Two month of fun and sun: Aloha and a very warm welcome to O'ahu

After the crazy city of Las vegas, our next stop lead us to beautiful Hawai'i.

For all of you who have never visited beautiful Hawai'i before, below you will find a map of all the islands. First of all, we visited O'ahu (second on the left).

We had a very satisfied first experience with Hawaiian Airlines. The service was adequate and we have been served by a tipically Hawaiian Breakfast. A lot of fresh fruits which wasn't Oli's favourite meal but he ate all of them (to Sindy's surprise...) ;-)

O'ahu is the third largest island of Hawai'i and also known as "the Gathering Place". It is by far the most famous of the islands with his well known features like the Waikiki Beach. Hereinafter we will tell you about different spots and places we visited. That is the reason why we put a map below.

We had our first issue with our car rental company right at the beginning of our trip. We reserved a Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible for exploring the island. As soon as we wanted to put in the luggage we were shocked because the car was an absolutely mess and all dirty. (unfortunately we had already waited half an hour to get it, because of the long queue in front of the desk). Although we made our way back to the lobby and complained about this unsatisfactional service. For sure they weren't able to offer us another car. Instead they promised to wash it for us and they gave us a 50 USD voucher for the delay.

The wait wasn't worth it because we think that they basically don't know how to clean a car inside. So we started our journey with the below mentioned car.

Sindy like's the number plate of the Aloha State.... you too? ;-)

It was already the second time as Sindy arrived in O'ahu while it was raining. We checked-in at the New Otani Hotel next to the Waikiki Beach and made up our way to explore the island. First of all we visited the Pali Lookout. There we had our first overlook of the island, which is very green and humide in the center. Because of the regularly rain this part of the island looks kind of a rainforest. Certainly it started to rain as soon as we left our car. After that we decided to go back in to our hotel and leave the exploration for that day.

Pali Lookout

Our first sunset in Hawai'i.

After this bumpy start of our vacation in Hawai'i we successfully ended this day by a delicious dinner at the Beachhouse Restaurant at the Westin Resort near Waikiki Beach. We can definitely recomend this place to eat and will give you below some other recommendations. We think, that we really found out some very good places to eat and would like to share this experiences with you.

Beachhouse at the Moana Surfrider

Oli's statement on Yelp: Located outside the Westin Hotel, the restaurant is a highly recommended place for dinner and letting the crowd of the streets behind you. It offers a very nice ambiance and the staff is extremely friendly and taking good care of you. As I ordered two glasses of wine, our waitress offers us to try two different pinot noir and choose the one we'd better like. Of course our choice let us to the more expensive one, but this is just a funny note ;-). The menu is for seafood-lovers but also people like me who doesn't like fish that much will find a delicous plate. Outstanding service and great food. Highly recommended if your budget has some space...

Roy's Restaurant

Watch out for Roy's famous Chocolate Souffle - that is deliciouuuuuuus!! ;-) Here you will find the recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/roys-famous-chocolate-souffle-210768 Oli's yelp review for this restaurant: This restaurant is one of our highlights while we're staying in Oahu. Defenitely inspired by the asian cuisine, this place has a lot more to offer. We ordered a beef carpaccio as a starter altough it is not comparable to a carpaccio in Italy, it has his own taste and style. As a main course we had a fresh tomato salad and a very tender steak, perfectly cooked to what we ordered. Since a whole bottle of wine is to much for two people, the wine-list is an eyecatcher in every way. Compared to other high priced places in Waikiki, this list offers a huge selection for every budget. I highly recommend this place to everyone who wants go out for a nice dinner.

12th Avenue Grill

Oli's recommendation on yelp: After we had some troubles to find the new location, we found out that it's almost across the old one. The place after all isn't located in an typical gastro-district, so you're kind of curious how it's gonna look. But as soon as you're in, a very charming staff welcomes you. We reserved our table over Yelp and it worked out perfectly. We sat besides two gentlemen who asks about our native country. Both are from Hawaii and congratulatet us to the choice we mad for dinner. Pam, our waitress this evening, took very good care and was as nice as the whole place was. The food itself was delicous and unique as well. As a starter we choose both the soup of the day, a tomato soup with different vegetables and bread. As a main course i went for a very tasty chicken breast and my fiancee took a seafood-meal. We both had a well prized glass of wine, just right and the perfect add to our food. After all, we spend less than $100 (excluded tip) and were vey happy about finding this place. Highly recommended!

The next day we definitely started to explore the island and drove all the way up north to the Turtle Bay Resort.

The famous Hãlona Blowhole (both pictures above) we passed by on our way to the North Shore.

We stopped also at the beautiful Lanikai Beach and cooled us off in the Pacific Ocean. This place with it's view was just amazing!

As soon as we reached Turtle Bay we decided to have some lunch at the Ola Restaurant. There we had a wonderful view overlooking Turtle Bay Beach. Beside this incredible view we had some delicious burgers. Also a highly recommended place to eat.

Below you will find some impressions of the Olomana Golf Course we visited on our second day in O'ahu.

Hanauma Bay - one of the most popular tourist destinations on the island

If you're looking for a must-place to see in O'ahu, this bay is the place to go. It is a Nature Preserve as well as a Marine Life Conservation. It will cost you an entry-fee and you'll have to watch an estimated 8 minute movie about the coral-reef with do's and dont's. After a short trail down to the beach, you can chill at the beach and taking it easy, or you can go rent some snorkels and diving goggels and explore the coral-reef. If you're lucky you're even able to see a sea-turtle. We didn't expect to see so many beautiful fishes that close on the beach.

Diamond Head

Shortly before the Park was closed, Sindy decided to climb onto the local mountain called Diamond Head. A 0.75 mile (1.1 km) hiking trail leads to the edge of the crater's rim. Although this trail was not a casual one (about 200 steps to take and trough a small tunnel) it was worth it. From the summit you can see Waikiki and the Pacific Ocean in detail.