We lived in Hawaii for a few years in the mid 2000s and were struggling college students who lived on a very tight budget. We went to all the Hawaiian islands once while we were in college and we just finished going to all of them again, post college. The first time we visited all the islands was back in the price gouging days, where our inter island flights cost $20. We camped, stayed with friends, or stayed in really cheap hotels. On our second round of Hawaiian trips, we had more money and stayed at airbnbs and paid to see cool things that were unavailable to us on our super strict budget in the college days. We recently returned from a trip to O’ahu and Moloka’i. It was great returning to O’ahu as tourists. We stayed near the North Shore, and were able to eat at the legendary Matsumoto’s and Ted’s Bakery. We visited Hale’iwa and tried some of the new food trucks that are all over the North Shore now. We visited our old campus, apartments, surf spots…it was a great trip down memory lane. We even got into the Polynesian Cultural Center in La’ie, which was really cool and the kids absolutely loved the cultural offerings. We took the kids surfing at Castle’s, where they were the only people in the water!
After a few days, we took a 9 seater plane that looked like the size of our car to Moloka’i. Mike got in touch with a few locals to get an affordable place to stay, car rental and access around the island and the surf spots. That was the key to our success this time around. Moloka’i is an incredible island but they do not want tourists there. Across the channel, you can see the high rises on Mau’i and they repeatedly told us that it is a daily reminder of how tourism and foreigners can and would ruin their simple way of life. They prefer living off the land and primitively rather than how most of us prefer to live. Our local connections set us up with a perfect beachfront bungalow on an isolated bay with the best surf spot on that side of the island right outside our back door and we only paid $40/night. It was the coolest place we had ever stayed for that kind of value. We also used the owner’s SUV, so we got shakas all over the place instead of angry stares like we did in 2008, when we rented a car. Our other local contact was a SUP champion a few years back and was a great guy. We talked story, he introduced us to other locals, showed us isolated beaches and even got us a boat ride to see the world’s tallest sea cliffs. We respectfully asked permission to surf the breaks and to get some of the local secrets. There are lots of cool things that he told us and showed us. He showed us all the waves around the island as we took the boat along the barrier reef to the backside. The highlight of the boat trip was seeing the world’s tallest sea cliffs. Those were hands down the most beautiful view of nature that we have ever seen in all of our travels. What an incredible experience that was! Our experience was awesome. We saw it from a local’s perspective, going off the beaten path and getting to know the people there. We hung out with some of the old locals in Halawa Valley and they told us all about the history there while we took in the stunning scenery all by ourselves…no other tourists in sight. That was the theme of our time in Moloka’i. Use local knowledge, go off the beaten path and take time to talk to the locals. In our opinion, that is the way that Moloka’i should be done. Don’t expect a luxury vacation while there. Don’t expect fancy cocktails or incredible food. Expect solitude and a legit feel for old Hawai’i. It is a totally different side of Hawai’i that most visitors never see, and that is totally fine with the locals.
We ended our trip in Honolulu. We passed our first apartment we lived in together as a newlywed couple in the Waikiki Banyan. We stayed at a $100/night hotel in downtown Waikiki. We got what we paid for. It was loud and there were tweekers all around the street but the hotel was safe and secure and we were only one block in from Waikiki Beach. The first night we went to the DIamondhead Luau, which was awesome. We had great food and entertainment right at the base of Diamondhead and on the beach. We took the kids surfing the rest of the week at Waikiki Beach and Reef got his first ride standing up with dad. Coral got her first ride standing up besides her wave in Sri Lanka. We went for a beautiful hike to Manoa Falls, which is highly recommended to do with children. Coral walked the whole way up and Reef slept, so that made things a little easier than we were accustomed to. It was great coming back to Hawai’i and spending a little more money on things that were out of our budget while we were students. Seeing the world’s tallest sea cliffs was incredible and taking the kids to get shave ice in our old stomping grounds and taking them surfing at the iconic Waikiki Beach were great experiences as well. It was another successful family vacation that exceeded our already high expectations!
