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Oahu Travel Guide – Part 2

12.15.18

Last week I shared part 1 of our Oahu Travel Guide, and now I’m back for part 2. Let’s get right into it!

Oahu Travel Guide

Olive and Oliver/Surfjack hotel

On our second day in Oahu, my sister and brother in law had a layover in Oahu, so we spent most of the day together and it was amazing! I love a good coffee shop and Olive and Oliver were both on my sisters and my list. This place is super cute and the chai tea latte that we got was so so good. They also have a shop within the cafe with cute little things to admire or buy. We took our lattes and went next door to the Surfjack Hotel to enjoy in their beautiful lobby/sitting area.

Waikiki Beach

Next, we walked down to Waikiki Beach. It’s a beautiful beach with white sand, blue water and a nice breeze, however, it is super crowded. All of Waikiki is full of tourists everywhere you look. If you’re looking for a quiet beach to spend the day at, Waikiki Beach is probably not it. But it is beautiful to spend an hour or two and walk around in the sand and water.

The Hideout at the Laylow

The Laylow Autograph Hotel is beautiful, but since we didn’t stay here, we thought the Hideout at the Laylow would provide the perfect opportunity to appreciate and see the beautiful hotel. We bought some iced coffee and just spent a lot of time chatting on the deck.

The Royal Hawaiian

The Royal Hawaiian is another beautiful hotel in Waikiki, also known as the pink hotel, that we walked around the grounds to appreciate its beauty.

Diamond Head

Diamond Head is a mountain that can be seen from Waikiki, but it is a 10-15 minute drive to get there and another hour or so to hike the mountain roundtrip. Oh all the hikes we did, Diamond Head is probably one of the easiest. There are some parts of the hike that involve a lot of steep stairs, but it’s not too bad. A lot of tourist do come here and the path up the mountain is well maintained. The views at the top are well worth the hike. Once you get back down, there are some food trucks and we treated ourselves to a pineapple smoothie in a pineapple!

Hilton fireworks

On Friday evenings, the Hilton puts on fireworks for 15 minutes or so at night that anyone in Waikiki can enjoy!

SALT at Kaka’ako

Salt at Kaka’ako is a shopping centre that has a lot of cool clothing stores, a cool plant store and lots of food and restaurants. I mentioned Kaka’ako murals in the previous post, but we came back to Kaka’ako another day since we enjoyed it so much. Definitely worth checking out!

Disney Aulani

Okay, so Disney Aulani is a resort on the western side of the island that is obviously children friendly. And I just had to go there to get their mickey mouse shaped shaved ice. If I was going to get any shaved ice on the island, I had to get the coolest kind. And I did, and I enjoyed it! I would highly recommend it if you are a child at heart like me or have children who love Disney.

Ko’olina lagoons

If you do make the trip out to Disney Aulani, then you have to check out the Ko’olina Lagoons. This part of the island is home to 4 lagoons which are man made. They are right next to each other and a lot of resorts are right behind them. They are child friendly in that they are not deep and make a perfect space to hang out in the water. I think these are perfect for children but also for adults that don’t know how to swim.

Pearl Harbour

We went to Pearl Harbour after 4 pm and turned out it was free after 4. I’m not sure what the fee is during regular hours, but it’s always nice to go for free. Since we went at 4 and it closes at 5pm, there weren’t very many people. We just strolled around and read about the Pearl Harbour history.

I hope you enjoyed part 2 of the Oahu travel Guide and if you’re looking for part 1 of the Oahu travel guide series, check it out here and look forward to part 3 of the Oahu travel guide next week!

Kam Travels

Oahu Travel Guide – Part 1

12.08.18

We just got back from an amazing trip to Oahu, Hawaii so I thought I’d share an Oahu travel guide for this beautiful little island. Most of the things we did and places we did were planned, however, we also accidentally stumbled across some pretty cool places of our own as well. Although our trip was only 6 days, we were able to explore the entire island (except some of the West side). So, I’m gonna break up the Oahu travel guide across 3 posts so that it doesn’t get too long. If you’re headed to Oahu, I hope this is good resource for you and let me know if you check out any of these places as well!

