Mini Pandemic Trip Report to Oahu including Aulani

[nono]

Tuesday

So with the epic rain the day before, I wasn't interested in swimming in island run off in the ocean, so we decided to be all land-based. We took our time with breakfast in the room (current situation is you can walk through and collect your breakfast and either eat at spaced tables outside, or take back to your room). It was cloudy but no rain forecast, so we decided to drive out and check outthe Halona Blow Hole, since the wind was starting to push in from the East.



The blow hole lookout was a lot of fun, and we got many funny, unflattering photos of ourselves here. We had a blast, but I'll spare you.

Then, it was off to the Makapu'u Lighthouse Trail. Yeah, yeah, I know, supposed to go here for sunrise. I live 2 blocks from the Atlantic Ocean, so an unobstructed view of a sunrise across an ocean just wasn't enough reason for any of us to get going at like 6 a.m. to do anything. So, we arrived around 10ish. No problem finding a parking space. It is a walk uphill, certainly not a hike. Funny thing is my 16 yr old daughter was having a time of it with the elevation change! I'm 39 years older than her, and I was way ahead of her the whole way up. She is fit, a multi-sport athlete, but she lives at sea level on a pancake flat island. Apparently, my younger years of living in the mountains gave me an edge. Well, we all (eventually) made it to the top. Some snapshots...



Tuesday had more to come, but this is a good stopping point.

 

[PRPrincess1081]

Love reading your trip report. I'm from NJ too and we will be traveling in August but direct flights. Looking forward to go to the Swap Meet (BTW - love those towels) did you buy them at the swap meet and if so do you recall how much they were. This would be my first time going to the Swap meet but my 3rd time going to Oahu.

 

[nono]

Love reading your trip report. I'm from NJ too and we will be traveling in August but direct flights. Looking forward to go to the Swap Meet (BTW - love those towels) did you buy them at the swap meet and if so do you recall how much they were. This would be my first time going to the Swap meet but my 3rd time going to Oahu.

Thanks! I will get you a price - my kids are my memory banks these days. We live at the shore (as you probably guessed) and these are good quality, THIN towels. Which if you spend any time in humidity in the summer at the shore, you know thick towels are the enemy! They were gotten at the swap meet. Also, look out for long sleeve tees. We found excellent quality tees with front and arm decals as well there. Great for fall/winter weather at home.

 

[nono]

Thanks! I will get you a price - my kids are my memory banks these days. We live at the shore (as you probably guessed) and these are good quality, THIN towels. Which if you spend any time in humidity in the summer at the shore, you know thick towels are the enemy! They were gotten at the swap meet. Also, look out for long sleeve tees. We found excellent quality tees with front and arm decals as well there. Great for fall/winter weather at home.

OK, kids remembered 3 for $28, which makes sense as we needed 4 so I think we got 4 for $35.

 

[nono]

Tuesday around Noon.

My daughter survived the descent down from the Makapu'u Lighthouse , and it was about lunchtime. We had 2 hours to kill before out late lunch scheduled at Kona Brewing in Hawaii Kai.

So we decided to check out the Koko Crater Botanical Garden. It was free! And it was really cool. There were about 4 other cars parked at the little parking area, and we went in. Never saw anyone else til about 80% of the way through, then we met one couple doing the loop the opposite direction of us. This was just such an enjoyable walk with such interesting species. Even more interesting is that we realized we would make it to Hawaii Kai about 1/2 hour before our reservation, I could change my ressie inside the crater in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Yay T-Mobile. Now if I could get general coverage around the Cape May Canal, on the mainland, that would be great.

Photos from both Koko Crater and lunch...






We all enjoyed the food at Kona Brewing. I know I had the Teriyaki Burger and it was what I always hope a teriyaki burger is, and never is. Very satisfied with finally finding a great one. I also had 2 beers that we can't get at home and really enjoyed both. So we took our time at lunch and looking in a few shops, and eventually made it back to the Embassy Suites. We walked into our room and heard music. Threw the sliders open and realized there was what can only be called a "Floor Show" a la the 1950s unfolding below us on Lewers St. My husband and I had gotten a growler filled at Kona, so we sat and sipped beer on the balcony and enjoyed 1.5 hours of stories and dancing. It was great!




Dinner? C'mon, say it with me: Poke Bar! (really, it wasn't getting old) Card games ensued for the evening.

 

[nono]

Wednesday.

We decided to go swim at Ala Moana Beach Park because we needed some yardage. And we weren't doing enough walking so we walked there from the Embassy Suites. We like to walk and it was the perfect length to"warm up" before swimming. If you are an ocean swimmer, this is nice! No breakers to get through, just a lot of committed swimmers, and new swimmers learning their skills. So darn nice! We had a good workout, tried out our new snorkel gear, and then headed to the other side of the park closer to Foodland and got poke (we are a broken record) at Foodland and had a little picnic in the shade on the grass.




Lots of social distancing, as you can see.

We walked back and got showered up. Eventually decided to hit Hula Grill above Duke's for Happy Hour. Fun Happy Hour menu and nice seating. Very enjoyable.



Better view of the beach...

