Waikiki Beach Oahu Hawaii

In this post I will tell you about my experience on Hawaiian Island Oahu.   

Everyone has a dream to escape somewhere from everyday life, visit paradise island, walk barefoot on sandy beach under sunny blue sky and listen to splashing baby blue water. If you travel to Hawaii you will find all of that. 

I took this picture from billboard inside the LAX terminal when I was leaving Los Angeles Intl Airport to Honolulu.

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I flew with Hawaiian Airlines and this is my aircraft getting ready to get me to my dream.  I remember that day as today, the weather was pretty bad….

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But as soon as we got in to the sky and spent few hours up in the air the weather had changed and i hoped it won’t be raining on the island when we arrive.

Flying with Hawaiian Airlines was a pleasant experience. Flight itself lasts for about 5.5 hours but for me the time ran pretty fast. In my opinion they provide very good service. Airplane was nice and clean, looks like they have newer fleet than most other domestic airlines. During the flight they provided with a free meal and non-alcoholic drinks. And of course i could buy beer, wine, etc. Also we were offered to watch movies on personal screens located in front of the seats. On the TV you can watch few channels with Oahu’s local attractions and activities, so during the flight you can also decide on what you are going to do upon arrival if you didn’t do it before. And of course you have magazines to read.    

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When our plane was above the Oahu Island, I looked out the window and saw that the weather was perfect and couldn't be any better. I was impressed by color of the ocean’s water near the coast line. 

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Sky view of Honolulu Int. Airport, which is one of the busiest airports in US, serves flights between Hawaiian Islands, continental US, Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, the Philippines, Japan and South Korea. 21 million passengers come through it yearly.

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After our plane softly landed I took a shuttle from the airport to the Hotel Zone. There are several ways how to get around the island: taxi, limo, bus and of course car rental. If you don’t have car rental but there are more than 3 people in the group, I would go with taxi or limo as you will pay about the same for shuttle but with less comfort. As I was by myself, I decided to take a shuttle.  Just a short 20 minute ride for $8, shuttle brought me to my hotel. My hotel was a 3 star Aqua Waikiki Beach Hotel and located right on Waikiki Beach across the street from the beach. It’s a perfect location, everything is close by: beach, ABC stores, bars and restaurants but hotel could be better. It looks old and its condition reminded me of a very busy 3 stars hotel in Las Vegas where rooms’ carpet saturated with alcohol smell. I guess it's because Waikiki is one of the most visited places on Hawaiian Islands and price for this hotel was pretty good and its location makes it an unbeatable deal.

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After check-in I put shorts and flip flops on and went to the beach.  Waikiki Beach is very short, less than a mile long and here you can find many interesting things to do: surfing lessons, catamaran sailing, snorkeling, etc.   

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I just took a walk, as I wanted to discover every meter of the beach. The ocean was unbelievably blue and warm. The ocean is never that warm near Los Angeles, the water stays pretty cold all year round. And at that moment I remembered that it was raining back in LA and I was here, in paradise.

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Some people spend their time by doing sand art…..

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Others-shooting a model.....

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Someone tried to speak with sea lion :)

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In downtown Honolulu you will notice the imprint of Chinese and Japanese cultures. You will see a lot of Japanese signs on restaurants, gift shops, etc.

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And of course, like in every tourist zone, you can see many funny animators when you walk on the main street in the evening.   

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But my story is not about city life on Hawaii, I came here to see tropical nature. And the best way to do this is by renting a car or a scooter (a moped) which is twice cheaper than the car. If you don’t have car reservation in advance it will cost you about $75-$100 a day. For moped I paid $35/day. The disadvantage to have transportation is that most of the hotels charge you for parking $20/day. For a moped, again, I paid $10/day. So you have to consider all those facts and see if you need a car for the whole trip or just for few days, which is just enough to see what you need.

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To rent a moped, you just need a valid driver’s license and credit card, and you can find a booth with their representatives almost everywhere.  So I got my scooter and went on my day journey around the island.   

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I found that renting a scooter was a very good idea, I could get very close to private beaches through small streets where a car couldn’t get, somewhere I saw the sign “do not trespass”, but nothing could stop my curiosity.  

