JaneyZee's Tropical Hawaii Vacation Pictorial

n 1998, my husband's father and step-mother asked us to accompany them on a Hawaii vacation to one of their favorite places. They paid for the airline tickets and arranged for the rooms, all we had to do was take enough money for food, fun and souvenirs. They decided August was the time to go, since the 40th Annual Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament would be going on at the Kailua-Kona public pier, right below our hotel. They knew Darrell, my hubby and avid off-shore fisher, would love to see the boats and the catch coming in every day.

We arranged two weeks vacation time from our business, figured out what clothes to take and arranged for our cats, Bailey and Squirt, to be taken care of while we were gone. I think the cats wanted to go along, but they didn't have tickets, so I had to make sure they didn't stow away in our suitcases.

With all that done, off we went on our tropical adventure. After the long plane ride from Orlando, we arrived in Honolulu, picked up the rental car and went to check in at the Hale Koa Hotel. The Hale Koa is a military personnel hotel where Darrell's dad, being a retired Navy man, was eligible to book our rooms. It's a gorgeous hotel, right on Waikiki Beach, with an open air reception area and great restaurants and shops.

Our room did not face the water, but looked out over the buildings behind the beach and the stunning mountains beyond them. It was just as beautiful at night, when the buildings glittered and the mountains disappeared.

We strolled lazily along the beach with our handsome hubbies by our sides and watched the sun set over Waikiki then, back to the hotel to get rested and ready to explore Oahu over the next couple of days.

Exploring Oahu

We all decided to make the circuit of the island the first full day we were on Oahu. We started with Pearl Harbor, then off to the Dole Pineapple Store and Maze. We then ventured on to the North Shore and finally came around the island's eastern side and back home to the Hale Koa.

The next day, Darrell and I, struck out on our own to do some things that weren't of interest to my in-laws. First was snorkeling at Hanauma Bay then on to Makapuu, the first of two lighthouses we visited on Oahu. Then we had lunch at KimoZ, in Waimanalo and later a quick stop at the Halona Blowhole, then back home.

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The following day we took the Pali Highway to the Nuuanu Pali Lookout for a spectacular view of the island. The next stop was the Byodo-In Buddhist temple, a beautiful replica of a 900-year-old temple in Japan. We arrived at our main destination, the Polynesian Cultural Center, promptly at noon when it opened and had a great day filled with the sights and sounds of Polynesia.

Just one day left on Oahu before leaving for the Kona Coast. Darrell and I walked to the Waikiki Aquarium to see the fish and exhibits and then took TheBus to the Foster Botanical Gardens. What a peaceful place, with gorgeous flowers, trees and other plants. Then we went back to the hotel for the dinner buffet and Hawaiian show later that night.

The next morning we took a quick drive to the Diamond Head lighthouse for a last-minute photo opportunity before boarding the plane that took us to the Big Island of Hawaii.

Exploring the Big Island, Including the Kona Coast

We took a short Aloha Airlines flight from Honolulu to Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. This island is the largest of the chain and also the newest. Our home for the next six nights was the King Kamehameha Hotel in Kailua-Kona. We had a free breakfast every morning and I fell in love with the bread pudding with cream sauce topping. That was a treat to wake up to every day.

The picture on the left is the hotel, the beach and the temple of peace and prosperity built by King Kamehameha. The public pier is right next to the hotel and we watched the sport fishers coming in that night with the catch from the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament. It was fun to see all those gorgeous boats coming in, one after the other. After the excitement died down, we walked through town to the Kona Inn where we had a great meal, then we came back to the pier to see the last of the billfish being weighed in for that day.

The next day was the final round of the Billfish Tournament and we wandered around the pier at 4:00 pm to see who would bring in the final catch. A boat named Tara had a billfish on hook and was still fighting it when the call came to bring in the lines. We all waited for Tara to return to the dock and it was worth the wait, as she arrived with the winning billfish of the tournament. A young Japanese man had landed the fish so, for the next few hours, he posed with his 697-pound marlin and Miss Billfish. I'm not sure which one the men found more appealing, that fish or the beauty queen, but my husband, a true fisher, seemed to drool a little bit more when looking at the fish.

The town of Kailua-Kona is much more laid back than Honolulu, more of a fishing village with lots of great shops and restaurants. But it was the diversity of the island that surprised me, as there is so much to do. We enjoyed deep-sea fishing, snorkeling and visiting all the fancy resorts above Kailua-Kona. But one of the best days we had was the circle tour of the whole island. We visited the Waipio Valley, Akaka Falls, Hilo and Rainbow Falls, Nani Mau Gardens and finally, Kilauea volcano. That day we saw just about everything that the big island has to offer.