SUMMARY: This was our first attempt at a trip with a small baby. We were a bit nervous for the flight and how much we would actually be able to do when we got to the island. We were pleasantly surprised at how well she did though! We did about 4 hikes, took turns snorkeling and playing in the ocean. Lindsay even went on a dolphin excursion! We stayed in the small Town of Laie which had the Polynesian Cultural Center and Oahu Temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The beach was just steps away from our AirBnB, which I'd say, was the perfect location with a baby!
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Having a new baby, plus being in the dead of winter, now being outnumbered by our children, we were looking for a bit of a break. Leaving the baby wasn't really an option, as she was still nursing, so we made the decision to attempt a holiday with her. When direct flights from Calgary to Honolulu popped up on YYCDeals for $365/person, we couldn't pass up that deal!
We booked the flights at the beginning of January and were scheduled to leave to Oahu on April 3rd for a week. Since we'd been there once before, we knew what we liked and what we didn't. Basically we wanted to avoid everything in Honolulu (traffic, parking, people) and spend as much time as we could on the North Shore. Laie seemed to make the most sense as our home base.
Our AirBnb was amazing - right on Laie Point. If we wanted to, we could sit up in bed and watch the sunrise directly outside our window every morning. Of course, we were up way before the sun, usually around 5:00am, since we were trying to stay on Mountain Time as much as we could. Most days we would walk out to the point, (only about 100 meters away) and watch the sunrise. If we walked the other direction (maybe 300 meters) we could take a private pathway down to the local Clissold's beach, which we basically had all to ourselves! The room was part of a larger house, but had a separate entrance with shared laundry and beach equipment to borrow. We saved some money by having a private room instead of an entire house. Also, we couldn't pass up being so close to the ocean! Here's a little summary of our little piece of heaven for the week.
Having never traveled with a baby before, we didn't know what to expect. We set low expectations as to how much we could do when we were there, but we were surprised with all the things we did! She was on a 3-4 hour cycle of eating, sleeping, and being awake, so it was fairly predictable. We didn't have any issues on the plane. Besides having to pack her stroller, car seat, and diaper bag, it wasn't too bad. Wireless headphones were super nice to have! You didn't get them ripped out near as much as you adjusted the baby or reached down to grab stuff. On the island, we'd take turns snorkeling or swimming while we fed or put the baby to sleep on the beach. She'd also fall asleep in her carrier as we went on hikes and sometimes (not as often as we wished) in her car seat while driving to different locations. The car honestly, was the most frustrating part of the trip since she screamed every time we had to strap her in her car seat!
Instead of going through day by day chronologically, I'm going to break things up into 4 main categories: Water, Hiking, Sight Seeing, and Food like I did on my last Hawaii post. Click the links below in gold for some more info from other sites we found and some of my videos from our trip!.
WATER:
- Sharks Cove:
We went to sharks cove twice. We love it because it's free and you can see some amazing variety of fish with little effort and it's very safe. The best time to visit is earlier in the day because of two main reasons: Parking and Beach access. There's some great spots to eat and shop across the street. You could easily spend 3-4 hours in this area and have a great morning. Check out my other post on Shark's Cove for some more info.
- Hanuama Bay
We had also been to Hanuama Bay before, but this time, we went later in the day. This meant that we had to actually pay to get in, plus stand in line to watch the instructional safety video before you could actually go down to the beach. Unlike last time though, we did remember to bring our snorkel to go along with our goggles, which made a huge difference, for obvious reasons! The water was a lot clearer as well. We found that Hanuama Bay had a few more varieties of fish than Sharks Cove as well as bigger ones. But the trade off was that it's a bit more crowded and touristy. The bay is big enough though that you don't feel claustrophobic and swim into people while snorkeling. We brought an umbrella from our AirBnb, which was a huge lifesaver as we went during the heat of the day!
- Swimming with Dolphins
This was a bucket list item for Lindsay and didn't disappoint. We got a Groupon for EO Waianae Tours. It was a 4 hour excursion on the west side of the Island to swim with wild turtles, fish, and of course, DOLPHINS! Babies weren't allowed, so this was a solo trip for Lindsay (along with the new friends she made on the boat). Lunch was provided as well as paddle boarding and some time to jump off the boat and swim in the water. She saw pods of 20 or more dolphins swim by as they made their clicking echolocation sounds. There was also one point where tiny tiny jellyfish things were all around them and surprised them with a freaky little tingling sensation!
