Hi All -
We had an absolutely amazing time in Hawaii. We loved Turtle Bay and the North Shore. We did go on several excursions and had a good experience on each one. Some of our favorite non-excursion activities were visiting Haleiwa, just driving around the island and visiting all the various beaches, going to turtle beach, and stopping at all the local restaurants (Ted's Bakery, Romy's Shrimp Truck, and Haleiwa Joe's were some of our favorites).
Excursions:
- ATV Tour at Kualoa Ranch - this was one of our favorites, the views are incredible at Kualoa Ranch.
- Dolphin Swim - we got to actually be in the water with the dolphins for probably about 45 minutes. It was incredible to see them swimming so close by.
- Swim with the Sharks - we decided to do this last minute and got to get in the cage for around 15 minutes with the sharks, it was amazing to see such big sharks swimming so close to the cage and boat. Would recommend going in the morning if you get sea sick easily as the water is very choppy in the afternoon.
- Pearl Harbor - obviously a must see; definitely recommend buying tickets in advance.
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Hi Kim, |
We had a wonderful time!!
First, the TSA Pre-check was very helpful. We almost felt guilty getting in the short line.
Oahu
We absolutely loved Turtle Bay. We had a Vista level room (6th floor). The view from our room was incredible! The Vista package includes “breakfast bites”. I was skeptical of how good this would be. It was much more than a donut and juice. We started out every morning eating breakfast on our balcony looking out over the ocean.
We wanted our vacation to focus on relaxing together and enjoying Hawaii. With that in mind, we spent a lot of time on the beach at the resort each day. The resort fee included Snorkel gear. I took advantage of that multiple times. It felt like swimming in an aquarium. We spent the evenings going out to dinner and shopping in the area. The restaurant options are a little limited on the North Shore, but there were some within a reasonable drive as well as a couple of nice options on the resort property.
We spent a half day at Peral Harbor and the rest of the day in Honolulu and the Waikiki beach area. It was nice, but we preferred the relaxed environment of the North Shore. We also spent a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was very interesting, and the show was incredible.
We hated to leave Turtle Bay, but flying to Maui instead of home made it easier.
Our vacation was exactly what we were hoping for and more. We are already trying to figure out how to save money and go again in a couple of years.
Thank you for all of your help putting this together. We will definitely use your service in the future as well as recommend it to our friends.
Dave