Oahu Travel Guide

First of all, Oahu is BEAUTIFUL!! It’s almost always sunny and warm (25’C for the entirety of our trip), super lush with amazing plants and the most beautiful beaches all around! If you love nature, this is the place for you: plants and greenery to admire, mountains to climb and beautiful beaches to swim in. All on one little island!

Hanauma Bay

Up first on the Oahu Travel Guide is the iconic Hanauma Bay. Hanauma Bay is a 20 minute drive from Waikiki and it is the perfect place to go snorkeling. We rented out snorkeling gear from Quality Surfboards in Waikiki the night before. They charge $8 USD per rental, versus Hanauma Bay which charges $25 USD! We arrived at Hanauma Bay around 6:30 am which meant we didn’t need to pay the entrance fee, which is around$10 USD each as well as the parking fee of $1 USD! Lots of savings if you plan ahead and arrive before 7 am. When you arrive early, you will also be treated to the most beautiful sunrise!

As to the snorkeling experience itself. Well, it was quite a fail. Gursheel can’t swim and I’m a beginner swimmer and neither of us had ever snorkeled before. Once Gursheel saw the water, he didn’t even attempt to snorkel. I tried numerous times and the furthest I got was a couple of breaths underwater before I panicked. So, no snorkeling experience for us. I did spend an hour or so swimming near the shore and the water was so perfect and the views were stunning! Gursheel is signing up for swimming lessons and I’m going to learn how to snorkel so we don’t pass up this type of opportunity in the future!

Koko Head Stairs

We did quite of few hikes in Oahu, and the Koko Head Stairs were the most challenging. They are located across from Hanauma Bay and we went right after swimming in the Hanauma Bay. It was hot and there was barely and shade and the entire hike was steps! It felt like nature’s stairmaster! However the views are incredible and you can even see Hanauma Bay! Make sure to wear sunscreen and bring a water bottle! A good pair of shoes is a must!

Lanai Lookout

Lanai Lookout is a viewpoint you’ll come across as you drive from Hanauma Bay towards the South side of the island. I was surprised by how beautiful it was and it is definitely one of my favorite places on the island! The rock formation is incredible!

Halona Blowhole Lookout and Cockroach Cove

As you continue to drive down the road, you’ll come across another viewpoint. I had thought the Halona Blowhole was something you can easily access, however, it is a risk going there. The water is a bit treacherous, so we just enjoyed the view from the viewpoint along will all the other tourists. On the right side of the viewpoint, there is a path going down to Cockroach Cove, which was a beautiful little area, perfect to dip your toes and enjoy the views.

Sandy beach

Sandy Beach lives up to it’s name, in that it’s all sand, and no shade. We found a little area near some trees on the grass and enjoyed a nice picnic lunch.

Makapuu Point

So, apparently there is a hiking trail called Makapuu, however, we were unable to locate it and just found the viewpoint instead. Even if we did find the hike, I doubt we would have been able to do it, after that Koko Head hike. The views here were beautiful!

Waimanalo Beach

Okay, if you are looking for the best beach on the island, hands down Waimanalo Beach was our favorite. In fact, Gursheel actually swam around for a while here! There are lifeguards, the water is calm, it’s not very crowded, and there are plenty of trees to provide shade as you observe from the sand. We spent a good amount of time at this beach and wanted to come back!

Kakaako Street Murals

Since we were ahead of schedule based off the itinerary I had made us, we decided to check out the Kakaako Street murals. This little area was absolutely amazing. There are murals everywhere and so many cool shops. There is also this amazing organic and natural grocery store called Down to Earth Organic & Natural that was entirely vegan! Kakaako is the most hipster place on the island in my opinion! We even came back another day! Definitely worth a visit! So many cool shops and street art!

