They change their climate, not their souls who rush across the sea. - Horace

 Honolulu

 

So while Hilo is the rural Hawaii, Honolulu is a tourist city.  You walk off the ship and you’re right in downtown.  It’s a very different atmosphere than what Hilo was.

 

The first day I ended up going to Waikiki beach for the whole day. I rented a surfboard and tried to surf in front of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel (Gidget anyone?) I never made it up but I avoided the coral unlike one of my friends. We all trekked to a hot dog place featured on the travel channel, which was pretty good. They also had fresh lemonade which made my life. That afternoon we went sailing for 2 hours. It was a beach day.

 

          I also got to see more of the island and Pearl Harbor the next day. Both were fantastic trips. Overall Honolulu is a city, walking to the post office in search of stamps felt the same as walking in D.C. Actually I found a good place for lunch that way. But when I pictured Hawaii I was more prepared for Hilo than Honolulu. The people in Hilo are much more open. To be fair in Honolulu I did talk to my cab driver a good amount. He was from Alaska and said he liked it better there. If anyone is interested April is the perfect time to visit up there. Go figure.

 

          I will say that when you’re only in a city (or country) a few days that sleeping becomes overrated. There are so many things you could be doing, down to learning to flat line with locals at 2am on the beach. Which is going to makes the 2 days to recover in between countries from Japan to Viet Nam so interesting.