TRAVEL THERAPY

Copyright Karen Schaler All Rights Reserved

Aloha!  

Big news in Hawaii! There’s now a new playground in paradise. 

After a 15 million dollar restoration project the historic Duke Paoa Kahanamoku Lagoon is finally open again for everyone to enjoy. Here’s why it’s special…

The state owned Lagoon is named after Hawaii’s surfing legend and was originally made in the early 1950’s as part of a hotel project. In the early years it was a favorite for families, but over the years the water became too murkey and filled with nasty jellyfish so you couldn’t swim in it anymore. 

The hotel you see in the picture next to the lagoon is the Hilton Hawaiian Village. This resort, the only self-contained destination resort on Waikiki, is always easy to spot because of its trademark rainbow on the side. This is one of the first places I ever stayed at in Hawaii after I lived on the Big Island one summer between high school and college. The Hilton decided to close the lagoon in 2006 and work started right away to bring this piece of Hawaiian history back to life.The transformation is fantastic!

Check out this five-acre water playground that’s now open the public and this time has a state-of-the-art water system to keep things crystal clear.

Here’s how the new numbers stack up:

*15,000 gallons of ocean water are brought in each minute

*7 seawater wells

*5 feet deep

*33 thousand tons of sand brought in for the bottom and the beach

*60 Coconut trees added     

All of this adds up to a fantastic new recreation area on Waikiki Beach where you can rent all kinds of fun like kayaks, paddle boats, surfboards and rafts at the Hilton’s activity desk right next to the lagoon.

For more TRAVEL THERAPY ideas in Hawaii check out the Hawaii link on this blog and the TRAVEL THERAPY website.  I also hear the Hilton is also offering free surf lessons? I’ll check that out and have more soon…

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