TRIP REPORT: Before the Trip - i went to Ralphs, Western Kosher, and Schwartz's Bakery in LA and loaded up a full suitcase of food. - snacks, meat, cheese…..
Tuesday - Good start - i got upgraded to business on AA from LAX. Made sure to get a window seat so that when i land i can see the beautiful view and take some nice pics. it was an AMAZING view. Clear blue water and quarrels etc…
Picked up my Genesis at Hertz for the week rented with 2500 points. Went to Chabad to arrange the apt we rented from them and headed straight to Manoa Falls - i will list what we did in order
TuesdayManoa Falls - 20 min drive from Waikiki. A real nice hike especially when its drizzling a bit which happens often. and if it does it'll be a nice falls. Recommendable to wear shorts or a bathing suit while hiking the 30 min up because u may get all dirty from mud. If you wanna be crazy like us you can bring a towel and jump into the water (u have to go over the Do Not Enter line) and see the falls from up close. If you have a waterproof camera like we did then id say bring that over an SLR on this hike. - about 15 min hike down
Waikiki Beach - A really nice view of Honolulu buildings and a beautiful place to watch Sunset. the sand isn't so nice, its quite rocky, and the water was cold and full of rocks and we cut our feet going in. Bring Goggles and u may be able to see some colorful fish as well. Then just drove around, got the feeling of the place and went to Walmart, got a 2 one-time use grills for $2 each and had a nice BBQ at the end of Waikiki Beach where theres a small park on the water.
Wednesday - Went to the Minyan at Chabad at 8am and started our journey to the other end of the island - big day ahead:
Kane'ohe - Drove down the Pali Highway, stopped at some Beautiful view points to take pics, and continued to the most beautiful and blue water beach I've ever seen. Went to a nearby store to rent a boogie board for $12 for 4 hours but the waves were shvach and we just hung out in the sand and hot sun amazed at the color of the water.
Lanikai - a few min down the road from Kane'ohe is a connecting beach which is VERY nice as well, and its quiet (at least when we went)
North Shore - then started hour and half drive to the north. we stopped at a few diff View points -
Chinaman's Hat - by a really nice park off the highway. you can't miss it.
and another place that had some nice decent waves. and a natural hole in the a big rock.
Waipio beach - very nice place to watch some waves usually - by us the water was still.
Banzai Pipline - we only saw 3 ft waves
we came a week too late but we saw a nice sunset. then drove back down to Honolulu/Waikiki area
Waikiki Park - 2nd night in a row, went to walmart to pick up $2 grills and made a nice BBQ - before the fast!!
Thursday - Taanis Esther - Pearl Harbor - After the minyan Shachris at Chabad we went straight to Pearl Harbor which is about 30 min away from Chabad. it took a few minutes to find parking because it was packed. I would recommend to prob book tickets in advance if u want to go straight in. We only did the big Missouri Battleship boat -$22 and didn't have to wait for that. it was really nice. We got so carried away that we did realize there was the whole bottom of the boat which is more interesting and we ran to do that and catch the next bus back to the main site. - We then went to the Arizona Memorial, - FREE- and you watch a video before which is really nice and explains everything.
Chinatown - while driving out of PH someone told me that he saw Hawaii Five 0 shooting in china town, so we went down there and watched some live scenes which were pretty cool to see - especially for a fan of that show
Diamond Head - $5 entry per car and we started the trek up without water since it was a fast day! - Thank Gd it wasn't too hot, and it drizzled so we didn't dehydrate. it takes about 35 min to climb up or so and shorter to go down. It SO worth it. Amazing views from up there - you can see the whole waikiki and hononlulu + more. Then headed to airport to drop off a friend that we met and stopped by Hertz since we were board of our car and got a Buick Lacrosse. (and extra gas
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Friday - Drove down towards south
Hanaumau Bay - $1 parking / $7 Entry to bay / and you can rent snorkel gear at the beach. we got the Full package for $12 and they take CC . Unbelievable Snorkeling. the whole way down to the bay it was drizzling. when we got there we took some nice pics (despite the grey clouds) and we decided to go in to snorkel even though it was grey day. While entering the sun cleared to Blue, until we got out and then started raining again! - Before entering everyone must watch a 7 min video for safety. The water was a bit wavy so the fish weren't stable but there were still plenty of beautiful reefs…
Koko Head - Crazy Hike. make sure you are in shape for this one. - we asked the attendant at Hanauma Bay how to get there and she said she is not at liberty to say since its not an official Hike but many ppl do it. - its a few minutes away from the Bay and it looks easier then it is. its hundreds of steps to climb till the peak. took us 40 min (incl. stopping to rest a bit) but the View is Gorgeous ! make sure to take at least a big bottle or 2 small bottles with you. and DONT go if its raining or drizzling. you can slip and…..Anyways, the way down started drizzling so we quickly - safely left the peak and it stopped half way down. took about 20 min the way down.
Halona Blow Hole - a bit further down the road (btw that road is gorgeous to drive down) is a blow hole where the waves hit the rocks and on one of them theres a hole so it shoots the water up. pretty cool. Then we zipped back to Chabad to get ready for Shabbos!
Friday Night - was very nice. Friday night meal at Chabad with singing and lots of Lchaim with all the young energized Israelis (and us
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Shabbos - also nice. had a meal at chabad with singing and lchaim.
Motzei Shabbos - Purim - We had a great party for all the Israelis that live there (or selling dead sea products at the malls) and there was plenty of food, drinks and Lchaim
Sunday - PURIM day - A bit hungover from the night before we got up and went for Round 2! Made some Lchaim mixes and headed out to the Massive mall across from Chabad (biggest outdoor mall in America) to find Israelis, put teffilin on them and Bring the happiness of the Chag to them with drinks, graggers, and costumes. - then Came back to chabad to help set up for the party which was more family oriented.
Monday - Went to the airport on the way to the H3 highway and swapped for a convertible
H3 Highway - A really Beautiful Highway that crosses over to the other side of Ohau. Amazing Views of mountains and the Blue Water from far.
Pali Lookout - A really nice lookout thats worth the 25 min drive from Waikiki to see. $3 parking fee. We went on a really Windy day so be careful that your hats, kippas don't fly away or that you don't when u stand on the ledge to take a pic (like i did!) Drove back on Pali Highway which is also very nice, and headed to the Airport -
Make sure you fly out of Oahu in the day and take a window seat. The view of Honolulu and the Water is the coolest view I've ever seen - clear turquoise and Blue water - Breathtaking!
Such an awesome time we had, now to The Big Island for a crazier experience
See that thread for the TR.
