Semester at Sea: Aloha Hawai’i

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Our first port of call after sailing out of Ensenada, Mexico was Hawai’i. It was back in the United States, but a new state for me (visiting all 50 is on my bucket list). We were scheduled to be docked at Hilo, Hawai’i for two days and Honolulu, Hawai’i for two days for a total of four days in the state.

Aloha Hawai’i

Hilo was our first stop in the state of Hawai’i which is located on the island of Hawai’i, also known as the Big Island. My shipmates and I were very happy to see land, though many still had their sea-legs so it felt as if the ground was moving when it wasn’t.

On the first day in Hilo, I started out the day by heading to a black sand beach with group of other Semester at Sea students. The ocean was beautiful and was crashing into the volcanic rock we were all relaxing on. I made some phone calls to family and friends to let them know that I was enjoying a Hawai’ian beach in January while they were shivering in a cold New York winter. After a couple of hours lounging at the beach, I headed back to the port to go on a city orientation of Hilo which was a tour organized by Semester at Sea.

Hello, Hilo

The tour was pretty good with a fun bus driver who taught us what various Hawai’ian words meant and was very laid back. I was given a chance to enjoy many sights in Hilo such as Banyan Drive which is sometimes referred to as the Hilo Walk of Fame due to the many Banyan trees that were planted beginning in the 1930s by various celebrities including Amelia Earhart and Babe Ruth. Located along Banyan Drive, we also visited Lili’uokalani Park and Gardens named for the last queen of Hawai’i since she donated the land for the site. The beautiful and serene Japanese garden there is said to be the largest outside of Japan. Afterwards we stopped at Rainbow Falls which are a part of Wailuku River State Park before exploring the Farmer’s Market downtown. 

That evening I went to the Luau Experience organized by Semester at Sea and put on by the University of Hawai’i at Hilo students. After leaving the luau, we celebrated a friend’s 21st birthday in a club in Hilo. Despite the fact that it was a Monday night which would usually just be a bar night, they brought in a DJ because our ship was only to be docked there one night. That was one of the weird things about shipboard life, days of the week almost ceased to matter. We all had a lot of fun dancing the night away before heading back to the ship to sleep.

Exploring Volcanoes National Park

The second day I had to get up early to catch the bus for the Semester at Sea Volcanoes National Park tour. We were taken around the area near the Kilauea caldera where we could see smoke rising up, and nearby steam vents which had a slightly sulphurous smell. We were not permitted to go to any active areas, but the trip was still very interesting. While in the park we also walked through a portion of the Thurston Lava Tube. Lava tubes are formed when the outer crust begins to harden while lava is still flowing inside of it, then once the lava flows out, a long tunnel-like cave is left. There were lights along the roof of the cave, so it was easy to navigate and see the shape left behind after all the lava flowed out.

When this tour was finished, I headed back into Hilo to meet up with some friends at the Farmer’s Market. There were a lot of beautiful handicrafts such as jewelry, baskets, and locally grown fruits and flowers. It was tough to resist the jewelry and souvenirs, but I knew this was only our first stop (and we were still in the US!). Before we boarded the ship I made one last stop at the store across from the port to buy some postcards and a delicious Icee to enjoy before we left.

Everyone I met in Hilo seemed very laid back, and I had a wonderful time exploring the island. Exhausted, but excited, we said goodbye to Hilo and re-boarded the ship to sail onwards to Honolulu on the island of Oahu.

Oahu

As the capital of Hawai’i, Honolulu is much busier than Hilo, but the people living there seemed only slightly less laid back than those in Hilo. I had quickly decided that I’m going to come back to Hawai’i, so I hit the beach for the majority of the time I was there. The first day I walked all the way to Waikiki Beach from the port with some friends, enjoyed lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise, and made a quick run to Wal-Mart to pick up supplies (even though I had forgotten my list of things wanted to buy). Naturally, it was sunny while we walked only to get cloudy when we reached the beach. It was still a good day with a beautiful golden sunset.

That night we hung out at Señor Frogs downtown before heading out to the beach again. I managed to get myself pretty sandy and wet by running around in the surf, but it was so beautiful and warm I didn’t mind at all.

Last Day, Beach Day

For our second day on Oahu and our last day in Hawai’i my friends and I went straight back to Waikiki slathered in sunscreen to enjoy the beach again. The weather was more cooperative with bright sunshine that burned my legs which I had forgotten to put sunscreen on. After grabbing dinner near the beach we made another stop at Wal-Mart, (with my list this time!) to stock up on necessary snacks and forgotten items before we left the US. Even more exhausted, we waved goodbye to Hawai’i and the United States.

Aloha Hawai’i

After spending four days visiting two of the beautiful Hawai’ian islands, I was pretty worn out. My plan had been to just keep going as long as I could and then catching up on sleep once I was back on the ship. Being 21, that plan actually kind of worked though it took me a while to get caught up on sleep. ‘You can sleep when you die’ was a popular mantra throughout the duration of our voyage. Oh to be young, dumb, & studying abroad again! 

From Hawai’i we sailed on to our first foreign port, Japan!

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