O'ahu, Hawaii

Hawaii, O'ahu - Honolulu, Waikiki Beach

We took an Uber from Vancouver to the airport, and we had a friendly driver who was even nice to talk to; you don't find that often :-D Naturally, he drove a Toyota Prius, like 50% of all Uber drivers - the rest drive a Tesla, Model 2. We had a good chat with him, and when he heard we were flying with WestJet, he simply said, 'Oh well, then we don’t have to rush; they are always delayed.' However, our check-in document stated that we were flying 10 minutes earlier...

We also had a last stop at Tim Hortons before leaving Canada, as they are only found in Canada - that was good. Well, what can I say, in the end, we took off with a 1.5-hour delay :-D It was already dark in Hawaii when we began our descent. The airport in Honolulu is actually very open (not many windows), and it was already quite warm by the time we finally got to the luggage claim area. After quickly retrieving our bags, we headed to the hotel, where I had booked the first 5 nights. The area was not overly amazing. During check-in, the guy didn’t seem interested at all. We then went to our room - a long, dark, musty hallway - the carpet was also a bit shabby and greeted us with 'Aloha'... I was already dreading it, but I didn’t say anything. Inside the room, I was truly disappointed - it was damp, very old, and there were hairs from other people - just not the type of hotel experience you want during your honeymoon (or at any other time). It had more of a hostel vibe from South America, but we were aware that it could be like this. But for the price, it shouldn't have been that bad. I immediately began searching for alternatives on Google. In the morning, I told Muriel, 'We need to get out of here.' She didn’t think it was as bad as I did (since she had South America in mind, knowing that it could be worse there), but she was also not unhappy about the prospect of changing accommodation. We were able to clarify in the morning that we only needed to pay for one night and then quickly left after breakfast :-D

Actually Starting Our Hawaii Honeymoon

So, while that incident might be part of the story, we already forgot it because we officially started our honeymoon in Hawaii. We found a fantastic hotel right on Waikiki Beach. It was even the first hotel in the city (I think it was built in 1904). We arrived, and it was simply breathtaking:

As soon as we got there, it was just enchanting. Everything was open, high-ceilinged, and very nicely decorated. You could tell it was a nostalgic hotel.

At check-in, I put on my puppy-dog eyes and told the guy that our honeymoon in Hawaii had started off 'really badly' and that we were disappointed with our previous hotel and hoped that it would be better here... 'NO, that shouldn’t be, I don’t want your first impression of Hawaii to be bad; I have a special room for you and a welcome gift.'

I had actually booked the cheapest city room via Booking (it was already quite pricey). However, we then received an upgrade with a sea view and a higher category, without any extra cost. No, that's not mooching - that’s using the honeymoon card :-D

On the first day, we mostly spent the time chilling at the pool, eating a bit, jumping in the sea, and enjoying ourselves. 

Since we had a Marriott Hotel now, we knew we didn’t have to spend $200 per person for dinner. Honolulu is like New York City; everything is about three times more expensive than elsewhere. However, thanks to our South America trip, we knew some tricks to eat cheaply - go where the locals eat. We did that and could eat quite well for $20-25 per person instead of the $50-60 upwards in the two beach restaurants.
In the end, we really enjoyed a beautiful shopping mall.

On the next day, we finally got to take our Jurassic Park jeep. 

We rented with a family business, and the owner's son guided the seats in O'ahu - the main business operates in Maui. It was so uncomplicated, and Willy was great. He also quickly gave us some tips along the way. It wasn't planned, but we already had a place to eat breakfast and a waterfall to visit.
The jeep drove incredibly well. It only had 2000 kilometers on it. However, because we had oversized off-road tires with low pressure and a soft suspension, it felt a bit peculiar to drive at first. And the vehicle had quite an impact; incredible. You could feel it on the bumps. I think my racing bike would have felt worse bumps. We first stopped at a tea house at the edge of Honolulu for breakfast, where the jungle was already bordering.

It was amazing and also a bit like what you would call 'authentic' in Switzerland.

Muriel had pancakes, and I had one of the best acai bowls of my life.

