Oahu Spotlight: Atlantis Submarine

Image by washuugenius via Flickr

While visiting the island of Oahu, I decided to take an Atlantis submarine tour.  The Atlantis Submarine tour offers tourists the opportunity to explore deep beneath the Pacific ocean without donning a diving suit.  I selected the premium tour because it promised more personal space and larger viewports.  Overall, I didn't really enjoy the tour. 

The biggest disappointment for me was that I really didn't see that many fish.  I'm sure there are times when a lot of fish are present, but there just weren't that many during my tour.  Also, colors don't appear the same deep beneath the ocean surface so the fish that were visible didn't appear as colorful.  Despite the lack of fish, we did see several turtles.  Seeing the turtles was the best part about the tour, but it wasn't enough to make me want to go on the tour again.

Hawaii Beneath the Surface ~ Atlantis Submarines {Waikiki, Kona, Maui}

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The Blue Book Controversy

Cover via Amazon

When planning trips to Hawaii, I used the popular reveal book series for additional information about the islands. The series of books are often referred to as blue bibles. There's a separate book for the islands Oahu, Big Island, Maui, and Kauai.

The books are popular with tourists because they contain useful information about Hawaii's accomodations, activities, restaurants, beaches, history, geography, and more. There are numerous colorful pictures and large maps to enhance the trip planning process. Nonetheless, the books have been criticized by residents of the islands. Some island book stores refuse to sell the books and tourists with the book are viewed negatively by some locals.

It has been argued that the revealed books encourage trespassing onto private property and disclose previously unknown secluded and hard to find places on the island. Some of the locations revealed in the books are dangerous areas that should be avoided by most tourists, but the books entice people to visit the areas by having information about them. Also, the increased traffic to the more remote areas of the islands threaten the overall beauty of the environment.

Well, I don't believe that a book should necessarily be blamed for the actions of people. I never trespassed or hiked to remote areas after reading the books. Unfortunately, the same people who don't use common sense after reading the books are the same ones who would get themselves into trouble even if the books had never been written. Afterall, if there's a "private property" or "no trespassing" sign, then it's best to leave regardless of what a book says. Also, all of the revealed books include warnings about potential hazards that should not be ignored by tourists.

In general, the revealed books include a wealth of knowledge about the Hawaiian islands and can be very useful in planning a visit to them. However, tourists should exercise care and common sense when traveling to an unfamiliar area regardless of what's in a book.

Maui Spotlight: Old Lahaina Luau

Most people associate Hawaii with luaus. The Old Lahaina Luau on Maui has received multiple awards and is considered by many to be one of the best. The other luau I went to was the Kona Village Resort Luau on the Big Island. Of the two, I preferred the Old Lahaina Luau overall. There was good food at both luaus, but the performances at the Old Lahaina Luau were more entertaining. This was a sentiment also shared by my family members who also went to both luaus.

At the Old Lahaina Luau, you can choose between traditional Hawaiian mat seating or regular chairs and tables. I opted for the regular chairs and tables especially because I knew that my mother would have a harder time sitting down and getting up from the much lower mat seating. One advantage of the mat seating is that the seats are closer to the stage. However, the regular seating seemed to provide more comfort overall. Since I reserved the luau months in advance, my seat was pretty close to the stage also. Seating is prioritized by the date the reservation is confirmed.

The grounds at the luau were very nice and we got to see the unearthing of the kalua pig from the underground oven. Overall, the Old Lahaina Luau was an enjoyable experience and I encourage anyone planning a trip to Maui to consider going.

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My Sister’s Honeymoon in Paradise

I helped my sister and her new husband plan the perfect honeymoon to Hawaii. They spent 5 nights on Kauai and then went to Maui for 6 nights. On Kauai, they stayed at the Grand Hyatt Kauai resort where they had a package that included a free night and a daily buffet breakfast.

Their Kauai itinerary included the following:

• Kauai Couples Escape Package at Hyatt's Anara Spa
• Kauai Helicopter Tour through Blue Hawaiian Helicopters
• Zip N'Dip with Princeville Ranch Adventures
  

After leaving Kauai, the honeymooners traveled to Maui where they stayed in a privately owned beachfront condo.

Their Maui itinerary included the following:

• Molokini Snorkel Cruise with Trilogy
• Old Lahaina Luau
• Warren & Annabelle's Magic Show

Overall, Julia and Steve had a great honeymoon and really enjoyed all of their activities. They loved both Kauai and Maui so much that they hated to return home and hope to return again next year!

Hawaii Spotlight: Volcanoes National Park

Hawaii aka the Big Island is the youngest Hawaiian island and the only one with an active volcano. I took the Kilauea Volcano Adventure Tour through Hawaii Forest & Trail. This was a convenient option for all of my family members because we had an experienced guide to drive us to the Volcanoes National Park and give us a tour. We learned a lot about lava and I was surprised at its diversity. Our guide showed us lava that looked like short strands of blonde hair and pieces that looked like shiny black tear drops.

Since our tours were during daytime, we didn't get to see the best views of the volcano. You can get the best views of any flowing lava during the night or in a helicopter ride. Night visits to the volcano can be quite dangerous because it's easier to fall on the sharp lava or end up in a more dangerous location due to the limited visibility. For that reason, a helicopter tour is probably the best way to see the volcano. During our visit, we did see steam flowing up from the ground and there were signs of heat in the kilauea crater. The road that was partially covered with lava was a reminder about the very real danger of an active lava flow.

