Honeymoon Day 3 - Part 1

This was our last morning in Honolulu. We woke up early, and headed to the Diamond Head. We wanted to go to the top and see Honolulu from a different angle. The inactive volcano is one of the most beautiful sites from Oahu. It was used as a military observation point. You can drive to the base of the volcano and start the hike from there. The park fee was $5.

We expected an easy to moderate hike. It was HARD!! It was "easy" because the trail was marked and paved in some sections. However, there are several sets of steep stairs, and tunnels with little air that leave you exhausted.  The view from the top is absolutely beautiful and it is worth all the effort. The hike was about 45 minutes going up and 15 minutes coming down.

The first set of steep stairs

The second set of stairs

Waikiki Beach from the top of the Diamond Head

After a shower, we went to the airport to take our flight to Kauai. Our flight was on time and it was less than 1 hour. I always heard that it was easy to travel between the Hawaiian Islands and it really was. We used Hawaiian Airlines and everything was great.

Honeymoon Day 2

We took advantage of our time difference and woke up early every day. Everything in Hawaii opens early, so it is perfect. The first thing we did in the morning was to ask if our bag arrived. The bag arrived the night before, and we were relived to have it with us since we were leaving for Kauai the next day.

Our second day in Honolulu was our only full day to see this side of the island. Months before our trip, I suscribed to the groupon emails for Honolulu. I bought one for a Catamaran ride to go snorkerling with turtles. We went from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. The ride included breakfast and snorkeling in Turtle Canyon. The breakfast offered was coffee, fruit, and donuts. We also had 2 drink tickets. The actual snorkeling time was about 1 hour. We saw a few turtles, but not as many fishes as I expected to see. I actually forgot about the underwater disposable cameras until now. I want to see how the pictures came out. It was hard to take pictures of the turtles. They were far, and we were swimming in an area where other 2 catamarans stopped. The other catamarans didn't make people wear lifejackets. I know it's good to wear them, but it is hard to swim with them. There were 2 lifeguards that were always watching us, and making sure that we didn't get too far. I felt safe, and I was glad that the current was not too strong. I know how to swim, but I'm not a great swimmer.

We used Makani Catamaran. I got it at 50% off from groupon, but the regular price is $64. According to their website, the package that we took was the Waikiki’s Turtle Canyon Snorkel/Sail Combo (9am –12pm, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays Only). They say that includes Snorkel Gear, Lifejackets, Breakfast Pastries, Fresh Fruit Salad, Complimentary Coffee, and 2 Complimentary Beverages. I will definitely recommend them, the food was not great, but the crew was extremely nice. They recommended one Catamaran company in Kauai that we ended up using. I will post those pictures in a later post.

Before sailing

The Diamond Head

The deep blue Hawaiian water

After the snorkeling and the nice ride in catamaran, we drove towards China Town. We drove a few streets that our book said were the most important and we were not impressed. I did buy a Lei from one of the many shops in China Town. This is the cheapest place to buy leis.

After China Town, we started our drive towards the south east side of the island. I loved this side of the island 3 years ago. The road has scenic stops where you can pull over and take pictures. You do want to rent a car in hawaii to explore the island and get lost on purpose. Everything is beautiful. Driving the coast with many beautiful beaches or heading to the mountains.

One of the most see places along the east side is Hanauma Bay.  I have not done snorkeling here, but it's supposed to be one of the best places in the island. it looks very crowded so I haven't been very tempted. I love to see the spectacular cliffs on the east coast. It is probably my favorite side of the island along with the North Shore.

Not so crowded at the end of the day

I made this video while we were driving around the East side of the Island.

By the blow hole that didn't blow too hard, but the volcanic rocks are a sight not to miss

Halona blow hole

Someone trying to jump!!

Another scenic stop along the way

When I was planning the trip to Hawaii, I saw this post from Kristin from Camels & Chocolate about the Byodo-in Temple. I didn't hear about this place until I saw the amazing pictures that Kristin took. My favorite part was the giant Zen Garden around the temple. I wish that they let people move the stones in giant sand box.

The Zen Garden

After the temple closed we continued driving north to see the beaches on the east side. It was almost 6:00 PM and the sun light was almost out. We stopped to take pictures of the "Chinaman's hat" from the Kualoa Beach park.