HIKING:
- Crouching Lion
This was a beautiful, short, steep hike with amazing views from the top. The trail starts just a few meters down the road east of the Kahana Bay Beach Park. There will be a small, dirt unofficial parking area on the coast side of the road. Once you park, you'll cross the highway and will see a bunch of trail heads, which all lead to the same place. We had our baby with us in a carrier and still felt pretty safe, but if it was wet in any way, or if you're not a confident hiker, I wouldn't attempt. Going up is fine if your lungs can take it, but coming down can be a bit scarier. It only took about 30-40 minutes to get to the top. On one side, it over-looked a little neighborhood along the shoreline. The other side was a beautiful view of Kahana Bay and the mountains.
- Diamond Head
We debated doing Diamond Head because of how busy and touristy it is, but we decided to do it to kill some time before we caught our flight back home, and glad we did! It costs about $5 to park your vehicle at the trail head and I think it took just less than an hour to get to the top. There's restrooms at the parking lot, as well as some trail information and Dole Whip and pineapples if you haven't tried that before. The trail is mostly a bunch of dusty switchbacks with not much shade. It is a gradual incline, but nothing too steep. As you get closer to the top, there's some beautiful lookout points overlooking the ocean and the city. Now that I've done it, I probably wouldn't do it again, but it's worth seeing once for sure. It's a great hike if you're staying close to Honolulu or for younger or beginner hikers. If you're looking for a waterfall hike near Honolulu, check out Monoa or Kapena Falls.
- Lanikai Pillbox Hike
The scariest thing about this hike is probably just the parking. Make sure you get there early because parking fills up fast and there's not a lot of selection as it's in a residential area. Just be careful to not park in areas that'll get your vehicle towed! The hike itself it great! Just before the gates of the Blue Stone Condo's gated community, you'll see a path on your left going towards the hills. This will be the start of a fairly steep trail that goes up the hill and onto the ridge. It doesn't take long before you can see the ocean as you peek over the top. You'll continue along the ridge until you get to the first pill box. You can also continue on until you reach the second. It takes less than an hour to get to the top. Since it's on the east side of the island, it's a perfect viewing spot for an early morning sunrise (which we chose to do). If you want a great sunset hike, go do the Ehukai Pillbox Hike on the north shore near Sunset Beach.
- Ma'akua Ridge Trail
We mainly did this trail because it was super close to Laie and sounded baby-friendly. The hike itself isn't super eventful. Probably the longest hike on our trip, over 2 hours for the entire loop I think. You get some OK views of the valley along the top of the ridge. Mostly hiking through the trees the whole time, which kept us cool. We were lucky to run into some other hikers on the trail visiting from Denmark. We were able to get to know them and swap stories which helped to pass the time.
SIGHT SEEING:
- Polynesian Cultural Center
I'm assuming you already know what the P.C.C. is, since it's one of the more popular places to see on Oahu, but if you don't know, go watch the video in the link above to get an idea. Prepare to get an amazing cultural experience of all of the Polynesian islands including food, music, art, dance, history and day to day life. It's not cheap, but a lot of people don't know that after your initial visit, you can take your ticket back and get two additional full days of admission. You won't be able to see everything the first time you go, so I'd recommend planning at least a second day! Besides admission to the villages, you can also choose to add on things like a buffet lunch, prime rib dinner, or luau. To top it off, you'll also want to see the evening show as well!
- Byodo Temple
I'd seen a lot of pictures of this place online, and as it was just off the highway on our way back to Honolulu, we thought we'd take an hour and check it out. It's basically at the end of the road of a giant cemetery called the Valley of the Temples. To visit this section, they do charge a small admission fee of about $10. It's a beautiful non-practicing Buddhist temple that welcomes people of all faiths to relax, meditate, and enjoy the peaceful gardens. They have TONS of Koi fish as well as many birds (and turtles if you look closely). I probably wouldn't make this a main destination and go far out of your way to visit, but if you're in the area, it's a nice little pit stop.
FOOD:
- 7 Brothers
Basically uge, tasty burgers! Probably one of the best I've ever had. Only 2 locations on the island; one in Laie and one just outside. If you're in that area, plan to eat there!
- Ken's Fresh Fish
Little take out place on edge of Laie. Just like the name says, it's very fresh and tasty! Ask for their recommendations and they'll give you a good variety plate with rice and mac salad.
- The Sunrise Shack
Fun food stand on the side of the road on the north shore. Look out for the bright yellow paint, it's easy to miss. It's very popular with the Insta-crowd. Known for it's coffee, smoothies, and acai bowls. Probably best first thing in the morning or for lunch.
- Kahuku Farms Cafe
This is located about 5-10 minutes out of Laie. From the road, it doesn't look like much, but once you go around back, there's a beautiful field with trees, tables with shade, and restaurant. Everything's very fresh and locally grown and super yummy!
