June 29th, 2023
This was our first day in Oahu. We went to the Marine Corps Community Services to rent a boat and go out onto Kaneohe Bay. We spent most of the day swimming and hanging out on the boat and at a sand bar. We ended up seeing turtles near us swimming which was so cool!
June 30th, 2023
At 10:30 we headed out to the beach near our hotel to take a trip underwater on a submarine. We saw many sunken boats covered in crustaceans, many schools of fish, and turtles hanging out. The submarine ended up going 107 ft underwater!
July 1st, 2023
This day me and my family went on a trip to Waimea Valley. We were able to see many different plants and flowers that are indigenous to Hawaii. It also houses a beautiful waterfall at the end of the trail and many different animals that roam freely along the walk. Fun fact, this is where they filmed some of Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Mockingjay Part 1. They used the woods around to film the scenes needed for the arena.
Near the end of the day, we visited Nu'uanu Pali State Wayside lookout. It has a beautiful view of many mountains. Then we went back to the hotel and walked outside on the beach, watched the sunset, and saw a cool fire show before heading back to the hotel.
July 3rd, 2023
We went to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. We were able to go out and see the USS Arizona. We were also able to see a memorial plaque for Florence Ebersole Smith Finch or as I knew of her as 'Mrs. Finch'. She was a family friend, and she had a book written about her and what she did to help during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Here is a video of what the trip to the USS Arizona is like and what you'll see!
July 4th, 2023
My family decided we were gonna take a break from visiting places so we just roamed around the hotel and went to a lookout point close to where we were staying. We saw the Royal Hawaiian Resort because that is where my grandparents, on my mom's side, stayed in the 80s.
July 5th, 2023
We spent our last day visiting Wai'alae-Kāhala and also the Iolani Palace. It was so beautiful and such a grand area. It was all very walkable so we could also get lunch while we were out. We ended the day by visiting the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific before having to get ready to leave.