Last August, one whole year ago exactly, my cousin, Cynthia, and I FINALLY got our chance to go to Waikiki together. By finally, I mean we’ve been wanting to do this ever since we can remember. Our moms went together when they were younger than us and it’s been a dream of ours to do the same thing one day!
Cynthia arranged the hotel and transportation, I arranged the flight and activities when we got there and we had one the best trips to Waikiki ever (may I suggest you check out this playlist while you read this post? It’s the only way you’ll get the full experience 😉 )
WHERE WE STAYED
We stayed the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort – my favourite hotel! When Greg and I got married, our whole family, and then some, stayed there. We had the best experience and we’ve just decided that this is our hotel of choice now! The rooms are beautiful and up to date and the staff is so friendly and helpful. It sits right on the beach and is very central to shops and restaurants.
WHAT WE DID
We arrived late Tuesday night so we hit the hay immediately after we got into our room. But we were up early Wednesday morning to have breakfast and catch a shuttle bus over to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet and Marketplace. This is a bit of a polarizing attraction – you either love it or you hate it. I personally love shopping at the swap meet – over the years, I have found so many things to bring home that I still use to this day. If you take your time, really watch prices and don’t buy the first thing you see, you can find all sorts of things for a great deal! Fun fact – my toe ring – the same one I refused to take off when I was being wheeled in for a c-section! – came from here OVER 10 YEARS AGO (ya, there was no way I was letting anyone take it or heaven forbid, CUT it off for that surgery…). After we got back to the hotel, we headed to Enterprise, which was/is convenitely located at our hotel, to arrange a car rental for the next two days.
Thursday and Friday were spent touring around the island. Thursday, we hit up the Lanai Lookout, Halona Blowhole, Waimanalo Bay Beach and stopped in Kailua for some shopping at Target and Sand People and Sand Kids. Then we made our way to Tropical Farms Macadamia Nut Farm for nuts and coffee, Kualoa Regional Park to see Mokoli’i (Chinaman’s Hat) and finally made it to Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck for lunch (a MUST DO!). We ended our day in Haleiwa for some more shopping at The Growing Keiki and HegreaterthanI and some of the best lemonade around at Wow Wow Lemonade (try the Lava Flow Lemonade or the Pina Colada Lemonade).
Friday, we got our car a little later in morning since there wasn’t as much we needed to do. We made our way to the Dole Pineapple Plantation, ripped through the Pineapple Garden Maze and ate Dole Whip for lunch (and then stopped for more lemonade in Wahiawa on the way back!). We pulled into Ala Moana Shopping Centre for a little bit and made it home in time for dinner and to watch the fireworks at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Another fun fact – Greg and I got married on a Friday at the Hilton so the fireworks were a part of our reception!
Saturday was spent relaxing and walking around Waikiki while we waited for 4 pm to roll around so we could hop on a bus and experience Paradise Cove Luau. I’ve been to this luau before and we toyed with the idea of doing a different one but we were both super happy that we decided on Paradise Cove. We chose the Orchid Package – this is great for people who want to be in the action, just not a part of it (we are totally the same in this way!). We had middle seating at the end of our table with almost no one impeding our view of the show after dinner. It was great! We got back to our hotel around 9:30 – 10 pm and we were exhausted!
Mai Tai Catamaran
Before we left on our trip, I found and bought a Groupon for the Mai Tai Catamaran on a smokin’ deal, so on Sunday, that’s what we did! This is a must do, even if it’s not with this particular company (there are a couple other boats right on Waikiki as well). It’s only a couple hours from start to finish and worth the afternoon spent out on the ocean.
We finally had a totally open day on Monday, so we spent it at the pool and gathering up last minute gifts to bring back home and got around to the dreaded packing – good thing Cynth bought a luggage scale since we both would have been hooped at the airport.
WHERE WE ATE
In no particular order, here’s where we went to eat:
- Kani Ka Pila Grille – for breakfast and dinner
- Shorebird Bar and Grill (which is now The Reef Bar and Market Grill) – for breakfast and dinner
- Duke’s – for their breakfast buffet
- Yardhouse
- Cheeseburger on Beachwalk
- Royal Hawaiian Shopping Centre food court for a couple lunches
- Eggs N’ Things
- Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck
- Wow Wow Lemonade Stand
- all the chocolate macadamia nuts we possibly could from the ABC Store
While we didn’t get to some of the major tourist stops, like Pearl Harbour, Polynesian Cultural Centre or Sea Life Park, we both so enjoyed just taking it slow each day and not having a lot planned. It was nice to not rush around to get to the next place by a certain time or have to get up at the crack of dawn to make a shuttle bus somewhere. And as Cynthia says “it’s a great excuse to come back!” so ya, needless to say, the two of us will be going again!
Golden Hour Life 
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