- Papa Ole's
We'd heard a lot of hype about Papa Ole's, so we had to check it out. If you're into local Hawaiian food with lots of rice, mac salad, and meat, then this is your place! Personally, I'm not a huge fan, so I left feeling heavy and sluggish. Tasted fine, but probably would choose something different next time.
We booked the flights at the beginning of January and were scheduled to leave to Oahu on April 3rd for a week. Since we'd been there once before, we knew what we liked and what we didn't. Basically we wanted to avoid everything in Honolulu (traffic, parking, people) and spend as much time as we could on the North Shore. Laie seemed to make the most sense as our home base.
Our AirBnb was amazing - right on Laie Point. If we wanted to, we could sit up in bed and watch the sunrise directly outside our window every morning. Of course, we were up way before the sun, usually around 5:00am, since we were trying to stay on Mountain Time as much as we could. Most days we would walk out to the point, (only about 100 meters away) and watch the sunrise. If we walked the other direction (maybe 300 meters) we could take a private pathway down to the local Clissold's beach, which we basically had all to ourselves! The room was part of a larger house, but had a separate entrance with shared laundry and beach equipment to borrow. We saved some money by having a private room instead of an entire house. Also, we couldn't pass up being so close to the ocean! Here's a little summary of our little piece of heaven for the week.
Having never traveled with a baby before, we didn't know what to expect. We set low expectations as to how much we could do when we were there, but we were surprised with all the things we did! She was on a 3-4 hour cycle of eating, sleeping, and being awake, so it was fairly predictable. We didn't have any issues on the plane. Besides having to pack her stroller, car seat, and diaper bag, it wasn't too bad. Wireless headphones were super nice to have! You didn't get them ripped out near as much as you adjusted the baby or reached down to grab stuff. On the island, we'd take turns snorkeling or swimming while we fed or put the baby to sleep on the beach. She'd also fall asleep in her carrier as we went on hikes and sometimes (not as often as we wished) in her car seat while driving to different locations. The car honestly, was the most frustrating part of the trip since she screamed every time we had to strap her in her car seat!
Instead of going through day by day chronologically, I'm going to break things up into 4 main categories: Water, Hiking, Sight Seeing, and Food like I did on my last Hawaii post. Click the links below in gold for some more info from other sites we found and some of my videos from our trip!.
WATER:
- Sharks Cove:
We went to sharks cove twice. We love it because it's free and you can see some amazing variety of fish with little effort and it's very safe. The best time to visit is earlier in the day because of two main reasons: Parking and Beach access. There's some great spots to eat and shop across the street. You could easily spend 3-4 hours in this area and have a great morning. Check out my other post on Shark's Cove for some more info.
- Hanuama Bay
We had also been to Hanuama Bay before, but this time, we went later in the day. This meant that we had to actually pay to get in, plus stand in line to watch the instructional safety video before you could actually go down to the beach. Unlike last time though, we did remember to bring our snorkel to go along with our goggles, which made a huge difference, for obvious reasons! The water was a lot clearer as well. We found that Hanuama Bay had a few more varieties of fish than Sharks Cove as well as bigger ones. But the trade off was that it's a bit more crowded and touristy. The bay is big enough though that you don't feel claustrophobic and swim into people while snorkeling. We brought an umbrella from our AirBnb, which was a huge lifesaver as we went during the heat of the day!
- Swimming with Dolphins
This was a bucket list item for Lindsay and didn't disappoint. We got a Groupon for EO Waianae Tours. It was a 4 hour excursion on the west side of the Island to swim with wild turtles, fish, and of course, DOLPHINS! Babies weren't allowed, so this was a solo trip for Lindsay (along with the new friends she made on the boat). Lunch was provided as well as paddle boarding and some time to jump off the boat and swim in the water. She saw pods of 20 or more dolphins swim by as they made their clicking echolocation sounds. There was also one point where tiny tiny jellyfish things were all around them and surprised them with a freaky little tingling sensation!
HIKING:
- Crouching Lion
This was a beautiful, short, steep hike with amazing views from the top. The trail starts just a few meters down the road east of the Kahana Bay Beach Park. There will be a small, dirt unofficial parking area on the coast side of the road. Once you park, you'll cross the highway and will see a bunch of trail heads, which all lead to the same place. We had our baby with us in a carrier and still felt pretty safe, but if it was wet in any way, or if you're not a confident hiker, I wouldn't attempt. Going up is fine if your lungs can take it, but coming down can be a bit scarier. It only took about 30-40 minutes to get to the top. On one side, it over-looked a little neighborhood along the shoreline. The other side was a beautiful view of Kahana Bay and the mountains.
