This trip was so amazing!! Tim and I have been planning a trip to Hawaii pretty much since we started dating – it was my favorite place I ever went on family vacation and it was his first time, so we were both SO pumped to go! With February being our off – season, we took advantage of the time off and after a crazy series of snowstorms that delayed our flights multiple times, we arrived to THIS.We started our trip by flying into Honolulu, pretty much the only airport on Oahu. We decided to avoid the craziness of Waikiki Beach by staying up on the North Shore, which was such a great decision. We loved the laid-back surf culture of the North Shore and even got to watch Kelly Slater win the Volcom Pipe Pro! Giant 25 foot waves…it was NUTS. Tim loved surfing every single day and we found some amazing off-the-beaten-trail surf spots + beaches. Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore, which is absolutely beautiful, was the perfect place to get that I’m-on-vacation feel while staying in the heart of the surf community.

This was our view in the morning from our room…

Our first day, we explored Ka’ena Point , on the farthest east point of the island. We passed where they filmed Lost (remember “the others” village? That’s a boy scout camp out here!)

Good thing we got a Jeep…this was the road, haha!

We spent time just driving around the island + soaking in all of the gorgeousness…so many rainbows!

The Volcom Pipe Pro was happening at the Banzai Pipeline while we were there! Totally a bucket list item to see Kelly Slater surf…he won (of course). Excuse the iphone photos…I was wishing I had brought my longest lens to capture surfer photos!

We drove past the beautiful Waimea Valley every day to get back to Turtle Bay.

The next day was our adventures-in-the-mud day! We hiked an insane trail…the MUDDIEST trail I’ve ever seen. No lie, there were multiple pairs of shoes just stuck in the mud that we passed trying to hike to a waterfall, haha!

At least the views near the top were pretty!

After our hike and finding the closest public beach with showers to rinse off the coating of mud from our bodies, we went on an adventure ATV drive through the STUNNING Kualoa Ranch. We were kind of torn on whether to go, since we had heard it might be a little touristy, but it was awesome + completely worth it! We had a great tour guide who let us drive as fast as we wanted through lots of rivers, mud and up the side of those mountains. Tim obviously loved it, hah.This ranch is where Godzilla, Jurassic Park, the Legend of Atlantis, LOST and a bunch of other movies were filmed, so some of their set pieces are still there.

It was pouring, we were soaked and we loved it.

Our last day on Oahu, we just relaxed on the beach (well I did, and Tim surfed.) Great day 🙂

These are the beautiful pineapple fields + mountains on the north shore.

And then we were off to Maui!!

The first full day we were in Maui, we did the famous Road to Hana drive. AMAZING is a pretty good word for it! The road to Hana is a super narrow road that is super windy + full of waterfalls, black sand beaches, beautiful lookout points and ends in the teeny-tiny rustic town of Hana, Maui. We circled around the entire back side of the crater on Maui as well…aka on a dirt road that was sort of dangerous and scary but had some breathtaking views too. The whole day took us about 10 hours and it was completely worth it. We downloaded a Road to Hana app and (we nicknamed him Fred) Fred told us where the best spots to veer off the road were.

For the remainder of our time on Maui, we explored all the surf towns – Paia was our favorites! Tim loved surfing at Hookipa Beach, also known as the Windsurfing capital of the world.

That’s it! Our time in Hawaii sadly came to a close…but we will be back someday soon again! Have you been to Oahu or Maui? Did you love it?