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TRDood · 09-11-2011, 03:22 AM

I am sharing my experience and review of my nine day vacation in Hawaii. I hope you find this information useful in your future (or current) trip plan.

Summary:

Me and my girlfriend had an amazing vacation in Oahu and the Big Island. Waikiki, in Oahu, is surrounded by worldwide tourists, high-end shopping, and many restaurants. Think about Vegas strip but with a spectacular beach minus the casinos. On the Big Island, with 185,000 in population, essentially built by volcano rocks, is very laid back and relaxing. It really depends what your preference, for me, the highlight was on the Big Island.

Details:

I am going to share my experience in detail, by activities, food, accommodation, and some tips I hope you find helpful.

Activities in Oahu:

1. Parasailing – without specific planning, we asked the hotel concierge to help reserving parasailing. A trolley picked us up at the Waikiki hotel free of charge and brought us to the Marina side. At Xtreme Parasailing, we were greeted by friendly staff at the booth, about five groups of 2s and 3s went on a boat, and a caption and his staff brought us about 10-15 minutes away from the shore. Parasailing at about 700 feet was a new experience for both of us, nothing scary, and we are not big fans of roller coasters or heights. Air time was about 10 minutes. They offer to take pictures for you with their Canon XS at a cost of $30. You can a 2 gb SD card with about 100 pictures of your parasailing ride. We bought it and it was worth it. Cost of parasailing itself was about $60 per person. The video on their website, Japanese guy with the white shirt took our photos.

My rating: 8.5/10

Oahu Parasailing - Oahu Xtreme Parasail Tours in Oahu | 1-866-766-6284

2. Pearl Harbour – tour of US history. Tour bus picked us up at 6:00am and arrived at the Pearl Harbour site around 45 minutes later. If you like history, you will like this tour. I am not a big fan of history, and I feel that the tour guide and the tour itself communicated a one-sided story. You get to see the USS Arizona Memorial, some battleship, and a 40 minute video. I slept through it but think my gf enjoyed the tour. It ended with a city drive-by tour in Honolulu of various historical and government building, and ended up in a popular cemetery on top of a hill (Punchbowl?). The cost was $35 per person. Returned to the hotel at noon.

My rating: 6/10

Pearl Harbor Tours Oahu Memorial, Pearl Harbor Honolulu, HI

3. Germaine’s Luau – nice place about 40 minutes away from Waikiki. Tour bus picked us up at 4:30pm, there were total of six big tour buses going from Waikiki, with a tour guide in each bus. My tour guide, Aka, claims to be a pure Hawaiian, told many stories about his culture and childhood. The food was okay, never really had another Luau to compare. The show was good, could use some more fire tricks though. BRING BUG SPRAY, I had at least 10 bites eating and watching the show on the sand. Cost was $72 per person. Returned to the hotel around 10pm.

Research suggests good things about Polynesian Cultural Center, but it was quite expensive and didn’t want to waste a whole day in one area.

My rating: 7/10

Official Germaine's Luau Web site. The Original Hawaiian Luau - 'Too Good to miss.'

4. Manoa Falls – 0.8 mile moderate hike, nothing like Grouse Grind, took us about 30 minutes with no breaks. The waterfall is quite beautiful. Good way to spend your morning. Strongly recommend car rental, parking is $5 per car. Buses do go there, but do you really want to carry water, a backpack, bug spray, sunscreen, camera, etc. onto the bus and return? There’s a place for light snacks and drink, washroom, and hoses to wash the wet mud off your runners. Do not wear flip flops, you need to hike up AND down the wet trails.

Google your own pics

My rating: 9/10

5. Surfing – North Shore Surf Girls do not have an actual store, Coral meets you with her old school blue Mercedes Benz coupe 300CD behind a 76 gas station next to Blue Wave shrimp truck. The lesson had four of us, she brought us to a surfing beach that was not crowded. From there, we met Jessica and she instructed surfing basics. Coral and Jessica led us to the waves. In the 2 hour lesson, I was able to stand up after the second wave, pretty fun stuff. Gf stood up in her first wave. Cost was $75 per person. Mara helps Coral and Jessica take pictures of her lessons, where she burns a DVD for you on the spot, pictures per person cost $30, but she gave us a $45 deal for me and my gf. Semi-professional photos with a Canon XSi and one of those long, huge lens.

My rating: 10/10

Hawaii surfing lessons

6. Stand up Paddling – Rainbow Watersports claims to only offer stand up paddling lessons, as opposed to other competitors doing surfing, diving, and other things together. Jodie, the instructor and guide, was very friendly. The $80 per person lesson supposed to have 3+ people in total, but there were only 2 of us, same as a private lesson. Stand up paddling is not very hard at all, it was quite relaxing and fun for both of us even after surfing for 2 hours. Great way to spend the late afternoon and into sunset starting from the beach salt water and into a calm river. We saw a couple sea turtles, they swim into the river to rest in the evening. Jodie brought a camera to help us take pictures, free of charge. Rainbow Watersports operates from an old van, just near the park, steps away from the North Shore Surf Girls meet up place.

Sorry no pics available

My rating: 9.5/10

STAND UP PADDLE LESSONS - North Shore - Oahu - Hawaii - Rainbow Watersports Adventures

Hope the above is informative, stay tuned for more, it's getting late.

