My husband was sent out to Hawaii for work, and luckily for me, his work allowed me to tag along! It was the most magical experience of our lives. We ate like royalty, and saw the most breath taking views. If you are planning a trip to Hawaii, I have highlighted some must-do activities to make the most of your trip. Warning - Once you go to Hawaii, you'll never be the same!
Johnny's job was on O'ahu, so we decided to stay on the popular beach of Waikiki. This was great for me, while he was working on the job, I could walk down to the beach, explore, and shop from the hundreds of stores. There are a lot of main stream hotels down there, if you have points for a chain try to use them! And while a room on the beach may be breath taking, look into getting a hotel one street back. This will save you hundreds of dollars every day! Johnny uses Holiday Inn for work so we stayed there which was not on the beach but we still had a good view! It had a view of the city and a partial ocean view. Hopefully you will be out experiencing the city instead of cooped up in your hotel room!
Partial Ocean View City view of the International Market Place with live music
The hotel had a cute little café that we stopped at before Johnny had to head to work. I had the Acai bowl, which was probably one of the best ones I had on the island (and yes I sampled a few!)
Isn't it so cute??
I spent the rest of the day unpacking, going to the gym, and exploring the town!
For dinner and drinks, we hit our favorite spot, Dukes! Its right down on the beach and has 3 different experiences all in one restaurant . There is a fancy dinning area to the right of the restaurant, which is more upscale and has its own menu. We spent our time at the Tiki bar and the Patio at "Duke's Barefoot Bar". The Mai Tai's here are lethal! They are expensive but it wont take more than 1 or 2!
(He hates taking pictures, but I swear he is having fun!)
I recommend the Poke and Fish Tacos from Dukes!
Another night, we came by to have drinks and eat dinner on the patio (there is always a really long wait, but it is right on the water, and in the breeze of the trees)
For you to really appreciate this memory, I need to explain that it rained EVERY SINGLE DAY we were in Hawaii. We came after Thanksgiving, which is their rainy season (which also means their slow season, ideal for us). While it never constantly poured, it would sprinkle or light showers through out the day. Well the night had cleared up, so we decided we wanted at least one night under the stars. After a 40 minute wait to be seated, 10 minutes for drinks, (which I decided on "Endless Summer" instead of the Mai Tai and it did not disappoint), and another 20 minutes for food, we finally had our meals infront of us. I was looking over the sandy beaches and stars under the night sky, thinking how lucky I was, when the bottom of the sky fell out! It started pouring on everyone! The guests on the patio started screaming and ran for cover. We were determined to finish eating our food, so we grabbed our plates and run for shelter under a beach rental booth!
It was the most hilarious memory of our trip! Once the rain stopped, the waitress came back out and wiped down our table, and refreshed our drinks on the house. She then brought us a free piece of Hula Pie! This pie, where do I begin about this pie? Well for starters, IT'S HUGE! You cannot not eat this massive piece of heaven by yourself. It's a chocolate and macadamia nut ice-cream pie. It was so good!
We took a trip to the North shore on one of our days. We started with breakfast at Heavenly Café. They are an organic restaurant that gets all of their food locally from the islands.
We then took the scenic route to the North Shore and stopped in a cute shopping center . There are a few shops to get clothes and souvenirs from and lunch. We had lunch at Banzai Sushi. Johnny got some rolls and poke while I got the Sashimi Chef bowl. It was some of the freshest sushi I have ever had. This is a must-go place for your trip in Hawaii. It paired nicely with the blood orange cocktail.
Another staple on the North Shore is the Dole Plantation. You can walk around the maze, view the planation, and shop in their gift store. Make sure you grab some dole whip before you leave!
We did catch a break in the rain to view the beautiful beaches of the North Shore.
During the winter months, the waves tend to be larger, resulting in surf contests . Some of the most popular surf competitions in the world are held here, like Pipematers (Remember the movie Blue crush?)
While there are so many place to eat and explore on your trip, don't forget to treat yourself while you are on vacation. I looked into different spa packages before our trip, while our hotel did have an in-house spa (or more like a hotel room with a massage table in there) I have a hard time justifying $200 when a trip to Lush cosmetics can do just the trick! In the international market place, right by our hotel, has a Lush store. I grabbed a face mask, some champagne, opened the balcony door and did some DIY relaxing.
If you do want a true spa experience, look in to Groupons or see what specials your hotel may have with a partnering spa.
While you are browsing the International Market Place for your DIY spa, grab some lunch at Goma Tei Ramen. They are a fine dining Japanese restaurant know for their famous tan tan ramen. I got the pork tan tan! Warning, it's so much food!
You can't see the whole island in one day so we went out for another drive to the North Shore. First we walked behind to hotel to see the beautiful sunrise over the city.
On our tip to the North Shore, it was cloudy and raining again ( no surprise ) but it was still beautiful to see the clouds rolling over the mountains. And do you know what comes with rain? Rainbows! We probably saw over 10 in one day !
One of my favorite places was Laniakea beach. Sea turtles like to come up on the beach and relax in the sun. We saw 2 while we were visiting . Such an awesome experience.
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the famous Leonard's Bakery. This is a staple in Hawaii. They are known for their portuguese donuts, known as malasadas . I am such a dessert person, so I had to try a little bit of everything! It was all amazing especially the warm malasadas. They are all made to order and only served hot and fresh!
For evening entertainment we went to the "Magic of Polynesia" magic show at our hotel . THIS WAS AWESOME. I recommend everyone go see this. John is hilarious. My husband was skeptical about going at first, and ended up laughing the whole time! You can purchase a dinner or do the show only (we chose the show only and got dinner elsewhere) You can purchase drinks though with the dinner only special. Do your self a favor and check out what is the Magic of Polynesia.
With all the shopping, tourism, and sight seeing we decided to make our last day in Hawaii a beach day. We stopped at Hula grill for breakfast right on the beach.
We got their Acai bowl and BLT breakfast sandwich with fresh papaya (their banana pancakes and breakfast burrito are also really delicious)
We then decided to do nothing! Our whole trip had been busy planning activities, so we just laid on the beach for hours. We rented surfboards and floats. The weather, for the first time all week was perfect!
While on the beach we saw a company setting up for tours. They do a snorkeling trip, island tour, sunset cruise, fireworks, and a night cruise. We decided on the sunset cruise. They have an open bar for your 1 hour on the boat. They take the boat out to watch the sunset and the night lights of Waikiki Shore .
After the cruise, we had a romantic dinner at house with out a key. Over dinner and Mai drinks we talked about the magic of Hawaii. (which btw they use a classic Mai Tai recipe here with Bacardi 151... so strong!) Our waiter asked us where we were from and non-chalantly said it was a nice little town. They proceeded to tell us how he grew up on a street in Johnny's dad's neighborhood and his parents live near us now. Only in hawai could you fly for 13 hours and have a waiter from your home town. The food and ambiance was amazing, but the prize was the coconut cake. I am still dreaming of this coconut cake. It was to die for. The perfect way to end the perfect trip.
- Rent a kayak and explore different shores of the island. A popular place to kayak are the beaches of Kailua and Lanikai . You can paddle out to the small islands and relax.
- Ride horses on the beach. Explore the sandy shores of Hawaii on horseback
- Rent a Harley Davidson motorcycle and ride through the mountains of the island.
- Check out the historic museum of Pearl Harbor.
- Walk down the Waikiki aquarium.
I know your trip will be everything you hoped it would be, just like ours. We are already planning our next trip! Please let me know if you have any favorite Hawaii must-do's for our next trip! Aloha!
