Oahu & The Big Island—May 2006

Definitely see the following on your trip to Oahu:
- The North Shore
- The Dole Plantation
- Hanauma Bay
- The International Marketplace

If you get a chance to go to The Big Island, go to the Hilo side to see Volcanoes National Park. Inside, you will see Mauna Loa and Kilauea. The Kilauea Caldera is a must-see!

Quick Tips:

1.) Save all your receipts from the ABC stores to get free merchandise

2.) Coupons for almost every restaurant are easily found in free magazines and restaurants are used to accepting them all the time…so don't be embarrassed about using them. Some can save you to for two people…or there are 10 to 25% off coupons!

3.) Snorkel tours to Hanauma Bay are typically /pp—plus the park entrance fee. Some may cost . Hotels typically charge to for the same tours. Go with any vendor you find in an advertisement...they provide round-trip shuttle service and equipment rental (even beach mats at some)just like the hotel-arranged tours.

Best Way To Get Around:

Take "The Bus" for anywhere on Oahu. Be sure to get a transfer from the driver when you pay your fare. This enables you to make a stop of 2 to 3 hours and get back on the bus without paying again.

If you want to buy souvenirs, go to Hilo Hattie's on their free shuttle. It's a good way to see all of downtown Waikiki for free before heading over to the mega store. On your way back, they will even drop you off at Aloha Tower Marketplace or Ala Moana Shopping Center. They won't, unfortunately, pick up from those places. However, there are stops for The Bus at both!

The Hilton Hawaiian Village is a hotel to visit if you want everything in one place. I would recommend this hotel for families and older couples. There were plenty of activities for kids at the hotel, like lei making. I would not necessarily recommend the hotel to honeymooners, as there are much more romantic hotels in Waikiki.

On this visit, we stayed in the Tapa Tower Room 3548, which is on the top floor of the Tapa Tower. We got a "Full Ocean View" room, which did allow for a full view of the ocean if you stood on the balcony and looked left. Directly in front of us on the balcony was a view of the city. To the right was a view of the mountains. The room was a nice size and had luxury bath items such as Crabtree & Evelyn soaps and lotion. Mouthwash was also provided. The bed linens were very comfortable. The cleaning staff did a good job of cleaning the bathroom, emptying the trashes and making the bed. It does not appear that they vacuumed daily. I did leave a daily tip in the amount of $3 to $5, depending on what I had in my wallet at the time. The cleaning staff appeared to appreciate that, and often left extra bottles of lotion or conditioner for me to use.

The shops in the hotel were fairly overpriced, as evidenced by a 7-ounce bag of Kona coffee, priced at $30 versus the same bag sold at Hilo Hattie's for $18.

One thing to note: the hotel charges $50 per day for the rental of two beach chairs, towels, and an umbrella. You can get these for about $25 a week at any local rental spot, like Snorkel Bob's.

If you want towels only for the pool, they are free but must be registered at the hotel pool. Towels must be returned by 5:30pm, or you will incur a room charge of $10.

One bonus of HHV is that there is a convenient tour pickup area by the Tapa Tower. Tours booked through the hotel or other vendors all pick up here, so you are less likely to struggle to find your pickup spot than at some other hotels.

Overall, I recommend the hotel, but that said, I will likely not stay here again. The hotel was nice, but not our flavor. They do everything they can to get you to do everything at their hotel…when you should really be renting a car and touring the island or at least booking a tour outside of the hotel. Nice amenities, but if you like to explore, stay somewhere closer in town like the Waikiki Beach Marriott, the Sheraton or the Royal Hawaiian.

Tanaka of Tokyo West is located in lobby level of The Renaissance Ilikai Waikiki. This is a Japanese Teppanyaki steakhouse…and I must say it is one of the best. On my first trip to Hawaii I went to one of the other locations and dreamed about returning. Due to this location's proximity to the Hilton Hawaiian Village, we decided to give it a try on this trip. I must say, I am glad we did. We actually went twice during our trip. The food is superb. On the first night, I ordered Filet Mignon and my husband ordered a Ribeye. All entrees come with a small shrimp appetizer, side salad, miso soup, and ice cream for dessert. White rice comes with your meal, but fried rice is only $3 extra. We were very satisfied with our garlic-heavy meal. The cook (Chris) was very amusing, and kept us entertained with his excellent cooking skills and wit.

The second time we went to Tanaka on this trip, we had a waiter named Kade who was sweet enough to buy us two glasses of champagne to celebrate our anniversary. He also had the waiters come by after our meal to sing for us.

Our cook this night was as entertaining as the previous night. I wish I could remember his name, but it escapes me. Chris remembered us from two nights prior, and stopped by to say hello to us. The second night we ordered way too much food, but it was fantastic. I ordered a full shrimp appetizer in addition to what you get with your meal, fried rice and filet mignon. My husband ordered ahi sashimi (excellent) and the large Ribeye. I recommend searching for coupons to Tanaka, if you are not shy. It is easy to find a 25%-off second entree coupon in any of the free magazines you find throughout Waikiki. The best deal, however, is the coupon you get from Hilo Hattie's or the Entertainment book. If you spend $100 at Hilo Hattie's you get a sheet of coupons. The one included for Tanaka is a buy-one, get-one free coupon. That saves you up to $22—a real bargain. The first night, our bill was about $53 before tip, and the second night our bill was about $90 before tip.

My only wish is that there was a Tanaka in Illinois!

