January 30, 2018 – Honolulu, Oahu

It was a short, overnight trip from Maui to Oahu. We arrived at Pier 2, near Aloha Tower in Honolulu, a little before 8:00 this morning, and it was a very busy day.

We signed up for an excursion titled, “The Natural Wonders of Oahu.” That was a very good decision, as our tour guide Monique was excellent -- enthusiastic and very informed about Hawaii and its natural wonders, even though she had lived here only 3½ years.

There are eight major islands in Hawaii, with a total population a little over 1.4 million people. About 70% of them (approaching 1 million) live on the island of Oahu. In addition to the permanent residents, there are 5.5 million tourists who visit Oahu every year. The goal of this tour was to visit the natural beauty of Oahu without being overwhelmed with people.

We departed from the port on a motor coach at about 8:45 and road toward Waikiki, seeing the big Ala Moana shopping center, the Ilikai and Hilton Hawaiian Village hotels, Fort DeRussy, and then straight through Waikiki Beach on Kalakaua Avenue. There have been a lot of changes since we lived here thirty years ago. Unfortunately, we couldn’t even see much of Waikiki Beach from our bus, due to all the new buildings. For example, the old International Market Place, a wonderful open green space for small businesses in the heart of Waikiki, is no longer there and seems to have been replaced by a modern, three-story Saks Fifth Avenue store. But, this must be what people want, as there’s a steady stream of traffic on Kalakaua Ave, along with throngs of people crowding the sidewalks.

After passing through Waikiki and the community of Kahala, we drove to Diamond Head, the world-renowned symbol of Hawaii. We passed through a tunnel and inside of what is now a state monument. Monique explained that it was not a true volcanic crater, but more accurately, a “tuff cone” of volcanic lava from other volcanoes on the island. Despite her excellent presentation, it still looked to us like a crater on the inside. 

Historically, she explained that the Diamond Head crater used to be the site of Fort Ruger -- the first US military reservation on the islands. We didn’t have time to walk the trail to the summit of the crater, which is a 1.5-mile steep uphill climb. Monique said it would probably take us two hours or more to complete the roundtrip walk. Jim and our two children climbed to the top when we lived here in the 1980s, and he remembers that the view was magnificent.

The motor coach route then went up the southeast coast of Oahu. We drove by some familiar places that brought back great memories – Koko Head, Hanauma Bay, Bellows Beach (great boogie boarding spot), and one of our family’s personal favorites, Dave’s Ice Cream in Waimanalo. We made stops along the way at several picturesque sites -- Halona Blow Hole, Sandy Beach, and Makapu’u Point (the easternmost point on the island of Oahu). 

From Kailua, we turned inland, climbing upward into the mountains, to cross the island and return to Honolulu. Along the way we stopped at the Nu’uanu Pali Lookout, a scenic and historic spot (a thousand feet above the coastline) with panoramic views of sheer mountain cliffs, as well Kaneohe and Kailua, the two largest residential communities on the windward side of the island. 

Upon returning to the ship, we contacted our friends Dave and Suzanne, who were expecting our call. They live in Kaneohe and were our table mates during the 2016 Crystal World Cruise. They drove over, picked us up at the terminal, and we went to their Honolulu Downtown Athletic Club for a few hours of reminiscing. We greatly enjoyed seeing them and hearing about their future travel plans. They are especially interested in Crystal’s plans for “re-imagining” (refurbishment) of Serenity later this year, as they’re considering the 2019 World Cruise. Unfortunately, we had to go back to the ship and get ready for the night-time World Cruise Special Event. 

The special event for full world cruisers was held at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum. They had a very large tent set up behind the main building of the museum (in case of rain), served lots of Hawaiian pupu snacks, and there was a Polynesian stage show that was very well done. We also wandered around the excellent museum. Bishop Museum was founded in 1889, and is the largest museum in Hawaii, with the largest collection of Polynesian artifacts and natural history specimens. It was, indeed, a special event, which we really enjoyed.

In all, we had a wonderful and full two days in Hawaii.

Jim & Ginny