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It takes a while to get to the Kualoa area from any point in town. You can go on the H-2 freeway and take exit 8 towards Wahiawa and go the North Shore way, or you can take the longer “tracing the outline of the island” way. That route will take you through Kaneohe via Likelike Highway then taking Kahekili Highway which turns into Kamehameha Highway. Keep going until you see that famous Chinaman’s Hat and you’re pretty much there.

I remember going to Kualoa Park as a kid every summer for summer fun and that was always a highlight for me. We went to the beach and swam and had fun, we had relay races on the grass, we played pick up soccer games with whomever; I also learned my first paddling lesson at Kualoa Park. It’s a great place to take a kid in the daytime because it gives them options, such as the beach or picnicking or playing in the grass. You can also bring pets so that’s a plus.

As I got older, my purposes for going to Kualoa Park changed. While I still had fun going to the beach, my friends and I mostly went there to barbeque and do some overnight camping. It’s a great area to camp at because there isn’t any forest, so there aren’t those little pine cones that could disrupt sleep. Also, it’s a very mellow area, so there is hardly any disruption. You can lie on the grass at night and literally count the stars, it’s amazing. It’s definitely my favorite place to camp.

Kualoa Park is a great place for any age. The possibilities there are literally endless. You can have a family party there or you can bring your guitar and find inspiration to write a song there, or you can swim to Chinaman’s Hat (on a good, low tide day). It’s a great alternative to the parks in town or in your neighborhood. Sometimes even the scenic drive makes it worth it.

It’s not difficult to find your way to Haleiwa town. When going on the H-2 freeway, you’re going to take exit 8A towards Wahiawa and you’re pretty much set. Just follow that road and remember to take the Haleiwa fork instead of the Wailua fork. Once you find your way into Haleiwa town, you are greeted with a sign and an instant throwback to the old Plantation days on Oahu.

The best things about the town are the true hidden gems that are waiting to be found in the little strip malls. In my opinion, Haleiwa has some of the best food, best shops and best coffee shops on the island. You can find my three favorite stores in one North Shore Marketplace. My favorite restaurant in Haleiwa is Cholo’s Mexican Restaurant and Margarita bar. The food is “winnahz” and the drinks are even better. My favorite thing to get there is the Nachos Posse and the Li hing mui margarita. My favorite surf shop is next door to Cholos at Raging Isle Surf & Cycle shop. They have a lot of clothing, footwear and accessories that I’ve only seen at their store, so I’m always making a purchase there. My favorite coffee shop is right next to Cholo’s as well and that is The Coffee Gallery. They have a nice little café in there, healthy foods, a nice selection of coffee blends and free wi-fi. It’s definitely a great place to have a chat with friends. There is also a glass blowing studio, a sushi bar and a surf museum in the North Shore Marketplace, so if you plan on going to Haleiwa go and check it out.

There are other great places in Haleiwa other than North Shore Marketplace. There are various strip malls that have both tourist-esque stores to buy souvenirs, roadside stands with shell souvenirs, the original Kua’aina Burger, Matsumoto’s Shave Ice, Haleiwa Joe’s, Haleiwa Café and much more. You can also find various surf schools there, where you can rent a surfboard and learn from professionals. I would only recommend it during the non-winter months, as the waves get bigger as the year goes on.

I definitely missed Haleiwa upon returning to Hawaii after living on the mainland for a few years. Everything about that place is so inviting. It is so low-key and calm I wish I could live there all the time. For now, I will just make that not-so-often trek that reminds me of my love for Historic Haleiwa Town.

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.

First we headed down to Long’s Drugs for some everyday items. But they do have some unusual things in here that you won’t see everyday in the mainland stores, such as canned abalone, known as “King Topshell.” Pretty expensive stuff. After Long’s, we headed over to the dry cleaner’s to pick something up. Then, it was into the Sears to pick up an inflator pump for our kayak, and a cordless drill set. You can get pretty much anything at Ala Moana. Other shops which we didn’t go to this time but have other times, include the Gamestop (for video games), the Radio Shack, the Barnes & Noble, the Starbucks, Hilo Hattie, the SBarro Pizza in the Food Court, the Food Pantry, the ukulele store up on the third floor, and the W Hair Salon. Also, it should be noted that although it’s not part of the mall, there is a Wal Mart store within walking distance of the mall, so it is possible to combine your true discount shopping with the mall shopping in one trip.
 

