We had always wanted to visit Hawaii, and the only way we thought it would be possible to visit every Hawaiian island would be to take a cruise, enabling us to see and do as much as possible in 10 days. Below is a day by day account of our trip with some of the highlights from each day. I hope this gives you a glimpse into what each of the Hawaiian islands has to offer, and kick starts your thought process to get you planing your dream trip to Hawaii.
We chose Norwegian cruise line, they have a 7 day inter island cruise leaving from Honolulu, its actually the only cruise that visits all the Hawaiian islands in a week. It was just fantastic and would do it again without hesitation. We went in viewing the cruise ship as a floating hotel that would transport us overnight from one island paradise to the next. If traveling with a family make sure to book a 2 bedroom suite on the ship, you will not regret it. The space, balcony and service is well worth the extra $$.
OAHU - day 1-3
The flight from Chicago too Honolulu on American Airlines is a long one approximately 9 hours 35 mins, so we opted to arrive in Honolulu a couple of days before the cruise left so that we could acclimate and take in some of the sites on the island of Oahu.
We rented a car at the airport in Honolulu when we arrived from national car rental, a good idea if planning to stay in town for a couple of days and probably the most economical way to get around ..... Hawaii isn't cheap!
The Hilton Hawaiian Village is not far from the airport and proved to be a perfect choice for a couple of days, its right on Waikiki Beach with a perfect view of Diamond Head. After checking in we headed straight for the Starlight Luau dinner and show at 7pm, an elegant evening luau show filled with Hawaiian chants, traditional Polynesian dance, Hawaiian buffet dinner, and a fire dance! It was an awesome way to kick start our Hawaiian adventure. My daughter even got to learn a couple of Hawaiian dance moves up on stage fortnite style. It was a little pricy but the mai tai went down real well after a long day of traveling.
The next morning we headed out to Pearl Harbor, arriving when it opened at 7am. We were warned that a limited number of free tickets are available each day for the ferry ride to the USS Arizona memorial and we wanted to make sure we secured ours.
Parking and entry to the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center is free, and includes access to two museums ("Road to War" and the "Attack Gallery") and the exhibits along the harbor.
We purchased the Passport to Pearl Harbor online, a ticket that covers the admission to the Battleship Missouri Memorial, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum, and Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, the cost was around $250 for the 4 of us. We did however run out of time and only managed to explore the Battle Ship Missouri ( I had no idea that the instrument of surrender was signed on the deck of the Missouri signaling the end of WWII ), USS Bowfin fleet attack submarine and take the ferry out to the USS Arizona memorial.
Make sure to have the kids stamp their US National Park Passport with the official Pearl Harbor stamp at the gift shop ( Our kids have quite a collection of stamps and something they look forward to doing every time we visit a National Park ). You can purchase a NP passport on the US national Parks web site if interested for $9.95.
After wrapping up PH, we head out towards Laniakae aka turtle beach approximately 40 mins drive from Pearl Harbor, where we spotted a ton of turtles just surfing the waves, so beautiful, be careful crossing route 83 to access the beach, the road is narrow and there isn't a lot of parking.
Lunch was @North Shore Tacos in Pupukea, served from a famous taco truck (I tried the Surfing' Shrimp Tacos which hit the spot! ) this is a great location to hang out at the picnic tables and enjoy the food and the view.
Our first introduction to Hawaiian shaved ice was @ North Shore Shaved Ice which was right next door to the taco truck (Make sure you add condensed milk and macadamia nut ice cream, which is the Hawaiian way).
After a carefree lunch, our island loop continued as we set our sites on Lanikai Beach voted the #1 Beach on the island of Oahu. Lets just say it didnt disapoint, spectacular! and an absolute must..WOW! WOW and WOW!....could have stayed well into the evening just admiring the beauty and blue hues of the crystal clear water.
Heading back to Honolulu we decided on the most direct route, straight through the Koolau Mountains on the H-3, the views are just fantastic and you pass through the approx 1,5 mile Tetsuo Harano tunnel which is really cool.
To wrap up the day we had dinner at Tropics Bar & Grill which is at the Hilton Hawaiian Village hotel – There are fireworks every Friday night at 7:45pm over the beach and this is the best way to relax and have a couple of drinks whilst enjoying the show, suggest arriving around 6pm as no reservations are taken. Get the "Tropical Itch" cocktail, it comes with a wooden back scratcher and knocks a punch! (Bourbon, Triple Sec, Lemon juice, Passion Fruit Puree, Dark Rum and bitters, knock yourself out!)
Day 3 started nice and early with the 0.8 mile hike up Diamond Head, the state park opens at 6am and was only a 10 min car ride from the hotel. The view of Honolulu and Waikiki from the summit is well worth the final jaw clenching trek up the final "I have no idea how many concrete steps" Just put on some gym shoes and do it. The trail does become crowded at times due to the path narrowing at certain points. There are also a lot of uneven steps that will need to be navigated carefully, watch your step constantly.
