With the start of the new year, it seems that travelling and holidays plans have mostly been on my mind. It’s exciting exploring new places and knowing what you’ll have to look forward to throughout the year.
It’s obviously still early days, but so far, there are no big plans in place. Decisions, decisions…
Over on my last post, I talked about our holiday to Florida, how divine that was and what we got up to. If you’ve landed on this post from reading the previous post, you’ll know how and why we’re on the topic on islands surrounding the US coastline.
With plenty of travel experience behind her is Tara Povey – from Where is Tara? – an award-winning travel and lifestyle blogger from Dublin. I caught up with Tara to find out more about Hawaii.
Charlotte: What did you most enjoy about your trip to Hawaii?
Tara says:
“I loved the laid back, chilled out vibe of the islands and the stunning landscape.
Everywhere I looked I felt like I was in a scene from Jurassic Park (in a non-terrifying way).”
Charlotte: Do you have any useful tips for people planning their first-time holiday to the islands?
Tara says:
“If you’re driving the road to Hana and have rented a soft-top car make sure that you put the top up. It might not look like it’s going to rain, but it probably will. The road to Hana has its own little micro climate and showers are common.
Also, if you’re planning on spending time on Oahu, I’d only stay in Waikiki for a couple of days and then move on to a different part of the island. And if you are staying in Waikiki, don’t miss out on seeing the sunset on the.
And, make sure to budget properly for inter-island flights as they can be expensive.”
Charlotte: In Hawaii, what would you recommend as a must-do activity?
Tara says:
“When I was on Maui with my boyfriend we did an incredible half-day boat trip aboard the ‘Quiksilver’. We went whale watching, snorkelling in a volcanic crater at Molokini and snorkelling with sea turtles at Turtle Town over the course of a few hours.
Obviously seeing whales is not guaranteed, but we saw TONNES. It was in February, so maybe that’s a good time to spot them? We saw mothers and calves breaching, males chasing females and just lots of whales.
Our tour ended up running late because our captain couldn’t believe how many whales there were out that day.
I would HIGHLY recommend it.”
Charlotte: How much spending money would you recommend taking?
Tara says:
“You would need at least $80 USD per day simply for food if you plan on eating out. The half-day excursion I mentioned earlier was $80 in itself.
Hawaii is expensive but worth visiting. It can be a bit cheaper if you get an apartment or Airbnb and cook for yourself, but not by much.”
Charlotte: As a keen foodie, what in terms of food and drink should people visiting the island try?
Tara says:
“Obviously you have to try shave ice. Definitely don’t ask for ‘shaved ice’, locals will not be impressed. You can pick all sorts of different flavours and it’s extremely refreshing.
Absolutely delicious!”
Charlotte: And last of all, is there anywhere else you’d recommend visiting?
Tara says:
“There’s a great little town on Maui called Paia. It’s full of cute little independent shops and food places.
The Flatbread Company is amazing and the staff at Honolulu Coffee are super friendly, plus they serve great coffee.”
And there we have it, Tara’s thoughts and travel tips on Hawaii. For more gorgeous insights and shots of our gorgeous world, I’d definitely recommend a visit over to Tara’s blog,
Although you will have my warning, you may very well have some travel envy and a bucket list with a few extra places you’ll want to visit.
Lots of love,
Charlotte xox
Charlotte Corner
Lifestyle blogger & cat mother
Pingback: Vacation vacation: Summer days in Florida + Hawaii Q&A {part one} - Crunch Corner