Honolulu, HI

My friends and I decided, shortly after the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall came out on DVD, that we wanted to go to Turtle Bay and goof off for a day. So, we made the trek all the way to Kahuku and we spent the day at the Turtle Bay Resort.

There are two ways to get to Turtle Bay – the long way and the longer way. Both ways to get there are very scenic, but one is much longer than the other. You can either go on the H-2 freeway, taking Exit 8A towards Wahiawa and going through Haleiwa, Waimea Bay, Pupukea and Sunset Beach. The other way is starting from town and taking Likelike Highway to Kaneohe and basically tracing the outline of the island. During that route, you will hit Chinaman’s Hat, Crouching Lion, Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie and finally Turtle Bay. I would recommend the shorter way, but if you are really bored and have nothing to do, the long way is not a bad way to kill time.

There are many things you can do at the Resort without having to be a guest in the hotel. If you decide to take a look around inside the resort, you can see the little shops they have. You can also see the two macaws they have in the lobby area. They just sit around on their perch and hang out all day. You can also go to the beach, which is the main attraction for me. Anyone is allowed public beach access, so whenever my friends and I make it out there, we usually go to the beach and have fun. There are a lot of things you can do while on the beach. We usually like to go out there and tan or jump in the water, play beach volleyball or just picnic on the grass. You can keep yourself busy for most of the day there. On our particular outing, we decided to check out the bar on the beach.

The restaurant/bar itself is on the beach and it is half barefoot, meaning that some of the restaurant/bar seating is on sand. The bar is opening seating, but the restaurant itself is seated by a hostess. The drinks and food weren’t cheap, but you can’t expect it to be cheap at high end resort such as Turtle Bay. My friends and I were feeling the tropical fever, so we were drinking fruity blended alcoholic drinks such as pina coladas and strawberry daiquiris and later mixing it up with cocktails. All in all, the drinks were pretty good, but not the best considering the price we paid. But, I say “When in Rome…”

My friends and I ended up staying there for almost three hours while catching up on each others’ lives. It was a great way to gab about the old high school days, our jobs and our significant others (who weren’t with us at the time.) It was a great way to justify the fact that we drove all the way from Kahala to Kahuku to spend the day at Turtle Bay.