The Aston Waikiki Beach Tower is not to be confused with the inferior Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel. Remember that this property has the word “tower” in it and not “hotel” or you could end up at the wrong location. Finding the Aston Waikiki Beach Tower was difficult because the unusually tiny entrance was impossible to see. It wasn’t on the main street that the GPS says it’s on. You actually have to turn onto Lili Uokalani and then keep your eyes open WIDE because the sign and entrance are small. In fact, we passed it the first time and had to go around the block.
Diamond Head
Climbing Diamond Head is something you must do if you are visiting Oahu. Get there early to avoid crowds. The hike to the summit was rather lengthy and for us, was made more difficult by the fact that it had rained all morning before we arrived. The rocky ground had become slippery and we almost fell several times but I am still glad we went.
Waikiki Beach
I found this beach to be one of the nicer beaches I’ve seen in my life. The sand was soft, the water was clear, and the entire area appeared very clean. Certain portions of the beach had a protective barrier which made us feel safe since we didn’t have to worry about sharks. There were so many senior citizens on the beach that I felt I was at a retirement community but overall the beach was not excessively crowded and all along the beach there were lots of tourist activities like surfing classes, dinner cruises, and boat rides.
Aloha Stadium Swap Meet
I was visiting Honolulu and needed about 15 Hawaiian shirts for my entire family so I visited the Swap Meet after I heard they have good prices. It’s open Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, and there’s an entrance fee of a dollar per person. You walk around the outside of Aloha Stadium and most of the vendors sell the same sort of stuff so if you have something in particular in mind that you need to buy, don’t pay a lot for it. If you continue walking you will eventually find a good price. For example, several vendors wanted $18 for a Hawaiian shirt but I found a man selling the women’s shirt for $10 and the men’s shirts for $13. If you like, you can negotiate the price down.
