A (Perfect) Week in Hawaii

Hawaii is the definition of paradise. Comprised of 7 islands, each has its own unique gift to the world. December 17, 2011 I quit my job working as a corporate slave in Houston, TX. My next adventure would take me to Corpus Christi, but I did not start until January 7, 2012. That day is also my lovely wife’s birthday, whom was off from work for winter break. With the help of mileage points, I was able to book 2 tickets from Houston to Honolulu for a minimal price (Click here to get the details). To add to the benefit, my cousin was a dive instructor off Waikiki Beach. It can be pricey to island hop from the main island, so here is a way to spend 5 days in Hawaii!

Day 1

Visiting family can help cut cost!

From Houston, we arrived in Hawaii around lunch time. Since domestic flights do not feed you, we were starving after 8 hours. Rent your car and grab a bite. Local fast food is the L&L. I would recommend getting a hotel at Waikiki since most of your activities will be water based. There are plenty of hotels a couple blocks off the beach that are affordable (~$100/night) and still walking distance to the beach. Just relax the first day. Check into your hotel and go to the beach. Hawaii is 4 hours behind Central Time Zone so bed time may come early. Test out some restaurants with a view.

USS Missouri

Day 2

Aviation Museum

Typically I would go straight for the strenuous activities, but the Pearl Harbor Exhibit would be something I would do first. We mistakenly did this the last day (day of flight) and we were rushed plus the sun drained us. There is some great information and great stories to be heard. Some you can't even believe like the USS Missouri is 5 feet long and 18 feet wider than the RMS Titanic! They have different combinations you can do. The obvious must is the USS Missouri. Take your time here. Do the self-guided audio tour. We also did the aviation museum (a shuttle bus takes you, don't walk) which was great. Visit all the hangers you can. After touring Pearl Harbor, finish the day with a Luau. Most hotels can arrange Luau’s.
We tried out Germaine's, but there are others, including one in Wakiki with Hilton Hotels. There are Luau's throughout the island, but this island has HORRIBLE traffic. Actually second to only Los Angeles. The dinner and a show is amazing. Traditional style roast and a “time travel” show of how the native Hawaiians got here. They are expensive, about $75 a person, but it was fun. Can't beat a dinner and a show!

Day 3

Koko is steep!

Hiking day! I would begin with Koko head trail that is East of Waikiki Beach. This is a popular hike, so go early! It is very easy to get to, but a steep climb. Sometimes called stair masters on steroids.There are remnants of an old railway that went up the mountain that takes the place of part of the trail. This trail gets packed, but the views at the top are worth it. Make sure you bring lots of water as you will need it. Most people turn right back around, but I suggest exploring once on top. You are see downtown and into the ocean as far as the visibility will let you. We even saw a whale breeching the surface! On the way back to Waikiki stop at Diamond Head Crater. This can actually been seen from Koko Head. This hike will give you good views along Waikiki and downtown Honolulu as it is very close. You'll probably be exhausted, so hang out in Waikiki and rest. Beer is always good after a solid workout!

Yep. That's an octopus on my head

Day 4

Always something...

If you are not SCUBA certified… do it. Hawaii had great dive opportunities. I used Island Divers because it was close to where I was staying. We did 2 dives and it only took half the day. I recommend searching around, but you really can’t even go wrong. There is even night diving! The dives are generally picked the morning you depart and take weather into consideration. Most of the dive spots were a 15-30 minute ride and could easily still see the shore. The visibility is great, plenty of marine life, and bountiful colors of coral. Since you are already wet try some surfing on Waikiki after the dive. You can rent a board for an hour. These waves are not the same as seen on North Shore. They are quite a bit smaller and you have to be patient. Also, it is not a sand bottom, so make sure you avoid the coral. I wasn’t so lucky… So maybe next time I should just relax on the beach and enjoy a nice drink... which isn't a bad idea either if you aren't a surfer. Wrap up the day doing some souvenir shopping at the International Market Place in Waikiki. Although, it is very commercialized, they do have an abundance of items to chose from in one centrally located area.

