Aloha is Love - Review of POA in Hawaii with Pics, Menus & More

[sjmbruce]

Our beach hopping was interrupted by the scenic views of Makapu'u lookout. This was the picturesque vista I had been searching for!

There was a lighthouse trail nearby but you could see a lot from the lookout right off the road, including two islands:

[sjmbruce]

Waimanalo Beach was next and is our favorite beach on Oahu. The colors were beautiful and there were only a handful of people there. The surf was a little rougher than other beaches we'd visit but it wasn't concerning and we spent a lot of time in the water. I could have spent all day here.

One more because I love this beach!

[sjmbruce]

We tore ourselves away from Waimanalo beach to continue our day. We headed toward Kailua but once into town were completely lost. Luckily we saw a brown sign with a question mark on it to guide us to a tourist information office in a shopping center. Here's the address to plug into your GPS just for general location or if you need helping finding the local beaches:

600 Kailua Rd #107, Kailua, HI 96734

There is also a few restaurants in the same plaza. My husband had a burrito from Bowles and I had a salad from Aloha salad that specializes in fresh, local ingredients. We then went to Lanikai Juice for a delicious fresh smoothie.

After lunch we went to Kailua beach. It was a gentle, safe beach but a little less colorful than Waimanalo with more people. Still, a nice place to spend a day.

We drove to find Lanikai beach but you had to park in a neighborhood and walk a fair distance so we decided to skip it. We kept going as I still wanted to eat shrimp and swim in a waterfall.

[PhillyTravelBug]

Amazing pictures and recap!!!! I clicked on your Alaskan trip too. We are dying to go to both!!!

[sjmbruce]

We stopped for a good picture of Mokolii Island aka Chinaman's Hat.

Although we never found Matsumoto for some shave ice, we did find Giovanni's shrimp truck.

We split a 12 piece plate for $13. Sorry for half of the shrimp missing, they were just too good!

Their hot sauce was too hot to handle, definitely get it on the side.

[sjmbruce]

Amazing pictures and recap!!!! I clicked on your Alaskan trip too. We are dying to go to both!!!

 

Thank you! Hawaii and Alaska were both amazing in their own ways. Definitely go!

[sjmbruce]

Driving past the beaches, we were definitely on the North shore now!

We also saw this poor guy, he was alive and not physically wounded but must have been sick.

He had been roped off with caution tape and someone from a nature group was on scene.

Here's a great website to have on hand if you happen to come across a stranded or beached marine mammal:

http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pr/health/report.htm#pacific

[sjmbruce]

Our second to last stop was Waimea Valley. My main goal was to swim in a waterfall although we did take a little time to admire the gardens on the way. The waterfall was smaller than I thought it would be, but it appeared that it was much drier than normal. We were there less an hour from the park closing so it wasn't crowded at all. It wasn't as spectacular as I thought it would be, but I got to swim in a waterfall.

There are lifeguards on duty and life jackets are required to get in the water.

My husband enjoyed the falls but was happier to have a conversation with the roaming peacock.

[sjmbruce]

Our last stop was at Laniakea Beach to look for turtles. I definitely didn't expect any since the surf was so high and rough and my suspicions were correct, no turtles. They would wait until tomorrow to show themselves.

[sjmbruce]

I had initially planned to drive to the Nu-uanu Pali lookout and to visit the Byodo-in Temple with Japanese gardens. I had also considered doing a tour of Kualoa Ranch if we had time. We didn't have time for any of those things. Definitely have some flexibility in your plans. We headed back to Waikiki and parked our car. From our hotel balcony, we were able to see and smell a Mexican restaurant called La Cucaracha. The staff were friendly and the food was okay. My veggie fajitas were $18 and my husband's seafood enchiladas were around $26. We probably would find somewhere else to eat if we did it again. We went to bed with a day of snorkeling and luauing planned for our future.

[rstephenrrtx]

I had initially planned to drive to the Nu-uanu Pali lookout and to visit the Byodo-in Temple with Japanese gardens. I had also considered doing a tour of Kualoa Ranch if we had time. We didn't have time for any of those things. Definitely have some flexibility in your plans. We headed back to Waikiki and parked our car. From our hotel balcony, we were able to see and smell a Mexican restaurant called La Cucaracha. The staff were friendly and the food was okay. My veggie fajitas were $18 and my husband's seafood enchiladas were around $26. We probably would find somewhere else to eat if we did it again. We went to bed with a day of snorkeling and luauing planned for our future.

Being from Texas, I think I'll skip any Mexican restaurant in Hawaii. [emoji1]

 

Very nice and detailed review. Thx

 

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[sjmbruce]

Being from Texas, I think I'll skip any Mexican restaurant in Hawaii. [emoji1]

 

Very nice and detailed review. Thx

 

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

 

Haha, it was the result of starvation and roaming around Waikiki beach at 9pm when it felt like 3am to us. Not the wisest decision!

[sjmbruce]

The next morning we took our hotel's grab & go breakfast and ate it on the beach.

We then took our rental car back to the airport. There's a location closer to Waikiki beach that I unfortunately didn't learn about until my nonrefundable reservations were made. I don't know if National will let a car be rented at the airport and returned to the Waikiki location, but it would save time and money.

We used Citi Cab to return to Waikiki. It was a flat rate of $26. The cab driver was friendly and shared a lot of information. He dropped us off at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel, our meeting place to snorkel.

[sjmbruce]

We booked with Maitai Catamaran for their water adventure sail. It included snorkeling, lunch and a short sail off of Waikiki beach.

There were some good views of Waikiki and Diamond Head.

 

 

Us!

After the barefoot boarding, the boat headed to our snorkeling location. The water was clear and a little cold at first. There wasn't a lot of fish or coral to see and most of it was too deep to view from the surface. However, the sea turtles were abundant.

