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Our week in Hawaii went fast but at the same time we really felt like we made the most of everyday, we found plenty of time to just relax, and did everything we could to fit in as much of the beauty of Hawaii as possible. That said - our final night was upon us so we dawned our leis and set out to live it up island style one more time.
Going to a luau is definitely one of the things you hear as a "must do" when you say you're going to Hawaii, however with the steep price tag and the thought of a buffet dinner we weren't really keen to partake - though on the other hand I really did want to see the show portion of a luau. So you can imagine my delight when we learned that our resort puts on a free hula show every Thursday evening - right during happy hour at the tiki bar. I knew from the minute we checked in that this was going to be a perfect last night event. We weren't supposed to take photos - but after seeing nearly every one else break that rule - I did sneak a few. The show was perfect - festive, colorful, traditional, and only 45 minutes - the perfect amount of time - Andy agreed.
After the show it was off to catch the sunset. Sadly the clouds got in the way a bit, but it was still a gorgeous view and I took probably way too many pictures - but that sky just kept getting prettier and prettier every minute!
We capped off the evening by signing the check book (they actually give you the check in a book) and leaving our mark on what will no doubt be one of our favorite vacation spots!
Since we were staying at the Hilton Grand Vacations property we had full access (and free parking!) at the Hilton resort just two miles down the street. While we loved where we stayed, it was fun to have the resort to visit from time to time. It is a massive property with gorgeous views everywhere you looked. It was fun just walking around and snapping photos.
We also loved the lagoon the had where we were able to go snorkeling a couple times. The Big Island is the only one in Hawaii that doesn't allow beach front hotel properties, so the Hilton built a lagoon - with water flowing directly from the ocean - so we got to swim with these beautiful fish and sea turtles! I had never been snorkeling before but I just loved it. I wish we had a GoPro so we could have taken pictures of what we saw, but I suppose the images in my memory will have to suffice.
Another cool feature of the hotel was their dolphin lagoon. Talk about up close and personal - these dolphins were just hanging out showing off their tricks right in front you and for as long as you wanted to watch - which I sat there and watched a ton! We also got to FaceTime with Adam a few times while we were in that area and he got such a kick out of seeing them. I could swear one of them was even playing with and smiling at me. They are too cute!
You could tell this was definitely the resort to stay in if you had your kids with you - pools galore, water slides, a train that takes you from building to building & a boat you could take as well, parrots in the lobby, flamingos hanging out poolside, sharks (eek) etc. etc. etc. Maybe next time we'll bring Adam ;)
When we were talking about our trip there were so many things I thought we'd want to do - go see the active volcano, take a helicopter ride (ok, I didn't really want to do that, in fact it scares me just thinking about it, but it seemed like something you were supposed to say you wanted to do), play golf, hike through the rain forest to a waterfall, and of course go on a whale watching cruise. I mentioned earlier that before we could check in to our resort we had lunch at Tommy Bahama and met a very nice couple who upon hearing our "to-do" list, chuckled a bit and then promptly told us to not be so ambitious and to just relax and enjoy our vacation - maybe pick one of those things to do and leave the rest for future visits. Ok...but what one thing would we do? Well, upon hearing that the trip to the Volcano National Park was basically an entire day of driving, we crossed that off the list. We thought about doing the hike on our last day once we had to check-out of the resort, but then worried we'd be all sweaty for our flights. Golf we snuck in early morning, so that was easy and after spending the afternoon at the beach and watching the sail boats out on the ocean I knew we just had to get in a boat ride and a chance to see some whales up close and personal.
Unfortunately, the weather the morning of our excursion was not what we were hoping for. Cloudy, rainy and bit breezy (they said morning was the best time to take the boat to ensure calmer seas - uh, not today, ha!). Though that didn't stop the crew from wanting to go out and since we'd already paid, it was all aboard!
The rain actually held out for a bit during our excursion - though the clouds did get in the way of the beautiful views we expected to see. Alas, the fresh sea air on our faces and the thrill of seeing the whales pop up from time to time paired with the challenge of snapping pics without dropping my phone overboard led to a pretty exciting 20 minutes or so.
That's when the skies opened up and we all quickly found ourselves crammed together below deck. My claustrophobia quickly outweighed my desire to stay somewhat dry, so it was back outside into the rain for us where we heard the captain say that we would turn back and cut our two hour (better than a three hour tour, am I right?) trip short by 90 minutes and that we'd get refunds. Bummed, but happy about getting our money back, we sat back and tried to enjoy the last few moments on the water - when all of a sudden the whale Gods smiled on us and we found ourselves surrounded by whales that were keen on giving us a show to make the rain all worth it!
The captain and crew couldn't believe how many breaches we saw - they agreed we were definitely being rewarded for facing a rare rainy and windy Hawaiian morning on the sea. It really was an unbelievable site to see and one we won't soon forget.
They say rain will make the flowers grow - well in our case, rain will make the whales put on a show! :)
