Hawaii Trip Report

hammies

Duke status
Apr 8, 2006
15,587
14,215
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Romantic vacay with wifey in Maui (Kihei and Napili), followed by a "working" vacation in Honolulu as kid #1 flew in to start grad school at U of H and kid #2 just flew in the day after to hang out. Did not bring a board.

Much ink has been spilled about how Hawaii is overrun with tourists. I can verify that in the tourist areas, these reports are spot on. Kihei and Waikiki are pretty much maxed out, and even Napili seemed crowded (on the beach), unlike prior visits.

Maui: First time ever to Kihei, not really my cup of tea. It seemed like SoCal-West, I remember many north SD county people moved to that area in the early '80s. Even less impressive was Wailea, which is one of those places where you can pay sh!t-tons of money and go to Hawaii without ever actually having to interact with Hawaii. There are some very nice beaches, bays, and reefs south of Kihei, however. No real surf when I was there. On the other hand, Napili has been a favorite of wifey and I for decades, can definitely recommend. OGG was a nightmare crowd scene on a Saturday afternoon: > 1 hour TSA line.

Honolulu: Crowdeder than ever. They herd all the tourists into Waikiki which I think is a good idea for the rest of the city but makes Waikiki suck. At first we stayed in the Ilikai 2 floors below Steve McGarrett and had a nice view of Bowls, it was small when we were there and seemed packed with longboarders. A few days later a swell hit and guys were getting shacked off their melons, I went out to Magic Island and took some pictures. Some old guy local started chatting it up with me about my camera which was pretty funny since all these pros were out there with their huge 600mm lenses and all I had was my little 24-105 travel lens but whatever, he asked me if I was a tourist or local 'cause he couldn't tell. I took that as a compliment. We talked for a while, turns out he grew up in McCully only a couple of blocks from where my kid now lives.

Between airport, Costco, Walmart, Foodland, and Target runs to get the kid all set up, wifey and I drove out to Kailua and spent the day at the beach. Trades were light, it was nice. We talk about maybe retiring to Hawaii and she liked Kailua, more affordable than Kahala haha. I can see why people want to live there, though. Went to Sandy Beach with the GoPro to do my best Sponge imitation, turns out I have a long way to go as he is definitely a better water photographer, surely a better waterman, and certainly more experienced at Sandys, which is a beach that demands respect.

All in all a nice trip. Hawaii is not done, just expensive (except for gas, oddly enough) and full of visitors and transients and all the usual first-world problems that come with being a vacation destination. Many, many thanks to all the local people I interacted with, 100% of whom were nothing but gracious and kind. That's hard to be in a tourist town, I ought to know. As should be the case anywhere, be safe and humble if you visit and you will come home richer for the experience.

South of Kihei
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Bowls
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i2.jpg

Sandys
G2.jpg
 

hotCheetos

OTF status
Mar 28, 2020
294
358
63
Ya we also fly over for my wifes bday last week and waikiki certainly is a trip. Definitely different crowd right now. It's like the tourism board said oh we cant fly anyone in from japan and korea anymore? lets get some nonstops from oklahoma and arkansas going! was able to get out to the eastside for a little bit and escape but big armpit of America vibes on kalakaua rn
 

b.r.

Phil Edwards status
Dec 19, 2003
5,922
3,034
113
Leucadia
www.youtube.com
Romantic vacay with wifey in Maui (Kihei and Napili), followed by a "working" vacation in Honolulu as kid #1 flew in to start grad school at U of H and kid #2 just flew in the day after to hang out. Did not bring a board.

Much ink has been spilled about how Hawaii is overrun with tourists. I can verify that in the tourist areas, these reports are spot on. Kihei and Waikiki are pretty much maxed out, and even Napili seemed crowded (on the beach), unlike prior visits.

Maui: First time ever to Kihei, not really my cup of tea. It seemed like SoCal-West, I remember many north SD county people moved to that area in the early '80s. Even less impressive was Wailea, which is one of those places where you can pay sh!t-tons of money and go to Hawaii without ever actually having to interact with Hawaii. There are some very nice beaches, bays, and reefs south of Kihei, however. No real surf when I was there. On the other hand, Napili has been a favorite of wifey and I for decades, can definitely recommend. OGG was a nightmare crowd scene on a Saturday afternoon: > 1 hour TSA line.

Honolulu: Crowdeder than ever. They herd all the tourists into Waikiki which I think is a good idea for the rest of the city but makes Waikiki suck. At first we stayed in the Ilikai 2 floors below Steve McGarrett and had a nice view of Bowls, it was small when we were there and seemed packed with longboarders. A few days later a swell hit and guys were getting shacked off their melons, I went out to Magic Island and took some pictures. Some old guy local started chatting it up with me about my camera which was pretty funny since all these pros were out there with their huge 600mm lenses and all I had was my little 24-105 travel lens but whatever, he asked me if I was a tourist or local 'cause he couldn't tell. I took that as a compliment. We talked for a while, turns out he grew up in McCully only a couple of blocks from where my kid now lives.

Between airport, Costco, Walmart, Foodland, and Target runs to get the kid all set up, wifey and I drove out to Kailua and spent the day at the beach. Trades were light, it was nice. We talk about maybe retiring to Hawaii and she liked Kailua, more affordable than Kahala haha. I can see why people want to live there, though. Went to Sandy Beach with the GoPro to do my best Sponge imitation, turns out I have a long way to go as he is definitely a better water photographer, surely a better waterman, and certainly more experienced at Sandys, which is a beach that demands respect.

All in all a nice trip. Hawaii is not done, just expensive (except for gas, oddly enough) and full of visitors and transients and all the usual first-world problems that come with being a vacation destination. Many, many thanks to all the local people I interacted with, 100% of whom were nothing but gracious and kind. That's hard to be in a tourist town, I ought to know. As should be the case anywhere, be safe and humble if you visit and you will come home richer for the experience.

South of Kihei
View attachment 115082

Bowls
View attachment 115083

View attachment 115084

Sandys
View attachment 115085
You did alright for an outlet grad.
 
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teeroi

Miki Dora status
Oct 21, 2007
5,107
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eastside oahu
Yeah @hammies glad you had a nice trip. Those are my friends in your pics of Bowls. The fs guy in white tee is Mike Akima. The guy pig dogging that barrel is Gregg Nakamura. Bring a board or rent one next time you visit your kid. With your lack of attitude you’d be fine and probably get some fun ones.
 
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Boneroni

Tom Curren status
Mar 5, 2012
12,093
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Goleta
Some old guy local started chatting it up with me about my camera which was pretty funny since all these pros were out there with their huge 600mm lenses and all I had was my little 24-105 travel lens but whatever, he asked me if I was a tourist or local 'cause he couldn't tell. I took that as a compliment. We talked for a while, turns out he grew up in McCully only a couple of blocks from where my kid now lives.

Many, many thanks to all the local people I interacted with, 100% of whom were nothing but gracious and kind.
This sums up many experiences I've had in my limited visits to Hawaii. So much aloha :applause2:
 

tenover

Kelly Slater status
Jan 17, 2003
9,318
1,704
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Point Loma, CA
Nice report. My oldest just graduated from UoH this past May, and we had similar experinces while visiting there in mid-May, riiigght as things were "kind of" starting to open up. Stupid crowds in Waikiki, but I got some fun surf and then stayed on the beach in Haleiwa for the last 5 days, which was awesome.
 
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