HUGE waves on North Shore

Day 5

Pack up all your stuff in the car and head out to North Shore. No need to get in (unless you dare!) but just enjoy the sounds of the waves crashing. We visited the beach where world class surfers compete in the Pipe Masters, talk about scary waves! Swing over to the Dole Plantation and take a quick tour. You may learn some fascinating information like pineapples do NOT grow on trees (you’re welcome for saving you the embarrassment later on). Try some fresh pineapples, or anything pineapple for that matter.

Home featured in the HPV

Depending on your time of departure or willingness, the Hawaiian Plantation Village (HPV) has a 90 minute tour. The tour involved the staple sugar canes and the lifestyles of the early Hawaiians. It is interesting to see how the natives adapted their life around the sugar cane industry and how they lived.

There are of course other fun things to do on the main island, like Stairway to Heaven. Overall, you honestly can't go wrong. Plus there are plenty of waterfalls!

Hawaii Cost Breakdown (Staying with someone)

View from Koko Head

Travel for 2 to Hawaii

For us, Hawaii was a must. The timing could not have been better, Becky was off from teaching for the winter, Trevor had just quit his job, we had built up enough points to get a free trip on points. To top it off, Trevor's cousin was living in O'ahu as a dive instructor. That meant, we had a place to stay! Staying with a friend or relative for a trip certainly has its perks. But like every good thing, there are bad things that come along with it.

Low accommodation costs and no flight cost!

For us, 6 days in Hawaii was cheap. As you can see, we basically spent about $100/day each. We were provided a place to crash and also had a means of transportation. On a island such as Hawaii, those two can quickly add up!

What can be done to make sure you will be a good guest?

If you are fortunate enough to have someone to stay with, these tips can help you make sure you will be invited back!

1) Be understanding. Yes, YOU may be visiting on vacation, but your host is most likely not. They may be able to afford a couple days to hang out with you, but odds are they have to go to work for some of those days. You may want to go 100 miles an hour, but your host still has their normal life to live.

Cousinly love!

2) This goes with the above statement, but understand your host's schedule. They will not be able to party with you every night (unless your host is Trevor's cousin). If they need to head to work at 8 am, try to find something that allows you also to be out of the house by then so your host isn't preoccupied with trying to make sure you are happy.

Our chauffeur! 

3) Limit the complaining. This is an excellent way to get a bad reputation. Complaining about the bed, the temperature, or having no food is a quick way to get an early exit. No one wants to hear it, especially the person saving you a couple hundred a day.

View from the back porch!

4) Compensate your host. Whenever we got a ride from Trevor's cousin, we made sure to give her gas money or fill her tank. Occasionally we would buy her meal, a drink, or a ticket to an attraction. These small gestures can have significant impact on if you get invited back again.

5) Only people traveling alone may have a pass on this, but make an effort to give your host a break. We did spend a night in a hotel one of the nights. This relieves your host of any obligations and also allows you to have some freedom to do what you want without approval of your host. Chances are, your host is tired of doing the touristy thing that they have done with the previous 5 visitors! 

A great plus is seeing your destination through a local's eyes. We got to check out some lesser know beaches and go exploring off the beaten path!

Heading to a waterfall!

Blue Hole - Ocho Rios, Jamaica (Video)

We stumbled upon this on our second day of the trip. I am not sure if it was sheer beauty of these series of waterfalls or the fact we basically had it to ourselves, but it was amazing. Take a look for yourself:

Top 10 Photos of 2014

After a rather slow 2013 year, we got back to traveling last year. Some of travels were for festivals like Madri Gras in New Orleans or Wurstfest in New Braunfels. Thanks to cheap airfare we could make weekend visits to Chicago and Boston. After an amazing camping trip to Big Bend National Park, the camping bug bit us and we visited Alaska with the help of some camping experts. We of course finished off the year (and started 2015) with a trip to the tropical Jamaica. Here are what we think are the best photos and why:

View from South Rim in Big Bend National Park

Sometimes you need a view to remind you how much more there is to see in the world. Sometimes it is good to feel tiny. Guest Blogger Ryan is seen in this photo. He went on numerous adventures this past year like Puerto Rico, Seattle, and Cabo.

