A Second Visit to Waikiki Beach

After a 3 night stay at Kauai, Ray and Traci travelled to Honolulu so Ray could attend the 2008 Pediatric Academic Societies national meeting held at the Honolulu convention center. With 10,000 pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists invading paradise, Waikiki became an especially busy location. The flight from Kauai was not even 30 minutes in length, and this time Hertz had a Subaru Impreza waiting – a car Ray was much happier with. Using the invaluable Garmin Nuvi, Ray and Traci found their way to the Hyatt Regency Waikiki – kind of far from the convention center, but since they already stayed 3 nights at the Kauai Hyatt, he got a special package price which included an upgrade to an ocean view “club room.”
A Second Visit to Waikiki Beach

After a 3 night stay at Kauai, Ray and Traci travelled to Honolulu so Ray could attend the 2008 Pediatric Academic Societies national meeting held at the Honolulu convention center. With 10,000 pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists invading paradise, Waikiki became an especially busy location. The flight from Kauai was not even 30 minutes in length, and this time Hertz had a Subaru Impreza waiting – a car Ray was much happier with. Using the invaluable Garmin Nuvi, Ray and Traci found their way to the Hyatt Regency Waikiki – kind of far from the convention center, but since they already stayed 3 nights at the Kauai Hyatt, he got a special package price which included an upgrade to an ocean view “club room.”
Hanuma Bay is a very famous snorkeling spot created in an old volcano crater with a largely protected reef. Despite being a very windy day, snorkeling inside the bay was fairly easy. The wind made the ambient temperatures seem quite low and both Ray and Traci became cold after looking at fish. Ray thought fish were less abundant than a previous visit, although this visit occurred at low tide. He did come face to face with a 6 foot eel. Hanauma Bay is no Molokini (the offshore reef on Maui where a 1 hour boat ride gets you up close and personal with schools of fish) but it is much more convenient – beware, the park is closed on Tuesdays and the parking lots fill up quite fast, so if you want to go – go early or late in the day. The whole process of viewing the safety film, renting snorkeling equipment and getting into the water is very efficient. Hanauma Bay is a great place to look at fish without much effort. After snorkeling, Ray and Traci stopped at a famous local plate lunch place called Rainbow Drive-In. Ray had a Shoyu chicken plate lunch which was excellent and Traci had a Pork Long Rice special lunch, equally as good. Rainbow Drive-In is another take out place where they give you lunch in a cardboard box and the entrée is served on a bed of noodles. Prices were very cheap $6-8, and many of the diners were buying more than one plate lunch. After a morning of snorkeling and eating, Ray had to leave for the convention center for a long afternoon at the meetings.

Tuesday was the last full day in paradise. Ray had a few hours of meetings, and then Ray and Traci went to the Ala Moana Mall so Traci could check out the new and very chic Nordstrom which recently opened. While at the very impressive store, Ray and Traci tried the Nordstrom Gelato bar and had what tasted more like strawberry ice cream than gelato (but was still delicious). They then went to the food court at the ala moana mall where Ray had a noodle dish with shrimp tempera, while Traci had a manapua (humbow) – both were good for fast food fare. After exploring more of the mall including the Shirokiya (large department store) they left for the hotel. Ray and Traci had dinner at Sansei Restaurant – one of their favorite eateries on Maui, where Traci enjoyed mango crab rolls and miso butterfish while Ray had a shrimp and steak combination. They finished the night by enjoying some free samples at the Honolulu Cookie Company. The cookie company makes shortbread cookies with various fillers and dipped in different coatings all in the shape of a pineapple. The store is located in the Hyatt. While Ray and Traci didn’t buy any cookies that night, they ended up purchasing 3 boxes before leaving town.

Ray and Traci left the Hyatt the next morning and travelled home on Alaska Airlines non-stop Honolulu to Seattle service. Alaska has announced non-stop service to Maui starting in the summer which will be a welcome option for Seattle to Hawaii travel.