 

[SinCityMMAFan]

Loving the trip report so far. Thank you for sharing all the wonderful pictures. We're headed to Oahu at the April for 9 nights. I've been wondering how busy Waikiki and the rest of the island has been so far since re-opening. I've heard a lot of restaurants and some places of interest were still closed and slowly opening up. Even though we have been to Oahu before and we know it'll be different this time around we're still looking forward to this trip. It's a overdue vacation that was supposed to happen in September and got pushed back to April. Thank you again for sharing your experience with us all.

 

[nono]

Thursday.

Got up early to be downstairs at Big Wave Dave's for our group private surf lesson. We surf. Some of the 3 of us are better than the others. But, we've never surfed in Hawaii, so I always like to ski a new mountain or surf a new area with someone who can teach me a few things as well as show me the lay of the land. Hoping to pass that on to our kids too.

So Troy hooks us up right away and tells us we'll be surfing 3' over a reef this morning and that we're lucky as there's still some decent waves today on south side of the island (winds were not typical that week). All 3 of us stopped and looked at each other. We're used to 100% sand under us on our surf beaches at home, and that was good info. No sloppy outs today! It was also good because as we went out, it looked way shallower, so knowing there was 3' of clearance was comforting. Troy was an excellent coach. He took us with our 3 different abilities, and realized we were all strong paddlers and coached us out of a few weaknesses, told us stories of the area, and a great time was had by all! Waves died at the end, but we had some fun paddling in too.

So we decided to head up towards Kailua to see if the waves and shore break had calmed down any to get in a swim. After a morning of surfing, we decided we wanted ramen. Found a place called Miyoshi Ramen near the Ulta Beauty in Kailua and sat down for an early lunch. It was solid, service was pleasant, and I'd go back again!

After lunch we headed over to the beach and the shore break was just so stinking full of sand, and also some weather was coming in. So we did something we never do in real life: we sat on the sand, suntanned in the cloud filtered sun, and just talked. Eventually it started raining, and we headed back to Waikiki.







The weather was holding up in Waikiki, so we decided to head to the pool to snag a last minute reservation, which we did, and got a dip and some sun.


Then, over to Maui Brewing Company where we enjoyed music and everyone who worked there! What a blast. Met a couple of football players coming in for the Hula Bowl, but have no idea who they were.




Kids loved the craft brewed soda and the menu.


We went back to pick up cans of their soda, and we found them at Aulani too!

 

[nono]

Friday. End of our first week.

The morning was rainy, so we decided to go walk around in Honolulu near the Iolani Palace while the weather sorted itself out.














We must have walked around for about 2 hours finding all sorts of interesting sculpture, statues, etc. Unfortunately, I had checked Thursday night before going to sleep, and Iolani Palace still had tickets for touring, but by the time I woke up Friday morning, they were sold out. So, plan better than I did for that. But the area has plenty to see.

It was approaching 11, so we decided to go get some sushi and then go spend some time swimming and chilling at Ala Moana Beach Park. So we made our way over to Ward Center and popped into Ginza Sushi, actually before they opened! The man was quite nice about it, and invited us to use the outdoor seating until 11:30. We used the 10 minutes to go walk around. Glad we didn't get distracted and made our way back to the restaurant just after 11:30 a.m. We ate inside (and were the only ones). Had a great time with our server who had a great sense of humor, and their food really hit the spot.

 

[nono]

More Friday.

After lunch, we drove into Ala Moana Beach Park. I was telling my husband he needed to be patient about parking as it was Friday afternoon and the sun was now out. There was still curb parking right where we wanted to be. Kids and I had a good workout and we again did some sunbathing time on the beach. Never really time for that at home, so truly we were in vacation mode. I was so thrilled with the parking I took photos. (WTH?) White SUV over my husband's head and then while we were sitting on the wall cleaning up our feet.



We went back to the Embassy Suites and snagged a 4 o'clock timeslot for the pool (pandemic scheduling), and sat and read in the sun. With no dinner plan, I had to merge the desire for folks to dress up and my husband's desire for Thai food, and found a reservation at Noi Thai Cuisine at the Royal Hawaiian Center. Very nice dining room, and I loved the setting and how the staff was professional but having a good time. Not a stuffy experience at all. Photos of my hibiscus cocktail and dessert.

 

[nono]

Saturday.

Kids decided to go out again surfing with Troy, and I decided to have a coffee date with my husband on the little 50 yd spit of sand between the currently closed Halekulani Hotel and the Sheraton. It's where the Mai Ta'i catamaran goes out.
The surfers took off and went to the main area of Waikiki Beach as where we were had no break at all. It rained a little, and then the sun came out.


We enjoyed chatting and sipping our coffee and before we knew it, Troy and the kids were paddling back towards us. Love this shot 'cause you can see the Waikiki surf lineup to the left.


Another great surfing morning by everyone's account.




My daughter likes how the surf shop's logo matches the actual Dave, so she insisted on a pic with their logo.


The man working the pool reservations had told us to get poke from Fresh Catch, so we found one on the east side of the island and headed toward that. We picked up lunch and drove to a nearby park and ate lunch.

