Two Island Hawaii Vacation

After some unplanned cancellations, we finally got to Hawaii.  Instead of just going to Maui, we added on Kauai to join up with friends and family.

Day 1

The flight from San Diego to Maui was uneventful and the plane was less than half full.  Getting the rental car took a while since they Hertz office only had 2 employees.  This would prove to be a common theme during out time in Hawaii.  We then drove through central Maui to our first stop in Lahaina.  Downtown Lahaina is a nice compact town.  Since most people stay in the resorts up the coast, the town is fairly empty during the day.  We stayed in an AirBnB that was right in the middle of town.  It was very nice and convenient to walk around from.  We visited the Baldwin House and the Old Courthouse Museums.  For dinner, we hit Lanai Fish and then dessert at Fleetwood's; both are recommended.

Day 2

We woke in quiet Lahaina and got some coffee at Bad Ass Coffee.  We then headed north up the coast.  Winding around the island, our target was Olivine Pools. These are kind of small versions of Queen's Bath on Kauai but much smaller.  Today, the sea was very rough so we didn't go to the outermost pools.  Heading back the way we came, we stopped at a overlook point and then at the parking for Nakalele blowhole.  The hike down was nice and the blowhole sometimes spouted and sometimes not.  It was fun.  When we got back to the lot, we picked up some snacks from a local vendor, Mama Lei's Homemade Goodness.  I like getting food from the roadside stands in Hawaii.  It is usually very tasty and you are helping out a state still reeling from government mismanagement.  We then stopped at another overlook to see the snorkel cruises at Honolua cove.  Next up, we stopped at Fleming Park.  From the parking lot, we hiked the public path through the Ritz Carlton resort to the Dragon's Teeth. Cool hike among the unusual formations.  There was also a labyrinth to calm the spirit.  Back in the car, we drove to Oluwalu for lunch and pie at Leona's.  Back in Lahaina, we couldn't get in anywhere for dinner, so had drinks at Lahaina Fish and had an early night.

Day 3

We checked out of our cottage and headed out along the fabled road to Hana.  Jyoti bought a Gypsy audio tour for the trip so we had someone to guide us the entire trip.  I highly recommend getting this.  The road was as advertised, long and windy.  But the guide told us about the best places to spot and some great side trips that we probably wouldn't have noticed.

We spent the night at the wonderful Hana Kai hotel and got dinner at the local food trucks.

Day 4

It rained and howled most of the night in Hana.  But being from SoCal, it is nice to have that once in a while.  Today we continued along the Hana Road into the Kipahulu section of the Haleakala National Park.  Getting to the parking lot, we quickly put on rain gear since it started to pour again.  We did the short loop along the pools.  However, due to the rains, they were overflowing like Niagara Falls.  We then started up the Pipiwai Trail.  The mud wasn't too bad but it rained on and off along the way up.  The stream was really flowing and the views from the bridges was amazing.  We hiked through the bamboo forest and finally made it to the falls.  This is one of my favorite hikes and should not be missed. After getting some local intel, we decided to gamble and take the road through the back side of Haleakala.  It was a bit rough in spots but even the unpaved sections were perfectly fine in our rental compact sedan.  That side of the island is a very odd mix of ranching and what looks to be abandoned plantations.  Since we were heading to Kula, it made sense for us to go that way.  We made a quick stop at Maui Wine to get some bottle of local wine but then quickly were stopped by police.  They had blocked the road to investigate a fatal accident that must have happened just minutes before us.

After waiting for a couple hours without news of the closure, we decided to go off road.  It ended being a fairly easy trail and we then drove around the island to back to our hotel at Kula Lodge.

Day 5

After a great night's sleep, we made some coffee and tea then headed up the mountain. Our plan was to park at Halemau'u trailhead then hitch a ride up to the Sliding Sands trailhead.  We were then going to hike down into the crater then back up to the car.  However, the weather was really bad going up.  Visibility at Halemau'u was less than 100 yards and it was cold, windy and rainy.  We ended up going in few miles from the top.  As we hiked down, the clouds lifted and we could see the entire crate.  It was an awesome view.  We decided to head up back while the clouds came and went.

We ate at the lodge and had an easy night in Kula.

Day 6

Our first stop on our last day on Maui was at the Lavender Fields.  It was nice walk through the gardens and having tea with great views.  We then drove by Surfing Goat Farm.  Unfortunately it was closed but the goats we could see looked very happy.  We spent the rest of the day before our flight exploring the southern resort area.  We stopped at a few beaches along the way but the wind made it somewhat unpleasant.

Day 7 - 11

For the second half of our trip, we headed to Kauai where my parents, brother, his wife and the Martin's were already there.

We didn't do as many activities as in past trips but still got in Sleeping Giant, walks on the beach and some other stuff.

We were able to get in dinners at Beach House, Gaylord's, and Oasis.

