Travel: HONOLULU, HAWAII (Part 1) - Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay, Koko Head, & Waimanalo Beach

*Check out my preceding USA adventures here first!*

Hawaii started off by frustrating me. I arrived at the airport, heavy bag in tow and trudged to the bus stop. There was a half an hour wait until the bus I needed, but the air was balmy and warm so I didn't mind much.

Eventually the bus pulled up and I attempted to board. 'I can't let you on with that', the bus driver said, pointing at my luggage. I looked at him quizzically. 'No luggage allowed'. Mouth agape, I stood there wondering why a bus would bother coming to the airport if it couldn't even pick up passengers.

Disgruntled, I considered my other options - an overpriced Uber or an overpriced shuttle. I opted for the overpriced shuttle, and then had to wait an additional 40 minutes for the next one to leave. Great start.

Subsequently I arrived at my accommodation for the week, The Beach Boutique Hostel Waikiki, a two minute walk from the beachfront. Not a bad location indeed.

Dropping off my bag in my four bed dorm, I decided to carpe what was left of the diem and make my way to Diamond Head, one of Honolulu's famous hikes.

What ensued was a sweaty 40 minute walk to the entrance, where I paid $1 to get in and then started my hike up the peak. The trail was rocky but not too challenging, aside from the final part which included walking through a long but very slim tunnel and up more stairs than I could care to count. Phew. Maybe I'm not cut out for this hiking lifestyle.

However, the view from the top was certainly worth it, offering 360' views of Waikiki and the surrounding suburbs. Visitors flagrantly ignored the 'do not pass beyond this point' signs, but I just took a few photos before heading back before the park closed.

I walked back towards town, my pace quickening when I realised how close to sunset it was. I'd reached a gentle trot by the time I reached the beach to view without a doubt the most beautiful sunset of my entire existence, and that's saying something. I wish I could convey in words just how magnificent it was, rich colours spreading across the entire sky as far as the eyes could see. Straight out of a painting, but better.

I'd hoped to spend the next day on an organised tour of the North Shore put on by the hostel, but it was sold out by the time I arrived. The receptionist said I could be added to the waiting list in case anyone dropped out, so I hung around until 9am before being told 'Sorry, still full'.

Slightly dismayed that this had meant that I'd wasted a few precious hours, I hastily grabbed my stuff and ran for the bus to do what I wouldn't be able to do with the hostel. Buying a full day ticket, I travelled to Hanuma Bay, famed for its pleasant snorkelling.

$7.50 later and I was through the gate, where I had to wait before a large group of us were shuffled into a cinema to watch a safety briefing. This basically outlined 'Don't touch the coral' and yet as I discovered later, many visitors didn't seem to understand such a simple instruction.

We were then permitted to head on down to the bay, a few minutes walk down a hill with very pretty views over the bay. After renting a snorkel and mask, I stripped down and hopped in. I spent a solid hour floating above the corals and admiring the pretty fish that swam around below me, blissfully unaware that the sun was completely destroying every sliver of exposed skin that would make it very painful to lie down or indeed move for the next two weeks. Ouch.

Around midday I’d had my fill of sparkly fish and decided to head across the road for the next of my hikes, Koko Head. Koko Head is essentially a mountain with a path formed from an abandoned tramline, so you find yourself hopping from wooden block to wooden block as you head up the steep face. Believe you me, this is not easy. I was panting after the first few steps, and by the time the incline had gone from ‘this is difficult’ to ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’, I knew I wasn’t going to make it to the top, or if I did, there was no way I was going to make it down again, with my legs already beginning to feel particularly jelly-like.

Deciding that getting a picture for the ‘gram probably wasn’t reason enough to kill myself, I admired the view from where I stood, and then made my way back down and back across to Hanuma where I sucked water from the water fountain like there was no tomorrow. Hanauma and Koko Head had been relatively close to each other, but the next part of my journey would require a bus, so I sat down where I’d been dropped off and waited. And waited and waited. And waited some more.

A bus finally arrived, but it was headed back to Waikiki and I was told I needed to go in the other direction. If only I’d asked what time the next bus was arriving… Over an hour away. I sat there, frustrated, desperately trying to get Uber working on my phone just so I could get away from the spot I’d been waiting for a bus for almost two hours now. You can understand I was annoyed.

Eventually, the bus I was waiting for decided to show up (late, of course) and we headed off. I was to change buses at Sea Life and was told one would be along shortly. Apparently shortly means 40 minutes in Hawaii, and by the time I’d caught this bus, all I wanted to do was go home. But I hadn’t gone to all this trouble just to give up yet, and asked the bus driver to let me know when we were at Waimanalo Beach. As I watched us drive by what I assumed was the beach, I got up and asked him, to which he responded I should’ve gotten off three stops earlier. So much for being told.

Waimanalo Beach was beautiful. Practically empty, the opposite of Waikiki Beach, and with sand and sea stretching as far as the eye could see. I would have happily spent hours there and gone for a quick dip in the surf, but I was so stressed about making sure that I got the bus home that I only gave myself ten minutes to walk down the beach before I turned back towards the road.

I was really rather starving by this point, and a place called Ono’s Steak & Seafood caught my eye as I walked past. I knew that I’d seen this as one of the top rated restaurants on TripAdvisor, and I just can’t say no to top rated TripAdvisor restaurants. As the name might suggest, Ono’s would not perhaps be the first choice for a vegetarian like me, but provided a restaurant has some form of vegetarian option on the menu, you can find me there. I ordered a small platter of yummy garlic fries to go, and then headed back to wait for the bus.

Once again, I had to wait and change buses halfway, but I made it back to Waikiki just in time to head down to the beach for another glorious sunset. The never-ending benefits of living so close to the beach…

I hope you enjoyed today's blog! There's more Hawaii blogs to come, so make sure to stay tuned to my Twitter @CiarasCountry and feel free to drop me a message in the comments for any recommendations of where I should visit next!