Hawaii Travelogue - IV - Last Day in Oahu

Sadly, this was our final day of our Hawaii vacation. During the two days(when we did the day trip to Big Island and Maui), we got some time to spend in Oahu's night life. It was always buzzing with tourists. The restaurants, souvenir shops, malls - almost everyone wearing Hawaiian print dress with a lei, greeting everyone with ALOHA. The ALOHA spirit percolated through every visitor in Hawaii.

We started our fourth and final day in Honolulu. Since, our hotel was on Waikiki beach side, we went to the beach and enjoyed the cool morning. After breakfast, we started our drive to Diamond Head Crater. Diamond Head Crater is a crater that has been extinct for 150,000 years. Here's an aerial view of the crater.We drove into the crater and parked in the middle ( the green rectangular place in the middle of the crater in the above picture) and took the 2 mile trail to the summit of the Crater. The trail is a moderate one with paved walkway and also two sets of stairs in the final lap. The view from the summit is breath-taking. You can see Downtown Honolulu and the turquoise Waikiki beaches and adjacent beaches along the West Oahu coast. Take a look at the majestic scenery in the picture below.



















After the hike down from Diamond Head Crater, we went to Hanauma Bay. Its famous for the coral reefs abundant with its flora and fauna. It is the one of the most famous spots for snorkeling in Hawaii. It was fun to see small kids with the snorkeling gear splashing into the water to see fishes.

We continued our drive through Oahu's shorelines to stop at different view points to see the majestic rock formations, water-holes, white sand beaches etc. We spent our afternoon on the Makapu beach. I do not have any description for this beach..just serene, turquoise colored water..I am dumb-struck.

We headed back to the Honolulu and went to the famous Pearl Harbor late afternoon. We were shown a documentary video of the attack of Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941) . It was a sad moment, and we could not imagine that such a pristine, calm island could be attacked by anyone. We visited the USS Arizona Memorial and USS Bowfin submarine museum and paid our condolences for all the war victims.

And now it was time to head back to Los Angeles after a fine four day vacation in Hawaii. We thoroughly enjoyed each and every time spent in each of the islands. The experience really rejuvenated us and we bade good bye to Hawaii with the promise of coming back again. MAHALO!

Hope you enjoyed reading the posts.