Our Hawaiian Honeymoon
We decided to take our honeymoon to the island of Oahu this past April, and what a trip it was! We landed on Hawaii for a few reasons: no passports needed, staggeringly beautiful beaches, and accessible hiking locations.
We stayed at the Moana Surfrider Westin Hotel right in the heart of Waikiki. Originally, we toyed with the idea of staying further away from Waikiki, since it is known for being more touristy. However, given the fact that we very much wanted to maintain the option to walk to dinners, go shopping, and be close enough to walk to the convenience/grocery stores for food, water, and drinks, convenience was a huge factor in deciding to stay in Waikiki.
We also decided that we wanted to rent a car while in Hawaii, which we were able to easily book ahead of time through Budget car rentals and pick up upon landing at HNL airport. This made a huge difference in our ability to go all across the island and visit different areas of Oahu that we wouldn’t have been able to on foot.
Diamond Head
On our first full day on the island, we ventured over to the Diamond Head State Park and Trailhead to climb the fabled Diamond Head trail that sits on this now dormant volcano. I had read before coming to Oahu that if you intend to hike Diamond Head, it is essential that you get there early as there is a daily cap on the amount of people that they let in to hike. Thanks to our jet lag, we were up bright eyed and bushy tailed (sort of) around 4am and got the monument around 8am. Even then, there was a longer line of cars than I expected. We were still able to make our way into the park relatively quickly and get going up the trail.
The entire trail is paved with railings along the sides of the path. Certain stretches of the trail were extremely steep, so we definitely were not in a rush to get to the top. There are also tons of great picture taking spots and vistas along the way, so I would recommend taking your time going up the trail.
Of course, the best part of completing the hike is the sweet and refreshing Hawaiian treat of Dole Whip that food trucks aplenty will have waiting for you when you reach the base of the mountain. We could not get enough of this treat throughout our trip!
Lanikai Pillbox Hike & Beach (Kailua)
On our second day in Oahu, we took our first longer drive over to the East side of the island to climb the “easy” 1 mile hike, the Lanikai Pillbox hike. Another iconic hike that admittedly drew me in because of the absolutely insane views of the Pacific that I’d seen on Google, it was certainly not as easy as the reviews online would lead you to believe.
While I enjoyed it tremendously, the first thing to know about this hike is that it is quite steep, very rugged with lots of loose rock, and slippery most of the way up. Because I’d seen reviews online that touted this hike to be a “quick 1 mile hike up to the top”, we wore open toed Chaco’s (I know, I know) and as you might guess, our calves were on fire once we reached the top. But overall, I’d say the juice was definitely worth the squeeze with this hike; I mean, c’mon look at that VIEW!
After our Pillbox hike, we grabbed some lunch in the nearby town of Kailua, then drove over to Lanikai beach. Parking was tricky, but we managed to find a spot after a few loops around the neighborhood.
Lanikai beach was the best way to relax after a taxing hike, and what a beach it was! Once you walk through the beach access points, Lanikai beach is exquisite, quiet, and simply stunning. We didn’t bring any snorkeling equipment, however there were lots of people snorkeling just offshore, as well as kayakers sailing all the way out to the Mokulua Islands. We spent a few hours relaxing, swimming, and having some snacks on the beach before heading back to Waikiki. Other than the slightly tricky parking situation, I can’t recommend Lanikai beach enough!
Waikiki Harbor Boat Tour
After returning from Lanikai, we got dressed and drove over to the marina where we boarded our sunset cruise of Waikiki Harbor! We found this event through the concierge site on the hotel’s page, and it was such a fun and different way to experience Waikiki. The whole boat tour was roughly 2 hours long, and we sailed from the loading dock in Waikiki Harbor all the way over to Diamond Head and back. We had such a blast sailing around the harbor, getting to meet other folks who were also on their honeymoons or vacations, and hanging out with the boat crew, who very kindly pointed out a pod of dolphins swimming just along the boat for us to see! We also caught sight of 2 giant rainbows over Diamond Head (pictured above)!
Waimea Valley State Park & Waterfall
After 2 whole days in the direct sun, we decided a change of pace was needed. So, we ventured over to the Waimea Valley State Park on the North Shore. We began our day with a late breakfast/lunch at the Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck, then made our way over to the State Park.
The park is very walkable, so depending on how long you plan to be there, sandals are definitely fine to wear. The greenery and flowers in Hawaii are so unique to anything else I’d ever seen, so we walked around for 2 or 3 hours trying to get pictures of as many plants as possible! Everything was so fragrant, and we found ourselves saying over and over how lucky we felt to be there experiencing this.
Helicopter Tour of Oahu
On our second to last day in Hawaii, Zachary surprised me with a helicopter trip around the island! We had talked about doing something like this before we came but ultimately decided that we’d just wait until we got there and see if we had a free day that we might want to do it on. I was a little nervous before going up simply because I’ve never flown in a helicopter before, and the doors were going to be off on this tour. But once the pilot gave us a run-down of everything to expect, I felt totally comfortable and excited to get up in the air! It was a little cloudy on some parts of the island, but other than that the air was totally smooth, and we could see so much from that high up, even at certain spots into the water!
We made so many fun memories on this trip, and we’ve already said how much we’d love to go back! It truly was the perfect place to spend our honeymoon. We got to eat the most amazing seafood, hike mountains that were wildly different than what we’ve hiked before, and of course spend time on the water, which is our favorite place to be.
