For our honeymoon we decided to go to Hawaii for 10 days. We are getting married in Colombia in August. We will get there 9 days before the wedding and will stay 2 days after the wedding. We will return to Tampa and fly to Honolulu the next day.
I initially wanted to go to an all-inclusive and my boyfriend wanted to go to Europe. I looked some Colombian destinations for the convenience of traveling inside the Country. I was surprised to see that neither San Andres nor Cartagena were affordable. I love these 2 places, but I have been to San Andres and Cartagena countless times. I will go back only if I find a good deal. The airfare alone was about $400 plus most of the packages that were decent priced are only for 3 nights. That is wayyy to short to plan a real honeymoon. We looked at some of the Caribbean islands and the deals are always great in Mexico and Dominican Republic. The problem is that planning a trip to the Caribbean is not a good idea in the middle of hurricane season. I also looked for cruises in Europe but, airfare alone was around $1500 per ticket or 80,000 AA miles. I also looked for South America and especially Brazil, BUT it is winter in August. The option of Hawaii was always in my mind, but I have already been to Hawaii so I didn't push to hard.
We found tickets with miles and that was all we needed to decide that our honeymoon will be in Hawaii. So, for 45,000 AA miles and $10 we will be spending 10 days in Paradise. We were only able to fly to Honolulu with miles. We will be staying 3 nights in Waikiki, then we will fly to Kauai to stay for 5 nights, and back to Oahu for 2 nights before we return to reality. I loved Oahu when I went 3 years ago. My boyfriend has never been to Hawaii and he wants to see Honolulu. He said we would go to any island I wanted, but he had to see Honolulu for a few days. It took us a while to decide which island to visit after Oahu. We decided that we will go to Kauai. We already booked the Kauai portion as a package from Honolulu. I still need to book the hotel and rental car in Oahu.
While I was trying to decide where to go after Oahu I found a lot of information that can be useful for someone trying to decide which Hawaiian Island to go to. It is hard to decide because they all seem to be different and they offer different activities.
Oahu
Since I already been to Oahu not long ago I will be the tour guide for this portion of the trip. The first 3 nights we will stay in Waikiki for the convenience of restaurants and entertainment. I would like to visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial since I didn't have enough time to go 3 years ago. This visit will probably take half day and it is located about 1 hour from Waikiki.
I loved the North Shore area during my first visit. I saw a beautiful Hawaiian green sea turtle by the beach and I want to see one (or more) again and hopefully swim next to them. Since this is my second time in Oahu, I would love to stay for a couple of nights in the north shore. There is a resort,The
Turtle Bay Resort, that I want to stay at. I saw it in a movie and I fell in love with the hotel. The movie is not great but if you are curious to see the hotel is "Forgetting Sara Marshall".
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| a hawaiian green sea turtle |
If you are looking for hotels in Honolulu and you have never been to Hawaii I would recommend to stay in Waikiki. This is not the best beach in Oahu. It is small and crowded but it is so famous that at least you have to make a stop. It is very convenient to stay in the area since a lot of restaurants are located at walking distance. The diamond head is visible from this side of the island. I was thrilled when I looked at the volcano crater from my hotel window. Hotels are very reasonable priced, parking is expensive but not more that you would pay for parking in Miami Beach. Food was also more expensive than in the Continental US but not as bad as I expected. I would compare it to a City like NYC and LA.
One of my favorite sites in the island was the Lanai Lookout since it thought this was an amazing site. We saw it while we were driving to Hanauma Bay. Definitely worth a stop.
