One of the more reasonable hotels in Waikki is the Queen Kapiolani, named after the wife of the last king of Hawaii, offered a sensational view. One side had the beach and the sunset; on another side Waikiki and Honolulu. Just outside the hotel, Diamond Head, a 760-foot volcano extinct for 150,000 years was in view. Diamond Head received its name from English sailors who mistook calcite crystals in the rock for diamonds. A part of the Honolulu Volcano Series, the volcanoes created Oahu and many other landmarks such as Koko Head and Hanauma Bay.
Diamond Head
Ride a bus to the foot of Diamond Head. After a short walk to the crater, walk through a 580-foot tunnel that passed through the crater wall. Then hike nearly two miles winding to the summit. Most of the hike occurrs in the blazing sun, except for a 225-foot tunnel near the top. The tunnel and a flight of ninety-nine stairs reaches the fort along the volcano rim that the military used to spot targets on the Pacific. From the top, one can see Waikiki, Honolulu, the Eastern Shore and the Hawaiian mountain range from our vantage point. Breath-taking.
Waikiki Beach
On the Waikiki Beach, visit Duke's Canoe Club. Located on Kalakaua Avenue, patrons can access the bar/restaurant from the street or the beach. The koa paneling and bamboo wall holds an assortment of Waikiki memorabilia from outrigger canoes to a modern progression of surfboards to pictures of Duke with various celebrities including Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio. Usually crowded, visitors must wait for table or seat at the bar. The bartenders, quick with jokes and conversation, flip glasses in the air, while making tropical concoctions. Sit at the Barefoot Bar with Lava Flows, Dig Me Daquiris or a Tropical Itch and delicious appetizers like beach fries and crab and macadamia nut wantons with mustard plum sauce.
Also on Kalakaua Avenue, walk up to the Tiki Bar & Grill on the second floor of the ResortQuest Waikiki Beach Hotel. Quite the opposite of Duke’s, the Tiki Bar & Grill, when we visited in the afternoon had a sparse crowd, but after walking the crowded streets along Kalakaua, we welcomed the serenity. The Tiki Bar's drink menu included drinks such as the Greg Brady Wipeout, so named after the Brady Bunch's infamous Hawaiian vacation, the Waikiki Moonlight, the Screaming Tiki and the Lotus Lycheetini.
In Hawaii, visitors must experience a luau. Try Paradise Cove, west of Honolulu. The luau has a number of activities including spear throwing, and lea making. The main show is very entertaining, but a bit commercial. The food was a buffet style.
In you like a seafood buffet, hit the Oceanarium Restaurant in the Pacific Beach Hotel on Kalakaua Avenue. The restaurant features a two-story aquarium filled with tropical fish, octopuses, sharks and sting rays. With a mass array of good food, the aquarium watching leaves one with a peaceful, serine feeling. An added bonus, a diver climbed into the tank and fed the sea life. Fish surrounded her and fed them and tucked pieces of fish into little nooks and crannies for the less aggressive fish. Also, a few buildings from the Queen Kapiolani stands Teddy’s Bigger Burger. USA Today named Teddy’s as one of the top ten burger joints in America.
Hanauma Bay
Up the road from the Queen Kapiolani is Hanauma Bay, actually the crater of a volcano that resides partially below the surface of the Pacific. The bay is one of the premiere snorkeling areas in the world. There’s triggerfish, tang, surgeonfish, parrotfish, goatfish and sea urchins as well as other sea creatures.
The Ko’oaus Mountains and Lost
Drive outside of Honolulu to the base of the Ko'oaus Mountains and entered a lush tropical forest of the Manoa Trail Falls. Banyan and banana trees create a darkening canopy. Vines slithered up the trees and across the ground. There’s giant lobster claw bird of paradise and shampoo ginger. At the first, you can manage the mile-long trail without problems, but the path becomes steeper, muddier, and narrower. Midway through the adventure, a forest appears. This is where the opening scene from Lost was filmed. Jack wakes up and runs out of the bamboo forest onto the beach where the plane crashed. The beach, however, he ran to is about thirty miles away. The magic of television.
The falls dropped spectacularly down hundreds feet of the rocky terrain in two separate cascades. Trekkers can see both sets of falls from a distance, but from right beneath them they can only see the lower falls. The guidebooks warn people not to drink or swim in the water due to bad bacteria. After the walk back from the falls, gorge yourself at one of the fine restaurants. You earned it.
Sources
Doughty, Andrew. Oahu Revealed: The Ultimate Guide to Honolulu, Waikki & Beyond. Second Ed. Lihu’e, HI: Wizard Publications, Inc, 2007.
Terry Pruyne - I wrote for my high school and college newspapers on my way to teaching degrees in English and History. Later, I received a Masters Degree ...
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