Tantalus Lookout

To end the day off, we drove to Tantalus lookout. Another place I highly recommend. The drive up is a bit crazy in that it’s steep and quite windy. However, when you get to the top, you get incredible views of Diamond Head, Waikiki, Pearl Harbour as well as the airport. I think we took pictures on our phones here so I don’t have any to share. Worth a visit!

Okay, that’s all for part 1! I’ll be sharing even more cool places we visited on the island so be sure to head back to the blog for that! Hope you enjoyed this Oahu travel guide and if you’re planning a trip, be sure to check out the Kam Travels section on the blog for even more travel guides! Check out part 2 of the Oahu Travel Guide here!

Collaborations

Why You Should Visit Jakarta

11.18.18

Today I have a contributed post for you all for why you should visit Jakarta! Happy reading 🙂

If you have never been to Jakarta before, it is possible that you might not really know much about it. It is not often seen as the top tourist destination, and certainly other places tend to be visited much more. However, there is plenty of reason why you might want to visit this beautiful destination, and it is worth taking a look at some of the reasoning if you are even slightly considering it. Jakarta is a truly dynamic, fascinating city, and somewhere that you can expect to have a lot of varied and interesting experiences. Hugely crowded and busy, it is also known to be a place of peace, and you might find that you can have a surprisingly laid back time in this sprawling city. Let’s take a look in some detail at some of the top reasons you might want to visit Jakarta.

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Variety Of Places To Stay

No matter what kind of accommodation you do tend to enjoy, you might be surprised to discover that Jakarta has it in spades, and this is certainly something that can make the whole experience of travelling considerably easier. Understanding how and where you are going to stay before you visit somewhere is always going to make the trip much easier, so it is something which you always want to think about beforehand as best as you can. For that reason, clearly finding sewa rumah Jakarta means that you are going to enjoy yourself much more, and that is definitely something you want to be going for on the whole. This is something that is definitely going to make a huge difference, so it’s worth considering as one of the great benefits of visiting Jakarta.

Great For Shopaholics

There are a lot of things you might enjoy doing when you are travelling abroad, but for a lot of people one of the main attractions has to be shopping. If you are someone who loves to shop when you travel, then this is certainly something that you will want to consider. Jakarta has not just plenty of Asian shopping delights, and arguably some of the best shops in Southeast Asia, but also a great range of other, more Western-style shopping. For this reason, you will find that you can buy many of the things you want for a much reduced price – perfect for Christmas shopping, for instance – and also will enjoy the process of hopping greatly too, thanks to the largely happy and exuberant nature of these markets and so on.

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Fascinating Museums

If you are someone who loves to learn as you travel, then you won’t really need to look much further than the city of Jakarta. Whatever kind of education you are keen on getting, you can be sure that you will find some kind of local museum to visit which can provide that for you. Whether you are keen to learn more about the country’s geography, history, military, or politics, you will find that there are fascinating museums for all of these subjects and more. Most exciting is the National Museum, world famous as being a particularly well-tended and interesting museum to visit, and full of many different kinds of attractions. This is definitely something you will want to do if you do visit Jakarta, and a hugely attractive reason for visiting at all.

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Delicious Cuisine

Arguably, one of the most important parts of travelling at all is getting to try out different kinds of food and enjoying some great experiences at a number of restaurants. If you are ken on ensuring that you can get some great food, you will find that Jakarta provides this experience for you easily, so it is certainly one of the main reasons you might consider visiting this stunning place. Whether you want some traditional street food, or you are keen for a taste of other kinds of Southeast Asian foods, you will find that you can get it all within the Jakarta city walls – and many of the higher end restaurants offer a fantastic experience all round as well. With food being such an important part of travelling for most people, it’s certainly good to know that you can expect such fantastic delights on your tongue when you visit the Indonesian capital.

As you can see, there is plenty that Jakarta has to offer, and understanding that will ensure that you can appreciate why you might want to visit all the more. If nothing else you will have a unique experience which you will remember forever.