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| Lanai Lookout |
I would love my boyfriend to go to the
Polynesian Cultural Center. I call it the Disneyland of Hawaii but it is very educational for kids and adults. We will have to decide how to spend our days in Oahu. I highly recommend a visit if it is your first time in Hawaii. I read about some wonderful beaches on the east coast of Oahu that I want to visit this time: Lanikai Beach, Kailua, and Waimanalo. I need to get a map to locate them. I also want to hike the diamond head and take pictures from the top. Last time I went with my parents so we just drove to the base of the volcano. My parents are in no physical condition to hike. My sister hiked it once and said it was not too difficult and it took about one hour. She is not athletic so I know I can trust her when she says it was easy. The lonely planet guide that I took to the trip recommended going to the Manoa Falls and it rated the hike as an easy hike. We went there thinking it would be a nice walk towards the waterfall. When we started we had no idea what we were getting into. My parents never exercise and most of the hike I was ready to catch my dad from falling. I did catch him twice. We saw the waterfall and walked back. It was a beautiful site and well worth the effort but get ready for a muddy and slippery walk up the mountain. It is not as easy as the travel guides make it sound. On a different day, we made a stop in the Waimea Valley to see the 45-foot waterfall. My sister told us stories about locals diving and hula dancers next to the water. I imagined that it would be like a perfect Hawaiian movie scene. We walked the mile-long trail just to get to a dry hole. This was a disappointment since they never told us the water was gone. Apparently it had dried out in the last couple of years. It was a beautiful walk and you can see many tropical flowers. Just don't go there expecting the waterfall. The entrance to the valley is $13.
Maui is supposed to be the most romantic island. I tried to find out why but, I still don't know the answer to why is Maui more romantic than the other islands. The prices are higher in Maui and I once heard that most people that come to Maui are either there for their honeymoon or for a family vacation. No offense to kids but I really want to relax by the pool instead of having kids screaming next to me. After reading so much about the islands, I think the magic of Maui is the whale watching season. I would love to watch the whales from a boat. Unfortunately, we will be going in August and the whales are in between November and March. I am sure that I will visit Maui some day and I will try to make it when the whales are close.
Maui Highlights (According to most websites):
- Lahaina – main town in Maui
- Haleakala National Park – I read that you must go to watch the sunrise from the top
- Hana – Famous for the scenic drive
- White sand, black sand and red sand beaches can be found in Maui
Kauai
I researched the islands for about one month before we decided where to go. Hawaii's official tourism
website is very useful helping you decide which island to visit. Kauai is the oldest and northernmost island and only a 30 minute flight away from HNL. Kauai is is known as "The Garden Isle" and several people told me it is the most beautiful. Most of the activities are outdoor adventures. I live in Florida so even if I wanted to hike I could not do it often. I will hike to get to a site and I have seen many beautiful pictures of Kauai. I am looking forward to see the Waimea Canyon, often called "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific", taking a boat ride to see the Napali Coast, and a helicopter tour to see the inaccessible areas of the island. We booked the hotel based on the deals available at the time, but also trying to stay in the southern side of the island. We wanted to stay in Po'ipu Beach at the Sheraton Hotel. The hotel is having a great sale because it is under renovations until September. I didn't mind until I found out that the pool will be closed. We found the Marriott in Kalapaki Beach at 50% off the regular rate and is not undergoing renovations. We booked the Marriott for 5 nights, the flight from HNL to Kauai, and the rental car for about $650 per person.
Kauai Highlights (According to most websites):
- Napali Coast
- Poipu Beach Park
- Waimea Canyon
- Wailua Falls: I found this video of the falls>> http://vimeo.com/17084809
- Kalalau Trail
There are several areas to stay in the island; the north shore with several luxury hotels in the Princeville area, the east "coconut" coast of the island which has cheaper hotels, and the southern part of the island. The west side is where the canyon and the Napali Coast are so it is basically just nature. I wanted to stay in the south since most of the recommendations for the dry weather were in the south. I already traveled to an island in rainy season and it is depressing so this time I will stay away from the rain forest.
I found these websites that I am planning to use for the activities in Kauai:
http://www.kauaiexplorer.com/hiking_kauai/hanakapiai_hike.php
http://www.napali.com/compare_boat_tours/
http://www.gohawaii.com/kauai/experiences/honeymoon
http://www.hawaii-guide.com/index.php/kauai/spot/where_to_stay_on_kauai
When we get back I will write a detailed blog with our favorite sights in Kauai and Oahu. The date is getting closer and I can't wait to visit the Hawaiian Islands again. We are thinking about getting a nice camera for the trip, but with all the expenses that we have now it is hard to add more things to our budget. We are assuming that we can buy it with the wedding "gifts". The problem is that we leave the morning after we get back from Cali, and we wont have time to shop for a camera. What is a good camera for us? We love to take pictures but we are not trying to be professional photographers. Any recommendations for a camera under $700?