Then we headed to Tropical Farms Macadamia Nut Outlet and Byodo-In Temple.




It was a nice, easy day!

We ended up having dinner from Poke Bar one last time, and played cards and the adults drank some sake, and started packing up. Tomorrow is the transfer to Aulani.

 

[nono]

Sunday.

We did more packing than planned Saturday night as pretty much everything got done. We had a blast, playing music, chatting about how everything was so far, and I really didn't pay attention to how much sake I was drinking. So Sunday morning at 6 a.m., I wake up, not hungover, but still under the influence! The plan was for my husband and I to make a run over to Aulani to drop luggage as we weren't sure what we were going to do Sunday and just wanted all that out of the way. We also wanted just some time to ourselves to chat. Plan was still a go, but I left my wallet at the Embassy Suites because I wasn't going to be driving (obviously).

It was a great drive at 7 a.m. over to Aulani and the bellmen were super nice upon our arrival. Then they throw us a curveball. Your room is ready. Go check in. So we go to check in, and it's been 9 days since we arrived on the island, and of course, for Aulani, it's like we just arrived and have to prove who we are and that we don't need to quarantine. I have my safe travels info out, but NO ID. Wait, I have ID, because the passports are in the luggage. Oh Lord. Where? No idea. I have a photographic memory, which apparently is easily wiped out by excessive sake, and there was NO way I was going to open and rummage through our ridiculous amount of luggage to try to find the "great spot" where I tucked our passports. The man checking us in was so apologetic, and I was apologizing to him that I screwed up in leaving my wallet back in Waikiki, and he said well, your husband can receive the luggage in the room and look for the passports. OK, good.

So I call my daughter, tell her we are going to be awhile, and explain the situation. She says, will a photo of your ID do? I ask the CM, and he says, YES, and duh, my daughter texts over a photo of my license and all is solved. So we go to the room and unpack. I call my daughter back and tell her I won't be back in time for the 9 a.m. hula lesson at the Embassy Suites, but for them to go.

We arrive back at around 9:15, talk with the valets at the Embassy Suites for about 10 min and return to our room. I go to the balcony, look out, and the only 2 people at the hula lesson were my teens! The lesson was 1 hour long, and it was given by the same folks who did the show on Tuesday night.



We watched for awhile from upstairs, and then I mentioned to my husband that I bet they forgot tip money, and he said he'd go down and also try to film the routine (I'll spare you!). Since they were the only ones there, the husband and wife taught them a brother/sister hula and they got the entire routine down within the hour and also found the music on youtube. This was a serious highlight of the trip.



Also, our kids were so grateful that we got back and brought tip money down to them, as they both work in the hospitality industry and couldn't believe they made such a mistake.

So at 10 we got together, and scuttled all other plans for the day, and decided to head to Foodland Farms Ka Makana Ali'i and then on to Aulani. We said our good byes to everyone at the Embassy Suites and headed out. The Foodland Farms didn't disappoint. Another $200 of snacks and lunch for the room. (Teenagers! <---- That's my story and I'm sticking with it!)

Kids loved our 1 br. pool view at Aulani! We had mostly unpacked ourselves, and the kids quickly unpacked as we set up lunch. We walked around after lunch and met a couple CMs from Japan and had a nice chat. They showed us where towel pick up was, etc. and we spent time at the beach. It was great Sunday afternoon.

Views from our room, and finding Stitch(i) after our beach time.

Zoomed in:



Dinner that night at the Olelo Room, where we realized we had a hard time eating and keeping our lei in place. They kept "necklacing" on us.

Great introduction to Aulani! Slept well. Beds were great. (Yeah I went there! )

 

[braysmommy]

Loving your trip report! We are traveling end of June for 2 weeks and can't wait!

 

[nono]

Loving your trip report! We are traveling end of June for 2 weeks and can't wait!

Have a blast! All 2 weeks at Aulani?

 

[braysmommy]

Have a blast! All 2 weeks at Aulani?

Maui first for a week, 3 nights at Aulani and 6 nights in Waikiki. As I sit here watching the snow fall I seriously can't wait for this trip!

 

[cgattis]

Wow!! LOVE that they got a private hula lesson! Wish I’d thought to look for that while we were there. Maybe next year!!

 

[nono]

Monday.

We booked a boat trip with Wild Side Tours, which is in Waianae. Four of us plus one other passenger, along with crew. Very nice time -- had lunch on the trip! We saw whales, dolphins and had a very unrushed reef snorkel. Would definitely do it again. Some shots of our morning...







Not sure what we did all afternoon but we ended up getting some blazing shots of sunset from Off the Hook.


Great day!

 

[TheLadyRohn]

We booked a boat trip with Wild Side Tours, which is in Waianae. Four of us plus one other passenger, along with crew. Very nice time -- had lunch on the trip! We saw whales, dolphins and had a very unrushed reef snorkel. Would definitely do it again. Some shots of our morning...

Thank you for posting this part in particular! We have a tour booked with them on Friday for my daughter's birthday. This is exactly what I was hoping to see!

 

[babyruth]

Loving this trip report!

 

[StayAwake]

Great report! Can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip.