There are certain sights you need to see on the island of Kauai. Vistas simply showcasing the amazing land in front of you. Watch for a moment or sit for an hour. Take a picture to remember for a lifetime. Kauai is astoundingly beautiful. Hanalei Pier at Sunset – End […]
oahu
I love the peace and beauty found in a botanical garden. On my first trip to Oahu, some of my most cherished memories are hiking around the paths of the many free and gorgeous gardens. On Kauai however, the three main botanical gardens all have steep entrance fees ranging from […]
Malasadas are an awesome Portuguese donut which became extremely popular in Hawaiian culture. If you’ve never had one, you must try! Our first time gorging on these tasty morsels was on the island of Oahu at Leonard’s, a bakery renowned for their fresh fantastic malasadas. When I heard about Punalu’u […]
Poke is quite possibly my favorite food on earth. I first discovered its wonder on Oahu last year at Tanioka’s, and have been addicted ever since. Raw cubes of fresh fish marinated in all sorts of goodies served on a bed of rice, simple perfection. It doesn’t get much fresher […]
Ko Olina Lagoons This was our absolute favorite beach, and we didn’t even mind traveling over a half an hour to get there, so worth it (Ko Olina exit off of Farrington Highway). The weather leeward was usually better than all other places on the island, so that was another […]
Fort DeRussy The beach that was the most direct walk from our hotel was Fort DeRussy, we went to it once and didn’t go back. The water was a beautiful turquoise color, but a little murky. The sand was powerdy pale yellow and a bit hard to lie on. We […]
Papa’iloa Beach This beach was really awesome, and pretty much deserted. It is down a quiet residential dead end road with beautiful houses, there is a small parking lot right across from the entrance (Papailoa Rd Haleiwa, HI 96712). Take the dark passageway out to the bright beach and there […]
Waimanalo Beach This was the first beach we visited and certainly one of the most attractive (41-741 Kalanianaole Hwy Huli Street Waimanalo, HI 96795 a lot of the beach signage is hard to see, but if you find a beach parking lot in the town where the beach is located […]
Aloha Tower (Scenic Lookout, Honolulu) This tower used to be the tallest building on the island, but with the influx of skyscrapers that come with an international tag, it feels so small (1 Aloha Tower Drive, Honolulu, HI 96813). We went on a rainy day and scurried from our metered […]
Honolulu Zoo (Educational, Honolulu) The weather wasn’t perfect for the beach one day so we decided to go to the zoo (151 Kapahulu Ave, Honolulu). This was our biggest ‘splurge’ attraction on the whole trip at $14 a ticket, but it was worth it because we ended up having a […]
Iolani Palace & King Kamehameha Statue (History, Honolulu) The only royal palace on American soil is in Oahu, smack in the middle of Honolulu (364 South King Street, Honolulu, HI 96813). There is metered parked all around the palace, we popped a couple of quarters in and went to observe. […]
Dole Plantation (Koi Pond, Northshore) Pineapple is one of my favorite fruits and I buy dole products all the time so I decided to stop by the plantation when heading to the northshore. We visited the close-by Wahiawa Botanical Garden on the way before they opened (at 930) and were […]
Top Picks: Haleiwa (Cultural, Northshore) One of my favorite things is getting the feel for a new town. Haleiwa is just small enough and kitschy enough to be a perfect place to explore in one day. There is one shopping main strip that runs through the town, you can park […]
Top Picks: Mount Tantalus Round Top Drive (Scenic Lookout, Honolulu) One of our most special evenings were spent star gazing and looking at the city lights atop Mount Tantalus after the Round Top Drive. It is so romantic and the views are breathtaking here, it is the perfect place to […]
Top Picks: Pearl Harbor Memorial (Historical, Leeward) If you ask me, no trip to Oahu is complete without a visit to the Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial site (1 Arizona Memorial Place Honolulu, HI 96818). The National Park Service has done a beautiful job on this memorial; it […]