A trip to paradise with cousins Stella and John. Yes, we were off to Hawaii. This time we visited the islands of Oahu and The Big Island. We started early as our flight out left at 6:55am.
We were picked up at the airport in Honolulu, by “Cousin Gary”. He was our shuttle driver but explained that everyone in Hawaii is considered family. Cousin Gary gave us a lot of info on the ride to the hotel.
We ended up with a nice ocean view and of the man-made lagoon. As parking is really expensive in Honolulu, we weren’t picking up a car until the next morning. So, we walked over to Foodland to pick up supplies. Gary’s recommended walkable grocery. Foodland has many great prepared foods poke, sushi, grilled chicken, sandwiches, plus all the other grocery items you would expect.
The next morning was a little stormy looking. We picked-up our rental and started out for the Grand Circle Tour of the Island. We were using the Shaka Guide. It’s an audio tour that uses your GPS on the phone and provides insights, must sees, where to eat, and directions as you’re driving along. Took us a while to find the start of the tour and to get the Shaka Guide going, but once we did, we were off.
Our first stop was at the Byodo-in Temple. The temple is a replica of the one in Japan. It is a very picturesque setting. We made other stops along the way around Oahu’s north shore. Stopped for a little picnic lunch at one of the parks and decided, hey let’s just eat by the car as it looks like it might rain. Sure enough, it started raining hard.
That night we had a sunset cruise scheduled and it was getting a bit late in the day. So, we cut our tour short and headed back. Got back to the hotel only to realize the captain had canceled that night’s sailing because of the weather. So, we opted for dinner at the Paia Fish Market. It was delicious and we can see why they always have a line.
Our next day was spent at Pearl Harbor. We had our reservations for the Arizona at 1pm. We had thought that we would be able to take the shuttle bus over to Ford Island in the morning and check-out the Battleship Missouri and the Aviation Museum. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out for us because they were doing maintenance on the bridge and the shuttle buses were being delayed until 10:30. So, we did a tour of the Bowfin submarine and the other exhibits near the visitor center and waited for our tour time.
You’re allowed 15 minutes at the memorial itself before the boat comes back for your group.
Oil still leaking 
After visiting the memorial, we quickly headed over to the shuttle buses and were able to check out the “Mighty Mo”. This is the ship where WWII officially ended as the documents ending the war were signed in Tokyo Harbor on Mo’s Deck. We took the 35-minute tour that was included with the price of our ticket. It was a guided tour that goes around the ship’s deck discussing the history of Mo, her fire power, the signing of the documents and the kamikaze that scarred her hull. You’re then left to explore the ship on your own. We were glad we didn’t miss this one. But the heat had beat us up and it was getting late in the day, so, we decided to head on back to the hotel.
Marks the spot of the WWII Document signing. 
A Destroyer coming back into port.
The guns of the Missouri still watching the Arizona.
Another trip to Foodland and we had an excellent dinner in our room.
We had made reservations for Diamond Head the following day. Diamond Head is a volcanic cone and was once a military installation. It’s now one of Hawaii’s state parks. It was hot, but John and I made it to the summit. The views were great, and we had a nice picnic lunch inside the crater. Reservations for non-residents are required for both entry to the park and parking.
Next up for us was Hanaumu Bay. It is a bay that formed inside a volcanic cone. It’s now a Hawaiian State Park and a marine nature preserve. You must have reservations for this park as well. They open the reservation window 2 days in advance and the 1,000 tickets per day typically sell out within 30 minutes or so. The view walking down to the beach level is amazing. It really is a beautiful beach area. Will and I finally did a little snorkeling. There weren’t that many fish out, but we managed to find a few. Not sure if that is the usual case or if the fish were off elsewhere that day. It was relaxing, just hanging on the beach and we even managed to score an umbrella. A nice couple was flying out the next day and asked if we wanted it. The umbrella had been gifted to them in the same manner. Cool deal!
We spent a little time finally relaxing poolside. For dinner, we walked around without a plan and discovered the Vintage Island Wine Bar. The food was really good and the wine wasn’t bad either.
Our last full day on Oahu, we wanted to head back to the Dole Plantation and check that out a bit. Took the train ride out to the pineapple fields and enjoyed our Dole Whip. Still hungry, we headed back to the town of Haiwi to some of the food trucks we had seen on our driving tour before. Mmmm, food truck food. It was a good stop.
Even spotted some wild pigs.
Malasada donuts 
Well, we decided to head back turn the car in and rest a bit before heading out for round two of our sunset cruise. This time it went off without a hitch and was thoroughly enjoyable. We were able to bring our own snacks and drinks on board and the sunset that night was amazing.
Made it back to the room just in time for the Friday night fireworks. we had a great view from our balcony. Too bad it was our last night on Oahu.
