If you follow us on Instagram, you know that we recently took our first family vacation with Henry (our 6 month old) to Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii. Here is how we spent out entire week, where we stayed, how we got around, and where we ate!
Where we stayed:
Saturday to Thursday we stayed at the Wyndham Waikiki Beach Walk.
This was a super convenient stay, but a city experience not tropical.
Friday to Saturday we stayed at the Ko Olina Marriott Beach Club.
We adored this resort! It was a tropical, r&r place to be; however, it was a good 30 minute drive from Honolulu and Waikiki activities.
How we traveled:
After landing on the island we had to rent a van from Hertz (there were 8 adults + a baby).
I would highly recommend renting a vehicle to travel around the island. Oahu is small enough that you can drive all over and see so many sights. If you do not rent a vehicle the bus is the most economical travel with $5 day passes. The reason I do not recommend this for sole travel: if you go to the north shore its around an hour drive from Waikiki Beach or 3 hour ride on the bus! Ubers are just "uber" expensive on Oahu!!
Saturday
landed by lunch
find rental car (the lines are LONG, prepare to wait - even with reservations)
travel from airport to hotel in Waikiki
unpack & freshen up
dinner at Giovanni Pastrami - Jared and I shared the wings and they were A+
grocery shopped at Walmart (I would recommend Whole Foods, same prices and closer)
Sunday
walked to Waikiki Beach
pineapple smoothies at the Waikiki Beachside Bistro (beach access)
pool time for Henry
get ready for the night
Pictures at Sandy Beach Park (a must see!)
dinner at The Yard House - BBQ bacon cheddar burger with sweet potato fries was so good! The Long Island ice tea was great too.
Monday
Pearl Harbor - arrive at 7:00am to get Arizona exhibit tickets & no bags allowed!
lunch at Lanikai Juice - açaí bowls (sooo good!)
pool time for Henry
get ready for the night
family pictures in the Kaneoahe area
dinner back at Giovanni Pastrami - Lava Flow drink is a must try!
Tuesday
family beach time for the 3 of us - Hilton village has a family friendly ocean lagoon
other family went on the Atlantis Adventure sub
lunch at a food truck - coconut shrimp, YUMMY!
surf lessons with Waikiki Beach Services at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel - highly recommend these guys & this hotel - they allowed us to use their pool during the lessons
cooked dinner in the room
cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory
Wednesday
family beach day
Jared and I went scuba diving with Oahu Diving - we cannot say enough about this crew! We had a blast on our first scuba trip with these guys + they were so affordable!
drove to Sunset Beach on the North shore for the sunset
dinner at Seven Brothers at the mill - local dive with burgers and shrimp (get the Nutella and peanut butter milkshake, thank me later!)
Thursday
hiked diamond head - pineapple smoothies are great here too!
pool time for Henry
get ready for the evening
luau at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel - we had a lot of fun, but would not recommend with young children
Friday
packed up and drove to Ko Olina & the West shore (not much to see)
arrived to paradise at the Marriott Beach Club - they were so good to us, they gave us guest access early for the beach and pool that day even though our rooms were not ready.
pool & beach day, all day!
dinner at Longhi's - the eggplant parmesan starter was delicious, along with the chocolate martini and chocolate lava cake (entree portions are TINY though)
pack to travel home tomorrow
Saturday
check out
pool & beach day - once again they allowed us access after check out
shower in provided guest locker rooms (this place is so accommodating)
headed back to Tennessee
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