On our way back, we drove between the mountains instead of the coast. I couldn't stop looking at the different shapes of the mountains. This was a long day and we were ready for dinner and bed. The next day we only had until noon in Oahu and we wanted to make the most of it.

Honeymoon in Hawaii Day 1, ALOHA!!!

After spending 10 days in Cali for the wedding, we were excited to spend10 more days in Hawaii. This was the longest vacation I've had since I started working full time 6 years ago. We almost postpone our honeymoon to October to celebrate my 30th birthday at the same time. I'm glad that we did it in August. We were exhausted from Colombia, and we were definitely not ready to get back to work.

After flying from Cali to Miami for 3 hours, we drove to Tampa for 4 hours. We were back to Tampa only for 12 hours which gave us time to leave the dirty clothes and pack for Hawaii. We left everything ready before leaving for Cali, but it was hard to pack since we had moved out of our apartment and most of our things were in boxes. When you don't have your things in the normal place, you don't know if you missed something until it's too late. The next morning we flew from Tampa to Miami, and from Miami across the US to LA. We had to stay in LA because of a delay in Miami. We are still fighting with American Airlines to refund our first night in Hawaii since it was their fault that we did not make it. You can read about the whole fight with AA here.

We finally arrived to Hawaii 16 hours later than scheduled for 9 days instead of 10. We planned to stay 3 nights in Waikiki, 5 nights in Kauai, and then back to the North Shore of Oahu for 2 nights. I loved Oahu when I went with my family 3 years ago. You can see old pictures here. Andre had never been to Hawaii, so he wanted to see Honolulu. I was OK with it as long as we went to another island. It was hard to decide which island to visit after Oahu, we decided to go to Kauai. If you are looking for help deciding which island to visit, you can read about my research here.

First view of the islands - ALOHA!!!!!

After arriving in HNL airport at noon, we had to wait in line to report that our luggage did not make it to our destination. We were told they would arrive in the next flight from LAX at 7:00PM. At least the bags were taken to us and we didn't have to return to the airport.

We stayed at the Marriott Waikiki Beach Resort. I stayed here 3 years ago and I liked the location. Based on reviews, prices, and past experience we decided to stay at the Marriott. When we checked in together, the lady at the front desk never asked for my name just a credit card. Later that day, I went downstairs and I forgot my key and my phone. I didn't worry about it since Andre stayed in the room. The problem was that he was in the balcony, and he didn't hear me knocking. I called from the floor phone to the front desk asking them to call the room because I was locked out. Instead of them doing this small favor for me, they asked me for my name and told me that since I was not registered they will send security!!!! AND that I had to wait on the phone to get transfered to security!!!! I could not believe that!! I hang up the phone and started knocking even harder at the door. Finally, Andre heard me and I missed the guards that were coming to get me. I don't know if they ever sent someone or not. Andre called the front desk and asked them to add me to the room. This is what really upsets me: if they are so strict they should get your ID as you are checking in especially because we were together while we were doing it. I was really upset and started crying, then I got more upset because something like that made me cry.  I have stayed in MANY hotels and they never threaten to call security on me because I asked them to call the room. Seriously, I never EVER worried about how many people are staying in the room. As long as they have a credit card a King bed means up to 2 people, and 2 queen beds mean up to 4 people. Am I wrong?

View from the hotel "partial ocean view"

Waikiki Beach

Waikiki Beach

After many bad experiences with lost and delayed luggage I always pack a good carry on bag. We changed and went straight to Waikiki Beach, then we kept walking on Kalakaua Avenue toward the international market place. We had lunch at the cheesecake factory located in the Royal Hawaiian Center. After lunch, we walked towards the Hard Rock Cafe to buy my pins and my sister's t-shirt. We love souvenirs. Then we walked towards the beach to walk in the sand again. We wanted to watch the sunset form the Westin Moana Surfrider Hotel. I read that it was the best bar to watch the sunset. The bar was nice, they had live music and good drinks. However, the sunset was not visible from there thanks to the other buildings. We decided to finish our drinks and head towards the hotel side again where we could watch the sunset directly.

Westin Moana Surfrider Hotel

Royal Caribbean Hotel

Waikiki Beach - Diamond Head in the back

1t of many Lava Flows

First sunset

That night we fell asleep at 10:00 PM and the bags had not arrived from the airport. We had enough clothes for a couple of days, but I was worried that we were leaving to another island in less than 2 days.