FX Excursions

FX Excursions offers the chance for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in destinations around the world.

Hawaii Vacation

by Amanda Smith

Jan 6, 2013

I flew home from paradise one week ago. Paradise, you ask? Yes, Hawaii is paradise. For those of you who haven’t visited yet, book a ticket for at least one week, and don’t look back! I blogged about my last trip to Hawaii in 2003 and preparing for this 2012 adventure, but I thought I would give a bit of insight after the fact.

My family all flew into the Kona International Airport (KOA) on the Big Island from different places. As we all landed, we made our way to the hotel — the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel. The hotel boasts one of the best beaches in the world, not just in Hawaii, and let me tell you, it lived up to our expectations.

We stayed in two oceanfront suites, as they were having a Black Friday deal when we booked. These suites had the most spectacular views to wake up to (see the picture below). I got in the habit of opening the windows and patio door each night to fall asleep to the sounds of the rushing waves. The hotel had amazing views from its open-air lobby and was drenched in gorgeous flowers everywhere we went. The rooms were clean and bigger than my apartment in Philadelphia, which was much appreciated for a vacation! I would, however, like to see the rooms updated, as the decorations were quite dated.

View from our suite

Every night, we went to the lobby and had a Mai Tai (picture below) while listening to a different Hawaiian musician each time. There were so many small touches this hotel offered that I would go back and stay there in an instant.

Mai Thai

On this trip, we visited all of the sights and ate at all of our favorite places, but we appreciated two new things, the first being a whale-watching catamaran tour. I would highly recommend this activity. At just $100 (depending on the tour operator) per person, you can take a two-hour catamaran trip out in the ocean and spot huge humpback whales. In addition to this tour, we also found a new restaurant we dined at three times out of the seven days we were in town, called Monstera. It is our new favorite, to say the least. We ate miso soup, tofu steaks with ginger sauce, various sushi rolls and fresh sautéed fish. We ate the same menu each time because it was just so delicious.

As I said before, if you have never been to Hawaii, it is time to book a trip! This was the best trip I’ve had in far too long, filled with family, fun and lots of sun!

— Lindsay Gruen, digital account executive

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FX Excursions

FX Excursions offers the chance for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in destinations around the world.

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