Aloha~! A Photo Trip Report of the POA - 10/11/14

[Miicah]

Sorry for the delay~! Had like three days of overtime at work (with one more tomorrow, yay), so just didn't have the time or the energy!

 

This is wonderful keep it coming!:) How am I ever going to wait until the end of April.:(

 

Thank you for continuing to follow! ^_^ And it seems long now but it'll fly by and before you know it it'll be April!

 

I am loving every minute of your review! We are going in July and that can't get here soon enough! I am glad that you mentioned upgrading for the super ambassador tour. We were debating which one to take but you just helped me decide! Thank you!;)

 

I'm glad you're enjoying it! Thank you for reading, and I was glad I was able to help in any way! I think you'll like the private tour that comes with the Super Ambassador, plus the closer seating during the canoe pageant.

Edited December 13, 2014 by Miicah

[Miicah]

Really nice review and great photos. Can I ask, what camera do you use?

 

We had three different cameras on this trip, haha. But the main one I used was the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX400. I love it to pieces!

[Miicah]

Day 5 – 10/08/14 –Diamond Head State Monument

 

The original plan was to climb Diamond Head relatively early to beat both the heat and the crowds—so naturally, things didn’t go according to plan, haha. Though this would’ve been the perfect candidate to “eat in” again, mom decided we should go to IHOP. Fantastic food as always, but it did end up pushing our plans an hour or so behind.

 

 

 

After getting off of our bus, which lets you off at a nearby community college, it’s just a short walk over to Diamond Head. We haven’t even reached the gates of the park yet and we can already see it’s gonna be a journey just to get there. At least we got to work off all that IHOP calories haha

 

 

There were some beautiful views as we were climbing up to the gate, though, and it was nice to be able to stop and take some pictures instead of trying to do a drive by in a car.

 

 

 

Depending on how many people are in your party, it might actually be cheaper to drive up, though. Like, if you have five or more people.

 

[Miicah]

 

 

 

 

There’s the tunnel that you have to walk through in order to reach the actual gates of Diamond Head.

 

 

There is some limited parking by the lookout here, though I’m not sure if you could park here and walk to the gate to save some money (and some climbing).

 

[Miicah]

Inside the tunnel. There isn’t really a sidewalk or anything, just a narrow path. But it’s nice and breezy, which is a godsend after being out in the heat.

 

 

A picture of the summit! With any luck we’ll make it to the top!

 

 

 

It was interesting to learn that Diamond Head was a part of the costal defence system.

 

 

 

Much of the path isn’t paved. My mom almost wore flip flops on this climb—good thing I talked her out of it!

 

[Miicah]

 

I was really starting to feel it when we reached this point. I had to sit while I was waiting to take a picture here just to catch my breath, haha.

 

 

These were the steepest set of stairs I’ve ever seen, and after just climbing another set of stairs and going through a tunnel (which I totally forgot to take my sunglasses off—no wonder I thought it was so dark in there!), there was no way either of us were climbing that, haha. Thankfully there is another way around to the top, and you can go down these stairs coming back.

 

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

 

There’s the tunnel that we had walked through!

 

 

 

 

I wonder how much those properties cost. Magnificent views, though!

 

[Miicah]

 

One of the watch towers or something that were used when Diamond Head was still an active defensive place.

 

 

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

You can see our condo building from here! Well, with zoom of course. But still, that’s nuts!

 

 

 

A picture at the summit! Proof that we made it, haha.

 

 

 

I know these signs were all over the place but it seemed to have more meaning when we actually did reach the top. Like a, “Hallelujah! You reached the end,” haha.

 

[Miicah]

 

 

 

 

 

Some people making their way up the trail! I was reminded of what a small world it is because we saw a couple from our group from the PCC yesterday heading up as we were coming down. They joked that we were following them (we also happened to see them when we went to the Hawaiian Journey theatre at the PCC), but we were at Diamond Head first so it was the other way around haha What are the chances that we’d not only go to Diamond Head on the same day, but go at a time where we’d cross paths? I’m glad we were going down instead of up, though, because by then it was around noon and the sun was really beating down.

