Hawai’i 2025

February 1, 2025

Hawai’i was definitely not a place that was on the bucket list, we find ourselves mostly booking European adventures due to the proximity, the fact that I have now deemed that I will not do trips with layovers (that didn’t last long), and the price is generally cheaper to get us abroad.  Well when we were searching for our next trip, round trip flights to Honolulu popped up for $300, so why not!

We had a pretty uneventful flight from CLT to LA, with just a 60 minute layover, thankfully our gates were right by each other so there was no need to navigate an unknown airport.  Apparently they overbooked our LA to Honolulu flight so they were offering travel credits up to $1150, Nick tried to convince me to change, but I knew that we already had plans for the morning and I didn’t want to entertain trying to navigate getting to to a hotel in LA and then back to the airport, so we stuck to our scheduled plans, maybe another time!

We arrived into the Honolulu airport around 11:00 pm, exhausted, we navigated our way to find our tiny Ford Fiesta, renting through Turo this time proved to be the most cost effective option.  Our hotel was about a 30 minute drive from the airport, Lotus at Diamond Head is tucked away in the eastern part of Waikiki, away from the hustle and bustle of city.  We were welcomed with a little welcome drink (a shot of juice) and cold lavender towels, very much appreciated after the long day of flying.  Unbeknownst to Nick, I might have told them that we were here celebrating his birthday (it’s only two months away) so they also welcomed us with a bottle of wine and lovely note wishing him a happy 45th birthday.

We made our way to our room, crashing quickly as we had an early morning.  

February 2, 2025

This morning we had reservations at the Hanauma Bay State Park, where they have 7 different snorkeling spots.  They only release a certain number of tickets two days before, so we were excited when we were able to snag some for the 8:20 am ticketed time slot.  Grabbing coffee and scones on the way, we made our way to the park to find a queue, which I was told went pretty fast, it was more of a situation of hurry up and wait.  Once we finished our intro session, we walked down to the beach, found a nice area next to the lifeguard stand and suited up to make our way into the chilly water.  When coming to Hawaii i figured the water would be like the Caribbean, nice and warm, like bath water, not the case, and Nick quickly reminded me that it was February.  

We saw some of the most beautiful, exotic, largest fish that we have ever seen before.  We did not see a lot, but they were certainly some of the biggest!  We spent the morning relaxing on the beach, more snorkeling and just enjoying the views of the bay, which were spectacular, before packing up and making our way to Kona Brewing for lunch and beers.  We sat Oceanside, but unfortunately it wasn’t as glamourous as you’d anticipate, apparently the day prior they had a major storm that rolled through, cutting out power, and flooding the restaurant, so the water was pretty murky, but none the less our burgers and beer were enjoyed after a morning full of snorkeling.

After lunch we made our way to Sandy Beach, which was recommended by our flight attendant, on the way there we made several stops along the coast to enjoy the views.  Sandy Beach is known for its big waves, so we were able to enjoy time sitting back and watch surfers, and there were a lot of them. 

With no plans for the afternoon/evening, we made our way back to the hotel for a quick nap, showered and then made our way to out to explore Waikiki, we walked along the path along the coast, through parks which were littered with tons of people enjoying their Sunday Fundays, enjoying picnics in the park.  Once in Waikiki, we grabbed a coffee, sat in the park and watched the beautiful sunset before making our way over to a nearby restaurant that Nick found on Yelp, known for their Ramen.  It was nice, we sat outside, and Ramen was definitely needed this evening, although the temps were good, the breeze made for a chilly evening that I was not expecting.