are located here. We headed back to Honolulu via-H2 and H3 and enjoyed the scenery, while in-route. There’s a number of state parks that include waterfalls and hiking trails (like Akaka and Rainbow falls). We visited Kailua beach (so amazing as well!).
While visiting Oahu for the first time, you can’t skip the Pearl Harbor memorial. Situated right on top of the sunk U.S.S. Arizona, the soberly white building, the waters, and the bay around them reminds and pays homage to the tragic events and deaths that brought the US into WWII. This is a top sacred place for the US Navy.
We spent the following days in the Big Island of Hawaii, which is a one-hour flight east from Honolulu to the small city of Hilo. The contrast is quite noticeable. The Big Island feels even more exuberant, humid and tropical. The Island, and some of the beaches, are visibly more volcanic. Just listening to the birds at dusk is unreal! We visited the Hawaii Volcano National Park, where Kilahuea is located. As I write this post, the volcano is quite active, currently spewing large quantities of lava. But back when we visited, we just witnessed some steam coming from the huge caldera, which you can actually watch from a safe distance, when the park is open.
We finished our island adventure in the town of Kailua-Kona by experiencing a Luau, a unique Hawaiian party that included delicious food (Hawaiian pork barbeque mmhh!), and a night-time show. The Hawaiian Islands own this unique, soft mystic charm. You have to look at the moonlit beach, while listening to the waves. You’ll wish you’ll never leave!
Real story:
Good example of why you should always follow instructions, everywhere you go: While we were hiking the Big Island’s Volcano National Park, dusk came in; then, it started getting dark, pretty soon. This is a barren, black dry molten rock landscape that ends with deadly high cliffs into the ocean. We could literally hear the steam, smell the fumes and see the bright flashes at a distance from lava streams falling into the sea. A quite-dangerous (and potentially deadly) situation, if you happen to go the wrong way! This is what happens when you lose sense of time and direction and, against signs posted at the park entrance, you start your hike late during the evening and night falls (which we did). We got disoriented. With our phones as the only source of light, luckily for us (and thanks to my instinctive wife) we followed other hikers that came at a distance. We got out of there in one piece! Please, don’t tell her that I said this! 🙂
References:
-Gohawaii.com (2021) Hawaiian Islands: Aloha from Hawaii
