Oahu trip report - Just got back on 2/28

[Sharon1026]

Hello - Here's a trip report for those of you who may be interested:
1. Stayed at Hilton Hawaiian Village. Nice hotel, food is expensive there, I recommend you eat off site. The Wialane Coffee Shop is across the street and has good price breakfasts. So does Eggs and Things, which is just a few blocks away.
2. Rent a car for the entire time you are there. The island is beautiful.3. Hanauma Bay - awesome beach. Get there by 8:30 am, since it gets crowded. You can rent snorkel gear there ($6), they have a snack bar, restrooms, etc.
4. Kailua area - nice beaches, restaurants, etc. Worth going to for swimming.
5. Pearl Harbor - a must.
6. I went to Paradise Cove luau NOT IMPRESSED . I went to a luau on Maui at the Sherataon or Hyatt (can't remember now) it was much better than paradise cove.
7. Wakiki Aquarium - If you are looking to kill an hour or two before your flight leaves on your last day, check this out. Not a must see, but a good way to kill a few hours.
8. Atlantis Submarine - A bit expensive, but we did see reef tip sharks, turtles, spotted eagle rays, our 9 year old son said it was the best part of the trip.9. Whale Watching - much fun. Don't go on a trip that serves lunch. You end up eating lunch when you should be looking at whales!
10. Blue Hawaii Show (Elvis) - This could go either way. You have to have the attitude of "i'm going in to have a good time and this is campy". We had a blast. Johnathan Van Brana did a good job and sounds like the King. I like Elvis, but I'm not an Elvis groupie, and we had a kick. Family show, so it's safe to take the kids.
11. KONA COFFEE - IT'S EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE AT THE TOURIST SHOPS. BUY IT AT THE GROCERY STORE. I saw it for $25 a pouch at the tourist spots, and only $4 at the grocery store.
12. Go to pali lookout if you get a chance.
13. BEWARE THE SHRIMP SHACKS. Ok, maybe it was my bad luck, or I didn't realize what i ordered, but I got shrimp cocktail with prawns. They weren't cleaned out at all and this gross brown/yellow goo came out of my prawns. couldn't eat them. yuk. And I love seafood!
14. Movies on the beach in Wakiki on the weekends. It's free.

I'll be happy to answer any questions that anyone has. I don't post here too much, but I'd like to get to know everyone better!
Sharon

[OregonDeb]

Sounds like you had a wonderful time! Thanks for sharing your trip report!

[Lika]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us Sharon. Any photos you can share too?

[dreaming of hawaii]

sharon,

sounds like a wonderful trip.... thanks for the report on your trip.

i so want to go back. think i have decided to go this year for sure.

bill

[Lanikaibabe]

Mahalo nui loa for the trip report!! Do you have pics? hehehe Really enjoyed reading it -- sounds like you had a blast. Thanks for recommending renting a car for the entire trip!! Good to hear that from other folks hehe

[mauibeachbum]

Great trip report Sharon, it sounds like you had fun !

[libby10us]

Sharon,
Did you find that it is better to make reservations for activities before you went? Or did you just reserve them when you got there. We are going for the first time the end of March.

[hawaiionmymind]

Aloha Sharon,
Mahalo for the trip report. Reading the reports of everyones trips when they return from Hawaii is the highlight of my day. I like to hear the good and bad things people encountered so that I have a heads up on things I do and don't want to do.
I'm glad you had such a great time.
Ruthie

[Alohagurl]

Hey Libby,
What island will you be on at the end of March? I will be on Oahu!! Ahhhhh....27 more days to go! I cannot wait much longer!

Aloha!
Heather

[gmarie]

Thanks for the report Sharon. We're thinking of trying a whale watching cruise this time, which company did you use? Is there a better chance of seeing whales on the cruise depending on the time (morning as opposed to afternoon)? Entertainment book has a 2 for 1 coupon for Star of Honolulu so we'll probably do that one.

Libby, I'll be in Hawaii in a couple of weeks too (oahu). We like to book in advance so we don't have to deal with it during our vacation time...after all there's no harm in making reservations ahead of time since most of the tours/attractions allow you to cancel up to 24hours.

[Michiganhockey]

Sharon,
Thanks for the trip report.. I like to hear about the places to eat, as the food is usually what costs the most.. Wondered about the Submarine, now I know... Glad that you had a good time. I agree that Pearl Harbor is a must see..
Nancy

[libby10us]

Heather,
We will be going to Oahu also. We leave on the 19th. We are staying at the Outrigger Wakiki on the Beach. I hope it is nice. I cannot wait either I am so excited.

