A family reunion normally doesn’t consist of swimming with sharks, attending a luau, and a military retirement party… but what can I say? We’re a little different.
ALOHA!! My uncle, Bob, and his family lived on the Big Island, Hawaii in 2019. My family and other cousins flew into Hawaii for a big family reunion. Our large group of 15 was excited for the trip!
We stayed at the Grand Islander by Hilton Grand Vacations and rented a large, 15 seater van from Alamo to help us get around. Our hotel was very nice, we had full a full kitchen and balcony. We also had a Japanese toilet, if you don’t know what that is, it’s a LUXURY toilet that everyone should have in their lives. Our view of the ocean was very nice to wake up to.
The Waikiki beach was a very short walk from the hotel. They offered all kinds of water toy rentals – paddle boards, kayaks, water mats. We only went a few times, but it was very relaxing.
We hired a photographer, Michelle Scotti, to take photos of our family since we were all together, it doesn’t happen often since we all live in different states. The photographer met us at Sandy Beach and took some AMAZING photos for us! If you are visiting Hawaii, definitely hire Michelle Scotti!
The next day was SHARK DAY!! Only 9 out of the 15 people in our group wanted to swim with the sharks! It was a scenic, 50 min drive to North Shore Shark Adventures. We passed a bunch of food trucks with SUPER long lines, we really wanted to stop by, but were running tight on time. If you are planning on doing this, make sure you leave extra time to stop along the drive.
The waves were pretty aggressive which made some people feel seasick. The cage was about 9 feet deep, allowing us to swim to the bottom if we wanted to. We were surrounded by 8-12 Galapagos sharks. These sharks were swimming around us so peacefully, I didn’t feel nervous at all. Although, a large barracuda circled the cage very closely. It was a little nerve wracking, but it didn’t bother us either. You can watch clips from my YouTube video!
After that fun adventure in a shark cage, we cleaned up and attended Chief’s Luau. We had been to one other Luau a couple years before, but we all agreed that this one was better. There were some fun activities before they started and a very funny host. If you are planning on attending this, definitely buy the Royal Experience, there were benefits AND front row seats (try to get in the middle). We were in the front, but angled off to the side, which wasn’t bad, but the center was much better.
The next day we hung out at Waikiki beach and rented some chairs and paddle boards. Later, we went to Tiki’s Grill and Bar to celebrate my Uncle Bob’s military retirement. We were so happy to be all together as a family, celebrating Uncle Bob for all of the hard work and bravery he put into fighting for our country. We appreciate the time all of us have together SO much.
We woke up early the next morning to visit the Swap Meet. There were about 500 stands selling everything you could imagine. This place is HUGE, you could walk around here all day. We definitely did not visit all of the stands, but we left early to go to North Shore and check out the beach. We stopped at Haleiwa Joe’s for some lunch. At the beach, I saw a small hill in the water and wanted to go climb it. My uncle and I climbed up and saw a few other people, so we jumped off with them. A very fun and relaxing day at the beach!
OUR LAST DAY. Ended the trip with another beach day at a “military only” beach called Bellow’s beach. Bellow beach is sometimes open to the public, but military have access to it at anytime. The day we went was not open to the public, which left it very open and spacious. This was our FAVORITE beach, if you are able to visit, I highly recommend. The waves were crashing into the sand, my dad and I ran in and we’re getting SMACKED by waves. It was so much fun, I lost a couple bracelets though. We ate hot dogs and chips and had some relaxing family time. This was a great way to end the trip.
Our family had now visited both The Big Island and Oahu. Both very beautiful, but very different. I will write a separate blog about our visit to the Big Island. Thank you for reading, Aloha and Mahalo!
