Day 2 of 2023 Trip to Hawaii, Oahu

by admin

Second day of my January 2023 trip to Hawaii. My friend and I spent the morning visiting Pearl Harbor, and the afternoon on a road trip around the island of Oahu.

USS Arizona Memorial and Battleship Missouri

Pearl Harbor

USS Arizona

A memorial for a battleship that was sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that dragged United States into World War II.

The memorial was built above the shipwreck that’s only accessible by boat, which was offered by National Park Services for a nominal fee. As a result, it required advanced reservations for timed tickets. We left the hotel in Waikiki at 8am for the 8:45am tour, (We figured the breakfast schedule for the hotel meant we couldn’t do any earlier), and arrived at the parking lot at 8:32am, which was right in time for us to get into the queue for orientation without much wait. (Given the tour’s popularity, there’s a standby queue, but I didn’t see many in that queue got onto the boat during our visit.)

The orientation took place in a theater, where I thought a movie would be played. Instead, it’s just a ranger going over some rules and regulations for the tour, before we were ushered onto the boat.

USS Arizona Memorial
From Pearl Harbor Visitor Center.
USS Arizona Memorial
Shuttle Boat
For USS Arizona Memorial.
USS Bowfin
A submarine that served in WWII. Now part of Pearl Harbor National Memorial.
Pearl Harbor

After a short boat ride, we were at the memorial, which was built directly above the shipwreck, with parts of USS Arizona (mostly the gun turrets) still visible above and below the water. The presence of oil on water, likely from the ship’s continued leakage till this day, was a sight both confounding and shocking, as if the spirits of the departed continued to linger in such elusive form.

Map of USS Arizona Remanent
Base of Gun Turret No.3
One of the few structures that were above water.
Mooring Bitts
And the other structures on the starboard side just under water.
Oil on Water
It’s said that USS Arizona was still leaking oil till this day.
Battleship Missouri
A short distance away, facing USS Arizona Memorial.
Visitors
The tours were usually fully booked.

Battleship Missouri

The ship that hosted Japan’s surrender that ended World War II.

The ship was harbored on Ford Island which was an active US military base. As a result, buses were used to shuttle visitors between the ship (and Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum which was also on Ford Island) and Pearl Harbor visitor center. The ship was owned by a nonprofit organization that offered guided tours (in multiple languages!) of its main deck, and self-guided tours of the living quarters below deck.

A main feature of the guided tour was its “16-inch/50-caliber Mark 7 gun” in 3×3 arrangement. The photos online (Wikipedia link) showed a spectacular scene when all 9 were fired at once. During the World Wars, such armament was sure an impressive display of power. But as the years went on, naval strategies shifted to smaller, more nimble ships and air support, as a result, USS Missouri was the last battleship commissioned by the United States. The ship was decommissioned in 1955, but recommissioned in 1986 after some modernizations (including notably, Tomahawk cruise missiles), before finally decommissioned in 1992.

As for the Japanese surrender, there were photos, information boards and copies of the documents. Our tour guide emphasized how quick and uneventful the entire document signing went, for such a monumental occasion in history. Battleship Missouri was moored facing USS Arizona Memorial, a fitting emblem for the start and finish of World War II for the United States.

Battleship Missouri
Main Gun Turret
Battleship Missouri
The front (top) and the rear (bottom).
USS Arizona Memorial from Battleship Missouri
Documents of Japanese Surrender
Memorial Plaque of Japanese Surrender
Captain’s Cabin
Sea Turtle in Pearl Harbor

The guided tour lasted about half an hour, after which we explored the lower deck of the ship on our own. The lower deck housed sailor accommodations, offices and various amenities like cafeterias, in short, a city in its own. The best part of it was that it’s air-conditioned, a most welcomed amenity on a hot day.

Apart from the different cafeterias and living quarters for sailors of different ranks to showcase the social order, the exhibits on the lower deck featured various offices that were just slightly different from copy-and-paste~~, a fine testimony to the bureaucracy in the military~~.

Cafeteria
Lounge and Dining Room for Chief Petty Officers
Kitchen
For Chief Petty Officers (top) and for standard sailors (bottom), although I couldn’t see any difference.
Bakery and Snack Shop
Amenities
Library, shower room, computer room and dentist room.
Living Quarters
Top-left: for Chief Petty Officers, double bunk. Top-right: for standard sailors, triple bunk. Bottom-left: for senior officers, individual room. Bottom-right: for more senior officers, more spacious room on upper deck.
Offices

Emerging from the lower deck, we checked out the wardroom on the main deck level, featuring living spaces for more senior officers.

Wardroom
Map in the background shows deployments of USS Missouri.
Wardroom
Kitchen for Officers
Executive Officer Bedroom
Executive Officer Office

And finally, we checked out the ship’s bridge, passing the cruise missile silos along the way. The bridge wasn’t air-conditioned, so we didn’t stay up for long.

Navigation Room
Navigation Bridge
Thick metal to protect important navigation structures.
Captain’s Day Bed
In case the captain didn’t want to head back to his main cabin below.
USS Arizona Memorial from Battleship Missouri
Side Gun Turrets
Silo for Tomahawk Cruise Missile
Added with the reactivation of the ship in 1984.
Close-in Weapons System

Pearl Harbor from Battleship Missouri

We spent about 2 hours touring Battleship Missouri, so it’s just past noon by the time we got back to the parking lot. After that, we started on a road trip around the eastern half of Oahu island (as there’s no road around Ka’ena Point at the northwestern point of the island).