Overall, I enjoyed seeing the Volcanoes National Park. It was my first visit to a national park and I learned a lot. Our tour guide seemed very knowledgeable and did a good job with the tour.

The only problem with our tour was that our group of eight ended up being split up. When I booked the tour, I made a reservation for four of us under one credit card and the other four under a different one. Despite that, the tour company thought that the second reservation was a duplicate and automatically deleted it! They showed up to pick up only four people and there wasn't enough room for all eight. However, they did discount the tour for everyone and the second group went on the tour the next day.

Kilauea Volcano Adventure - CLICK HERE!

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Hawaii Money Saving Tips

Image via Wikipedia

Visiting Hawaii can be expensive, but there are a number of things you can do to save money.

Frequent Traveler Programs: Signing up for a frequent traveler program through a hotel or airline can result in significant savings. Hotels like the Sheraton send special savings to people who have signed up with their program. One year, I received 5 nights at the Maui Sheraton for $799. This was a large savings off the regular rates. Also, if you fly often, you can earn free or reduced airfare.

Price Negotiation: Sometimes it is possible to request a lower price when making hotel reservations, especially at smaller or less popular hotels. When you receive a price quote, you can ask about available specials. Once I received a lower rate after explaining that I was going to call a few other hotels to check their prices.



Timeshare Presentations: Many resorts, hotels, and condos sell timeshares in their properties and they offer specials to entice you to attend a sales presentation. The specials include free or reduced accomodations and discounted activities. You can go to the web sites for major hotel chains with locations in Hawaii and fill out a form expressing an interest in a timeshare. By doing so, they may send a special deal to you that's available if you agree to sit through a timeshare presentation. Once you arrive in Hawaii, there are timeshare vendors offering activity savings.
The ultimate goal of a timeshare presentation is for a sale to occur. Therefore, sitting through one can be somewhat painful for those of us who do not intend to purchase one. Sometimes they are high pressure and usually last around two hours. You need to place a value on your time and determine whether spending time listening to a sales pitch is worth the extra savings.

Airfare Discounts: Saving money on airfare for your trip to Hawaii requires regular price checking. It's typically less expensive to depart during mid-week, like on a Wednesday. I've seen some of the lowest prices to Hawaii during February so I usually start checking prices during January and February. Hawaiian Airlines often has sales on flights from some west coast cities and you can receive regular sale information by signing up for their frequent flier program.
Flights between the Hawaiian islands are relatively inexpensive. Go! operated by Mesa Airlines regularly offers discounted flights. Also, Hawaiian Airlines periodically offers discounts off the inter-island flights.

Off Season Travel: The best rates for Hawaii are during it's off season which runs from mid April through mid June and September through mid December. The lowest rates for accomodations are available during the off season months.

A3H Gold Card: The gold card is a discount card offering savings off some Hawaii activities. It costs $30 and can be used for up to four people. It doesn't offer a discount off every activity so you should review the discounted activities before purchasing. I used it the first time I went to Hawaii and was able to get a substantial savings off the Road to Hana tour on Maui, but I decided not to buy the card during my last trip to Hawaii because I couldn't get a deal on the activities I selected.

Vacation Property Rental: You can often save money on accomodations by renting a condo, private home or timeshare. They are often less expensive than many Hawaii hotels, especially if you are traveling with a large family or group. By going to the VRBO website, you can search for Hawaiian condos and homes available for rent. You can also read reviews by prior guests and check availability. For timeshare rentals, I like the site Redweek.com. You can search available timeshares and contact the owner directly in order to rent one.

Food: It's no secret that food in Hawaii is expensive compared to the mainland. If you rent a condo, home or timeshare, you can save money by cooking your own food. You can buy bulk food with good prices at Costco. There's a Costco located on Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island. The Safeway grocery store has a discount card that you can sign up for in order to get extra savings there. Some Hawaiian restaurants sell plate lunches which relatively cheap. For dinner, you can save money by eating a late "lunch" instead.

Coupons: The Hawaii version of the Entertainment Book has good discounts, but I didn't really get much use out of it when I purchased one. A lot depends on whether it contains the restaurants, activities, etc. that interest you. Near the baggage claim areas in Hawaii, there are many brochures with coupons. For me, searching through the brochures for coupons that I would actually use ultimately wasn't worth my time, but they are a way to potentially save money.

Oahu Spotlight: Polynesian Cultural Center

I really enjoyed the Polynesian Cultural Center on Oahu. The cultural center is a great opportunity to learn about polynesian islands: Hawaii, Tahiti, New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, the Marquesas and Tonga. There's a replica of villages for each island featuring games, dances, food, and activities.

I had purchased the Ambasador package so we had a small group tour guide to show us around. We received a small hula lesson at the Hawaiian village and watched various performances and demonstrations at each of the other villages. There was even a canoe pageant featuring performers from all of the islands. After the tour, we ate dinner and walked around the shops at the center. Then, we watched a spectacular evening show which featured a fire dancer at the end.

The Polynesian Cultural Center is very large and it's difficult to get the full benefit in only one day. The tour guide helped us to get a glimpse of everything, but it would have been nice to walk at a slower pace and participate in more of the hands on activities. For that reason, I definitely hope to visit it again someday.

Polynesian Cultural Center - CLICK HERE TO BOOK!