Oahu is truly a tropical metropolis. If you came to Hawaii to get away from the big city, then Oahu is not for you. But if you want to experience the up-and-coming trends in Hawaii, and have the high-end Hawaiian food experience, and see the big surf on the North Shore, (or if you are a Brand Name B*tch and want to shop the exclusive Hawaiian lines of all your favorite luxury brands) then Oahu is the only place to do this.
That said, the windward side of Oahu has the same rural charm that the rest of the islands have.
Snorkeling/Ocean:
- Try north shore Pupukea (Sharks Cove) if the tide is high. If the tide is low, go tidepooling instead. In any case watch out for sea urchins.
- Hanauma Bay does have lots of fish but it's not so fun to have to go early to get parking (yes -- get there before 9am) -- that water is cold at that time of the morning.
- If you are really buff, kayak to the Mokolua islands off Lanikai beach. On a calm day, it's awesome. On a rough day, it's not. We used this vendor: http://www.govisithawaii.com/2009/01/09/kayaking-the-mokulua-islands-with-kailua-sailboards-kayaks/
Outside:
- Byodo In Buddhist temple. You will feel transported to Japan. Take off your shoes and visit the Buddha. Feed the koi. And don't forget to ring the bell!
- Pali lookout. Windy, scenic, uncrowded, and did we say windy? A quick 15 minute stop but worth it for the pictures. Also for when you need a reminder about the strength of trade winds.
- Aloha swap meet (Weds, Sat, Sun. Enormous. Souvenirs so cheap!! Sterling silver earrings with opal inlay $25. Big floral print bags - $15-25. 8 TShirts for $20 - my husband ONLY wears Tshirts from the Aloha Swap Meet)
- Costco has all kinds Hawaiian products. Mac nut candies; mac nut cookies; Hawaiian music books and CDs; Aloha shirts; Poke; Ahi sashimi; and they used to carry Hawaiian jewelry but that has fallen out of favor as of late.
- North Shore surf watching. Even if there's no surf competition, watch the kids jump off the big rock; wade into Pupukea; have some pie at Ted's.
- Hike Diamond Head crater. Short, steep but not too steep, great views. If you do only one hike on Oahu, do this one! Very little shade - go early. Then hit up Ninja Sushi on the way back, and Leonard's.
Eating:
- Alan Wongs (very expensive). Roy’s is very very good. But AW’s is better. The Ahi stack was a revelation – although a bit too much raw onion. The ginger Onaga is just amazing – sweet and gingery, not just a bunch of dry fish flavor. But really the best dish is the short ribs. A huge piece of short rib meat, no bones, meltingly tender, in a sweet teriaki glaze. Yes, better than Roy’s. And Elissa downed her penne with tomato sauce, and Sam ate most of her penne with butter – what a deal for $5!! We can also highly recommend the Lilikoi Margarita and the Polynesian Paralysis – yummy.
- Alan Wong’s Pineapple Room at Ala Moana marketplace. It looked a bit like the Nordstrom in-store restaurant (i.e. blah) but the food was amazing. The burger grilled over Kiawe wood was quite possibly the best hamburger I have ever eaten. Smoky and charred and big beefy flavor. Wow. And no need to dress up.
- Dukes Waikiki. This is a bit of a different experience than Duke's Kauai. Duke's Waikiki is Ground Zero in Waikiki, amidst the high end shopping and high rise hotels. Make a reservation if at all possible on a night when they have live music. Watch the sun set on the beach, watch the drunken tourists stumble by in the sand, listen to the outstanding music, get blitzed on Tropical Itches (complete with backscratchers). Do not miss
- Ninja Sushi - Spicy Ahi Bowl. Thank me later. There's one on Kalakaua Ave, also there is a new one near the airport
- Leonards Malasada’s (if you like donuts)
- Chun wah kam noodle factory, for Manapua (go straight for the spicy pork)
Eating
(Windward side):
- Pah Ke's
- Koa Pancake House
- Ted's (go for lunch and PIE!! after checking out north shore surfers)
- Matsumoto shave ice in Halaiwa
- Ola (?) at the Turtle Bay Hilton, on the beach
Airfare:
Flying weds-weds will be the cheapest. sat-sat or
sun-sun will be the most expensive. play around with the dates and
see. cheapest to fly out of lax. some hotels will let you stay the
night and leave the car there for a week, called "park and
fly." see doubletree and crowne plaza links in our website. should
be ~$150. doubletree is the better hotel. shuttles run to lax all
the time. otherwise good luck driving up to LA for a 9am flight!!!!
ha ha!!
