24 Hours in Honolulu
One of the most common questions I get when asked about being a flight attendant is, “What do you do on your layovers?” Most of the time, to be honest, my answer is to eat and sleep. However, when I do get lucky enough for a layover in a place or city I love, I always try to get the most out of it.
Since I was staying in San Diego with my boyfriend, in my soon-to-be home, I decided to pick up a trip out of my regular base (Chicago) and fly out of San Diego. The trip I picked up had a 24-hour layover in Honolulu, so here’s a rundown of how I spend my time on a layover.
Lands in Honolulu, HI…
2 pm: I landed a little before 2 pm. The rest of my crew was flying straight back, so I was the only one with a layover. I found the van that was taking me to the hotel and headed to our layover hotel.
3 pm-4 pm: Where I was staying was within walking distance of some stores, so I headed to one of my favorite places in the world, an ABC store. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money going out to eat on this layover so I loaded up on some snacks. I got some fruit, a tuna handroll, some Maui chips, and pineapple hi-chews.
I found out, sadly, that Maui chips are in fact not made in Hawaii. Regardless, I still enjoyed my favorite flavor, Maui onion.
After grabbing my snacks and putting them in a newly bought, very touristy, Hawaii reusable bag, I walked along the beach. Once it started to sprinkle, I headed back to my hotel to enjoy all my favorite treats.
5 pm: I relaxed in my room a little, had some of my snacks, and waited for the rain to die down before sunset. Then, I headed down to the hotel lobby, grabbed a towel, and headed to the beach. I decided to watch the sunset around Waikiki and after walking around for a little bit, I finally found a quiet spot.
6 pm: The sun set just minutes after 6, so I relaxed a bit more on the beach but headed back to my hotel pretty quickly to try and beat the dinner rush.
8 pm: The time difference really did me dirty. I was in bed at 8 pm, and asleep shortly after.
The next day…
6 am: Once again the time change did me dirty, and I was fully awake before 6 am. However, I made myself some coffee and had a little breakfast all before sunrise.
7 am -10 am: My plan was to hike Diamond Head if I woke up early enough, but another flight attendant working the flight over to Honolulu told me that you can only do it if you have a reservation. So, of course, when I looked at reservations they were all booked up.
Since I couldn’t go with my original plan, I did some quick research to try and find the next best thing. And by research, I mean opening up my phone to Maps and clicking on landmarks, trying to find spots I thought looked cool.
Though I’m sure it wasn’t the most foolproof way to find a scenic route to walk, it did work out quite well. I set my sights on the Diamond Head Lighthouse. The walk to get there was stunning, and I walked mostly along the water. I will say when I found the lighthouse there was a massive fencer around it so I couldn’t get too close but was still definitely worth the walk.
Even though the lighthouse was the main attraction of my walk, I decided to keep going a bit and stumbled upon Kuilei Beach. To get to the beach you walk down the side of the cliffs (don’t worry it had a railing and was easy) to get down to the secluded beach. If I get this layover again anytime soon, I will be packing up my beach bag and walking here to watch the sunset. There were a lot of surfers also at the beach which kept me entertained during my visit.
Ultimately, I was very happy I found something new to do on my layover. It would’ve been amazing to hike Diamond Head again, and if you’re planning to go I recommend it. I’ll be sure to check for reservations in advance next time.
11 am: Once I got back to my room after my long sunrise walk, I cleaned up and relaxed for the little time left on my layover. Luckily, I got a couple of handrolls from the ABC store so I had one for lunch while I decompressed and watched some Netflix.
Noon: Got picked up by the bus and headed to the airport, fun is over.
So that’s what a fun layover is like in my life as a flight attendant. I’ll be the first to admit, not all of my layovers are as nice as this, or in Hawaii, but nevertheless a huge perk of my job. There’s nothing better for me than getting a day to recharge and explore between working flights.
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