 

[Miicah]

The alternate set of stairs we ended up taking instead of that steep one I showed before.

 

 

 

 

 

Some information boards by the gift shop back down.

 

 

[Miicah]

 

I can’t believe we were just up there! It’s crazy high!

 

 

 

 

Afterwards we headed to Kahala Mall for lunch. It’s definitely not tourist-geared like Ala Moana, but if you ever want to see a movie there is a theatre here.

 

 

I’ve heard of Panda Express but it doesn’t exist up here in Canada, so we tried it out! Very nice. It sorta reminds me of Manchu Wok. I also liked how they did the eating area here. It’s not an actual massive food court type, but it felt very open and uncrowded.

 

[Miicah]

When we got home we hit the beach again. Since I had a snorkeling excursion booked, I decided to give it a test run since it would be my first time and I didn’t want to look like a newbie out there, haha. I did buy my own mask and fins and whatnot—I know the operators clean theirs but I knew I’d have a better peace of mind knowing it’s only ever been in my mouth.

 

 

It was also a chance for me to test out my underwater camera. Compared to where we snorkeled on the excursion, the ocean water is much more murky, but you can hopefully still see some of the fish I saw (and all those pointy rocks!). I still need to learn the settings of this camera, I know it takes better pictures!

 

 

 

Here you can see our condo on the beach with the Trump hotel rising up behind it.

 

 

 

Some dinner cruises, I believe. Speaking of dinner, I can’t remember what we had on this night, haha. I didn't take a picture of it. I think it was leftover Panda Express, though.

 

 

Next day coming soon!

[karinad]

I just wanted to say that I'm enjoying your review! Your pictures are beautiful. I'm glad I'm getting to see Honolulu. We took a cruise from there, but, it didn't return there. I regret that we didn't get to spend a few days to tour, but the cruise was 13 days. Looking forward to more!

[JLC@SD]

Great review and great photos, thanks for posting them.

[hannibal54]

Great review and fantastic pictures, we will be there Feb. 26 for 2 days pre cruise, than board the POA. Thanks!

[txskier]

excellent pictures, will have to go back to Hawaii and try NCL!

[macruise]

Really enjoying your review. When I saw the Kia Ora and Aotearoa photo, I realized that I could get a taste of NZ at the PCC. (I really wanted to go their on my upcoming POA sailing, but just don't have the time.)

Will definitely be hiking Diamond Head. How did you find the alternate stairs? I don't mind climbing up, but have no interest in doing the steep descent on the first stairs that you should.

 

Will be anxiously awaiting the rest of your report.

[herdingdogmom]

Really enjoying your review. When I saw the Kia Ora and Aotearoa photo, I realized that I could get a taste of NZ at the PCC. (I really wanted to go their on my upcoming POA sailing, but just don't have the time.)

Will definitely be hiking Diamond Head. How did you find the alternate stairs? I don't mind climbing up, but have no interest in doing the steep descent on the first stairs that you should.

 

Will be anxiously awaiting the rest of your report.

 

I did the diamond Head hike the week following the OP. They are rock stars for both hiking into to the crater and doing the hike in the late morning heat. I was with a group much younger than I am and got overheated trying to keep pace up the first set of stairs. Once you finish the stairs, there is a tunnel which also is on an incline. I was in in no shape to attempt the steep stairs or crawl out of the bunker type thing. After the tunnel, the steep stairs are to your right. Just turn around and go the other way to find the wood stairs that go up to the viewing platform. People call this the easy way, but I stopped several times due to the heat exhaustion. There are a lot of people all over this trail. The second set of stairs was built with the purpose of being the way to exit after the summit and to alleviate the crowding.

 

Have fun and take lots of water.