[indianagirl]

WOW thanks so much for the report. I will be leaving on the 31th and staying for 10 days at the Outrigger on the Beach. It just makes be so excited when I read about it. It will be our first time going. There is 9 of us traveling together so we are planning on have a blast.

I do have two quick questions. I know about the This Week and Spotlight information/coupon books is there any others? I have pre ordered the two of them so I will have them before I leave so I can start planning on what we can afford to do.

Did you use any airport transportation or did you rent a car? We have rented a van and a jeep but we will not all fit in it WITH the luggage. So we thought a couple of us could just take a shuttle to the hotel. Should we have reservations for that???

4 weeks from right now we will be at the airport getting ready to come to paradise!!!!!!!

[Karen]

Great report! Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

Pearl Harbour was a must see when we went as well. Very interesting and sombering.. puts a new view on life.

Karen

[Alohagurl]

Aloha Ohana!

It looks like quite a few of us will be on Oahu at the end of March!!! How exciting! I leave on the 29th----not too much longer to wait.

Heather

[Sharon1026]

to reply back to all of you. We had some bad karma hit us. The day after we got back, my hubby got layed off, along with most everyone else in his company (a true sign that we need to move to hawaii). Then I got laryngitis and I've been sick for the rest of the week. I swear I did not take a cursed tiki idol back with me like on the Brady Bunch!

To answer your questions:

gmarie:
We took the Star of Honolulu for the whale watching trip. You board at 9:45 am. it leaves the dock at 10:30 and gets back at 1 pm. they did a good job. DON'T BUY THE LUNCH or else you will spend time eating lunch and not watching whales.


indianagirl: There are a couple of other coupon books out there. They have these newspaper boxes all over downtown Waikiki and at the airport. They are filled with various coupon books, so don't fret if you frazzled at the airport and don't grab them.
As for transportation, we rented a car, so I don't know about the shuttle.

libby10us
we didn't make a single reservation in advance and got to see everything that we wanted. I wouldn't book any of the tours for pearl harbor, hanamua bay, etc. unless you don't have a car. They charge for the tours and you really don't need them. Trust me. We hadn't ever been to Oahu before and got to everthing just fine. You can't get too lost on an island!

p.s. at a Duke's for breakfast. I think it was $11.00 for the all you can eat buffet and an omellete (sp?) station. Chow down and get your $ worth.

Also, there are quite a few places that serve a "plate lunch" which in hawaii means potato salad, rice and some sort of meat. didn't get to try it, but it looked good.

there seems to be quite a few subways and mcdonalds on oahu. not that you are flying that far to eat at subway, but a few light/cheap lunches might seem appealing after the hefty cost dinners in waikiki!

Sharon

[dreaming of hawaii]

hi did not take the tiki home.... but how about lava rocks????

[themomtk]

Thanks for sharing.Sound like a good trip. I can't wait to get mine on the books

[gmarie]

Aloha Sharon, I'm sorry to hear about misfortunes on your return, but who knows what doors will open up now. To live in Hawaii, I can't imagine one person traveling there and not dreaming about moving there....*sigh*

We will definitely go with Star of Honolulu (minus the lunch) for our trip and hopefully we'll see some whales. Thanks for the tips!

[Lika]

Aloha Sharon, sorry to hear about your misfortunes too. At least you enjoyed Hawaii before these things happened. I agree, there are better things in store for you. Hang in there, they will happen. Hope you are feeling better now as well!

[Sharon1026]

Thanks all for the kind words.

We are seriously considering moving from Michigan to Florida.

Do any of you know much about Tampa? I hear it's booming for IT jobs right now.

Anyway, I fell better, my voice is back. And my hubby is now an expert on all things monster. com.

If I can figure out how to post pictures, I will!

p.s. - if you are a history buff, the Bishop Museum will appeal to you.
Sharon

[midwayislander]

Hi, Sharon:
Tampa is lovely to me. But, rather than live right in Tampa, I'd prefer living in Largo or Indian Rocks Beach or Clearwater or Seminole. Don't know about the IT jobs, sorry. Check out http://www.tampa.com ( think that's the web site!). I do know it's less expensive there than here in San Diego! And the weather, for the most part, is a lot like Hawai'i.

[KAKALINA]

Aloha!

Thanks for the wonderful and fun report. I will be going to Oahu on August.
I could use all of these info. Thank you.