After a glorious day basking in the sun at Waimea Bay, we searched for one of two Frommer's recommended shrimp trucks. We passed many others along the way. Giovanni's was the original, but since we came to Kahuku Famous Shrimp Truck first, we stopped to try it out.

Let me first say that I am not one for adventure when it comes to food. I am extremely picky about what I put in my mouth, and I am a bit of a germophobe. That said, when we came across this grafitti-stewn shrimp truck on the highway, my first instinct was to "keep on down, keep on down the ro--oooad." My husband and two new friends we met from Ireland were starving...so we stopped even with my reservations. I am so glad we did.

For $10, you get a healthy sized portion of shrimp (15 pieces) and sides of macaroni salad and white rice. I don't care for macaroni salad, so I chose two portions of rice. I ordered the garlic butter shrimp. My husband ordered the hot & spicy shrimp. Our traveling buddies ordered the garlic butter shrimp and the tempura-fried shrimp. We were all more than satisfied with our orders. My husband was a bit disappointed with the amountg of heat the shrimp actually packed, as the Frommer's guide said it was very hot and spicy, but we're used to really hot foods, so this didn't come close. I guess Frommer's is more for the mild palate people. We're definitely more IgoUgo folk! I loved the garlic butter shrimp. It had heaps of garlic and just melted in my mouth. The one drawback to all the shrimp except the fried was that it was unpeeled. That made for a huge mess that was easily cleaned by a little water from the owner's Gatorade jug and a few napkins. Soda comes in cans and you can purchase ice-cold ones for a buck each. Not a bad meal for $11, huh?

Perhaps the best part of the whole experience was that we were able to see that the grafitti on the truck was actually signatures of those who had visited the truck before. We added our names to the tarp that covered the seating area, as the truck was wet from the rain.

Next time, we will try Giovanni's just for the experience. But we will always remember our first shrimp truck experience!

We took a day trip from Oahu to the Big Island. We booked it through our hotel at a whopping $302/pp. We could get it through other travel agencies for about $50 less per person, but we did not want to leave anything to chance, as we only had one day to spend there. The package price included hotel pickup, airfare from Honolulu to Hilo, and an all-day tour of Volcanoes National Park.

This activity was the highlight of our trip to Hawaii. While the tour operator, Steve, had the most monotone voice you could ever imagine, he did have a lot of knowledge to impart.

The best part of Volcanoes National Park is seeing the Kilauea Caldera. It actually looks like you are walking on another planet. The terrain is unlike anything I have ever seen, and steam rises from the ground so fervently it is like getting a facial. The only drawback is that the steam coming from the crater smells intensely like sulfur. If you have any respiratory problems, bring an inhaler and possibly even a face mask like doctor's use. I have mild asthma, and it made it hard for me to breathe. Still, I would not miss it.

The other awesome sight was the coastline where lava was actually flowing directly into the ocean and creating the world's newest land right in front of our eyes. The only problem was that torrential rain made it impossible to take a photograph and we actually had to turn back because we were soaked to the bone.

There are campsites available within the park, so if you are staying on The Big Island, I would recommend staying within the park campgrounds a couple days just to see more of the park.

While there, we saw Hawaii's national bird, the Nene, which we were told was highly endangered (only about 1000 left). It was certainly interesting to see how much it resembled the Canadian Goose.

All in all, an amazing activity. I highly recommend you see this at least once in your life!

The Dole Plantation was one of my favorite stops on my recent trip to Hawaii.

Activities at the plantation range from a plantation tour to the Guinness Book of World Records maze.

Who knew pineapples were so beautiful? I did, but I am a pineapple-lover. If you want to appreciate the pineapple as much as I do, take a tour of the Dole Plantation. There are so many varieties of pineapple, but I prefer the sweet kind largely produced in the Philippines.

The Dole Plantation is one of the few remaining pineapple plantations in the United States, as much of the world's pineapple now comes from parts of Asia, the Philippines, and other tropical regions.

Famous at the Dole Plantation are the Dole Whips, pineapple-flavored ice-cream-like concoctions that cost about $3. I highly recommend getting yours in a waffle cone, as I am a big fan. My husband and I shared one and had plenty left over.

While I didn't complete the maze, I recommend you try it out. Adults and kids alike seemed to have a lot of fun finding their way out of it!

One interesting and fun activity for the family is feeding the koi in the pond at the plantation. For 50¢ you can buy feed from a machine. The koi go into a feeding frenzy when you drop the granules into the water. My only hope is that these fish are not overfed.

All in all, the Dole Plantation put a big smile on my face. I was very happy to finally make it there! I highly recommend it.

When the lava meets the ocean, a furious boiling of the water occurs, causing steam to rise. At the same time, Earth's newest land is formed.

One of the most brilliant and breathtaking sights is seeing the relationship the angry lava has with the ocean. The land formed by the passion of the two opposites is often unlike any other.

It has occurred to me that little is mentioned about the sheer politeness of the Hawaiian locals. I wanted to be sure to say that my experience has been nothing but pleasant when dealing with waiters, merchants, and even taxicab drivers.

Perhaps it is the laidback culture that is driving this refreshingly nice attitude in the locals. Maybe living so close to the beach or the ocean has a positive effect on everyone's attitude. I am not sure what it is, but I wish it would rub off on the tourists that visit Hawaii. That way, when we mainlanders return from our vacation we will be just a little kinder and more thoughtful when encountering our fellow man.

My spirits are lifted just thinking about the interactions I have had with Hawaiian locals. The Aloha Spirit really does live on!