Oahu - A Family Getaway

In the Bay Area of California, most schools give students the entire week of President's Day off. For the past few years, we've gone to Hawaii during that week.

This trip we stayed at the Royal Hawaiian in Waikiki and then we moved over to the Four Seasons in Ko Olina. The two locations have a very different feel. Waikiki is very walkable and the Royal Hawaiian is a beach front resort that sits on the very desirable and busy Waikiki Beach. There are lots of activities during the day and running and hiking trails are accessible.

Waikiki also has an abundance of good food and a wide variety of restaurants. Not to mention the malls and all of the shopping that is to be had. Honolulu is a major city and it has some major city problems, in addition to all of the amenities of a city.

Ko Olina on the other hand feels very much like an upscale beach resort. The Four Seasons sits on a man made bay that can be crossed by swimming, kayaking or stand up paddle boarding. I believe you can snorkel in the bay as well, but I've never seen any fish in this bay. The Four Seasons sits next door to the Disney Aulani.

It's not uncommon to see Disney hotel guests wandering over to the Four Seasons section of the bay. There is a notable difference in how crowded the Disney area is versus the Four Seasons section. It's also not uncommon to see Disney guests coming over for the Four Seasons restaurants.