Hawaii Honeymoon Recap

Back from our delayed honeymoon on the Big Island and it was simply dreamy! Having a delayed honeymoon was never something that interested me, but with our summer being so crazy this was the only way we could have a big trip! So we took our honeymoon this January, right after our 6 month anniversary and Drew’s graduation- what a way to celebrate!

While I was planning our wedding, taking my shot at planning a trip for the first time ever (especially one this big!) seemed SO overwhelming. So, I handed that over to Drew and his dad to plan! It was so freeing not to be involved in the process, and left room for surprise!

Per recommendations from Drew’s dad and all his travels, we stayed at Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island. I’ve never been to a resort before- my family is big on cruises- so this was SO exciting for me! The resort was really set up like a little village. There were 5 different “towers” to stay in, each different styles and spaced throughout the property. We stayed in the Palace Tower and loved the location!

Because of COVID there weren’t a lot of restaurant options available, so we basically went to the same place for breakfast everyday, and alternated between two places for dinnertime. Lunches were either consumed in milkshake-form or spent by the pool :) This wasn’t a huge deal for us since I don’t eat (duh), and Drew didn’t really mind! And of course, one night we got to go to a Luau right on the resort property which served dinner and was SO fun! One of my favorite dresses of the trip, too.

KPC is the “fancier” dining option on the property and it was INCREDIBLE! There are two styles of dining for KPC, one is a set menu and the other is pick-your-own. The set menu is more of an experience while the pick-your-own is slightly more casual. When we made our reservation for the set menu, they recommended we eat earlier- like 4:30/5PM, so that you’re watching the sunset over the rocks while you’re waiting for your appetizers. It was so special. Drew and I were super intentional that night with our conversations too and it was the perfect setting to talk about our future, plans, dreams, all that crazy fun honeymoon talk.

One of the days we took a catamaran ride out to snorkel and see the sea turtles- and WHALES! Apparently January-March are whale spotting season on the island, so that was a cool plus! We LOVED going out on the catamaran and going off the resort property for the afternoon. We didn’t want to do a lot of exploring or driving during the week since our only goal was to relax and talk a lot, but having a little boat excursion was really neat.

For the most part we spent days by the pool, ordering a crazy number of mocktails from the bar, and walking around the property spotting dolphins! The resort also had a lagoon in the middle, where we rented paddle boards and Drew would paddle me around to look for turtles. So much fun. This was our first ever trip just Drew & I, and we spent the whole second half dreaming up where else we want to go. It was so special and definitely honeymoon-ish!