HAWAII 2007

Aloha !

This album contains some of the pictures and movies we took while vacationing in Hawaii for two weeks in May 2007.

To return to this page, click on the upper-left colorful text. This album is best viewed using the Firefox browser. For the Mac users, the Windows Media clips (from the "Movie Clips" link) can be viewed by installing a Windows Media for Mac player from this Apple site.

We mainly stayed on Oahu island, most of the days going to the Waikiki beaches. We boogie boarded our tails off and got fairly good at it. Since we also had a car throughout our stay, we went to snorkel to several places such as Hanauma Bay. Drive in early since they stop admitting people once the certain capacity is reached!

Dole Plantation also makes for a nice, whole-day tour. They host the world largest maze. The ticket has its layout printed out, but it is still very easy to get lost once inside. The objective is to find 6 hidden stations and mark the ticket with their stamps. At the gate, they list shortest times. Somebody did it in 5 minutes. It took us almost 45. There are also other activities on the plantation which are interesting, along with a great tasting pineapple!

North-west shore of the island hosts some wonderful beaches, such is a Sunset Beach, which lives up to its name. In fact, whichever beach you decide to stop at, you will have wonderful time.

The other whole-day activity was a visit to Polynesian Cultural Center. Set up and run by Mormons, it helps young people native to those featured islands with scholarships while working there as performers. Everything is done very well and in a family friendly manner and a loving attitude.

We briefly revisited Pearl Harbour and just toured a submarine and a museum.

Once at Maui, we visited Kaanapali beaches and the Black Rock. The reef was fantastic there, but the underwater currents very, very strong. If we did not have flippers, we would have been dragged away by it. Although we did not stay there, the beach resorts were gorgeous.

We also walked through Lahaina town, which is simply a picturesque tourist trap.

The Wailea beach had some of the largest waves hitting the sand we've ever seen. It provided hours of fun, especially for Siddartha. However, at one point a wave got him sucked and tumbled. One other parent saw it right away and run there to pull him out. That's something we will remember :-)

We drove to Hana, on the other side of the island, to see Seven Sacred Pools. That drive was most beautiful with its scenery (the panoramic picture on this page was taken at one of many stops on this road.

I took a lot of underwater pictures (and movie clips) with my Canon PowerShot A630 and its WP-DC8 under-water case. Those pictures came up much nicer after being color corrected with an imaging program (from a blue-ish wash out to getting all the colors up.)

Since this was our third time in Hawaii, through the past decade I noticed significant decrease of corral reef at many places which we had visited repeatedly (such is Hanauma bay). If this trend continues, unfortunately, there will be little reef left in few decades.

We stayed at a condo; a newly remodeled, fully furnished with full kitchen, flat-screen TV and two short blocks from Waikiki. We would definitely come there again!

Call Bano: 425-635-0535 or 425-736-6762

There is a (new) airline company, http://www.iflygo.com with very affordable flights between the islands.