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Advice on a first time visit to Oahu, Hawaii
Hi ~travel!
My partner and I are going to Oahu for a ten day holiday at end of October. Neither of us have been there before. We are looking for advice on what to see, eat, do. We have a rental car.
We'd love to see some less popular nooks of Oahu without angering the locals.
So far we have to do:
- Pearl harbor museum, USS Arizona.
- Surf somewhere we can both enjoy. I am experienced but in intermediate paddling shape. Partner is a novice. Trying for a couple hours' AM paddle out for a few days. Beach, point, or rock reef breaks.
- Drink a Mai Tai. Where is the best bar on the island? Posh or dive? We like dive bars but aren't afraid to splash out for a fantastic experience.
Attend a luau. Who's got the best roast swine?Removed this on the advice of commenters, also very expensive after looking into it. Will go eat at a few food trucks instead!- Day hikes. Where are the good trails?
- Non-surf watersports. Can't afford marlin fishing with our budget but snorkeling, diving, or sailing are realistic options.
Anything else? Some of the best travel suggestions have come from strangers in hostels or bars - probably also Tildes. Thanks for reading everyone!
edit: for brevity
Apologies for my (lack of) formatting, but I will address a few of the points I can:
Great "locals" spot for sushi. We stumbled upon it from a recommendation and went back the next day:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/YN1QAZ7eXsNgH25X9
Roy's has a few locations. It's a bit fancier, but the food is quite good. The chocolate souffle dessert is amazing! If you only eat one thing, make it the souffle:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/cwHmm8HyWVkYCq12A
If you're roadtripping, a 'Dole Whip' from the plantation is a great sweet treat:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZhnHUjG1Qu5a9yz2A
The Polynesian Cultural Center is really interesting, although it's pricey and not everyone's thing. They host a luau every night and the food is pretty decent. No booze though.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/DR2XTG69ySMYsiHy5
And the Royal Hawaiian Golf Club should be on the bucket list of every golfer and/or nature lover:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/T6u5ms49JMFN3uJBA
Lots of great suggestions in this thread already! Here's an important piece of advice I haven't seen yet: don't try to do too much, activity wise. Honolulu is a place where you don't have to plan, especially in the non-peak months. Make space in your itinerary to just find a cool beach and hang. Kailua beach is my personal fave.
I've been to Oahu 4 times in the past decade. I cycled around it over 2 days with friends in 2021. The best days I've had in Oahu, I've spent chilling on a beach just getting tossed around by the waves. That being said, here are some points of interest.
In downtown Oahu there's boat tours that can take you out snorkeling with turtles and touring the coast. Check ahead, but at the time I was available to book one next day. There's a lot of activities like that in the city which you can do relatively spontaneously.
Honolulu has excellent Japanese food. Thanks to the proximity and lots of Japanese tourists, it's actually the closest to Japan I've experienced in the US. There used to be two large and excellent Japanese food halls, but unfortunately it looks like the pandemic hit hard. It looks like the Waikiki one, which used to be called Waikiki Yokocho, is now rebranded as "Stix Asia". The giant one that used to be in Ala Moana Center is embroiled in a legal battle apparently. Probably worth looking where the good Japanese food is these days. Marugame Udon is an excellent Waikiki fixture with an imposing looking line that moves surprisingly quick.
Honolulu: Brunch at Cream Pot. Incredible souffle pancakes, french omelettes in a setting out of a Miyazaki movie. Be prepared to wait on line, but worth the wait. The owner Nathan is very nice.
In Waikiki, Wang Chungs is an amazing karaoke gay bar tucked inside a hotel. Big vibes, great energy from both locals and visitors taking turns singing. Every time I've gone has been a blast.
The two above spots bring up an important point about Waikiki: they're both hotel-adjacent. I usually avoid hotel restaurants and bars when traveling. I'm always suspicious they're packaging a less authentic experience for captive traffic. The reality of Waikiki is hotels and malls are where everything is. Many of the restaurants and bars attached to them are excellent. Expensive, though almost everything in the hotspots is. As far as actual hotel restaurants go, I'm partial to The Laylow in Waikiki.
North Shore: Giovanni's Shrimp Truck is a classic and super easy dinner spot after enjoying Sunset Beach.
Kaʻena Point State Park is gorgeous and might be tempting to visit before leaving the North Shore, though be advised the road doesn't connect around that side of the island.
If you're into cycling, Velohana is a fantastic local spot run by an elite bike racing coach. They rented me a epic road bike and do guided rides.