So, the next time you need to buy anything, consider combining your shopping with a little food and drink—all in one place—the Ala Moana Mall!

Getting there from Waikiki:

-Take TheBus routes 8, 19, 20, 23, or 42, (or the F# that says TheBoat)
-Trolley service
-Taxi service: about $10-12
-If driving your own vehicle: mall parking is free

There is a hair salon (Bobbi & Guy) here where my wife sometimes gets her hair done. While I am waiting for her, I like to go check out some of the shops, such as the guitar store on the second floor. They have many fine instruments for sale in here, including ukuleles and traditional guitars. Next to the guitar store is a hobby shop featuring board games having to do with wizardry and the like. Strange, but if you need to find 12-sided dice and ceramic dragons, this is the place in Hawaii to go. Also, I found time to stop into the bookstore next to the hair salon, and they have some awesome Hawaiian crafts in here (with prices to match), including drums, fishhook necklaces and shark tooth clubs.

We ate dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory, which opens at 5pm. This is a national chain restaurant which offers good, cheap Italian food, and, at Ward Center, you can actually get a decent ocean view, too. We sat in a large booth right next to a window looking out over the harbor. I had the spaghetti with Portuguese sausage (local flavor), while my wife ordered the traditional spaghetti and meatballs. We also shared a carafe of red wine.

After that we were ready to walk around the ‘warehouse’ some more. There is a juice store next to the Dairy Queen that makes excellent fresh fruit smoothies. For something different, try the Durian! We also stopped in at the As Seen on TV store, where you can see and buy all those nifty gadgets and gizmos advertised on television. Our last stop was the pet store, where they have adorable puppies on display plus all the usual pet supplies. They don’t sell fish, but they do carry some aquarium supplies.
 
One advantage to Ward Warehouse is that it is less crowded overall than Ala Moana. So, next time you’re in the mood for some mall action but aren’t looking forward to fighting the crowds at Ala Moana, consider checking out Ward Warehouse.

This past Sunday, my husband and I took our children to one of the many parks on Hickam Air Force Base. The park was large and spacious, supplied with comfortable, shaded benches, and equipped with slides, swings, monkey bars, and many more fun things for kids to do. The pictures in this article were all taken at this particular park (located next to MWR and the Dive Center on Hickam), but there are several other great, family-friendly parks on Oahu that we enjoy going to.

Wahiawa District Park sports two baseball diamonds that many children enjoy playing on during the warm afternoons. There is a water fountain nearby, as well as a skate park, tennis courts, indoor basketball courts, and a playground for younger children. This park, which is located on California Avenue past Blockbuster, is a great place to hang out with older children or teens - whether it’s to play some baseball together or just to run around.

Kipapa Park in Mililani is located next to Kipapa Elementary and Old Mililani Town (close to the shopping center). This park has newer, plastic playground equipment (as opposed to wooden playgrounds on Hickam). There are several slides, giant tic-tac-toe blocks, and lots of climbing equipment.

Mililani Neighborhood Park is in Mililani, as well, and is just a few blocks away from Wal-Mart and Mililani Town Center. This park also has new equipment, a nice parking lot, and is in a residential area so it’s very quiet and has plenty of space for youngsters to run around.

It was a five piece ensemble featuring traditional Irish instruments such as flutes, slide whistles, bagpipes, dulcimers, and the bodhrán drum. In addition, the drummer also performed vocal duties on some songs, although most pieces were instrumental. My wife thought it was great that one of the flute players was an eighty-four year old woman! The group had an informal style and played sitting down around a long table, a few Irish beverages in front of them to wet their whistles.

In addition to the band, the atmosphere inside Kelly O’Neil’s was quite relaxed. Numerous televisions played sports, and a few patrons played a game of darts in the back. A few people occupied seats at the large bar in the middle of the room, clapping along at times to the musical choruses.

While we enjoyed the music, we ordered some fish and chips and a Reuben sandwich, both of which were quite good. These were washed down with a couple of rounds of beer, of course. I found it interesting that this pub also features a cigar menu with a decent selection from their own humidor.

So, the next time you’re in Waikiki on a Sunday and looking for some good food, drinks and entertainment, do consider checking out the Irish music at Kelly O’Neil’s!

