Maui and The Big Island

Oh how I love thirteen hour flights. If anyone is thinking of exploring Hawaii in all of its beauty, make sure you bring something productive that's going to keep you busy for more than half a day. My favorite part was on the plane ride there, with all the screaming children continuously kicking the back of my seat, yeah, just kidding. Hawaii, so far, has been my favorite tropical hot spot. There is just so much to do and so much to see. I remember the second day we had arrived there; my sisters and I went out to bask in the sun. We were not on the beach, but lying by a pool set almost on a cliff, overlooking the ocean. I was gazing out into the water and I saw whales smacking the water with their big bodies. I had never seen such an amazing thing; I sat there and watched from my perfect view, natures finest. I had not been done with sea creatures just yet. A little later in my vacation, I was able to swim with the dolphins a secluded part of the animal park; it was almost like sea world, but 100 times better. Ever since I was little I always wanted to swim with the dolphins and now I can say I have. It was a rush holding on to their fin and being taken on a ride. After my dolphin fix, I needed to visit something I had heard so much about, the black sanded beach. If you every go to Maui, this is a must see. It was so different looking at a dark beach than this light soft sand that I'm used to. It was very hot and a little rougher than any other beach sand, but it was different and just as beautiful, if not more than any other beach because of its rareness. My last experience in Hawaii came from our hike for water. My mother, father, sisters and I, all hiked up this somewhat small muddy, rocky mountain to reveal the waterfall inside. Once we got midway up the mountain, follow the path through the inside, we hear water. It was a large stream about thigh high and you either had to walk on the jagged rocks or straight through the water to see the fall. We all jumped through the water and there it was, this sparkling refreshing waterfall created in the middle of this mountain. It felt like the purest water I had ever set foot in.

Aruba

Besides the obviousness of the gorgeous sand and water, Aruba's scenery intrigued me. Never had I been to an island with such amazing structures formed by these massive rocks. (As seen in the pictures.) But the fun was not only in the unique surroundings, but in the adventures my family and I created. A few of my all time favorites included our four wheeling extravaganzas on the beach. The only thing I can recommend about that, is if you are riding on the back of someone’s four wheeler, make sure they know how to drive. We also went jeeping in what looked like sand dunes with spurts of water holes. My dad was driving, so of course we all instigated him to go full force through this oversized puddle, or so we thought. He floors it into the water and immediately we see it's a lot deeper than we assumed. Water flies over the top of the jeep and smacks the rest of the water on our faces, what felt like a few seconds trying to plow threw the mucky water, felt like two days underwater. Needless to say, we were all a little dirty when we got out. I have to say, the funniest part of that trip had to have been when we all went horse back riding, my sisters and I start to race each other on the beach. My mom and dad catch on, everybody’s laughing and having a good time and as we ride on we look around, we all ask each other, "Where's dad?" Sure enough, we turn around and about fifty feet back the horse is standing there looking all innocent and my dad had tucked and rolled straight into the sand. He was covered, head to toe and in his mouth, it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

My three favorite/memorable vacation spots - Punta Cana

Punta Cana, The Dominican Republic

Visiting the Dominican in eighth grade was my first real trip out of the Country. It was also the first island I had ever experienced. The scenery was beautiful on the beaches and even more breathtaking looking from the water. I could not pass up the opportunity to parasail over the crystal blue water. You could see everything, the coral, and the colorful fish that are so close to shore. (For anyone that has never tried it. I highly recommend it...unless you are deathly afraid of heights.) It's was very peaceful floating up in the air, you could barely hear any of your surroundings. Now, I had been tubing before, but nothing like this. My mother and I figured we would do all we could why we were there and that included getting on a plastic banana float with holsters, and holding on for our dear life. This banana was filled with about six other people being pulled by a fast boat. Apparently the object was to stay on the float for as long as you could, but when the driver started doing donuts in the water both my mother and I flew off in different directions. Let’s just say I felt that one in the morning. Even though this island appeared to be very luxurious and had the cliché "living in paradise" theme, the outside was very poor. Houses seemed not far from dilapidation and the living conditions of these people were almost too horrible to even imagine. So, this last piece of information I’m going to share with you was my most memorable experience there. My parents and I signed up for this tour, we saw the villages and the cities where people resided, we were able to eat a sugar cane straight from the ground, but most importantly, we visited a school. It was a school for younger children around seven or eight, but this school was very different from the rest. It was not required and definitely not mandatory, but you see these young inspirations walking miles to get to this school so they can have an education. Their faces were beaming and every time I talk about my island journeys I think of them.

For all you beach lovers out there, I hope you love to travel as much as I do. My vacations with my family usually consist of going somewhere tropical. I have traveled near and far to see the beauty of many state beaches and tropical islands. So far, many of my adventures have been developed in Hawaii(The Big Island), Maui, The Dominican Republic, Mexico, Aruba, Barbados, Turks and Caicos, and Jamaica. My true love is in the warmth of the sand between my toes and being refreshed in the sparkling water. All of these places have created special memories to last me a lifetime.