The next morning, it was off to the Big Island. First we were paying it forward and found a nice family on the beach. We gifted them the umbrella plus some sunscreen and bug spray that we couldn’t take. Flights in between the islands are quick and some people will do a day trip to another island.
Diamond Head from the plane.
The rental car places were swamped as a few planes had come in all at once. But finally got the car and made our Costco stop. On to Waikoloa Village. We ended up with a large 2-bedroom unit. We really had a lot of room to spread out in this place.
The next morning, we were off to do another Shaka Tour of the Kohala Coast area. Had a great day checking out the Puiokohola Heiau National Park and the Lapakahi State Historical Park. Will and I had been to the Big Island before, but hadn’t made it to this area. So, it was nice to explore some additional parts of the island.
We even made it to do the Pololu Valley Trail. It is a steep 1.8-mile round trip hike with scenic views leading down to a rocky beach. This is also a sacred site for Hawaiians and while you are allowed to take pictures, you are asked not to post online out of respect. After the hike there’s a little farm stand down the road. they have various dishes for sale including shave ice. Ah, how refreshing after a hot sweaty hike. The day we stopped, they even had a guy singing Hawaiian music and a lady doing a hula dance.
The rest of the drive took us through some great scenery and some backroad driving.
The next morning, we headed out on another Shaka Guided tour. This time driving along the Kona Coast. Our first stop was to the Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park. We didn’t feel there was too much to see at this park. It is an ancient fishing village and it highlighted one of the fishponds. But it does have a nice view at the beach and believe it or not there were sea turtles soaking up the sun. The was our highlight for sure.
We kept driving and heard some more stories on Hawaiian history and made it to the Puuhonue o Honaunau. It’s a place of refuge that the ancient Hawaiians would go to when needing sanctuary whether from times of war or because you broke a rule and needed absolution from a priest to hopefully avoid death. It is also the site of the Royal Grounds that were the center of power for the Chiefs. There are also some nice picnic grounds along the coast where we were able to enjoy our picnic lunch.
The Kona area is also well known for its coffee. So, we made a stop at Greenwell Farms for some samples of their coffee and a free tour of the farm. It was an interesting tour where we learned what it takes to get the fruit from the coffee plant to making a good cup of joe.
Coffee beans soaking up the sun.
Well, we were hot and needed something refreshing, so it was another stop for shave ice. This time with a scoop of ice cream in the bottom. My favorite is the rainbow shave ice with a scoop macadamia nut ice cream.
That night Will and I went snorkeling with the Manta Rays. The ocean was really calm that night and the temperature of the water was pleasant. The mantas weren’t gracing us with their presence as they normally do, but we did get to see a few and Will got an up-close fly by from one. Vegas rules apply though, you’re not allowed to touch them but if they touch you, it’s okay. It was still a cool experience, and I would do it again. I am so glad we decided to buy full face snorkel masks before our trip. Those made this activity in particular that much more enjoyable and able to have your head down on manta ray lookout much more comfortably.
Woke up to a beautiful day and we had a lazy morning just hanging out until our glass bottom boat tour. We went with the Kona Glassbottom boat tour. We boarded the Marian. She’s a wooden boat built in 1996 by the current captain and his friend. We started out on our afternoon tour and spotted a pool of spinner dolphins that had come into the bay. They are quite a bit smaller than the well-known “Flipper”, who was a bottle nose dolphin. It was an extra bonus for us. The captain took us over to our first reef. There is also a narrator on the boat that lets you know what kinds of fish you are seeing. We even saw a reef shark. That is unusual to see since they typically sleep during the day. It was a really nice tour, and the captain is able to bring the boat on top of the reef providing great views of all the various fish. After yes, it was time for another shave ice, but in all fairness, we needed them to validate our parking. So, we had to, right?
We wanted to get in some additional snorkeling time, so we headed over to Kikaua Point Park beach. It’s a great spot for beginning snorkelers as the reef is well protected. this place was loaded with fish, and we had a great time there. We weren’t able to stay long as our luau was that night.
We went to the luau at the Mauna Kea Hotel. The weather was a little windy, but other than that just a gorgeous night. The food was really good, and they had a great variety of things to try. The show was very well done, and I didn’t feel that the luau was as crowded as some of the others we had been to.
Unearthing the roast pig.
Time for the Volcano National Park. We started out with another Shaka Guided Tour, the South Island Epic Coastal Journey. We went along and stopped at the Mauna Kea Visitor Center. Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in Hawaii at 13,803 ft.
Took a Cinder cone hike across from Mauna Kea
We finally got to the Volcano National Park and even had a Shaka Guided tour for that as well. It was interesting to view the caldera. Will and I had been there before, but you couldn’t see the bottom of the caldera because of all the steam and gases coming up from the lava. The volcano had a major eruption in 2018 drastically changing things.
The Thurston Lava Tube 
Stell and John made it out
Well, I guess we had to come home sometime. WE flew out the next morning and got back to reality.