Now, don't let that distract you from the true goal: chilling on the beach! I'll caveat my experiences by saying I am not a surfer, but will take any and all opportunities to hop into the pacific ocean.
I saw you mentioned Waikiki beach. Imo it's skippable. It's not even real; they have to bring sand in from other spots to counteract erosion. You can drive for less than an hour to several much better (and truly epic) beaches. Don't get too tied to a particular beach. I've had the best success by checking the water conditions day-of.
There used to be an official gov site with conditions and hazard levels per beach, but I can't find it at the moment; this is the closest thing I see now. As a surfer you're probably familiar with the live surf report sites. Use them! Worth checking before you head out for the day since you'll have a car, and a short drive can make a big difference.
Check out Duke's Waikiki. Get the coconut shrimp. It might be loaded so call before hand to check how busy they'll be for a walk in, or reserve if possible. You can get a Mai Tai there.
Waimea Valley is an enjoyable hike to a lovely little waterfall. Actually it's more of a happy walk through a botanical garden than a hike, but I count it. Take swimming trunks.
Jumping off Waimea Rock into the ocean is a thing to do. About a 20-25 foot jump iirc, depending on the water level. Watch out for big waves.
The Oahu Revealed tourbook seemed pretty decent and is probably more up-to-date than my recommendations, since it's been a while. Here are some of the more obvious things to do:
Diamond Head Hike is popular with tourists but I enjoyed it. Looks like you need reservations now, which is probably for the best. We rode e-bikes to the parking lot from Waikiki, which was fun, but you wouldn't need to do that with a car.
Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve is a crater where you can do some pretty mellow snorkeling, suitable for beginners. (Which I was and am.) I'll let someone who snorkels more say if it's worth it. Also requires reservations.
Polynesian Cultural Center is a tourist attraction (sort of like a theme park) with exhibits about different Polynesian islands. If you want a luau-like experience, you can get one, but I didn't think that kind of food was all that special. The evening show was pretty good. Run by the Mormons, but the only thing I particularly noticed was no alcohol.
I'll second the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was a neat place to check out. We did the luau there as well and its definitely more of just dinner and a show (although this was quite a few years back)
Just drive H3. It doesn’t take that long and the views are amazing.
I would recommend going to Liliha Bakery and getting the poi mochi donuts.
Their loco moco came up on several searches I did, and it was absolutely fantastic. Highly recommend!
Edit: it's in a weird out of the way spot, inside a bay or some big department store in the mall, on the second floor.
Pearl Harbor and the Arizona, yes, both interesting and worth a visit. As far as the rest of the island, Id say anything away from Honolulu is best - its a big city tourist trap imho with ridiculously expensive stores and food anywhere near Waikiki although I suppose you have to go once just to know what its like. Personally I loved the north shore, the much more laid back atmosphere and far less touristy. Haleiwa has some cool board shops when I was there (quite a few years ago now). Id skip the luau completely - its a cheesy touristy thing but it really doesnt have much to do with Hawaiian culture, more Polynesian islander.
Be sure to grab some chicken katsu and mac salad from L&L Hawaiian Barbecue
I went back in 2001 and liked the Arizona memorial (Pearl Harbor and WWII is something that really interest me). I did the Polynesian Cultural Center and would recommend it but is is a touristy thing just for the Luau and food. Saw a free Hula Dance on the beach of Waikiki which was a very nice surprise. But the thing I remember the most is hiking to the top of Diamond Head. If you do that and walk on Waikiki beach for the rest of your life you will see both views in photos or on TV and it will bring back a fond memory.
If you are going to have a rental car spend a day and just drive around the island and stop wherever you feel like. Have lunch at a little hole-in-the wall place. Its a fantastic experience to just cruise around and take in the sights. I recommend taking the H2 up to 99/83 and then going around the island and coming back on the H3 to go through the tunnels in the mountains.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanikai_Beach
The best beach I know of on Oahu. Insanely beautiful.
This is my favorite hike when I'm back on the island.
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/hawaii/oahu/waimano-falls-trail?u=i
Out-and-back with a waterfall at the end that you can jump into. Very muddy!
My wife and I were in Oahu for our honeymoon last summer (delayed 3 years by COVID). Lots of great suggestions in this thread already, but I'll also throw out Diamondhead as a great (probably obvious) morning hike, as well as the Makapu'u Lighthouse. We did this one in the afternoon (brings lots of water) but it still had incredible views up top.