Hawaii has been fantastic!
The beaches of Honolulu feel like paradise, with its stunning turquoise waters, which we have already gotten to surf and swim in. Many of the Trip Members have never seen waters like this before! With the help of our awesome instructors, all of our trip members seemed to really enjoy their professional surf lessons. The Hawaiian locals continue to rave about how the islands of Kauai and Maui will only be more beautiful and feel less city like.
On our first week here, it was Cameron E.’s 16th birthday – our first out of three birthdays on our trip this summer. We celebrated with a rooftop patio dinner, air hockey, and some dance dance revolution! We all gathered around him on the patio to sing happy birthday, as the restaurant staff brought out a delicious chocolate brownie and a scoop of vanilla ice cream for him!
Our group has had plenty of time to bond with their friends, swim, and explore the resort. Some of the best group bonding moments actually happened while swimming in the lagoon! Since the pools closed early, we went to the lagoon and everyone got to swim and have a good time as we played some music. Everyone had such a good time, and it truly felt like being at summer camp!
One of our Trip Members, Mia, was very excited about having a female Pilot who was flying us from Honolulu to Kauai, as she is hoping to be a pilot herself! Not only was she invited into the cockpit, but she was also given the opportunity to help do the flight pre-check and make sure everything was good for take off. According to Mia, this was “one of the best days of her life”!
Upon arriving in Kauai, we settled into our hotel and were amazed by the unique scenery around us. It has much less of a “city-feel” compared to Honolulu and you could really feel the Hawaiian culture around you. River tubing was a big highlight, and some of the kids even saw Katy Perry, who was participating in the same river tubing tour! Everyone had their own tube, a helmet, and headlamp while we traveled down the river, through dark caves admiring the amazing scenery all around us. It felt like we were in a rainforest! Everything about Kauai is unbelievable and we can’t wait for what’s to come in Maui.
On our second day in Kauai, we decided to spend the day on the beach and hang out at this beautiful resort. The views from the rooms showed a beautiful sight of the mountains and the ocean in the background. Later in the day, the trip members body surfed on the big waves that brought them all the way back up to the shore. Our trip photographer was able to get some awesome shots of the boys catching the epic waves!
The next day we flew to Maui to celebrate the Fourth of July! The group went to Front Street in Lahaina, where we got to watch the fireworks. So many people from all over the world were there to celebrate. The highlight was the beautiful sunset in the background that was a hint of pink, yellow and orange. All the kids posed for amazing pictures and got beautiful shots of the sunset during the golden hour. The fireworks were beautiful, and it was definitely a once in a lifetime Fourth of July experience for everyone!
The Luau was even more authentic and beautiful than anyone could have imagined. Not only did they time it perfectly with golden hour, but the performers were absolutely unbelievable, and we were able to learn about the melting pot of Polynesian cultures that have been thriving on the islands of Hawaii. We also learned that a ‘w’ in Hawaii is really pronounced as a ‘v’!
The Trip Members were called on stage and performed the Huki Lau which is a traditional Hawaiian dance. Since it was such a beautiful night, we decided to go to a quiet area at the resort near the water. We all shared a moment of silence, as we laid down and looked up at the stars while we listened to the ocean’s waves. We then asked a few Trip Members to share a few things they were thankful for. Some of those things include being thankful for the staff, other Trip Members as well as the opportunity to partake in this experience. It was a fantastic end to the night and really brought our group closer together.
Lastly, the highlight of Maui was the snorkel cruise. We spent a full day on this beautiful catamaran that fit our entire group! Everyone got the chance to snorkel in the magnificent Molokini Crater. There were many black fish swimming all around our boat. It was truly an amazing sight. The water was the bluest many have ever seen and this experience was definitely one for the books. At the end of the day, the guides were amazing and cooked us a delicious lunch which included hot dogs, hamburgers and lots of veggies and chips for everyone! The food was amazing and hit the spot perfectly to end our beautiful day!
The Westcoast Blogger
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