Beautiful Turtle Bay

There are only four resorts outside Waikiki in Honolulu. The Turtle Bay Resort is one of them. As its name suggests, the resort is located in Turtle Bay, (not to be confused with the Turtle Beach, also located in the North Shore of Oahu, along Highway 83).

The resort is nice in my own view: The snorkeling site Kuilima Cove is right in front of the resort, and my all time favoriate Shark’s Cove is just about 5 miles away, southbound of Highway 83. Being in a far less competitive environment, it does not come in cheap.

Now the whole blog starts to sound like my tripadvisor review.

The trick is to entroll free for the I-Prefer program, which, besides special deals and discounts, gives its member priority early check-in and late check-out, free room upgrade when available, and complimentary internet access.

Although for Turtle Bay Resort, they charge a $20 per day resort fee, which includes internet, parking, daily newspaper, local and 800 phone calls. But the priority early check-in definitely worked for us, as we arrived in the mid-morning, way ahead of their 3:00PM check-in hours.

The priority late check-out is not that a big deal, however. When I requested a late check-out, I have it until 12:30 PM, as their check-out time is 11:00AM.

But I have to say their ocean view room is very nice: Spacious, clean, tons of towels, and great views. The walk along the shoreline is also very pleasant.

However, I do not have particularly good luck with snorkeling at Kuilima Cove. Some claims that this site is most protected by reefs, but keep in mind it is also located near the northernmost point of Oahu island, so the wind and therefore the waves can ruin everything: The underwater view is not that fantastic as most of time the water is a bit cloudy. On top of that, you will get sand all over your swimming wear and snorkeling gear.

I also find that unlike those in Hanauma Bay, fishes in the north shore area, Shark’s Cove and Kuilima Cove included, are not used to human and tend to be smaller. In my previous visit to Kuilima Cove, I once chased a Humuhumunukunukuapua’a fish (a Picasso Triggerfish, also Hawaii’s state fish), but it dashed out as quickly as possible, with strong waves making me especially difficult to catch up with it.