Roger & I have just spent a lovely week relaxing on beautiful Waikiki Beach to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. Qantas has just recommenced flying directly from Melbourne to Honolulu after a 17-year hiatus and the times are super convenient; In approx. 11 hours you are there.
Waikiki is a beautiful beach with soft white sand, crystal clear water that is almost like a bath, it’s so warm and you can do many water activities or do nothing, like we did! Every day was at least 27 degrees and no lower than 23 at night.. May is perfect as there were no flies or mosquitoes (not that they have all that many normally). You can also easily head off the outer islands and explore beyond Oahu to Maui, Hawaii or Kauai or take a lovely 7 night cruise from Honolulu with Norwegian Cruise Lines onboard Pride of America which visits all the outer islands and is great value for money.
We visited Pearl Harbor which incorporates many key sites & museums, so you do need to allow almost a whole day there. The USS Arizona memorial is built on top of the USS Arizona sunken battleship bombed by the Japanese in December 1941, which led to the Americans joining World War 2. It is a very moving experience, as it is the final resting place of over 900 officers & crew and is a respected war cemetery site.
Another day, we took a circle tour around the whole island of Oahu, visiting beautiful beaches, bays & saw many movie film sites such as Jurassic Park,
Something to note; if you wish to spend a day at the stunning Hanauma Bay, you need to purchase a government permit for USD25 per person, that only you, as the visitor can purchase for yourselves. Children 12 & under are free.
It must be applied for online at least 48 hours before you wish to go, and you need to log on at 7am to get the permits as they only allocate so many per day. The bay is famous for snorkelling off the beach and its vibrant coral reefs & diverse marine life and beautiful clear calm waters.
Waikiki is a beautiful beach with soft white sand, crystal clear water that is almost like a bath, it’s so warm
There are so many different hotels to choose from, something to suit all budgets. We stayed at the lovely Sheraton Waikiki for a few nights (where we hired our own private cabana for a day) and then the beautiful ‘Pink Palace’, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel which I have always wanted to experience. The Royal Hawaiian is part of the Virtuoso hotel program which offers great rates, amenities, upgrades, early check-in & late checkout, breakfast daily and waived resort fees. It truly is an amazing experience for any special anniversary, birthday, honeymoon or just because you deserve to be spoilt!
As we all know, the international exchange rates for our Australian dollar does make USA travel more expensive, however the beautiful ocean & sunshine is free to enjoy once you are there. It is also now a good stopover option, if you are heading to Canada or the USA. I would highly recommend putting Hawaii on your list for a short sunny breakaway or longer destination holiday.
Leonie
