Angelo Solis of Berkeley, Calif., spent Sunday night sleeping on a ticket counter at Honolulu International Airport but was hoping to stretch out on a baggage claim bench last night before he finally catches a flight home later today.

Solis was on vacation in Waikiki until Sunday, scheduled to check out and catch a lunchtime flight, when the earthquake hit. On the 14th floor of the Queen Kapi'olani Hotel, he said the building did such serious shaking that he and his friend decided to check out right away and return the rental car early.

"I was scared. It was really rolling," Solis said. "I figured it was a volcano or something." Living in California, he has experienced lots of smaller earthquakes but he said this one got his attention because it was so strong.

Solis and his friend, Saul Lincoln, arrived to find the airport in darkness. By midmorning yesterday things there were beginning to return to normal, although it was still slow-going for some travelers.

State Transportation Department spokesman Scott Ishikawa continued to caution travelers to call their airlines before showing up at the airport because canceled flights were being rescheduled at the discretion of the airlines and schedules varied widely.

Solis and Lincoln were among the few still sleeping at the airport yesterday. They found out their American Airlines flight was canceled just an hour before the scheduled midday take-off on Sunday. The first confirmed flight they could get was scheduled to depart this afternoon.

Across the airport, some passengers who had flown from Guam on Continental Airlines Flight 2 were looking pretty weary after more than 30 hours of travel starts and stops.

Deborah Yoder was wrapping up a visit with her son and daughter-in-law on Guam and heading back to her home in Nashville, Tenn., yesterday. She and other passengers planned to leave Guam at 6 a.m. and arrive in Honolulu at 5 p.m.

The plane was about four hours late leaving Guam. When it finally did depart, the plane was turned back. "We got about as far as the international dateline — it was a little over halfway to Honolulu — when they turned us back," she said.

With Guam in sight, their plane circled for about 45 minutes to burn off fuel before landing. They got back on the plane about 6:30 p.m. in Guam and arrived in Honolulu about 6 a.m. yesterday.

Yoder said after three hours in line at Continental she wasn't sure whether she'd get out last night. But she praised the people at the airlines and her fellow passengers for their grace under pressure.

Caroline Tran and Jonathan Ty were on their honeymoon on Maui when the earthquake and blackouts hit. The couple from Los Angeles was able to make it to Honolulu Sunday morning, but quickly realized they would not make a 12:40 p.m. American Airlines connecting flight home.

"When we finally arrived ... there was all this chaos," Trans said of the scene at the Honolulu airport. "We realized they were out of water, that bathrooms weren't working and that's when it was, 'Oh, my gosh, it's a disaster.' "

Ty managed to book a flight for yesterday and the two caught a cab to Waikiki Sunday night.

Kerwin and Colette Iwamori were supposed to fly back to Maui Sunday after coming to Honolulu for a family get-together. They tried to get information on their Hawaiian Airlines flight, but were unable to get through on the phone.

"We came down here and we looked at the mess and we said, 'Whoa! Forget it.' We turned around and went back to her mom-folks' house in 'Aiea," Kerwin Iwamori said.

Meanwhile, the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawai'i passed out more than 200 lei to departing passengers at the Honolulu airport yesterday afternoon. The nonprofit group helps visitors to Hawai'i who have been victims of crime or other adversities.

"We wanted to spread the aloha spirit as people were leaving the islands under such stressful circumstances," said Jessica Lani Rich, president and executive director of the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawai'i. "Many of them were here (Sunday) and were inconvenienced. We wanted to let them know that we care, that we're sorry for the unfortunate incident and we wanted to welcome them to come back."

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com and Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.