Day 23 Oahu - Diamond Head, around Honululu, Ko´olina Lagoon & Hilon Hawaiian Lagoon

August 14, 2022

And once again today is:

Early bird catches the worm!

The youth is enthusiastic.....🥱😆

Already during our stay on Maui, I booked tickets for Diamond Head this morning. Time slot one: 6-8am!

Since I really want to go up the mountain, but there is no shade and the heat is not really my friend, I insist on the morning ascent at 6am.

The family agrees - they also don't want to sweat too much.

After a very short breakfast, we pack snacks and drinks for later and have our car brought to the hotel entrance.

At 6:15 am we park in the parking lot and start the ascent of Diamond Head at sunrise. As expected, we start to sweat quite a bit. I didn't know exactly what to expect beforehand, but there are not as many steps as I expected. Only the last section consists of steps and stairs, up to that point there is a path that winds its way up the mountain to the entrance of a tunnel, only then it continues via stairs and path all the way to the top.

We need about 40 minutes to get all the way to the top at a slow pace with photo stops (including a photo stop at the lower bunker). The view is really cool!

We manage the descent much faster and in hindsight we are very glad that we were there early, because the sun is now in the sky and it has suddenly become very hot.

We are back down around 8 am and continue to the Tantalus Lookout. The view from up here of Honolulu and Diamond Head is even cooler! We are almost alone up here in the parking lot and have a second breakfast at a picnic table.

At around 10 am we visit the Punchbowl Crater. In the extinct crater above downtown Honolulu lies the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific - the largest military cemetery in Hawaii, where almost 37,000 American soldiers have found their final resting place. Very impressive.

We walk to the viewpoints and explore everything, then we continue to the beach. We would like to go swimming and have chosen one of the Ko´olina Lagoons, which we already saw from the plane when we flew to Oahu.

Past the Disney resort and other expensive-sounding hotels, we reach Ko´olina Lagoon Number 4 at the end of the road. The parking lot is packed (weekend....), but thanks to the parking attendants, parking spaces are filled immediately. We wait about 15 minutes, then we have a parking space.

It's almost 12 o'clock when we plunge into the water. However, we don't really find the artificial lagoon that great. Sure, it looks nice, but the water is quite cloudy, the sand turns into algae-covered stones after a short time, and somehow it lacks the "ocean" character...

We only have a short time of fun in the water, then we relax on the grass under a tree.

After a lunch stop at the nearby Napolei Marketplace at "Pearl's Korean BBQ" (not so tasty...), we drive to downtown Honolulu. As a true fan of the series "Hawaii Five-0" I MUST visit the Aliiolani Hale Palace and the statue of Kamehameha I, an important filming location of the series. The family doesn't really share my enthusiasm, so they reluctantly follow me from our parking lot, 2 streets away, to the palace.

Doesn't matter - I have my photo, was there and I'm happy 😉

We are all still tired from getting up early and so the family council decides that it's time to go to the beach. But not to Waikiki, but to Fort de Russy Beach around the corner.

While the husband and son splash around in the waves, I can't resist and take a walk along the beach to the Hilton Hawaiian Village and its lagoon (yes, also a filming location of Hawaii Five-0 😉). The daughter accompanies me and takes the opportunity to cool off in the lagoon. The water is really "cold" - I find it refreshing, but I only dip my feet in. We take a few pictures and look around.

Looks nice, but somehow I imagined it to be "more beautiful"... Before the trip, I considered staying at the Hawaiian Village for 1-2 days, but it would have cost almost as much as our current accommodation for the whole week... I'm glad I didn't do it.

We walk back to Fort de Russy Beach and the daughter splashes around in the water with my men.

After the beach visit, we feel like having a shave ice, there is a suitable stand right on the boardwalk, but when we read the prices, we suddenly lose interest in ice cream. Here, a shave ice costs between $13 and $18!!!! 💸💰

Oh my, and we thought the $8 for an ice cream on Kauai was expensive.... No, Oahu can be even more expensive.... 💸💰

So instead, we explore the rooftop pool at the hotel and enjoy the view. After that, our son and husband jump in the hot tub, and then we end the evening with microwave food and card games.

Because tomorrow it's time again...? Right: early wake-up! 😇🥱