Skyscrapers reflecting off the bean in Chicago

The "bean" in Chicago gives a different perspective of downtown. In life, it is good to get different perspectives. There is no one right way to go through life, everyone has their story to tell, just listen.

Looking down on Resurrection Bay

Some views are worth the difficult path. We kayaked and hiked all day to capture this beautiful view of Thumb Cove. The calm bay made for a tranquil moment that makes the journey worth it,

Chicago Skyline from Hancock Signature Lounge

It's hard to beat the Chicago skyline. Captured just after sunset, it was the perfect ending to a wonderful visit to Chicago. There are cheap ways to visit Chicago too!

Getting left behind in Denali National Park

Friends can make traveling great... or disastrous. We had a great time exploring Denali National Park with two other friends. The can also help make traveling cheap!

Mount McKinley at 2am 

Visiting Alaska in early July meant 24 hours of sunlight. Remarkably, this photo was taken at 2am with the sun shown on the face of the mountain and the moon above.

Bunker Hill Monument

Weekend get aways are not just great, they are fantastic for the soul. Although Boston deserves more than just a weekend, the historic attractions did wonders for the mind and soul.

Day 2 of hiking Big Bend

Hiking is a great way to get in touch with nature.

Going

Dia de los Muertos is a big celebration in Mexico (and other parts of the world) on November 1 & 2 to remember family members who have died. Corpus Christi has a large Mexican culture and the festival has grown to 40,000+.

Doctor Cave's Beach in Montego Bay Jamaica

Technically this still counts since this picture was taken on New Year's Eve. There will be other pictures from Jamaica to make the 2015 list!

Couch Surfing: Hosting or Surfing

Couch Surfing is a great, budget-friendly way to travel and meet awesome people around the world! On the couch surfing website, you set up your profile and indicate if you're willing to host as well as surf. You can restrict your potential company by number of persons, sex, kids, pets and smoking. Your user profile also allows you to write a bio and post pictures to better help others and yourself make decisions. This website can be used for more than just a cheap bed. We use to it to ask locals for their recommendations on restaurants, things to do, bars, and overall places of interest.

Our first experience as surfers was in Rome, Italy. Our host, Manuel, was very friendly and treated us to delicious Italian meals from his parent's restaurant. He gave us a tour of the city, and also came out and participated in a pub crawl with us! We still talk to him today, and even invited him to our wedding! 

We hosted some Couch Surfers this weekend for the first time! It was a great experience. Two young guys from Pennsylvania headed to South America on motorcycles (think motorcycle diaries) needed a warm place to stay. You may be asking yourself, "How do you know if they are creeps or not?!" Well, we don't however, on the couch surfing website you need to establish a conversation and thanks to social media on the World Wide Web, you can find all kinds of information and see lots of pictures. Here is their Facebook page about their adventure! Buena suerte!

Overall, I think Couch Surfing is a fun way to meet people, however, do some research. Get to know the host or surfer. Some hosts just provide you a key to the house and do not interact with you much, while others want to be friends and share fun stories.  It's up to you!

Jamaica 2015 (Video)

We spent 6 days in Jamaica for New Year's and Becky's birthday (good present right?). Here is a video recap of our adventure! Let us know what you think!

3 Reasons Budget Travelers Should NOT Visit Jamaica in High Season

High season in Jamaica is considered to be from December 15th – April 15th. This makes sense, considering the majority of tourists visiting are experiencing cold weather back home. Many people from USA, Canada, and Europe flock to the warmer climates of the Caribbean, but here is why you should avoid Jamaica during this window. If it wasn't for our ridiculously cheap plane ticket ($290.50 RT), I am not sure Jamaica would have been an option.

