Oahu – The Paradise

After visiting Maui the winter of 2018 we were so in love with Hawaii that we wanted to explore the other islands. So when India trip of 2019 did not work out for winter and we had already visited the two countries we could travel with the visa restrictions that we had, it was an easy decision to make on where to go for 2019 shutdown week.

Oahu is so different than Maui. You have this concrete world of Honolulu, bustling with tourists, shopping malls and resorts all around but also the rest of the island still living a slower easy-going life with gigantic, absolutely awe-striking mountain landscapes and beaches that make you leave a part of your heart behind. We absolutely loved our 6 day trip in Oahu, Hawaii.

Here goes our itinerary for a 6-7 day trip to Oahu:

Day 1: Fly into HNL , explore close by Ala Moana Regional Park

Flying from Austin to Hawaii can be exhausting. We had about 9-10hour flight with few delays in between. Landed at Honolulu International Airport around 2PM, picked up our tour ride – a lovely red convertible beetle and headed to our Airbnb. Tip: Rental cars in Hawaii can be quite expensive. Compare rates at different websites. Although we usually go with Costco for their best rates for two drivers, we found that for Oahu, renting a economy sedan was costing the same as borrowing one from Turo (including the price of liability that is mandatory to be paid ).

We settled down in our wonderful Airbnb close to Ala Moana Center, Honolulu, with beautiful views of the beach and went out for a casual walk around Ala Moana Regional Park close by. After enjoying a wonderful sunset at the beach we headed to Shirokiya Japan Village Walk for dinner. We were amazed at the numerous food options available at this japanese food court. Most days they do have live music and the ambiance is easy-going. We headed to our Airbnb later for a good night sleep and get supercharged for the adventurous week.

Day 2: Diamond Head Crater Hike, Waikiki Beach, Pearl Harbor

• 

• 

• 

Aimed to reach Diamond head summit before sunrise but previous day was so long that we could not get ourselves to be up on time. We started our hike around 7AM, right after sunrise so it was still pretty pleasant and less crowded.

Diamond Head Crater Hike: Try to do this hike before sunrise. Make sure you wear shoes and carry flashlights if climbing up in dark. The hike is a short, moderate 1.6 miles round trip. Allow around 2 hours for the hike, gazing views, taking pictures (while fighting against the numerous tourists). While you are at it, don’t miss going into one of the fire station control room with spiral stairs to get to the top (there is an alternate easier way but whats the point if can’t make it little adventurous ! ). Views are worth all that hiking – Honolulu city, the south shores, the crater , the lighthouse everything looks so wonderful.

After hike we went down to Honolulu and relaxed at Waikiki beach – one of the most famous/iconic beaches in the world. The water is amazing and the location although bustling is still very calm. Diamond head crater views, light blue oceans, silky sands, surfers playing , palm trees all around – We get why this beach is so popular. While you are there you should also see the statue of Duke Paoa Kahanamoku – the father of International Surfing.

For lunch we went to Ono Seafood one of the best Poke places (for me) in the world!! Definitely try their Spicy Ahi. Seating area is limited so you might end up eating in your car but it is so worth it! If you still have some space , please try the malasadas (Portuguese donuts) at Leonard’s Bakery, you will thank me later!

We already had reservations for Pearl Harbor – USS Arizona Memorial tour for 3PM. There is a 60 day earlier window to reserve ticket for a specific day which starts at 7AM. If you miss that you can try to reserve a day before, starting 7AM and is first come first serve but free. So plan early for these tours. The tour takes about 75 minutes – there will be an introductory film explaining the events that took place on that unfortunate Sunday morning of December 7, 1941. After that a Navy operated boat will take you to the memorial built on top of the sunken USS Arizona.

We roamed around the museum for some more time and later came back to our stay, refreshed and headed for dinner at Marukame Udon Waikiki. The wait was exhausting but we had heard so much about the place that we had to try the famous Udon from Japan. After a satifstying dinner we headed to our stay for a early next morning.

Day 3: Lanikai PillBoxes, (Rain, Rain, Rain) Lanai Lookout, Halona Blowhole Lookout

It was Christmas! But the day was so gloomy and 90% chances of rain entire day and high wind advisory 😦

Lanikai Pillboxe Hike: We woke up early morning and convinced ourselves that the storm wont hit until we atleast hiked up to the Lanikai Pillboxes. We started our ascent before sunrise(use flashlights, the trail is a little steep in the beginning) and reached the first pillbox just around sunrise and it was beautiful. It was still gloomy, everything was indicating that storm was right around but it was still so good to be there. The water was so aqua blue despite bad lighting I could only imagine how it would be with great lights of the dawn. We enjoyed our ridge hike to the two pillboxes. We didn’t go up to the third since we knew weather was going to get bad soon. The hike is short but steep at points. Should take about 1-1.5hours. Good shoes are a must. Tip: Parking can be tricky since the trail head starts in between a nice neighborhood. Towing is enforced most places. So be very careful of where you are parking.

