Hawaii – Day 1 – Travels with Carolyne

Oahu – Day 1 of a 8-Day Trip in Hawaii

I arrived in Honolulu, Oahu the night before – we did not do much other than check in to the hotel and head to bed. It was warm and humid in Honolulu – it was peak summer after all! Oahu is one of the islands that make up Hawaii and Honolulu is the capital of the state of Hawaii and is normally the first stop for visitors to Hawaii. We were only in Oahu for two nights and then were on the Big Island for the remainder of the trip. Honolulu is known for its gorgeous beaches, coastal views, and Pearl Harbour.

Day 1
oahu

I woke up early on Day 1 to snap a photo of the view from my room. It already felt humid and warm out despite the early morning.

First destination for the day was Shark’s Cove for a snorkel. Someone from the group had picked up the snorkel rentals from Snorkel Bob’s the day before. Shark’s Cove is very rocky, so it is a good idea to bring water shoes. The water is rough close to the shore, but once you swim further out, it calms down. This is a good spot to see lots of different coloured fish. We also picked up spam musubi from Musubi Cafe Iyasume before heading out and ate it at Shark’s Cove. The bacon + avocado spam musubi was my favourite!

On the way to Shark’s Cove, we had driven past the Dole Plantation, so we headed back in that direction to stop for their pineapple soft serve (dairy-free). It was tasty, but the portion was way too big for me to finish on my own. The Dole Plantation also offers tours, but we did not join.

Next, we headed to Ko Olina Lagoons and spent the rest of the afternoon by the beach – relaxing and swimming. Ko Olina are man-made lagoons in a resort area of Honolulu. Some of the lagoons are private, but there are a few that are public (like the one we went to – Ko Olina Lagoon 4). There is limited free parking. A paid parking option is at the Ko Olina Marina ($22USD/day).

For the evening, we were headed to a Lu’au. So we headed back to the hotel to freshen up and then drove to Aloha Kai Lu’au. Aloha Kai is a sealife park during the day and the lu’au ticket also includes a visit to the sealife park (great option for families!). A lu’au is a Hawaiian feast/party with traditional music, arts and crafts, and tasty food and drinks. The central dish of any lu’au is the roasted pig, which is cooked in an underground oven. I also tried poi, a mashed taro dish that is a staple to Polynesian culture. I found this poi a bit bland (but the poi that I will eventually have the next morning was much better – more on that on Day 2!). There was a great selection of food at the lu’au and it was a great experience.