Hawaii

Hawaii

I have been to Hawaii twice, once in 2020 and the other time in 2023. When we went in 2020, it was right before Covid hit; we were supposed to go on a cruise but it got cancelled and our flights got automatically and immediately rebooked. This led to us spending 48 hours in Hawaii. While we were there, we stayed at the Hale Koa Hotel. This is a resort for military families and it was a really nice hotel on Waikiki Beach. So we spent some time at the beach, went to Pearl Harbor, visited the North Shore, and went snorkeling in Hanauma Bay. Yes, we did all this in 48 hours!!

The next time we went was over spring break in 2023. We stayed four nights on the Big island in Kona, five nights on Maui in Ka’anapali, and two nights in Lihue, Kauai. On the Big Island we stayed on the south side of Kona in a VRBO that was right off the beach. Since the Big Island is the newest of all the islands, a lot of the shore is rocky so we could not swim in the beach that we were on, but there were tide pools with turtles in them. At the property we really enjoyed the waves crashing at night and the natural sound machine. On the Big Island, we went to Kua Bay - this is my favorite beach of all time. The water is stunning and at the time we were there, large waves were crashing on the shore. I did get stung by a jellyfish there, but I’m still alive. We also went to Hapuna Beach the next day, which was about an hour north of Kona. This beach was named as the best beach in 2021. This was a great beach but I ended up liking Kua Bay better. The last day, we went to Volcanos National Park but the day ended up being really foggy so we could not really see anything. That night my dad and I went manta ray snorkeling which is something that I highly recommend! Some of the best restaurants that we had were Kai Eats+Drinks (great s’mores pizza), Papa Kona Restaurant and Bar (good brunch place), On The Rocks, and Magics Beach Grill. Magics Beach Grill was a favorite meal ever on vacation for my mom (she got the ono fish tacos if you’re wondering).

Then we island hopped over to Maui where we stayed just on the north side of Ka’anapali and stayed at the Honua Kai Resort Ka’anapali Beach. The hotel was on the beach and had a great family friendly environment. The con of staying at the hotel was that 8 steps into the beach there is a reef and it is very hard to swim past it or snorkel in it because it is so shallow. Otherwise, everything about this hotel was great. If you stay on the Ka’anapali strip there is not a reef and you can swim as you want. There is also a rock that you can cliff jump off of. On the first day in Maui we went on the Road to Hana and we decided to go on a tour for this. I personally would recommend doing it yourself because it is cheaper and you can stop where you want. There were several places that I wanted to stop at but we could not because it was not on the guide's route. Also, make sure to not drive around the entire route because once you get to a certain point there is nothing left to see. The next day, we enjoyed the beach at our hotel and then in the afternoon we went up to Haleakala to watch the sunset. We again went on a tour and for this one I would say that a tour here is worth it. The guide got us donuts, dinner, had supplies for the cold on top of the mountain, and had star gazing equipment. We really enjoyed this excursion and getting to see sunset at the top was awesome!! The next day we went snorkeling and this was a snorkel/whale watch activity. We snorkeled for about an hour and then we went around and looked for whales. The excursion was on a small zodiac boat so the tour is very personalized and the service they had was great! After the snorkeling in the morning, we went to Kaanapali beach and jumped off Black Rock, about a 15 foot cliff jump! The last day we went to Napili Bay. This beach is truly stunning and makes you feel like you’re in paradise! Some of the best restaurants that we had on Maui were Slappy Cakes and Honoapiilani food truck park. We ate a lot of great meals in Lahaina, but a lot of businesses have relocated or changed after the fire that went through there.

The next day, we island hopped over to Kauai. My dad’s dream has always been to see the Napali Coast and my mom actually found a way to make it the same price to stay longer if you flew home on a Monday instead of a Saturday. This led to us spending an two extra nights in Hawaii! As soon as our flight arrived to Kauai, we got our car rental and drove to Hanalei Bay to go to the famous beach there. We had a blast on this beach and the backdrop of the mountainous Napali Coast was truly stunning. We then headed to our hotel in Lihue to get rest for the night. NOPE! We got no rest because the freakin roosters crowed starting at 2am. BRING EARPLUGS!!! There are roosters everywhere and they do not care about your sleep. Anyways, the next day we drove to the south part of the island for our Napali Coast tour. As we hopped on the boat, dark rolling storm clouds approached in the distance. Our tour guide still decided to head out, but the storm got worse over time making us have to go back before we could see the Napali Coast. The storm ended about 2pm and we decided to got to Poipu Beach. This is a stunning two sided beach with an island 30 yards out that has monk seals resting on it. Also, the snorkeling at this beach is really good so if you don’t feel like paying for an excursion I advise coming here! Whenever we were in Kauai a lot of the restaurants were closed on Sunday, so I don’t have much advice for restaurants. We then flew home from my favorite trip ever!!!

Awards

Best Restaurant: Magics Beach Grill

Favorite Activity: Snorkeling w/ Manta Rays

Must Do: Bring earplugs for Kauai

Favorite Island: Big Island