Honolulu - Pearl Harbor Welcome Center, Mighty Mo and USS Arizona

We did not intend to visit the USS Arizona Memorial, which was great considering the shuttle that day was discontinued due to weather.  As a result we did not encounter the diappointment many did.  I feel sorry for those who had hoped to make the treck. 

We on the other hand are aviation buffs so our wish was to visit Hickem Field and the Aviation Museum.  We did however get the opportunity to tour the Pearl Harbor Wecome Center and walk by Might MO before visiting the museum.

This was a great day and there was nothing about Pearl Harbor that disappointed us.  The feeling of just standing on the piece of land and envisioning what had transpired was a moving feeling that will not soon be forgotten.

Next post we visit the Aviation Museum at Hickem Field Pearl Harbor.

Questions or comments always welcome.

Honolulu - Waikiki Beach

After all the photos I have seen, all the anticipation I have had and all the excitement that existed in getting to finally see Waikiki Beach, I must admit I was a little let down.

As with the Honolulu port in general, I found Waikiki Beach to be very industrialized and built up.  There didn't ever seem to be that feeling of being on a tropical island that was very apparent when we visited Richardson Beach near Hilo.

This is not to say this is not a beautiful beach, quite the contrary.  It just didn't have the Hawaiian Feel I thought I was going to experience.

Here are the photos I took.

After we finished a lovely lunch on the beach we split from the women and off we went to visit Pearl Harbor.

Questions and comments always welcome.

Honolulu - City Tour and Visit to Diamond Head

With having a stopover of 16 hours and us not having any organized tours for this port, we felt free to enjoy a relaxing breakfast overlooking Honolulu and disembarking after the initial mad rush.

Once off Golden Princess we walked around Aloha Tower Square and the waterfront associated with Pier 10 were we were berthed.

Having completed our little tour we boarded the Waikiki 3 Line Trolly and off we went to see Honolulu, Diamond Head and of course, Waikiki Beach.

Allow me to pass on my opinion of this choice of travel.  If you have specific intentions of boarding and disembarking the trolly many many times during the day it is not worth you investment to buy a day pass.  We paid full price for 4 people and go on the trolly by Golden Princess, got off at Waikiki Beach and then came back to the ship.  At 2 dollars per person each time you board the trolly our total cost could have been under 20 dollars but we paid far far more than that and never came close to getting our moneys worth.  Just my opinion, we could have better used the money to enjoy a meal or speciality of the island rather than on a trolly we never really used.

Anyway, we boarded and off we went to Diamond Head.

 

Having been taken up the side of Diamond Head, we entered a tunnel and when we exited we were in the Diamond Head Volcano Caldera.  Unfortunately from where the parking lot is, to where the look out, overlooking Honolulu is a little bit of a wald.  We were told that and enjoyable walk to the lookout and then a return to the trolly stop would take about 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Given our health concerns it was decided to just enjoy the Coldera and leave the lookout for our next visit.  We would have loved to have seen the view, but you can't do everything and this was a difficult decission that needed to be made.

Photos from inside the Diamond Head Caldera.

 

Now, I am sure we have all seen photos of Diamond Head taken from Waikiki Beach of other such location in this vicinity.  How many of us have wondered what lies just beyond Diamond Head?  I, personally, have never seen photos of this area so here are some so you can stop wondering.



Next stop on the Waikiki Trolly ... Waikiki Beach!!

Comments always welcome.