After our morning hike we return our rental car at the Hilton Hawaiian Village location and took advantage of the transportation provided by NCL from the hotel to the Cruise Terminal in Honolulu around 1pm, Don't forget to pack a beach bag as hand luggage (swim suits, sunscreen, etc.) as it takes awhile before you see your luggage again after boarding the ship.
The check in process for us was real smooth and didn't take long at all. We were provided with a personal escort onto the Pride of America Cruise Ship, this of course enabled us to skip to the front of the line and avoid the crowds, a great perk for staying in the Haven.
Purchase a wine package as soon as you get on board, approximately $250 for 5-6 bottles, drinks on a cruise ship are generally very expensive and NCL is no exception.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing, exploring and settling into our 2 bedroomed suite in the Haven which had an amazing wrap around deck situated at the back of the ship (it was put to good use by our teenage daughter who enjoyed lazing around out there reading a book and catching some Hawaiian sun on the open seas).
Make sure you pack magnetic hooks which can be used for hanging up your cabin key cards for easy grab and go access, there is a limited amount of space in the cabin and things can easily go missing. Another good tip is to make sure you take a power strip that has a ton of options for charging all you electronic equipment, this will come in real handy.
MAUI - day 4-5
We arrived in Maui around 8am the next day, our first stop on the cruise. Here we caught the NCL tour too Lahaina to go Whale watching with the Pacific Whale Foundation. My wife Amanda had wanted to do this forever and we finally got to see a number of hump back wales breaching in the distance with tons of dolphins jumping all around the boat, it was truly amazing, so many laughs and photos. The tour that was led by a certified Marine Naturalists that provided a fun and informative interpretation of humpback whale behaviors and characteristics, microphones were even lowered into the water so that we could hear underwater whale songs. Take sunscreen as it gets hot out on the water.
After we disembarked the whale watching tour we headed into town to seek out Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice, we were told it was the best on the island. The line was long and the heat started to turn itself up a notch, but the wait was worth it.
On our way back to the tour bus we stopped bye Courthouse Square, which has been renamed Banyan Tree Park, it holds the largest Banyan tree in the United states that covers 1.94 acres, quite remarkable to see this in person.
One of the things we had on our list was to explore the road to Hana, and since NCL has an overnight in Maui we decided to plan this adventure for our second day on the island.
The excursion we landed on after a lot of research was the Sky Trek road to Hana tour that Temptation Tours offered as we thought the private morning tour that travels the "Road to Hana" before lunch and then flies the reverse leg in a comfortable, air-conditioned, state-of-the-art “Eco-Star” Jet helicopter would also enable us to explore the dramatic, hidden waterfalls in the rainforest below that we would otherwise not get to see.
It was an early start, but we had a blast, experienced swimming in a waterfall, waves crashing into rock peninsulas, black sand beaches, narrow bridges, rainbows, surfers catching the perfect wave, amazing views, Haleakala Crater (the world’s largest and most famous dormant volcano) and freshly baked banana bread (we bought an extra loaf for a restaurant manager on the ship who had told us about the delicacy at the half Way to Hana point). A great way to spend the day in Maui and we will never forget it.
HILO on the big island of HAWAII - day 6
On day 6 we docked in Hilo at 8am, Hopped off the ship and headed to the Hawaii Volcano National park on a tour organized by NCL. Here we were given ample time to visit the Kilauea Visitors Center and soak in the sheer scale of destruction caused by volcanic eruptions, the rising steam as ground water seeps down to the hot volcanic rocks at the Steam Vents. take a walk to Kilauea Iki Overlook and the Volcano House for some unforgettable views and experience Kilauea’s massive size and scale.
On the way back to the ship we visited the famous Akatsuka Orchid Gardens known world-wide for their impressive collection of orchids. We were lucky enough to see the $20,000 award-winning, one-of-a-kind orchid that blooms just once a year in July-August.
Our afternoon was taken up by the Blue Hawaiian Helicopter Circle of fire helicopter flight at 2pm that provided a bird’s eye view of the Hawaii National Park and the Earth’s most geologically active environment – the Kilauea volcano. This 45-minute flight-seeing adventure allowed us to view current volcanic activity that can’t be seen from the ground.
We Hovered over Kilauea's most recent eruption sites, to view the blackened landscape and circled the Kilauea volcano, followed the surface activity down to the devastated village of Kalapana and the black sand beaches formed as lava was cooled by the sea. You'll receive an informative commentary from your tour guide/pilot over an individual headset, for me personally this was the highlight of my visit to Hawaii.
