We flew into Oahu and, of course, crashed upon arrival. The flight is long and usually includes at least one stop on the way there, and it is several time zones behind Georgia, which is where I came from. Of course, we had to see Pearl Harbor, which is really the only thing you want to spend much time doing in Oahu. There is a museum at Pearl Harbor, so we not only saw the Pearl Harbor Monument, but also battleships and all kinds of Pearl Harbor artifacts, such as Teddy Roosevelt's declaration of war on the Japanese, in his original handwriting.We also went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation, the beach where "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" was filmed, and the mountain area where both "Jurassic Park" (one of my favorites!) & "50 First Dates" were filmed. We even ate lunch at the picnic area outside of the restaurant where the latter film's Adam Sandler & Drew Barrymore ate breakfast in many of their scenes. (The restaurant itself is no longer in business.) And, along the way to these places, you'll likely try some local snacks. You should definitely try drinking coconut milk out of a coconut, if only to be able to say you've done it. It's disgusting and tastes like watery milk, but I'm glad I can say I've done it. You can do what we did and take tours to all of these sights, or you can drive around trying to locate them yourself - your choice. But the easier choice, and probably even the most economical choice, is to let a guide take you to these locations. Later, we saw the King Kamehameha Statue and went around a huge shopping area. There are a lot of unique shops on the island, which I know a lot of people love to do while on vacation. My sister bought a scarf/dress-type thing, which was really neat, because you can wrap it in all kinds of different ways to make a different outfit each time you wear it. Everything in Hawaii is covered in bright colors and flowers, so of course her scar/dress-type thing was too. You'll also see lots of beautiful trees, some of which are slanted due to being hit by rough winds all the time. It's bizarre-looking! You can check out a lot of stores that sell local artists' artwork, and some of them even use surf boards and flip-flops as mediums.
Next, we went to the long anticipated Maui. If you want paradise and the most vividly bright and beautiful rainbows you'll ever see, Maui is the place to be! You'll see at least one rainbow every day, because it rains in the mountains every day, even though the land below is usually sunny and dry. Don't forget to eat at local restaurants! But if you want to eat somewhere that's a chain, Bubba Gump's is never a bad choice. And, of course, you could never forget to book a luau. Hoolah dancers, male dancers blowing fire, cooked Kalua Pig on a platter, and more! If you like checking out fancy hotels, we loved the Hyatt Hotel, because it has a lot of wildlife and a fantastic pool area. As for the wildlife, they have penguins, swans, & some emu-like birds. You can even eat a buffet breakfast overlooking the swans in their beautiful pond. The pool area is enormous and has a massive water slide and cave where you can swim between the rocks. There are cabana boys who will tend to you too. You can access all of these things, even if you don't stay at the hotel. (The hotel is too expensive anyway.) You might have to pay a fee to get in, but I don't think we had to. Also, run over to the Wailea Hotel to see another incredible hotel, which is about $3000/night to stay in. Obviously, it's not economical to stay there, but you can walk through the hotel and see what you're missing out on. You'll see a giant pool area with massage tents, a private beach, a waterslide, a cave over part of the swimming pool (like the one at the Hyatt Hotel,) cabana huts, and everything rich in the world that most people will never have!
You may see Banyan Trees all over Hawaii, but I'd recommend checking out the biggest one in the world, located in Lahaina, Maui. There are lots of cool shops and restaurants over there too. Make sure to make time for Humpback Whale-watching! This time around, we only saw a couple, and they barely breeched, because it was November, which is barely in whale season. Whale season is from November to May, but the peak is from January to March. My family and I have been to Maui during peak whale season and seen tons of Humpback Whales do much more than barely breech! Make sure to make time for it. This time around, the main show included wild dolphins, who did tricks and jumped out of the water for us. These creatures are so intelligent that they know you want a show when they find you out on a boat, and they are more than willing to oblige!
While in Maui, you'll want to drive the road to Hana. You'll have to rent a car. Although, you might be able to join a tour. It'll take several hours, but it's so worth it. You'll pass by gorgeous Rainbow Eucalyptus Trees, black sand beaches, a red sand beach in Kaihalulu Bay (which you have to be in decent shape to see, because you have to hike to it,) and the 7 Sacred Pools. The black sand beaches are not actually made from sand; they're made from bits of volcanic rock, as Hawaii is full of volcanoes. The red sand beach is made from dried clay and pebbles, which really hurt your feet, so make sure to wear padded shoes. All of these beautiful sights are more than worth the trip. The journey to Hana is what you go for, not the actual town of Hana, but everything up that way is gorgeous. There are so many colors and plants and nature, so it's definitely a tree-hugger's dream!
I'll go ahead and throw in here that, on a previous Hawaii trip, I went to the island of Lanai. I've seen photos online which paint Lanai as a beautiful place, but the area that we went to was a dump. I would recommend not wasting your time there. I have never been to the Big Island or Kauai, but I've heard they are both amazing. The Big Island is on my Bucket List, because Mt. Kilauea erupts almost every day, and that is going to be an incredible view! My grandma says Kauai is covered in thousands of different plant and flower species and is a truly spectacular place.
Contrary to popular belief, flights to Maui are not that expensive. You can definitely find a flight for less than $800 roundtrip, and it's pretty cheap to fly from one island to the next. Go to Hawaii. Do it now. NOW.
The Pearl Harbor memorial.
The mountains where Jurassic Park was filmed.
A misshapen tree caused by strong winds.
Black sand beach.
Red sand beach.
One of the performing dolphins on our whale-watching tour.
I found the end of the rainbow in Maui!
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