Lahaina Harbor

Olivine Pools

Moonrise over Lanai

Hana Bay

Hiking in the rain

Waimoku Falls

Haleakala Crater

 

Pono Kai beach

Dinner at Oasis

Kauai 2018

• Queen's Bath
• Turtle Cave
• Captain Andy's
• Sleeping Giant hike
• Waimea Canyon
• Polihale Beach
• Anini Beach
• ATV adventure
• Golf cart tour
• Surfing lessons at Anihole

Napali Coast from Captain Andy's

Trail up to Sleeping Giant

Waimea Canyon

Waimea Canyon Lookup

Turtle Cave

Captain Andy's

Hawaii 2016

The extended Osten family had another exciting trip to Kauai!  We and the extended Martin family had an awesome time.  Here are highlights:

• Sleeping Giant hike - highly recommended!
• Smith Family luau
• Zip lines - awesome!
• SUP at Kalapaki Beach
• Sams Oceanview
• Kilohana Plantation train tour 
• Osten Family Olympics - cornhole, tennis and bocci
• Waikiki - too crowded
• Pearl Harbor - Arizona Memorial, Pacific Aviation Museum, USS Missouri, USS Bowfin
• OC - Borrego Canyon trail at Whiting Ranch
• OC - Lolo Gaspar for Kevin's birthday

Family Hawaii Trip

2014 Family Hawaii Trip

• Kids got their own room
• Kalalau Trail
• Plenty of Lappert's
• Plenty of Mai Tai's and wine (love Koloa Rum)
• Guided eco-snorkeling trip
• Kayaking Hanalei Bay
• Hilarious sessions of "Cards Against Humanity"
• Bike rides along the bike path to Lydgate and back
• Small Japanese boat washed ashore
• Luau at the plantation

Kalalau Trail

On our recent family trip to Kauai, my brother and I decided to do the Kalalau Trail.  On previous trips, we always did the first 2 miles to Hanakapi'ai Beach.  Now we wanted to go all the way to the legendary Kalalau Beach. I got a permit for one night at the beach.  The plan was to go very light.  I would have my regular pack but with sparse gear.  I bought a new REI Quarter Dome 2 tent due to the high probability of bugs and rain.  I took just the clothes for the trail, my ditty bag of stuff (FAK, headlamp, etc.) but no sleeping gear except for my pillow.  Kevin took a towel that he used like blanket but I had nothing!  For food, we took just some bars, jerky and nuts.
We got started around noon on departure day.  We went very fast to start and had to dodge the traffic to Hanakapi'ai.  We continued fast as the trail go into a pattern of climbing a ridge and then descending into a valley for the next 6 miles.  We then got to the section called "Climber's Ledge."  This section is carved out of a sheer cliff hundreds of feet above the waves crashing on the rocks below.  Good thing it is short.  Hiking in the afternoon was very hot and humid and made the constant up and downs very tedious.  We stopped for water at the halfway camp and two other spots to keep hydrated.
After 11 miles we got to the beach!  We walked all the way to waterfall at the end just to walk the entire trail.  Our camp was about a mile from the end and half mile from the Kalalau River.  Part of the allure of this trail is the scene at the beach.  We got a taste of that when we passed a completely nude hiker on the way in.  There were further nudists on the beach itself.  There were a few families as well; very odd group of people.  We swam, ate our meager rations, then tried to sleep in the stiffling heat.  In the middle of the night we heard some rustling in the leaves around our tent. I figured it was a bird but it kept up for a long time.  At one point it got very close to the tent.  I jumped outside with the headlamp and discovered a bullfrog.  It must jump around all night looking for food.
We got up pretty early, broke camp and headed out.  In the morning coolness and shade, we made good time to Hanakpai'ai.  There, we waited for my dad and the boys to meet up with us.  They showed up about 20 minutes after us and the kids played around on the beach.  We all then headed out to the car and a well-deserved Lappert's.