KONA on the big island of HAWAII - day 7
Day 7 greeted us with the ship dropping anchor off Kona on the big island at 7am. We had breakfast and then took a tender to shore which was an experience in itself. The water around Kona is crystal clear and worthy of a number of pictures.
Kona is a little beach town, and actually one of my favorite of all the towns we visited in Hawaii (may just need to spend's a relaxing week there sometime) make sure you stop bye the Farmers Market to grab some great souvenirs and then some shaved ice from Scandinavian Shaved Ice aloha!
We signed up for the Gold Coast & Cloud Forest tour @ 12:00, it was not the best choice.... We were hoping to see a ton of the famous painted Eucalyptus/Rainbow Gum trees in the rain forest....but only 2 appeared, they both were awesome and I took tons of pictures of them as they really do look like painted trees with brush strokes....the rest of the hike through this private forest sanctuary which includes native as well as non native species of plants and trees was not needed....and took up way to much time. On the way back to the ship the tour stopped at Mountain Thunder Coffee plantation to pick up some real KONA coffee. They have a cool little tour and a neat store where you can sample and of course buy the coffee.
KAUAI - day 8-9
We arrived in Kauai the "garden island" at 8am on day 8 of our trip. We rented a car from national car rental to explore the island as we again had an overnight in Kauai and there were a number of sites we wanted to see.
First on the list of activities was our mountain tubings adventure offered by Back country adventures Tubing which is a unique experience for the entire family, you get to float down the historic Lihue Plantation ditch and tunnel system that once irrigated vast sugar cane crops whilst taking in some of the most beautiful scenery on the island. We had an awesome time and highly recommend getting off the beaten track, for this fun relaxing excursion with no frills attached.
After tubing we took a drive to Wailua Falls, which is just north of Lihue, Located at the south end of the Wailua River, dropping 80 feet below, just beautiful.
Next we decided to drive to Waimea Canyon “The Grand Canyon of the Pacific” passing through the tree tunnel, a beautiful canopy of Eucalyptus trees that line Maliuhi Road for the first mile of highway 520 and creates a natural gateway to the South Shore, it was a last minute decision as we had originally planned to do this the following day.
The drive up to Kalalau Lookout was spectacular, although when we reached the look out it was raining and the view was obstructed, so we headed back down to Waimea Canyon lookout located at mile marker 10, which presented a panoramic view of the canyon.
On our last day in Kauai we set out looking for one of the islands most breathtaking beaches, Kauapea Beach, also known as Secret Beach.
It's a little difficult to find and is located off a dirt road in Kilauea, the beach is truly one of the island’s best-kept secrets. It's not marked with signs nor is it easily accessible. A short but fairly steep trail leading to the beach is located at the end of a dirt road.
There is no formal parking lot. Visitors leave their vehicles at the end of the road, which abuts a private residence. The 10-minute hike down to the water is moderately difficult and can be slippery when wet. Take it slow and watch for root systems that can potentially be tripping hazards.
Stepping onto Secret Beach is like arriving to your own personal paradise. A wall of lava rock marks the edge of the beach’s western end. To the east, there are dazzling views of Mokuaeae Island and Kilauea Lighthouse, perched atop a sea cliff. Tidal pools and a small, trickling waterfall can be found along the half-mile stretch of sand. It was a great place to start your morning and end our visit to Kauai.
We stopped at JoJo's Shaved Ice for yet another shaved ice before heading back to the ship that departed at 2pm, we had now sampled hawaiian shaved ice on every island and had become quite the Shaved ice snobs....my fav was probably the one in Maui - my wife actually purchased a hawaiian shave ice machine for fathers day ......
The afternoon we spent on the deck outside our cabin watching the extraordinary natural beauty of the 17 mile napali coast pass by. The razor-sharp ridges of the mountains tower above the Pacific Ocean. The sheer magnitude of the terrain and the majestic Manawaiopuna Falls, that formed a backdrop in the film "Jurassic Park." will leave a deep impression impeded in your mind for years to come.
OAHU - day 10
All good things must come to an end, until next time that is....as we docked in Honolulu we new that there was one more thing we needed to try our hand at as a family, so we head back to the HHV for our last night in Hawaii, changed into swim suits and headed to the beach for the day, I had made a reservation through the Waikiki beach services to ride some waves in a outrigger canoe. So much fun!
Lunch was at Dukes at 12:30 on the beach! great food, atmosphere and view. It was a great way to wrap up Hawaii.
The next day we left the magic of Hawaii @7:00 AM to head back to our reality, Hawaii although a once in a lifetime experience was all we had hoped for and more, it touched our hearts and left an everlasting impression. I'm sure we will be back for more at some point.
Feel free to check out our Magic of Hawaii Easy Access Itinerary to start your planning.