Hmmmmmmmmmm. Dilemma. Run errands, or spend the morning taking in Kaneohe Bay’s underwater and Koolaus Mountain splendor…..the choice was about as obvious as whether Ferris Bueller was going to take the Ferrari home or drive 80’s teen movie carefree through the city streets…..if you had an option like this would you run errands instead?…..”neither would I.” I quickly exchanged the running shoes for flip-flops and headed over the Pali Highway toward Oahu’s lush Windward side.

My friend is an educator and guide on the boat and had been sparking my curiosity for weeks. I have to tell you, the first time I heard the phrase “Glass Bottom Boat,” I was a little nervous. Should the bottom of a boat really be made of glass? Sounds a little Cinderella-ish.
Boats are not supposed to have glass bottoms, they’re supposed to have strong exteriors so you and I won’t find ourselves grabbing for life vests when the glass begins to crack mid-voyage. I mean coral and rocks can be sharp, ouch! I imagined the glass deck being a little slippery, having to hang on to the rail for dear life every time the boat made a turn. I tend to be a little paranoid.

I was happy to discover on a recent Glass Bottom Boat (or the “G Double B” as I like to call it) tour through tropical Kaneohe Bay, the boat was of course not only very safe, it offered a very unique underwater viewing experience. The kind where you don’t even have to get wet!

As the tour group and I climbed into the boat’s gull, I noticed right away that the G Double B offers ample seating and plenty-o-underwater viewing (6000 square inches to be exact). We were able to sit back, relax and enjoy the fun and educational narrated tour . We watched colorful coral, exotic tropical fish, and even one of the boat’s crew members snorkel right below our eyes. We were even lucky enough to catch a sea turtle swaying to his beat, in tune with the motion of the underwater plant life.

The crew are a laid back bunch, loving every minute of the tour like they’re seeing it all for the first time. They’re very polite and knowledgeable and even have a bunch of souvenirs of the sea to check out, including some musical seashells they eagerly demonstrated for us.

I was so glad I brought my camera, as the upstairs viewing deck offered panoramic views of the stunning Koolaus Mountians Moolii Island (called Chinaman’s hat, because, guess what, it looks like a hat sticking out of the water!) and Kualoa Ranch. It was no stretch of the imagination that scenes from the movies Jurassic Park and 50 First Dates were filmed in this area. Feeling the warmth of the sun mixed with light mist and cool trade winds was a gentle reminder of how lucky I am to live on such a beautiful island.

I admit, I definitely had an insider’s connection on this one, so I got a discount, but normal going rate for the hour long tour is $22.00 with discounts for seniors, military, nurses, teachers, etc. and hey, maybe even you. Never hurts to ask! For an enjoyable experience for the whole family on Oahu’s scenic windward side, I highly recommend the Glass Bottom Boat Tour. The only things you’ll have to hang on to for life are the memories of Hawaii’s beauty.

Getting to the far end of the bay is easy, it just requires a little more walking. When you get to the bottom of the hill, instead of immediately heading for the first sand you see—keep on walking. Soon you will get to a grassy trail. Take this all the way past the main beach, where the restrooms and park information booths are. When you pass all that, you will see sand again. This is the beginning of the far end of the beach. It takes us about twenty minutes, I would say, to walk from the bottom of the hill where the trams let people off until we get all the way to the other end, but the walk is well worth it. When we get there, we pretty much have the beach to ourselves. Occasionally a couple will stroll down that way, beachcombing, but ours were the only two towels on the sand. This is in contrast to the hundreds of beachgoers occupying the main beach.
 

The snorkeling from this end is fine, too. We usually walk in until it gets about knee high, then start swimming toward the middle of the bay, where the rest of the snorkelers are. Then, we swim in to the middle of the main beach and walk back down to our end, or we just swim back the way we came, depending on the water conditions. We always see lots of tropical fish, corals, and other critters.
 

 
Then we usually take a nap on the beach, resting up for the longish trek back. The view of Koko Head from here is fantastic. Once we also saw a mongoose here in the high grasses behind the beach. Also, there is a rocky area with a gate that we like to walk out to just to get a good view of the entire bay, but make sure you don’t go past the gate. As the signs warn, it can be dangerous out on the rocks because of high surf that can wash you off the rocks.
 
We don’t usually wait for the tram to get back up the hill to the parking lot, either, so it’s a good workout. So the next time you want to experience Hanauma Bay, and you don’t mind walking a little bit—consider the far end.