Big Island, Hawaii

The Big Island, boy was I excited to have my feet back on Hawaiian ground. So excited that I nearly left my luggage at the airport till Joshua said something. This may also be because the airport is not like any I had been to before. It is an outside airport. All terminals, waiting areas and baggage claim are all outside. After picking up our checked bags we were off to get our rental car. I was planing on just getting a small car but Joshua talked me into a Jeep. And I was very happy I did. I'll explain later!

We stayed at the beautiful Marriott Resort and Spa. The hotel is situated near shopping, golf courses, petroglyphs and other resorts and is right on Anaehoomalu Bay or A Bay if you cannot pronounce it. The water is calm here so it is great for all ocean activities except surfing. I met my now friend Jason while hanging out at the pool at our hotel. Even though he lives far away we still keep in touch. 

Joshua kayaking in A Bay

Through out our trip we spent time checking out different beaches. The big Island is well big and spread out and  you have to drive to many beaches. It does not have the beach access like the other islands due to volcanic rock. Here is a picture from the plane. 

Probably one of Joshua's favorite beaches was Kua Bay Beach. It was busy but had a lot of great waves for him to jump around in and use his boogie board. Hapuna beach was another favorite. It was large and not crowded. 

Kua Bay Beach

Haupuna Beach

Haupuna Beach

We spent two days SCUBA diving with Jacks Diving Locker in Kona. We decided we were going to get our advanced open water diving certification since we did not want to have the class back home where the water is cold. Plus we booked a night dive which was needed for our certification. The first day of diving was beautiful. As we stopped at our first dive site we could see a manta ray about 100 feet on the bottom of the ocean. We all started jumping in the water after getting our gear on and seriously on the first dive my camera floods. Ugh! I hand it back to one of the guys on the boat and off I go exploring and seeing such a beautiful underworld. Yes I was upset my camera was a goner but mainly because I could not capture the beauty I was seeing. After getting back to shore I found a camera store in Kona and new housing and purchased it for the next day. 

Dolphins swimming along the boat

The second day was a long day. We did four dives with our last one being the night dive with the manta rays. Now this was already way cool but what made it better is that the world famous manta ray researcher who works for Jacks Diving Locker was on our boat with his daughter diving with us. He made us a great video from our dive for us to keep as well! Keller Laros knows all those manta rays by name he studies them so much. He is the man who saved the dolphin from fishing line a few years back. Dolphin Rescue Another great part of going out on the boats is seeing the whales. It is kinda like a two for one whale watching tour! 

Joshua suited up for the dive!

Manta ray dive

Like I said earlier, I was so happy we rented a Jeep. To get to some beaches you had to drive on some very unmaintained roads. There was a beach with black sand and underground lava tubes for swimming called the Queens bath's that I wanted to see. It is not unusual to find wild goats roaming around Hawaii and the road to this beach was no exception. 

Goats roaming freely

Queens Bath, a lava tube near Kiholo Bay

Watch your step. I almost did not see this cutie.

Joshua found a dead puffer fish

But the road to get here was nothing like the road to Green Sand Beach! Before getting to the beach we stopped at one of the two places called the southern most point in the US. The other is off Florida. The road to Green Sand beach is extremely unmaintained and a few times I thought our jeep was going to flip over. The beach is green as implied but does not show up well in pictures. 

South Point

When walking in the area above you must watch your step because there are craters or lave tubes in the ground made from the volcano.

Green Sand Beach

Our trusty Jeep

Our next big attraction is something I was very excited about. I was hoping that when I came to the Big Island I would time it with the lava flow in hopes of actually seeing it. Well it must have been my lucky day!! First we went to the park area where you can walk round and there is a little museum. And the amazing caldera. It was emitting gas and was huge. We walked through lava tunnels and explored the area. But we left after a few hours and drove down to an area where lava had been flowing and destroyed neighborhoods in the last few years. I happened to see a guy with a sign for a sunset hiking tour out over the lava fields. I did not want to spend the money but I thought about it and realized I was there and I did not want to miss out on an opportunity. So we signed up and off we went. We met the three other people from our group, one being Dan who I am still friends with to this day. I cannot tell you how amazing this hiking tour was. The lava was just flowing and flowing and was so mesmerizing to watch. We poked it with sticks and it would make a loud noise releasing the gas. I was surprised that the stick did not just melt. And yes it was hot but we were able to get pretty darn close to it. Driving back from here, I drove back to the national park area as it is open 24 hours. The reason I went back in the middle of the night is because the caldera glows at night from the magma below. It was beautiful. 