09-11-2011, 03:22 AM	#53
TRDood I answer every Emotion with an emoticon Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: V Posts: 7,849 Thanked 656 Times in 326 Posts Failed 190 Times in 91 Posts	I am sharing my experience and review of my nine day vacation in Hawaii. I hope you find this information useful in your future (or current) trip plan. Summary: Me and my girlfriend had an amazing vacation in Oahu and the Big Island. Waikiki, in Oahu, is surrounded by worldwide tourists, high-end shopping, and many restaurants. Think about Vegas strip but with a spectacular beach minus the casinos. On the Big Island, with 185,000 in population, essentially built by volcano rocks, is very laid back and relaxing. It really depends what your preference, for me, the highlight was on the Big Island. Details: I am going to share my experience in detail, by activities, food, accommodation, and some tips I hope you find helpful. Activities in Oahu: 1. Parasailing – without specific planning, we asked the hotel concierge to help reserving parasailing. A trolley picked us up at the Waikiki hotel free of charge and brought us to the Marina side. At Xtreme Parasailing, we were greeted by friendly staff at the booth, about five groups of 2s and 3s went on a boat, and a caption and his staff brought us about 10-15 minutes away from the shore. Parasailing at about 700 feet was a new experience for both of us, nothing scary, and we are not big fans of roller coasters or heights. Air time was about 10 minutes. They offer to take pictures for you with their Canon XS at a cost of $30. You can a 2 gb SD card with about 100 pictures of your parasailing ride. We bought it and it was worth it. Cost of parasailing itself was about $60 per person. The video on their website, Japanese guy with the white shirt took our photos. My rating: 8.5/10 Oahu Parasailing - Oahu Xtreme Parasail Tours in Oahu \| 1-866-766-6284 2. Pearl Harbour – tour of US history. Tour bus picked us up at 6:00am and arrived at the Pearl Harbour site around 45 minutes later. If you like history, you will like this tour. I am not a big fan of history, and I feel that the tour guide and the tour itself communicated a one-sided story. You get to see the USS Arizona Memorial, some battleship, and a 40 minute video. I slept through it but think my gf enjoyed the tour. It ended with a city drive-by tour in Honolulu of various historical and government building, and ended up in a popular cemetery on top of a hill (Punchbowl?). The cost was $35 per person. Returned to the hotel at noon. My rating: 6/10 Pearl Harbor Tours Oahu Memorial, Pearl Harbor Honolulu, HI 3. Germaine’s Luau – nice place about 40 minutes away from Waikiki. Tour bus picked us up at 4:30pm, there were total of six big tour buses going from Waikiki, with a tour guide in each bus. My tour guide, Aka, claims to be a pure Hawaiian, told many stories about his culture and childhood. The food was okay, never really had another Luau to compare. The show was good, could use some more fire tricks though. BRING BUG SPRAY, I had at least 10 bites eating and watching the show on the sand. Cost was $72 per person. Returned to the hotel around 10pm. Research suggests good things about Polynesian Cultural Center, but it was quite expensive and didn’t want to waste a whole day in one area. My rating: 7/10 Official Germaine's Luau Web site. The Original Hawaiian Luau - 'Too Good to miss.' 4. Manoa Falls – 0.8 mile moderate hike, nothing like Grouse Grind, took us about 30 minutes with no breaks. The waterfall is quite beautiful. Good way to spend your morning. Strongly recommend car rental, parking is $5 per car. Buses do go there, but do you really want to carry water, a backpack, bug spray, sunscreen, camera, etc. onto the bus and return? There’s a place for light snacks and drink, washroom, and hoses to wash the wet mud off your runners. Do not wear flip flops, you need to hike up AND down the wet trails. Google your own pics My rating: 9/10 5. Surfing – North Shore Surf Girls do not have an actual store, Coral meets you with her old school blue Mercedes Benz coupe 300CD behind a 76 gas station next to Blue Wave shrimp truck. The lesson had four of us, she brought us to a surfing beach that was not crowded. From there, we met Jessica and she instructed surfing basics. Coral and Jessica led us to the waves. In the 2 hour lesson, I was able to stand up after the second wave, pretty fun stuff. Gf stood up in her first wave. Cost was $75 per person. Mara helps Coral and Jessica take pictures of her lessons, where she burns a DVD for you on the spot, pictures per person cost $30, but she gave us a $45 deal for me and my gf. Semi-professional photos with a Canon XSi and one of those long, huge lens. My rating: 10/10 Hawaii surfing lessons 6. Stand up Paddling – Rainbow Watersports claims to only offer stand up paddling lessons, as opposed to other competitors doing surfing, diving, and other things together. Jodie, the instructor and guide, was very friendly. The $80 per person lesson supposed to have 3+ people in total, but there were only 2 of us, same as a private lesson. Stand up paddling is not very hard at all, it was quite relaxing and fun for both of us even after surfing for 2 hours. Great way to spend the late afternoon and into sunset starting from the beach salt water and into a calm river. We saw a couple sea turtles, they swim into the river to rest in the evening. Jodie brought a camera to help us take pictures, free of charge. Rainbow Watersports operates from an old van, just near the park, steps away from the North Shore Surf Girls meet up place. Sorry no pics available My rating: 9.5/10 STAND UP PADDLE LESSONS - North Shore - Oahu - Hawaii - Rainbow Watersports Adventures Hope the above is informative, stay tuned for more, it's getting late.