Big Island Vacation

I recently got back from a week vacation on the Big Island in Hawaii.  It was my first trip to that island and thought it was awesome.  Very different from the others.
We stayed the first four nights in Volcano Village.  This little town right outside of the entrance to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is over 4000 feet in elevation so was fairly cold and rainy (more like Oregon than Hawaii).  This location allowed us to visit the park and the eastern side of the island.  We stayed at the Volcano Country Cottages, a great little bed and breakfast run by Garret and Sandy.  We loved the roomy and cozy bungalows and the wonderful breakfasts.
For our first day, we hit the park to check out the volcano.  Kilauea is the currently active volcano and it has two areas of activity.  One is a big hole that is spewing toxic gases.  This is easy to see from the lookout at the end of the road to the west.  The gases are the reason the road is closed so you can't drive all around the crater.  We also stopped by the steam vents which were very interesting. Later in the day, we took a ranger led hike down into the crater. The crater surface is unworldly, kind of like a desert floor but all black.
On the second day, we went to the Puna area.  A quick stop at Lava Trees State Monument to see lava covered trees and then we hit the Wa'opea tidepools for some snorkeling.  The pools made it like swimming in a pool but with corals and plenty of fish.  We ate dinner at the wonderful Kiawe Kitchen in Volcano Village.
On the third day, we again went into Puna.  First up were some waterfalls and then lunch at Hilo Burger Joint in downtown Hilo.  We did the same snorkeling trip and then drove to Kalapana in the evening to see the lava flows (the second point of Kilauea activity).  Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see, just some far off orange glows;  apparently the flows lately have been sporadic.
On the fourth morning, we checked out of the B&B and headed back into the park for the short hike along Devastation Trail.  We then headed south and west along the way to Kona.  Our first stop was Punalu'u Black Sand Beach where we saw some turtles resting on the beach.  Lunch was in Na'alehu at Hana Hou Restaurant (the southernmost restaurant in the US, with good food as well).  We then took a detour to South Point, the southernmost point in the United States.  The drive down there was like being in Texas with the grasslands and cattle everywhere.  This side of the island is much drier so doesn't have the lushness of the east.  We also stopped at Ailani Orchards to pick up some organic mac nuts and great Kona coffee.  We got into Kailua-Kona in the early evening and checked into the King Kamehameha Courtyard Marriott.  The hotel is located across from the street from the start-finish line for the Ironman.
Our first day in Kona started with breakfast at Island Lava Java.  We then headed to Honaunau Bay for some snorkeling.  They call this spot "Two Steps" due to some ledges along the lava that allows for extremely easy access to the bay.  The fish and corals were fabulous but the depth was a bit too deep to get close up.  We then drove by Kealakekua Bay to check it out for a future excursion.
On the second day in Kona we went to Kahalu'u Bay for more snorkeling.  The sea was rough but fish here were the best of all the places we snorkeled.  We were supposed to do a night dive with manta rays but it was canceled due to the swells.  Everyone was bummed.
ON the third day in Kona, we headed to Kealakekua Bay and rented kayaks.  We paddled over to the other side of the bay where the Captain Cook Monument is.  You aren't supposed to beach your kayaks but we had a hard time tying them up to the nearby trees so we just snorkeled off the boats.  Our trip was cut short when Jaya stepped on a sea urchin!
That afternoon we headed back to Hilo for our red eye flight back to LAX.  We took the Saddle Road route.  It led through Parker Ranch and some more Texas-like terrain.  We stopped at the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy vistor 9,200 feet up the mountain.  It was chilly there but the view were spectacular.
A slideshow is here.

Hawaii 2010

July meant another much-anticipating family get together in Kauai.

We spent the first day in the Poipu area. Ate at Brenneke's deli on the beach. Saw a turtle very close in and a monk seal sleeping on the sand bar. There was yellow tape around the seal but you could get within 10 feet. Checked out Spouting Horn and the nearby crafts market where we picked up some souvenirs. On the way back, we took a side trip to Kipu Falls. You have to trek about a mile through sugar cane and jungle to get to these hidden falls. My parent said they never used to see anyone there but nowadays you always find people enjoying them. The primary attraction at Kipu is jumping off them, either directly over the falls or from a rope swing. Kevin dove in right away and Gabe followed shortly thereafter. It took me awhile to make the plunge (literally) but it was worth the 30+ foot jump.

Took the requisite trip to Lydgate Park for snorkeling. We also discovered the second playground a little farther south from the main one.
Hiked the Kalalau Trail to the first beach. The sea cave there was completely full of sand this time so the kids were disappointed. Snorkeled at Kee Beach and were able to get close to some turtles that were feeding on the outer edge of the reef. I had to hold Bengt's hand to get him out over the reef which was under less than a foot of water in some places. We went back a couple days later and the turtles were still there but the tide was out and the reef was exposed so we couldn't get out past it.



Had an awesome time on Captain Andy's snorkel cruise to the Na Pali coast. The snorkeling was ok but the water was too deep to get close to the creatures. The food and Sneaky Tikis were top notch. We sat most of the time in the cockpit and chatted with the crew. Along the way we saw pods of both bottlenose and spinner dolphins. The spinners were jumping and spinning as if they were former Sea World performers.







Bengt, Gabe and Jyoti took paddleboarding lessons on the Hanalei River. The kids picked up on it very quickly. Bengt even took Alex on his board and paddled around. The girls did a movie tour during this time. Had a great early dinner at Scotty's Beach BBQ and went to Weimea for sunset family photos.



Did the luau at Smith's again. Good food and a good show. Also made some stops at Ono Char but got smart and learned how to call in our orders on the way there.
We got in a few geocaches and discovered some neat places along the hunt. One of which was the swinging bridge in Hanapepe, something I had no knowledge of. Another neat spot was Kalihiwai Bay.



When we got back, we took a trip to Universal Studios.

One of the highlights was the It's Sugar candy store.