Crater from Jagger museum

Steam vents

Thurston Lava tube

Thurston Lava tunnel

End of Chain of Craters Rd

Homes not destroyed, Kanapala

Kanapala Lava flow

Kanapala lava flow

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Joshua playing with fresh lava

And what trip would be complete without some local food, Hawaiian shave ice and waterfalls?

Rainbow falls, Hilo

Onomea Bay

'Akaka falls

Another great place to visit is Pu'uhonua o Honaunau or Place of Refuge which is an archaeological park and burial ground that you can visit. Right next to this is a great place to snorkel. Just up the road from that is Captain Cook monument, the place where he landed on the island. 

My resources for planning this trip were the book Hawaii Revealed The Big Island and my Aunt Sue who loves Hawaii and visits it so much she should be a local. Thanks for all your help!

Oahu, Hawaii

Oahu, the vacation I forever fell in love with island life. I had decided to get an Alaska Airline reward card and start racking up my airline mile. I booked out vacation and planned on surprising Joshua with a lei greeting at the airport. Before we landed he saw someone with one on and said how he wished he had one. Was I so glad I had already planned this for him. 

Upon arriving to to the airport we had our hotel shuttle waiting for us as well. We had a couple and their son in the van with us who where going to our same hotel, Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel. We ended up becoming friends and Joshua and their son played at the beach through the trip and to this day we remain in contact.

We got settled in and ate at one of the restaurants at our hotel, outside looking at the beach. Then it was time to hit the beach! After hours of soaking up the sun and enjoying the war ocean we got cleaned up and went to explore. We walked around looking at stores and counting the ABC stores. If you have ever been to Hawaii you get what I am saying. One thing that could not be passed up was the Hawaiian shave ice.

 Part of the reason for coming to Hawaii was to put our SCUBA diving skills into practice. This was our first time diving since being certified and our first time being in warm water. We went with Island Divers Hawaii. Great group who was excellent with Joshua. Sea turtles or as they are called in Hawaii, honu, were swimming everywhere.

We found an octopus and it is the softest thing I have felt. I find these animals amazing with how they move and change colors.

I set a swim the dolphin session at Sea Life Park and who was in our group? Snooki and her boyfriend Jionni. She was not very friendly but Jionni was nice.

Snooki and Jionni looking at the pictures from our dolphin swim

Them again

Although this was great experience I have since changed my thoughts on aquariums and sharks, dolphins and whales living in tiny pools instead of the giant ocean. You can see Joshua had an amazing time may have had a once and in a lifetime experience swimming with dolphins.

We learned to surf and had so much fun. Although Waikiki beach is crowded I did feel that the waves where perfect for learning. There are several places along the beach that you can walk up to and ask for surf lessons. There is no need to make reservations before hand. The place we used even had a photographer to capture us catching the waves.

We spent a good part of a day at Pearl Harbor. I still cannot believe that oil is still flowing from the USS Arizona. Joshua learned a lot and explored battle ships.

 Hanauma Bay is a beautiful place to go snorkeling but can get packed so is best to avoid weekends.

Hanauma Bay

Hanauma Bay

We attended the Paradise Cove Luau and loved it. We happened to run into people from our city back home. Joshua knew the kid from school so we hung out with them there. They has a lot of crafts and fun activities for everyone. The luau seemed very authentic and was a great show. The food was very yummy as well.

Paradise Cove

luau performer

What trip to Oahu would be complete without hiking up Diamond Head. Great hike, even for kids. Beautiful views to be seen from the top but the top has a small spot for viewing and can be crowded.

Diamond head Summit

North Shore

Best shrimp truck along the north shore

sign at a macadamia nut farm

Although a car is not needed on Oahu we rented one to drive up to the north shore and spend the day at Kailua Beach which is stunning. I used the book Oahu Revealed and my aunt who is as good as a Hawaiian local.

Learning to SCUBA dive

One day I was just thinking how cool it would be to SCUBA dive. I looked into it and realized that it was possible not only for me but for Joshua.  I asked him about it and he was excited and wanted to learn. So we went to  Hydrosports Dive and Travel and got ourselves signed up. 

We where learning in November. We had some classroom work and pool time in the evening for a few weeks. We used one of the deeper pools in town so that made practicing easier. Joshua loved it. He was really good from the beginning. 

 Next came the open water part. This was the part we where not looking forward to. The only reason was it was now December and the water was 46 degrees. We went to Hoodsport, WA and dove in the cold water. In between dives we looked forward to running to the warming room to get heated up. Joshua was too small for a dry suit so he had to wear a wet suit. A dry suit is suppose to keep you warmer but I was still freezing.

Despite how cold it was we had a lot of fun. The water was VERY salty. We saw some fish and star fish. Everyone was very nice and so helpful from Hydrosports Dive and Travel.