Day 3:
Wanting to get an early start for this longer trek to North Shore, we checked out of the Hilton around 8 AM. We arrived at the Dole Plantation around 9 AM.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t fully open until 9:30 AM. So we roamed around and looked at the Pineapple garden and took pictures.
There are a few attractions available: the Pineapple Express (train ride through the plantation $8.50), a Garden Tour (guided tour through the garden so you can learn the history $5), and a Pineapple Maze (wandering through a plant maze $6). Keep in mind you can see the pineapple fields from your car driving toward the North Shore and you can walk around the garden and read the placards which describe the History of Dole and how Pineapples grow (for free). I didn’t particularly want to walk through a maze either, so we passed on all of these attractions.
Right at 9:30 AM a bus dropped off a bunch of tourists, so luckily we were first in line when they opened the gift shop. We walked through and picked up one Pineapple Whip (soft-serve ice cream) and one Pineapple Upside Down cake. MMMM…. Delicious.
We headed out by 10 AM towards the North Shore. The first beach we stopped at on our list was Waimea Beach Park.
The beach was large with restrooms and lifeguard. The water was a bit choppy and cooler than at our hotel. We hung out a little while before heading on to the next one.
There are small beaches all down the highway. You will see lots of cars pulled on the sides of the road. There are also a couple of fresh fruit stands.
The last beach we visited on North Shore was Turtle Bay. This is actually a resort that has a large free public parking area. There is also restrooms and a restaurant right on the beach.
Once we got onto the beach, it again had very choppy water and half of the beach was covered in rock/coral.
We decided not to stick around and headed back to Waikiki. Reaching there, we then made our way to our next hotel, the Holiday Inn Beachcomber.
After heading upstairs, we were too early to check in. So we decided to get some lunch at the on-site restaurant, Jimmy Buffett’s.
The restaurant was on the second floor with nice patio seating. We stuck with water to drink and ordered a burger and bar-b-q chicken sandwich ($12.99 each).
After lunch we were finally able to check in (3 PM). So we decided to hit the pool. The pool is also on the second floor, and has a deepest point at 5 ft. We spent the rest of our afternoon here.
Day 4:
Again, being the early birds (yaay for the time difference), we wanted to head out before the heat got to be too much. We made our way out to the famous Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, Hawaii’s largest open air flea market.
The stands are all set up so that you walk down the aisle with goods on each side of you. The stands wrap all the way around the parking lot of this football stadium. You need a good couple of hours to make your way all the way around and still have the chance to browse. This is definitely a touristy place as most of the items on display were similar to each other at all the stands (souvenirs, sarongs, t-shirts, etc). You’ll also get the chance to try some fresh fruits, dried fruits, nuts, and fresh baked Hawaiian Bread (OH SO GOOD!), and last, but not least, Shaved Ice ($4).
After spending ALL of my cash (I’m so broke!) on souvenirs and gifts, we made our way out of the stadium.
Ready for some drinks and cheap food we headed back to park at the Holiday Inn Beachcomber. One street behind the Holiday Inn are many restaurants that offer Happy Hour specials. We decided to try out Da Big Kahuna. They offered half price appetizers and $3 beer and well drinks. We ordered Chicken Quesidillas, Nachos and soda which came out to $15.
More than half way through our vacation, we chilled for the rest of the evening by the pool just enjoying the Hawaiian atmosphere.