Cost distribution for Jamaica

Cruise Ship Industry

Cruise Ship docked in Ocho Rios

Every major cruise line from, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Norwegian makes stops in Jamaica. Jamaica destinations are also featured from Galveston, New Orleans, and Miami departures. To add to the influx, Jamaica has not one port, not two ports, but three possible ports to dock. These 3 ports lie within 100 km of each other on the North end of the island. The mixture of these impacts makes this island a high traffic area. In fact, of the 6 days we were on the island, there was a cruise ship docked 5 of the days. My point being that all the excursions and attractions are tailored to the cruise ships. Many of the attractions do not open until 10am and close around 4pm. If you have never been on a cruise, when the ship docks, the persons aboard are allowed to leave for X amount of hours. This time usually begins mid-morning and ends mid-afternoon. It is also customary for the cruise lines to offer packages to the customers filling up attractions extremely fast during high season. This makes it difficult for budget travelers to plan excursions.

Transportation

That should read, LACK of transportation. Although this point coincides with the cruise ship industry, it is so frustrating that it deserves its own point.

Most we've ever spent on transport

There are no rental cars available at the ports. Every person coming off the cruise ship relies on a taxi/shuttle to get them to the destination. As a taxi driver trying to make a living, it makes sense they should be fighting over the cruise line people because their time is limited.They cannot afford to skip on rides; they are backed in a corner. The traveler that came by air who can haggle and say no is overlooked and considered secondary. To add to the frustration, the stranded persons coming off the ship have caused the rates to soar. A taxi can cost anywhere from $0.50/km and up with the best deals driving further. The other reason for the high price is that the taxis/shuttles do not hang out at attractions like Appleton Estate, the Blue Hole, or Cockpit Country. They are still at the ports. So if you do happen to convince someone to give you a ride, you have to work it so that they will wait at the attraction in order for you to have a ride home. Look for route taxis (red license plates) to save some money.

Food

Everyone has to eat, it doesn't matter if you are traveling or not. However, cheap eating is hard to come by in Jamaica. Most city hubs such as Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, and Negril have restaurants that rival the cost of the average American restaurant. So I end up paying the same price for a smaller portion?  If you enter a place with no prices on the menu, ASK! This country's #1 resource is tourism. It is sometimes refreshing to end a long day with a nice cold one, especially in a tropical setting like Jamaica. The server knows as well as I do a bottle of Red Stripe is not worth $4. Despite all this, we did find some cheap food, usually off the street which you can only try your luck for so long before it catches up to you. Most places only accept cash and although the Jamaican dollar is the national currency, the USA dollar is widely accepted. At the time of our visit, $1 = 115J, but if your meal came out to 2,000J and all you had was American...well they now say $1 = 100J and this little over pay adds up after a couple meals. 

So would I come back to Jamaica? Yes, but I would rent a car and think about mid-April to mid-December time frame.

Compare some of the other places we've been:
3 more days in Alaska was only $500 more!
A 3 day weekend in Chicago was $500 less!

Our 6 days in a Jamaican Paradise

Upon arriving in Montego Bay, Jamaica, you may be asking yourself "Why?" as you stand in the airport customs/immigration line sweating from head to toe. But after departing the A/C-less confinements of the airport you will be amazed at the sheer beauty of the island. Going back about 4 days before we left for Jamaica, our original plan was to go to Costa Rica where we would take advantage of zipline canopies, rushing waterfalls, and beautiful beaches. A quick weather search led us to Jamaica where I pictured slow days lounging on the beach. Boy were we wrong.

Day 1

Jamaica is divided into Parishes with Kingston, the capital in the South eastern side of the island. The island has an effective road system, but the conditions and routes make travel longer.

Simple yet effective

Most airlines fly into Montego Bay. In addition to the airlines, cruise ships port here also. We arrived mid-afternoon and headed to the “Hip Strip” to get a hotel. The Hip Strip is located along Doctor's Cave Beach and Margaritaville. We stayed at the Caribic House. Some others in the area include Gloucestershire Hotel, Toby’s, and the Wexford. Our stay was $65/night, but can run up to $100/night. We put down our stuff and immediately grabbed a cab to Glistening Waters in Falmouth. This is a 35 km drive, but took us over 2 hours. Granted we did stop at an over-priced seafood restaurant on the way, but no one here is really in a rush.

Not our photo but it was amazing

Glistening Waters is like nothing you have ever experienced. To simplify, the microorganisms in the water illuminate once disturbed. The whole bay is home to these guys! Can you believe people actually chose not to get in and swim in this Avatar-like water? I would love to see this place during a nighttime rainstorm.

