Oahu Hawaii is the dream destination for many people. Let me tell you about my first trip to Oahu. This trip has a pretty funny story. One day I woke up and I felt like I needed to get away and go somewhere so I started to research some of the world's best beaches. After quite a bit of research I chose to go to Hawaii because of the natural beauty on the islands. Hawaii in general has a very beautiful landscape and as I personally love mountains and beaches Hawaii had everything I was looking for. There are so many Islands that make up Hawaii and each of them has its own unique character.

 

​I decided to visit the island of Oahu and stay in the city of Waikiki. My choice to stay in the city was based on the convenience of the city but my goals for this trip were to visit Kailua and Lanikai beaches. I must say this trip was quite adventurous and very interesting for me. When I first arrived in Hawaii I was surprised by the large population of Japanese in Waikiki. The large Japanese population meant that I was able to find many great Japanese restaurants - more so than anywhere I have been in the U.S. The people in Waikiki are very kind and laid back. I felt extremely safe traveling around here.



I chose to stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki Beach Resort. The locaiton of the hotel was very convenient to get to anywhere in the area I needed to reach. I rented a bicycle to make it even easier and more enjoyable to get around. A key item to note if you don't place any side trips or activities before you arrive, the tourist services here are great. There are tours concierges and shops around the hotel area, so it is easy to get ideas for and book activities. The hotel has an area where you can enjoy water sports like paddle boarding and paddle boats. What I really love about the Hilton was the Friday night fireworks. They have fireworks show every Friday night where people can watch from the beach, but I was also able to watch from my balcony so It was very nice and entertaining to spend the evening.



The adventurous part of my trip was visiting Kailua and Lanikai beaches which was my goal and dream destination for visiting Oahu. From Waikiki it was quite a trip. I had to take the local bus to the beaches.  

It was adventurous to do something truly local, well at least traveling to the beach by local bus was adventurous. It was quite a trip because It took about an hour to get to Kailua beach and from Kailua beach I had to walk but I have to say this - I really enjoyed the bus ride since I got to see the landscape and scenery of Oahu. Oahu outside of Waikiki made me think of the landscape of New Zealand. It is not exactly the same but It had a very similar vibe because of the mountains and houses on the hills which brought back my great memories of my living in Auckland New Zealand in 2000.



When I arrived at Kailua beach I had to walk a few blocks to the beach. It was very quiet around the beach and the residential area leading up to the beach. It took me about 15 minutes to walk to the beach. As soon as I saw the bright blue ocean water, the beauty blew me away. Kailua beach was very stunning. The water was so clear and bright blue and the beach was nice and wide. What I really loved even more than the beautiful ocean was the mountains surrounding the beach. It made everything look so stunning. I also loved being able to sit back, realx and watch people playing water sports and the school kids practicing on traditional Hawaiian canoes. I had a wonderful time at Kailua beach and from here I walked to Lanikai beach. These two beaches are so stunning. They are not very crowded and the beaches are long and wide. There is plenty of space to sit back and  chill. It was really worth the trip, truly a one of a kind destination.



On the way back to Waikiki I got kind of lost so I was waited at a bus stop but a different station from where I got off.  A bus driver stopped but he was actually out of service but just like the other great people I met in Hawaii he offered to help.  Even though he was off duty he drove to the right bus stop where I could get back to Waikiki. The people here made a great impression on me, they are extremely nice, always anxious to help and made my trip a great memory. I also have to mention the Hawaiian food. Here they have their signature dishes like Tuna Poke Poke. It's like tuna tartar only better, it was delicious. My favroite dish here though was the pork Lualua. This is pork wrapped in taro leaf and cooked in an underground oven called an imu. There are many more dishes to enjoy in Hawaii but these are my two favorites.



This trip to Oahu was one of my great memories of a lifetime. The beauty of the nature, the landscape, the beaches, the people and the food were wonderful and just a perfect trip for me.