Hawaiian Honeymoon, part 1: Oahu

Hawaii

Hawaii - Waikiki.sun

Hawaii - Waikiki

Hawaii - PH

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Hawaii - North S

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Hawaii - Surfer

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Hawaii - NS 5

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Hawaii - waves

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Hawaii - Sharks cove

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Hawaii - nautical

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Hawaii - Dolphin

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Hawaii - PCC 2

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Hawaii - Botanical

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It is a cliché, I know, but going to Hawaii just has to be for a honeymoon. Or an anniversary, a wedding, or a very special bachelor party. It can't just be a vacation. It is simply to special for that. Six hours on a plane from the nearest continent, the lush green islands are the most remote in the world. And a true paradise for all. We started our honeymoon (read: excuse for an exorbitant vacation) on the island of Oahu, in an overpriced hotel one block from Waikiki beach. Touristy, but nice if you like easy beach access, shopping, good asian food and drinking expensive cocktails while watching typical surf dudes stroll by. If you don't like these activities full time, I can imagine, make sure you rent a car to tour the island.

Unfortunately, on our first day on Oahu it was pouring and pouring all day long. It was so (exceptionally) bad that the beaches where no option and there was only one thing left to do: shopping. So we checked out the amazing Ala Moana mall, a three story partly open building with hundreds of shops and a huge food court. The only thing we ended up buying, by the way, was a good rain coat. A much needed one...I remember my geography teacher explaining the 'luff side'(wet part) and 'leeward'(dry part) of the mountain using the islands of Hawaii as an example (that kinda is how I know about Hawaii in the first place) and now I know why. Being a weather forecaster on these islands must be a shitty and nearly impossible job. It can rain out of nowhere and be sunny when you turn around the corner. We couldn't find the dry side, by the way, it seemed to be rainy everywhere we went (could be just me...).

Next to shopping we also visited Pearl Harbor that day, where sunshine seems misplaced anyway. The Japanese attack on Oahu in 1941 left thousands dead and three battleships are still at the bottom of the bay, serving as both memorial and burial site. One of them, the USS Arizona, is reachable by boat and has a memorial built over it. Besides the USS Arizona, the site of Pearl Harbor has a museum about the attack, the battleship USS Missouri and a Submarine to visit. The museum is allright and leaves you a bit at awe at how easy the Japanese could strike all of the forces on the island, within the hour. Both memorial site and museum are free of charge, you pay for visiting the USS Missouri and Submarine Bowfin, which for that reason we didn't visit. And besides, it was time for dinner!

For good Asian food, Honolulu is the place to be. No surprise if you consider the closest country to the west is Japan and Asians seem to flood the streets of Hawaii's capital. We had some amazing Udon noodles at Marukame Udon in the Waikiki area (twice!) and cooked our own food on the Japanese grill at Gyu-Kaku. And when you're not into Asian food, check out the food trucks on the famous North Shore for the best seafood grills.

The North Shore itself is by the way a great place to go. It breaths the ultimate surf-vibe and the beaches are magnificent.

After all the food it was time for a bit of exercise the next day. There are plenty of trails on the island and a good starter is the Manoa Falls Trail, an easy and relatively short hike to a hidden waterfall through a very beautiful tropical forest (I was seriously waiting for Tarzan the whole time). Do get there early. Not only does the parking lot fill up fast, you also don't want to walk up there in a traffic jam of people.

To rest after your hike, go to Kailua Beach, not far from the Manoa trail. I think this is one of the best beaches of the island with a nice wide beach and a relatively calm blue sea. Just like most of the other beach parks, it also has a lifeguard, restrooms, drinking water and showers available.

Another good, and surprisingly steep, hike is the walk to the viewpoint on Diamond Head, a volcanic tuff cone on the outskirts of the capital. After a mile uphill to the craters rim, you have to climb three steep stairs and go through two tunnels to reach one of the military observation platforms of former US Fort Ruger. Once up there, you have a great view of Waikiki and the Pacific Ocean.

Besides lying on paradise-like beaches for a week, a big dream of mine was to see Dolphins in the wild. And what better place to spot them than in Hawaii! After some research we decided not to do the snorkeling tours offered, but to book with Hawaiian Nautical, an organization dedicated to research. From them we learned that dolphins rest during the day in shallow bays around the island and jumping in the water with them will disturb and stress them out. So we stayed on our brand new catamaran, sipping our complementary drinks and eating pineapple when after about twenty minutes a small group of dolphins appeared in the distance. A beautiful site! It turned out to be a group of bottlenose dolphins (Flipper!) who are less seen around the island than the smaller Spinner dolphins. By law we could only hang around the dolphins for ten minutes so we went to a different bay to snorkel. With fish...Not so exciting as seeing the dolphins but nevertheless fun and a great experience!

One of the top tourist stops on the island is The Polynesian Cultural Centre, which we visited the next day. The centre has 42 acres on which six authentic villages represent the cultures of the Polynesian Islands of Fiji, Tahiti, Samoa, New Zealand, Hawaii and Tonga. Each 'island' has cultural presentations, demonstrations and activities to participate in, like drumming, dancing and lei-making. A fun way to learn all about the Polynesian nations! When the villages close, most visitors stay in the park to experience a traditional Hawaiian Luau or buffet and to see the evening show Ha:Breath of Life in which they demonstrate all the traditional dances of the islands (my favorite: Tahiti. Damn those girls can shake their hips). In my opinion, the Cultural Centre is a must-do when visiting Oahu!

Our last day on the island we went to see Hanauma Bay, a flooded crater known for great snorkeling. Now a protected Marine Life Conservation Area, entry costs you around ten dollars and includes a mandatory presentation about where the restrooms are and not stepping on the coral. It is educational, but also controls the number of people going down the crater. The bay, indeed, is quite beautiful. But if you have snorkeled a lot in Hawaii, you will see that it is a bit overrated. There is a lot to see and the reefs are immense, but you will have to share the tropical fish with busloads of Asians. Besides, only a small part of the bay is good for average swimmers. We saw beautiful fish under water, but wouldn't necessarily go there again.

That evening, walking on Waikiki beach with a Mai Tai on the side, we ended our stay on Oahu in style. It was time for another island, another paradise! To be continued...