Day 2

Ackee with saltfish!

To get the full effect of the island, we had a traditional ackee and saltfish breakfast with nesberry. Our meal also came with yam (irish potatoes), plantains, and fried dumplings. The ackee was interesting, but I really enjoyed the nesberry, a local fruit. After breakfast we put on the swim trunks and headed to Doctor's Cave Beach to relax. Unfortunately, a cruise ship was in port and many cruise goers were on the beach. The beach was wonderful and water was pristine, but we wanted to explore!

Famous Doctor Cave's Beach

So we hopped on one of the buses, the Knutsford (pronounce Nots-fird) Express and headed to Ocho Rios to the east. Along the drive you really got a feel that there was more than just beaches to this island. Jungle covered mountains jetted towards the sky. Once in Ochi (locals called it this), we found a place at the Sandcastle. There are not a lot of options, as the Reggae Hostel was the only other option. We negotiated a taxi driver to take us to the under-rated Blue Hole. Due to the condition of the road, more drivers will fight to take you… fight back, because this place was amazing. We arrived shortly after the cruise crowd left, so we had it to ourselves and 3 others.

The Blue Hole

Massage time!

We had the freedom to do whatever we pleased, and I believe since the 5 of us there were all fit, we got to do some other things. We jumped around the watering hole and swung from rope swings for almost 2 hours. Afterwards we headed back to town to grab a bite.

Day 3

To fulfill our culture needs, we booked a tour at a local plantation. We chose an early slot to beat the cruise ship and behold, when we arrived at Prospect Plantation, there was 4 of us in all for the tour. The plantation tours take you back in time and show you how the cash crops, sugar canes, coffee, and pimento were cultivated. Prospect Plantation had a grand house at the top of the land over looking the ocean. It was very pleasant view. We spent the afternoon on the beach, which wasn’t as nice as Doctor's Cave, but it got the job done. We ended the day with an ox tail dinner in downtown Ocho Rios!

Day 4
The day started off slow with a 3 hour drive to Negril on the Southwest end of the island. Negril is home to the 7 mile beach, which is exactly why we wanted to go there.

Upon arrival, our day took an unexpected turn when a simple taxi ride to Rick’s Café turned into a day long excursion! Appleton Estate Rum Factory was something we both wanted to do, but it was almost a 2 hour drive. Brenan, our taxi driver, offered a deal to go to Appleton followed by a trip to YS falls, which is only 20 minutes from the rum factory. The tour is 90 mins long and not only informative, but engaging. We also got to taste test several samples of rum and get a small travel-sized keepsake.

Pelican Bar

We were all pumped heading to the YS falls, only to learn we missed closing time. Our taxi driver was a little bummed, so he offered to take us to Pelican Bar. Sure! Why not? I am so glad we did! You need to take a 15 minute boat ride to get to this bar! It had the perfect view of the sun setting.
We even had them grill up a fish while we drank. On the way home, we stopped at a fishing market and got some delicious conch soup before heading home.

Day 5

Our hotel was situated on 7 mile beach and it was relaxing waking up to the waves crashing. There was not a lot of time to sit around. Trevor headed to SCUBA (Becky is not certified) and got to explore some of the reefs just off the coast.
Most dive sites were 17m – 21m deep. The marine life lacked but there was numerous coral caves to explore into. Becky spent her morning getting a nice Caribbean sun burn sitting on the beach. After reuniting mid afternoon we headed to the famous Rick’s Café where we watched crazed people jump 35’- 40’ into violent waves.

Some of the staff climbed even higher and jumped off. Neither of us dared to jump. We walked down the road some to check out a restaurant with more reasonable prices. We landed at German Bar. German Bar is owned by a couple of Germans who moved here, oddly enough, they specialized in pizza. We met a lovely local named Diane who gave us interesting perspectives on the world.

Day 6

We packed our bags and kissed paradise good bye. We got to the airport around lunch time only to find our flight was delayed another 3 hours. Luckily the terminal had minimal air conditioning so it was bearable.