Rental
Cars:
I always book Alamo rental cars with the Costco
discounts. http://www.costcotravel.com/#11_rentalCars
That always gets me the best prices. Book your car
right away and then check back and reprice your trip to see if the price goes
down. We usually get a full-size car because it is usually only a couple
of dollars more than a compact.
You'll want a car on Oahu for at least two days (or the
whole time). If you're only going to rent a car for a duration shorter
than your stay it would probably be a better idea to rent at a location near
your hotel rather than at the airport. Conceivably you
could do multiple one-day rentals and avoid the overnight parking
fee, but cost of a single-day rental (or even a 2-3 day rental) is usually so
high it becomes non-competitive.
Discussion
There are just a ridiculous number of beautiful beaches on
oahu. more than kauai. of course, there's waikiki, which you
should spend some time at just to say you've been there and for the people
watching. make sure to get a photo with the statue of duke (at the east
end toward diamond head).
other notable beaches: lanikai beach, kailua beach
park. both beautiful but a little remote. ala moana beach near our
hotel has no waves and is very relaxing. great view. the north
shore is just littered with beautiful beaches so plan to spend a day making a
driving loop up there. and just pull off the road when the mood
strikes. waimea is on the western shore.
i highly recommend hiking to the top of diamond head.
it isn't too bad even for people like us that aren't in very good shape so it
should be a piece of cake for you guys. bring a flashlight. it
isn't at all what you expect but the view is unbelievable from the top.
if you want to snorkel on oahu, the place to go is hanauma
bay on the eastern tip. you'll need to get there EARLY like before 9am or
the parking lot fills up and you get turned away. but the snorkeling is
pretty amazing. snorkel rental places are all over but i don't think they
rent at hanauma so you'll have to rent the day before.
the view from the nuuanu pali lookout is spectacular.
this is a historic site: the location of the final battle as king kamehameha
conquered oahu and united the hawaiian islands under a single ruler (kauaijust
surrendered).
as far as driving goes, there is basically a road that
circles the island and three routes that cross the middle: H3, likelike
highway, and pali highway. driving all the way around the island in one day is
pretty far so you'll probably want to take the east half and west halves on
different days.
sometimes you will see directions to a place ending with
"on the mauka side of the road". "mauka" means
"toward the mountains" and "makai" means "toward the
ocean". i remember which is which because the "mau" in
mauka sounds like the "mou" in mountains.
there is a resort called turtle bay that is at the very
northwest tip of the island. you could cross the mountains on pali or
likelike driving counter-clockwise and spend a morning stopping at beautiful
beaches and arrive at turtle bay for a late lunch (there is also a beautiful
beach there, btw). i think the parking there is free if you're going to
the beach. there is a cool open air/on the beach restaurant called
"ola" at turtle bay. http://www.olaislife.com/ OR
if you love shrimp you could stop at the shrimp trucks in the same area (we
haven't done this yet so I don't have a recommendation). continue on the
road toward sunset beach and stop at a place on the mauka side of the road
called ted's bakery http://tedsbakery.com/ (they
also have plate lunch) and order a slice of chocolate haupia pie.
fantastic. they are famous for this (they also have other flavors).
haupia is coconut custard. you could always get your pie to go and take
it to the beach. continue on down the road to an adorable surf town called
haleiwa and do a little shopping and stop for the best shave ice on
the island at matsumoto. http://www.matsumotoshaveice.com/
if you have time there is one special place we always stop
at on the way toward turtle bay in a town called laie. we turn off the
main road on anemoku street (across from a shopping center) and head toward the
ocean. there is a cool giant flat rock with a hole in it sitting out in
the water. the photo on our holiday card was taken there. remind me
some day to tell you the funny story about how we found it.
another thing you could do on either day is the
byodo-in temple in kaneohe. it is a replica of a temple in japan.
we love it there as it is very peaceful and good for a brief stop. be
sure to ring the bell.
for cheap souvenirs try wal-mart or k-mart or costco.
there are several on both islands. costco has aloha shirts, hawaiian
music, some hawaiian food items (macadamia shortbread cookies in a huge jar),
etc.
we like to go to the swap meet at aloha stadium. they
have cheap t-shirts, cheap aloha shirts. good place to get cheap gifts
for nieces and nephews, etc.
lastly, since you're on vacation, try to stop and watch the
sunset every day. have a mai tai (or tropical itch at duke's) and relax.
:-)
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