Road Trip around Oahu

Having visited the southeastern part of the island the previous day, we used highway H3 to cut across the mountains to reach Kaneohe, after which we started cruising along the coastal road.

He’eia State Park

A small park with views of the surrounding ocean and shaded picnic tables (!), where we had a picnic with snacks bought two days ago. The surrounding reef meant it’s a great spot for kayaking.

Ridge of Kaaawa Valley
Ridge of Kaaawa Valley across Bay
Ke’alohi point
Coconut Island in Bay
Mountains
Mountains

Boeing P-8 Poseidon Overflying
Landing towards Marine Corps Air Station in Kaneohe Bay.

Kualoa Regional Park

A much larger park featuring a proper beach (and one of the few campsites in Hawaii). We made a brief stop here to check out the views. The speed bumps in this park were horrendous.

Ridge of Kaaawa Valley
Shores of Kualoa Regional Park
Mokoliʻi
Also known as “Christmas Hat”.
Ko’olau Range
Pu’u ohulehule
A peak to the west, in clouds.

Sea and Mountains from Kualoa Regional Park

Upon leaving Kualoa Regional Park, a section of the road ran right along the ocean. I took some videos and photos to record the moment.

1 minute and 1 second, 2160p30fps, 24Mbps/187MB for H265, 26Mbps/202MB for H264.

32 seconds, 2160p30fps, 18Mbps/76MB for H265, 19Mbps/79MB for H264.

Boats in Sea
Road
Some peaks along the ridge of Kaaawa Valley in the background.
Sea
Sea
Sea
Waves in Sea
Coastal Road

Lā’ie Point

A small “state wayside” tucked behind residential units, featuring views of Kukuihoolua Island, where a natural arch was formed on this narrow island. Lā’ie Point was on a peninsula that extended into the sea, so it also offered stunning views of the Oahu coastline.

Kukuihoolua Island
Ko’olau Range
Distant Mountains
Likely the ones of Kualoa Ranch.
Coastline

Lā’ie Point had parking spaces for about 5 cars, so we didn’t stay there for long.

Northern Coast of Oahu

Not long after that, we reached the northern coast of Oahu, which was more developed/touristy than the eastern coast that we drove past today. Another distinction we noticed was that the waves here were huge, so we pulled over and sit on the beach for 15 minutes just to admire the waves. It turned out that a few days later, “The Eddie”, arguably the most prestigious big wave surfing contest, were held along the north shore of Oahu. “The Eddie” required open-ocean swells to reach certain heights before it can be held, as a result, it has only been held for 10 times throughout its 38-year history.

Waves
Waves
Waves Pounding Shoreline
Waves
Pūpūkea Beach

Late Lunch

We had some snacks after leaving Pearl Harbor, so we decided on this late lunch at 4pm, at a food truck in the town of Haleiwa.

After a late lunch, we left the northern coast of Oahu around 4:30pm, and reached Waikiki just before 6pm.

Hotel: Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach

We planned to stay three nights in Oahu, but I only had two C4 Hyatt certificates which I spent on our previous hotel, Hyatt Place Waikiki Beach. For this third night, I had the option use 12k Hyatt points to keep staying in Hyatt Place, but since I managed to qualify for Hyatt’s highest elite tier after COVID, which was expiring in a month, instead I opted for the oceanfront Hyatt Regency, at 20k per night.

Parking for Hyatt Regency Waikiki

I’ve heard the parking situation for hotels in Waikiki was bad, I was still shocked by the parking building for Hyatt Regency. To begin, it’s at a premium location right across the ocean. If I were a real estate developer, I would tear down the parking building to build a hotel there, and tear down some other hotels farther inland for parking. It sits on a small footprint which means the turns and spaces were narrow, so tight that it needs to stack the cars’ engine (illustration in the upper-left corner).

Frankly, I didn’t have that much of a good impression for this Hyatt Regency. After the infinite circles in its parking building and its bewildering space-saving measures (photo’d above), I found out its open-air atrium, albeit fancy and full of vacation atmosphere, wasn’t that friendly with someone dragging a suitcase like me, with its elevators well hidden in the corners.
But on the other hand, its rooms were stellar. With points, I booked the cheapest city view rooms, and was upgraded to one with an oceanfront view (with my elite status). It’s just a gorgeous view to conclude our time in Oahu.

Hotel Room
Hotel Room
Hotel Room
Bathroom
View from Balcony at Dusk
View from Balcony at Dawn
View from Balcony in the Morning
View from Balcony in the Morning

Of the few Hyatt Regencies that I stayed as a Globalist, this was the only one with a club lounge that’s open. For someone that’s not that picky on food, the lounge offered buffet throughout the day (and even desert after that). Technically, that’s three meals per day if one wants to.

View from Regency Club
Desert
After the regular dinner hours.
Hot Tub
In addition to a larger swimming pool whose water felt a little bit cold in the morning.
Atrium
Atrium