Edited April 16, 2016 by sjmbruce

[sjmbruce]

We saw turtles before we even jumped in!

 

So cute!

[sjmbruce]

The best part of the snorkeling was a mama turtle and her baby. I didn't get a decent picture of them as they spent most of their time at the bottom, but it was amazing to watch them. At one point, she put her flipper over baby's shell as if hugging. I had bought a cheaper underwater camera to try out on this trip. The pictures weren't great from a far distance but I still managed a few good shots when the turtles were closer to the surface.

 

 

[sjmbruce]

The catamaran dropped us off at the beach. We walked past the high end fashion stores and made it to our hotel by 1:00. Our next plan was to attend a luau at Germaine's. My reasoning for choosing them was mostly that they weren't too far away and offered transportation. This would save us money on the car rental and would allow us to take advantage of the drinks included in our package. They had a Waikiki pickup location that happened to be across from out hotel. They didn't make themselves obvious and we ran around on the phone for awhile looking for their representative. We were on the bus for over almost two hours due to rush hour traffic.

Once we arrived, we were given shell leis and had our picture taken. We were given time to take our seats and go to the bar for drinks. They had a ceremony for the cooked pig, some dancing, singing and praying onstage, and released tables to the buffet before the show.

 

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend Germaine's Luau. The food was actually good and I was able to try poi. When the dancers were performing traditional dances, it was enjoyable and the fire portion of the night was fun. However, it was just way too hokey/cheesy/ridiculous for us. Corny joke after corny joke. A lot of "whose bus was better? Cheer when I call your bus number!" Or "I say this, you say that" audience participation. Had we driven ourselves to the luau, we would have left. Live and learn. If you want to learn and have a less 70's cheese experience, go elsewhere.

In better news, the hula dancers on the POA were really good and I enjoyed their performances.

[txagfan]

Haha, it was the result of starvation and roaming around Waikiki beach at 9pm when it felt like 3am to us. Not the wisest decision!

 

 

 

Haha, also don't think I'd ever eat at a restaurant called "The Cockroach".

[sjmbruce]

Haha, also don't think I'd ever eat at a restaurant called "The Cockroach".

 

They even had a cartoon drawing of a cockroach lounging on a beach chair on their menu cover, lol.

[Silver Sweethearts]

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend Germaine's Luau. The food was actually good and I was able to try poi. When the dancers were performing traditional dances, it was enjoyable and the fire portion of the night was fun. However, it was just way too hokey/cheesy/ridiculous for us. Corny joke after corny joke. A lot of "whose bus was better? Cheer when I call your bus number!" Or "I say this, you say that" audience participation. Had we driven ourselves to the luau, we would have left. Live and learn. If you want to learn and have a less 70's cheese experience, go elsewhere.

 

We would have left too. Don't let the experience turn you off though. Whenever you can return to Hawaii (and if your visit will include a return to Maui), do try either Old Lahaina Luau or The Feast At Lele - both world's apart from Germaine's Luau.

[Kattus]

The catamaran dropped us off at the beach. We walked past the high end fashion stores and made it to our hotel by 1:00. Our next plan was to attend a luau at Germaine's. My reasoning for choosing them was mostly that they weren't too far away and offered transportation. This would save us money on the car rental and would allow us to take advantage of the drinks included in our package. They had a Waikiki pickup location that happened to be across from out hotel. They didn't make themselves obvious and we ran around on the phone for awhile looking for their representative. We were on the bus for over almost two hours due to rush hour traffic.

Once we arrived, we were given shell leis and had our picture taken. We were given time to take our seats and go to the bar for drinks. They had a ceremony for the cooked pig, some dancing, singing and praying onstage, and released tables to the buffet before the show.

 

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend Germaine's Luau. The food was actually good and I was able to try poi. When the dancers were performing traditional dances, it was enjoyable and the fire portion of the night was fun. However, it was just way too hokey/cheesy/ridiculous for us. Corny joke after corny joke. A lot of "whose bus was better? Cheer when I call your bus number!" Or "I say this, you say that" audience participation. Had we driven ourselves to the luau, we would have left. Live and learn. If you want to learn and have a less 70's cheese experience, go elsewhere.

In better news, the hula dancers on the POA were really good and I enjoyed their performances.

Wow 2 hours in traffic?! [emoji47] We were considering this luau but now glad we picked one that's walkable from our hotel.

 

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[punkincc]

Haha, it was the result of starvation and roaming around Waikiki beach at 9pm when it felt like 3am to us. Not the wisest decision!

 

HaHa. Now you know why people warn about the jet lag.:). Despite the warnings, people always think it will last a couple days tops, certainly gone after several! We've found that even well after a week, we still tired easily and were ready for bed very early.

 

We found the solution to the $$food situation in Hawaii was to find a nice beach bar with good pupus ( appetizers ) during happy hour, which sometimes is all afternoon. Excellent food, a wonderful view, Hawaiian atmosphere and very reasonable prices. Our most delightful evening on Waikiki ( on the entire trip, actually ) was sitting at a table on the lawn at Halekulani's House Without a Key, under a huge tree, watching the graceful swaying of a dancer, live music and the sun setting over the ocean behind them. Just magical. Cost = to the price of anything you order, a couple drinks and an appetizer perhaps.

Edited April 16, 2016 by punkincc

[AryMay]

Our beach hopping was interrupted by the scenic views of Makapu'u lookout. This was the picturesque vista I had been searching for!

 

I took exactly the same photo and have it set as my cover photo on FB!

[davesgirl51]

Thank you thank you thank you !

[df5250]

Thank you for the great review! We leave in about four weeks and have an almost identical driving tour planned for one of our pre-cruise days! I'm so glad to hear our plan is actually doable!

 

 

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