After eating, we only had to drive about 5 minutes until we parked for the waterfall. Thanks to a student who gave us tips, he also mentioned where to park for free and avoid those expensive parking tickets. Therefore, we parked in a neighborhood nearby. As we got out, I only heard a 'jöööööööööö-ööööö'. I knew there was a bus, a dog, or some baby animal around. And it turned out to be baby ducks that almost jumped on Muriel's camera :-D

I thought it was smart to do the hike in flip-flops. I then ran a little and someone we met pointed at my flip-flops. On the way to the waterfall, which seemed to go on endlessly, we passed a Hollywood movie set. 

They were currently filming the live-action version of Moana with Dwayne Johnson in the national park. Unfortunately, we didn’t see them. The path to the waterfall was incredibly beautiful.

We finally reached the waterfall after 50 minutes. It didn’t blow us away too much, but the journey itself was definitely worth it. You can somewhat picture it as the Masoalahalle - only it was in real nature. Same humidity and everything much bigger and open, unfortunately without monkeys.

After the waterfall, we had two more stops planned: Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden and Byodo-In Temple.

We then really drove around the island and managed to capture a picture of this beautiful nature - I mean, this is the view from the highway:

We also entered the botanical garden and drove through the park (it had some vibes of Jurassic Park, right?):

The weather drastically changes as soon as you leave the coast, and mostly it’s cloudy - but that also adds to the charm, I think.
We drove through the park and enjoyed the nature.

After 100,000 plants and stuff, we drove toward the temple. The Byodo-In Temple is a 1:1 reproduction (entirely without nails) from Uji in Japan. The temple was established in 1968 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants.

It’s especially interesting when you are in the American-Hawaii mood and then encounter a temple like this. It was extremely peaceful; music could be heard faintly in the background. 

There was also a huge gong that went off every few minutes - the first time, I almost had a heart attack.

The next day, we made a detour to the other side of the island - this took us about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Among other things, we visited one of the largest pineapple plantations.

The famous Dole plantation was opened around 1920 and covered over 90% of global pineapple consumption until 1950.

We then decided to do the train and garden tour.. Okay, I have to admit that maybe the tourists had a bit too much to offer. The train ride was cute and could be enjoyed... but you don't have to - the same goes for the garden. The botanical garden was 100 times better because it was free - but we still had fun.

After visiting the farm and as it started to get hot, we made our way to the beach. Since it was such a nice day, we naturally saw a turtle at the beach that was resting.

Unfortunately, it was very windy at that beach, so we continued on to Waimea Bay Beach. To be honest - it was just as windy there. But there was a funny phenomenon: the beach was relatively flat. However, if you wanted to go into the water, there was about a 3-meter drop (height difference). Due to the wind, there were also some nice waves. Thus, when you went into the water, you’d be pulled out about 5 meters with the waves and then brought right back in with the next wave; you didn’t have to do anything, just float. So, we floated back and forth on the beach, and the waves pulled us back to sea - it was so much fun. We could have done that for at least 30 minutes. I could have done this for hours.

Oh right, it was actually the 31st of October 2024, which means Halloween in the USA. It was so much fun there. On one hand, all the staff in restaurants were in costumes, and we were able to choose the best costume:

I mean, in Honolulu, there are always a lot of people, but what was on the streets that evening was incredible - such a huge crowd. The main street wasn’t closed, but both sides of the sidewalk were full of people. It wasn’t an official 'parade' like we know from festivals, but people were walking on one side and back on the other - and 95% of them were in costumes. We joined in a bit and sometimes stopped to laugh at some of the costumes - really original.

The next day, we just had a lovely beach day - believe it or not, the prettiest beach in O'ahu

On the way home, we made a special stop at the animal shelter. Those who were at the wedding heard the prophecy 'MAUI'. We thought, 'Let's just go take a look'. Unfortunately, we really fell in love with a puppy, which we went to see again the next day after 'sleeping on it.' We had really liked one... but unfortunately, too many obstacles emerged. With the necessary vaccinations, it turned out to be a problem, and the people at the animal shelter unfortunately didn’t really support us, so it was not possible to take the puppy to Switzerland within the remaining time. If we were Americans, it wouldn’t have been a problem. I hope it now has a good home.

On the last day, we had another beach/pool day and then headed to the airport. After 7 days in O'ahu, we are now flying to Maui - the island is about a 30-minute flight away and is supposed to be a bit less touristy than O'ahu. We always fly with Southwest Airlines - a flight ticket to another Hawaiian island costs around $80 including luggage. It’s really a great airline - new planes, friendly staff, and they are punctual ;-)

Next Stop: Maui