If you are fortunate enough to be in a position where you and your honey can enjoy a Fly-Away Date, the possibilities are truly endless! Alaska, Hawaii, Fiji, Tahiti, Ireland, England, France, Greece, Costa Rica, Australia, The Caribbean….. Let the world be your playground and be sure to send us pictures!
We recently completed an adventure to the wonderful island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands. Before we departed, we discussed the possibility of island hopping to a couple neighboring islands, but we quickly discovered there were so many things to see and do on Oahu that island hopping would not be appropriate for this trip. We will, however, be going back to the Hawaiian Islands on a regular basis from here on out. Some trips will be planned with our kids in mind and others will, of course, be a “couples only” adventure.
We rented two cars for this trip so we had options of sending our kids one way while we went another. Three of the four are young adults so we didn’t have a problem throwing them keys to one of the cars as we set out on one of our “couples only” adventures.
As most people do when hitting the island of Oahu, we landed in Honolulu. It is by far Hawaii’s largest airport and hub connecting both international flights as well as local hops to other neighboring islands. We reserved two rental cars due to the size of our family. Having four grown kids tends to put us out of small, fuel efficient and economically feasible rental cars. We also discovered that rental cars in the Hawaiian Islands are limited and it’s much cheaper to rent two small vehicles rather than one large SUV or minivan. In fact, we probably could have rented four small cars and still be under the cost of one large vehicle that comfortably seats six passengers. When renting vehicles on Oahu, be sure to check the exact location of your rental car. One of our cars was not located at the airport. They do have limited shuttle service to some off airport locations, but we were fortunate enough to have one rental car waiting for us at the airport.
When we booked our trip to Hawaii, we used an online website to combine our airline tickets, hotel and first rental car. We had other options available, but this option came with serious savings and we couldn't turn the opportunity down. I must admit the logistical details wasn’t really considered much when we were booking this trip. After all, we were staying on an island and how big could this island really be?
Fly in to Honolulu - Check! Book a couple reasonably priced rental cars - Check!
Book a room for the week at a nice hotel, Courtyard Marriott on the North Shore sounds good…. - Check!
Side note - When booking your stay, book early and pay attention to the location of your hotel as well as the locations of your planned activities. Oahu is an island and one could even say it’s a small island, but it could take you an hour to an hour and a half to go from one side of the island to the other, depending on your location and route taken. We wanted to spend time on the famous North Shore so we selected the Courtyard Marriott, which I do believe is the only notable hotel on the north side of the island.
The drive up to the north side of the island after landing in Honolulu is a slow and winding adventure. One we were not all that thrilled with, in the dark, being unfamiliar with the road, after a long flight from Orlando, Florida. There was also a serious lack of dinner options once we left Honolulu and headed up the eastern side of the island. By the time we made it to our hotel, we were all exhausted, hungry and our kids were seriously considering mutiny.
For our first full day on Oahu, we set out on an adventure to visit the Dole Plantation, which is in the north/central part of the island. Our Dole Plantation adventure included indoor shopping where both Dole and local vendors share space to bring you unique Hawaiian gifs, a walk through a tropical garden, a 20 minute train ride tour, lunch and of course, Dole Whip Dessert! There’s also the world’s largest pineapple garden maze to get lost in, but we decided to enjoy the Pineapple Grille for a relaxing lunch before our train ride. The Dole Plantation is a great destination for both couples and full families and should no doubt be a destination of choice for your visit. Imagine having a Bunny Up Moment in the world’s largest pineapple maze! That should be good for a cool 50 points! ;)
Other destinations on the island of Oahu worth our time and expense included hiking at Diamond Head State Monument, Hiking the Pillbox Trail, Conquering the mountain at Koko Head District Park, shopping on the North Shore and at the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, snorkeling the many bays and coves around the island, visiting Halona Blowhole, Pearl Harbor, a Waikiki Beach sunset, dinner at the Rainbow Drive-in, breakfast at Ted’s Bakery, dinner at the Haleiwa Beach House on the North Shore, visiting the Nu’uanu Pali Lookout and one of our favorites, visiting the Polynesian Cultural Center for tours, shows, activities, a wonderful luau and the “Ha: Breath of Life” evening show!
All in all, our visit to Oahu has become one of our favorite destinations and is absolutely perfect for your next fly away date! Do your research and plan ahead. There is so much to do on the island of Oahu and we probably could have spent another week there enjoying new and exciting adventures without repeating an activity or leaving the island. We will no doubt be making Hawaii a frequent destination for us, with or without kids, and we are seriously considering this to be our destination of choice to avoid those oppressive Florida summers with extremely high heat and humidity. We’ll just call it “SnowBirds with a twist!”