- Diamond Head
We debated doing Diamond Head because of how busy and touristy it is, but we decided to do it to kill some time before we caught our flight back home, and glad we did! It costs about $5 to park your vehicle at the trail head and I think it took just less than an hour to get to the top. There's restrooms at the parking lot, as well as some trail information and Dole Whip and pineapples if you haven't tried that before. The trail is mostly a bunch of dusty switchbacks with not much shade. It is a gradual incline, but nothing too steep. As you get closer to the top, there's some beautiful lookout points overlooking the ocean and the city. Now that I've done it, I probably wouldn't do it again, but it's worth seeing once for sure. It's a great hike if you're staying close to Honolulu or for younger or beginner hikers. If you're looking for a waterfall hike near Honolulu, check out Monoa or Kapena Falls.
- Lanikai Pillbox Hike
The scariest thing about this hike is probably just the parking. Make sure you get there early because parking fills up fast and there's not a lot of selection as it's in a residential area. Just be careful to not park in areas that'll get your vehicle towed! The hike itself it great! Just before the gates of the Blue Stone Condo's gated community, you'll see a path on your left going towards the hills. This will be the start of a fairly steep trail that goes up the hill and onto the ridge. It doesn't take long before you can see the ocean as you peek over the top. You'll continue along the ridge until you get to the first pill box. You can also continue on until you reach the second. It takes less than an hour to get to the top. Since it's on the east side of the island, it's a perfect viewing spot for an early morning sunrise (which we chose to do). If you want a great sunset hike, go do the Ehukai Pillbox Hike on the north shore near Sunset Beach.
- Ma'akua Ridge Trail
We mainly did this trail because it was super close to Laie and sounded baby-friendly. The hike itself isn't super eventful. Probably the longest hike on our trip, over 2 hours for the entire loop I think. You get some OK views of the valley along the top of the ridge. Mostly hiking through the trees the whole time, which kept us cool. We were lucky to run into some other hikers on the trail visiting from Denmark. We were able to get to know them and swap stories which helped to pass the time.
SIGHT SEEING:
- Polynesian Cultural Center
I'm assuming you already know what the P.C.C. is, since it's one of the more popular places to see on Oahu, but if you don't know, go watch the video in the link above to get an idea. Prepare to get an amazing cultural experience of all of the Polynesian islands including food, music, art, dance, history and day to day life. It's not cheap, but a lot of people don't know that after your initial visit, you can take your ticket back and get two additional full days of admission. You won't be able to see everything the first time you go, so I'd recommend planning at least a second day! Besides admission to the villages, you can also choose to add on things like a buffet lunch, prime rib dinner, or luau. To top it off, you'll also want to see the evening show as well!
- Byodo Temple
I'd seen a lot of pictures of this place online, and as it was just off the highway on our way back to Honolulu, we thought we'd take an hour and check it out. It's basically at the end of the road of a giant cemetery called the Valley of the Temples. To visit this section, they do charge a small admission fee of about $10. It's a beautiful non-practicing Buddhist temple that welcomes people of all faiths to relax, meditate, and enjoy the peaceful gardens. They have TONS of Koi fish as well as many birds (and turtles if you look closely). I probably wouldn't make this a main destination and go far out of your way to visit, but if you're in the area, it's a nice little pit stop.
FOOD:
- 7 Brothers
Basically uge, tasty burgers! Probably one of the best I've ever had. Only 2 locations on the island; one in Laie and one just outside. If you're in that area, plan to eat there!
- Ken's Fresh Fish
Little take out place on edge of Laie. Just like the name says, it's very fresh and tasty! Ask for their recommendations and they'll give you a good variety plate with rice and mac salad.
- The Sunrise Shack
Fun food stand on the side of the road on the north shore. Look out for the bright yellow paint, it's easy to miss. It's very popular with the Insta-crowd. Known for it's coffee, smoothies, and acai bowls. Probably best first thing in the morning or for lunch.
- Kahuku Farms Cafe
This is located about 5-10 minutes out of Laie. From the road, it doesn't look like much, but once you go around back, there's a beautiful field with trees, tables with shade, and restaurant. Everything's very fresh and locally grown and super yummy!
- Papa Ole's
We'd heard a lot of hype about Papa Ole's, so we had to check it out. If you're into local Hawaiian food with lots of rice, mac salad, and meat, then this is your place! Personally, I'm not a huge fan, so I left feeling heavy and sluggish. Tasted fine, but probably would choose something different next time.