Trip to Hawaii

We spent 6 days in Maui and 3 days in Oahu (the main island). I went with normal expectations, neither too high nor too low, and I can say that even though I didn't visit the supposedly most beautiful island—Kauai—I loved the islands I did visit! Maui, despite having a semi-arid climate, has paradise-like beaches! We stayed in Napili (Napili Point Resort), on the west side of the island, and it seems we made a good choice—warm, clear water, probably the best sea I've ever swum in! Lots of diving, lots of snorkeling, and many poke bowls with the freshest tuna in the world!

The beaches are perfect for children because there are few waves during the summer, and the temperature is ideal for spending the whole day swimming. Our favorite beaches were Kanapali and Napili.

Although we spent most of the days exploring the beaches, we took the opportunity to visit some friends in the central part of the island, where the climate is more tropical and it rains almost every day. During that stay, we went to the north of the island and visited the "Twin Falls" waterfalls, whose trail is great for those with small children, and you can even take a refreshing swim.

In terms of places to eat, the main disadvantage is that everything is very expensive considering the variety and quality of the offerings. Apart from the poke bowls, nothing is spectacular. I'm very picky about food, and most of the time, I prefer to cook because, besides tasting better, it's much more affordable. Since we stayed in an apartment with a kitchen, we made all our breakfasts at home: eggs, avocado, local fruit, yogurt, and coffee were on our shopping list. For lunch, we would pick up poke bowls with rice from the supermarket and eat them at home or on the beach. For dinner, we grilled meat on the condo's grill and ate it with salad.

In these situations, I'm always very practical; if there aren't spectacular and unmissable places to eat, I prefer to go shopping and cook at home. It's healthier and much more affordable.

We went from Maui to Honolulu, which is on the island of Oahu, about a 1-hour flight. Pedro had a conference on that island, so we stayed at the hotel where he had to work. We stayed in Waikiki, and I can say that I loved it! Imagine New York mixed with Malibu, and you have Waikiki! We stayed right in front of Waikiki Beach, with white sand, turquoise blue water, and hundreds of people surfing. Wave after wave, almost as if there were a machine in the sea producing them, they were so identical. It's a city beach, so it's quite busy, where people stay for a short time—some just to take a dip, others to catch some waves. The most surreal thing was seeing people walking around in swimsuits with surfboards under their arms among the skyscrapers. At night, there's a contagious energy, with people strolling along the beach, luaus, entertainment everywhere, and we even caught an outdoor movie screening on the beach, where they showed the Trolls movie with hundreds of families watching.

I liked the vibe of Waikiki so much that I could easily live there for a few years! But only for a couple of years because living on an island your whole life must be strange.

We didn't stay long in Oahu, but we took advantage of it by renting a car and heading to the North Shore, the northern part of the island where the famous Pipeline wave is—spoiler alert, in the summer, the wave doesn't exist! Flat as a river. We then went to a beach near the Turtle Bay Resort—a perfect beach for snorkeling, calm, with a large grassy area where you can lay out your towels without having to stay on the sand.

At the end of the day, we passed by Shark Cove—a small bay where we saw turtles and several colorful fish. This area has water that comes up to your knees, making it great for those with small children who aren't yet used to swimming in deep water.

We ended the day with dinner at a food truck area (by the way, food trucks are everywhere in Hawaii) and had another poke bowl, but this one made it into our top 3 because it was divine!

On the last day, before returning to Cleveland, we went once again to North Shore to visit Kualoa Park, where Jurassic Park was filmed and is still used today as a set for many well-known movies and series. For those of my generation, can you imagine the level of excitement I was in?? It was a last-minute decision, but it was totally worth it!