[macruise]

I did the diamond Head hike the week following the OP. They are rock stars for both hiking into to the crater and doing the hike in the late morning heat. I was with a group much younger than I am and got overheated trying to keep pace up the first set of stairs. Once you finish the stairs, there is a tunnel which also is on an incline. I was in in no shape to attempt the steep stairs or crawl out of the bunker type thing. After the tunnel, the steep stairs are to your right. Just turn around and go the other way to find the wood stairs that go up to the viewing platform. People call this the easy way, but I stopped several times due to the heat exhaustion. There are a lot of people all over this trail. The second set of stairs was built with the purpose of being the way to exit after the summit and to alleviate the crowding.

 

Have fun and take lots of water.

Thanks for that info. Always prefer to get an early start to avoid the heat and overheating. So - go to the left for the "easy" wooden stairs?

[herdingdogmom]

Thanks for that info. Always prefer to get an early start to avoid the heat and overheating. So - go to the left for the "easy" wooden stairs?

 

Yes, take the path to the left after the tunnel. The path goes to the alternate stairs - you can see them and the summit platforms from the path. I used those stairs for both my ascent and descent. We had a guide who hikes Diamond Head several times a day. It sounded like after sunrise may be the best time to beat the heat and the crowds. He said that at sunrise, it is very crowded.

[Miicah]

I just wanted to say that I'm enjoying your review! Your pictures are beautiful. I'm glad I'm getting to see Honolulu. We took a cruise from there, but, it didn't return there. I regret that we didn't get to spend a few days to tour, but the cruise was 13 days. Looking forward to more!

 

I'm glad you're liking it! That's too bad that you were able to tour around the island much. That was a big reason why we didn't want a cruise that spent most of its time getting to Hawaii and not enough time actually in the islands. Did yours end in Vancouver or something? Hope you enjoy the rest!

 

Great review and great photos, thanks for posting them.

 

Thank you for reading my review and looking at my pictures ^__^

[Miicah]

Great review and fantastic pictures, we will be there Feb. 26 for 2 days pre cruise, than board the POA. Thanks!

 

Yay, I hope you have a fantastic trip, and that this review can help in any way!

 

excellent pictures, will have to go back to Hawaii and try NCL!

 

Thank you! ^_^ Hawaii won't be cheap, but it'll be worth it!

[Miicah]

Really enjoying your review. When I saw the Kia Ora and Aotearoa photo, I realized that I could get a taste of NZ at the PCC. (I really wanted to go their on my upcoming POA sailing, but just don't have the time.)

Will definitely be hiking Diamond Head. How did you find the alternate stairs? I don't mind climbing up, but have no interest in doing the steep descent on the first stairs that you should.

 

Will be anxiously awaiting the rest of your report.

 

Yes, it was definitely nice to experience a little bit of other cultures outside of Hawaii.

 

As herdingdogmom mentioned about the alternate stairs, which you'll find by going left once you've left the tunnel, and you can use it as both your ascent and decent if you don't want to go down those steeps stairs any more than you would want to go up them, haha.

 

Hope you enjoy the rest of the review!

[Miicah]

I did the diamond Head hike the week following the OP. They are rock stars for both hiking into to the crater and doing the hike in the late morning heat. I was with a group much younger than I am and got overheated trying to keep pace up the first set of stairs. Once you finish the stairs, there is a tunnel which also is on an incline. I was in in no shape to attempt the steep stairs or crawl out of the bunker type thing. After the tunnel, the steep stairs are to your right. Just turn around and go the other way to find the wood stairs that go up to the viewing platform. People call this the easy way, but I stopped several times due to the heat exhaustion. There are a lot of people all over this trail. The second set of stairs was built with the purpose of being the way to exit after the summit and to alleviate the crowding.

 

Have fun and take lots of water.

 

Haha, thank you. Definitely didn't plan on climbing Diamond Head so late (and we forgot our hats, too!), but we made it somehow, haha. I just remembered how tight climbing that little bunker really was-- definitely not easy. Congrats on making it to the top, though! ^^ The view sure was worth it, right?