Waikiki walk full of discoveries
Surf museum, swap meet, farmer's market best enjoyed on foot
I say "stumbled upon" because I had no idea the surfing competition was taking place. One of the joys of Waikiki is that even without a copy of one the many free guidebooks available to tourists, you can always discover unexpected activities taking place, whether it's hula dancing and Hawaiian music on Beach Walk, free movies on the beach or the new farmers markets located within the International Market Place and King's Village.
We're regular travelers to the Island of Oahu, but for some reason had never stayed in the centre of Waikiki before. Somehow we always end up on the edge of legendary Waikiki Beach, near Ali Wai Harbor where life moves at a slightly slower pace, so I wasn't sure what to expect when we checked into the Holiday Inn Waikiki Beachcomber Resort, located next to the International Market Place. It turned out that central location was the ideal spot for our explorations of Waikiki by foot. The Magic of Hawaii accommodation packages at the Waikiki Beachcomber include tickets to Magic of Polynesia, a stage show that takes place in the resort's new $7.5 million theatre. The Magic of Hawaii brings the spirit of the Island of Oahu to life through the skill of Hawaii's popular illusionist John Hirokawa, pyrotechnics, a volcano on stage, fire knife dancers and a cast of 20.
The hotel is also home to the Honolulu Surfing Museum, which pays homage to the area's surf culture and includes surfboards ridden by some of the sport's greats, videos, surf-related artifacts and a bar, so you can sip a mai tai while checking out the goods.
New to the bustling landscape of Waikiki is a fleet of bright red, double-decker, hop-on, hop-off sightseeing buses. The AlohaBus offers three tours such as the Historic Route with stops including the Iolani Palace, the King Kamehameha statue, Chinatown and Hilo Hattie. The Night Loop includes stops at popular shopping and dining areas, while the Pearl Harbor Express connects to a Polynesian Adventure Tour bus for a roundtrip visit to Pearl Harbor, Aloha Stadium for the swap meet and Bishop Museum. We never go to Oahu without visiting Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial to pay our respects and there's always something new to see. We've even done the three-hour guided tour of the USS Missouri, which had my history-loving partner beside himself with excitement and left me a sweating mess. But he made it up to me with a lengthy visit to the Aloha Stadium for the swap meet, something I love and he tends to avoid at all cost. (There truly is something for everyone in Hawaii.) Now through December 31, kids ages three to 11 can ride the AlohaBus for free if accompanied by an adult.
By staying at the Beachcomber, which is just steps from Waikiki and Kuhio beaches, there was no need to travel to take surf lessons, paddle an outrigger canoe, try paddle boarding, snorkel or join in a catamaran tour. We've done the catamaran/snorkeling tour in front of the Outrigger Reef on the Beach several times and this last time swam with so many sea turtles it almost freaked me out. Protocol, and federal law, dictates you're not to touch these wonderful creatures, but on this day they were so curious several swam right up to me, forcing me and my floating noodle to do a panicked backstroke. But panicked backstroke or not, it's that kind of once-in-a-life time experience that keeps us coming back to the Hawaiian Islands.
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