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I found places like from commercial “Bounty” chocolate.  If you look carefully at this picture you will see a couple lying on sand. They had a bottle of wine and some snacks. Isn’t it so romantic?  

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 I made stops if I saw something interesting, like this lagoon for example. It was a Hanauma Bay, nice place for snorkeling. I decided to come back here later, especially for snorkeling. I will write about that below.   

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Riding scooter on Hawaiian roads was a blast, the weather was so nice. Warm wind blew in my face, and all the way I enjoyed ocean view and from the other side it offered me some tropics and mountain view.

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I followed the highway along the coast line until I got to Polynesian Culture Center. It’s one of main tourist destinations on the Oahu Island. I don’t remember how much you have to pay to get in, but there is some fee. Here actually you can spend the whole day as they provide different tours, shows and dinners.  As I already spent almost half a day in route to get here (this Center is located on opposite side of the island) and I needed to get back to hotel before sunset, I decided not to go inside and drive further. I usually say in such moment: “another good reason to come back in the future”.     

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I just walked around, visited gift shop then jumped on my iron horse and rode further.

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My next stop was Turtle Bay Resort, the place where movie “Forget Sarah Marshal” was filmed. I just like that movie and had seen it before my trip to Hawaii. So I just couldn’t resist myself to stop by there and have a refreshment drink at a bar where actors were hanging out in the movie.

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Also, I walked around the hotel, it was very nice place to stay. If I would travel to the Oahu Island next time I will probably stay here. The hotel is located on the tropical side of the island and surrounded from both sides by lagoons with turquoise water.  It has everything to feel a real tropical paradise.

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Inside the lobby I saw 2 tropical birds they were sitting without cages but didn’t fly anywhere. I even touched one of them.

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After the Turtle Bay Resort I moved further and checked few more lagoons out on my way. This rock looks like a crocodile, isn’t it?

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When I reached the end of the island I turned back toward Honolulu but I took a highway which goes through the middle of the island and my next stop was “Dole Plantation”.

Every time we are at super market in everyday life, we see their products like pineapples, bananas, etc. but we never think where they come from. 

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Dole Plantation is totally a tourist attraction. Here you can find gift shop, places to eat (Try their fresh juice if you’ll be there), and of course tours around plantation. They have a small train which can take you to explore plantation for about $6 per person. 

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After Dole Plantation, on my way to Honolulu I passed by Pearl Harbor, but it was already too late for the tours and I couldn’t get inside. 

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I made this shot when I came back to Waikiki Beach. It was beautiful sunset that evening. You can see several “Sunset Dinner Cruises”  on the horizon.  

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I mentioned about Hanauma Bay already earlier in this post. Now I will tell you a little more about this paradise place.   

Hanauma Bay is formed within a volcanic cone. Because of its crystal clear water and a lot of marine life, Hanauma Bay became one of the most popular tourist destinations on the Island. Every day many tourists and locals come here for snorkeling and picnic. About 400 species of fish are known to inhabit the bay. Also, this place is known for its abundance of Green sea turtles. 

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I got my snorkeling tour from the Hotel tour desk for about $35. The minivan picked me up at the Hotel and took me to the bay. Hanauma Bay is located along the southeast coast (about 20 drive minutes from Honolulu). There were me and few other passengers from different hotels in the van. When we got to our destination, driver provided us with masks and fins for snorkeling and gave us entrance tickets so we didn't need to stay in line. When we got inside through the gate, Park Attendant guided us to the theater where we watched a short educational movie about bay, marine life and safety.  After movie you can go and enjoy  the sea life and if you get lucky you will see a Green Turtle. I did not L

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I spent a really great time, had seen many fish. It was truly great time. This place Must be visited.

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That rock looks like hedgehog to me. What do you think?

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If you are planning to go to Hawaii then plan to go to Luau party. There are many of them running around the Island. For onetime fee you’ll get all you can eat buffet and open bar accompanied with traditional Polynesian Dance and Fire show. Luaus are always held at sunset. Many are located on beautiful estates adjacent to beaches with a view of setting sun over the ocean.   

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I was on Luau which was held on the beach next to Light House. There was tons of fun there. I met lots of interesting people. If you go there, try traditional local food and of course local favorite Mai Tai and other tasty tropical drinks.

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That is all for now. Thank you for reading my blog. Stay Tuned!

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