After the hike we wanted to visit the Lanikai beach which is few meters away but finding parking became impossible (we had parked at a non-parking area unknowingly but fortunately was not towed due to early hours). If you get a chance you should visit this beach – I hear its beautiful! It started pouring heavily around then so we lost hopes of doing anything else for the day , so headed to airbnb disappointed. For lunch we tried Duke’s Waikiki, which had a wait time of 2+hours but sure why not, we did not have anything else to do because of the rains 😦 We hung out at the Royal Hawaiian Center while our seat was available, checking out multiple fancy stores of the mall. The food at Duke’s was average for us compared to all the other restaurants we went to on our trip (also the most expensive and most rated).

As the rain started subsiding around evening, we took a long drive to the lush green of Nuʻuanu Valley. We drove on the Nuuanu Pali Dr, engrossed all the hidden valley beauty around us. We wanted to drive to the Pali Lookout but the roads ahead were closed due to heavy rain damages. We drove back towards the southern shores driving along the ocean, making a stop at Lanai Lookout before finally enjoying sunset by the Halona Blowhole Lookout. Since it was Christmas most restaurants were closed (even iHOP! ) We had dinner at an Indian restaurants close to our airbnb called Bombay Palace. Food was average but better then the McDonalds beside it , so we were happy.

We managed to catch up with most of the missed places on the later days except for Waimanalo Beach. This is supposed to be one of the best beaches in Oahu so try to add this in your plan. The planned itinerary for this day was : Lanikai Pillboxes, Lanikai Beach, Waimānalo Beach Park, Makapu’u Tide Pools, Makapuʻu Lookout and finally Makapu‘u Point Lighthouse Trail. Basically cover south-east shores of Oahu.

Day 4: Koko Crater Railway Trailhead, Hanauma Bay, Makapu‘u Point Lighthouse Trail

Koko Crater Railway TrailHead morning:

We started another sunrise hike to the Koko crater head before sunrise. The gates to park open at 7AM, but we saw hikers up the summit already, so you can start earlier to catch sunrise at the top if you uber to the place I guess, which we didnt know. The hike is a total stairs-master challenge. The climb is about 1000+ not maintained, irregular, steep railway stairs to the summit, about 1.8miles round trip and is considered hard but so worth it. It was fun to see kids enjoying and racing to the top and inspiring to see elderly acing the challenge better than us. You get a spectacular view of the south and east shores of Oahu and view of the Hanauma bay and crater too.

Afternoon at Hanauma Bay :

Took us about 2 hours to the top and back, after spending good amount of time to get aerial shots of the area. There was so much to capture. After that we picked up our hats, bathing suits and snorkel kit and walked to the Hanauma Bay entrance which is right across from the Koko crater parking lot. Hanauma bay parking lot is very limited and they fill up right when they open at 7AM. If you are planning to visit this place atleast during the AM, its very difficult to find a spot. So people either take uber or few of them like us, leave the car at already found spot in Koko crater parking lot and take some extra steps to reach the bay but atleast no hazzle ! There is an entry fee of 7$ at the entrance of the bay and shuttles operate to drop you up or down from the entrance to the bay. While you are enjoying the bay please be mindful to not hurt the marine life in anyways. It has been said that the life here is dwindling owing to excessive tourism which is very saddening. We spent good amount of time here snorkeling along the reefs and finding so many variety of colorful fishes. Snorkel kit and fins are available for rental here, but no lifejackets – so if you are not a confident snorkeler get a life vest from outside. Also, there is only a snack bar here – no full fledged restaurant.

Evening at Makapu’u Point Lighthouse:

We had a late lunch at a restaurant on our way to Makapu‘u Point Lighthouse. This is another great family hike which was the most easy of all the hikes we did in Oahu. About 2 miles round trip but so many changing views. The trail is uphill but steady and is completely paved( so strollers will go easily although might be bit slow uphill). You can see the Koko head at the beginning and then face the lighthouse and the deep blue oceans on another side of the hill while you hike. There are many viewing spots with binoculars setup as this is one of the best places to watch whales. We spotted couple of them while we were there too.

The trail to the lighthouse itself is closed now but you get a good view of it along with the east shores of Oahu from the summit. The sun almost set when we reached summit and it started pouring while we were coming down. We enjoyed the rain while remembering how happy drenching in rain used to be in our childhood.

We did not plan the second hike this day since we wanted to keep it light and easy to prepare for the intense 10miles hike planned for next day. But since day 3 did not go as planned we had to do this hike if we had to see what it was about and I am glad we did. Makapu‘u Point Lighthouse trail was simple and beautiful. We had dinner at Diamond Head Market & Grill. Don’t forget to pick up some scones on your way out from the market. They are the best!

Day 5: Legal way to Stairway to Heaven (Moanalua Valley Trail Start (Kulana’ahane))

It was my bucket list to see the Haʻikū Stairs from the top and I was very disappointed that they have declared climbing these stairs illegal. There 3,922 not maintained steps of this steep, one of a kind stairs (built in 1942, repaired some of it in 2003), has caused a lot of deaths ,emergency causes and an annoyance to the neighborhood has led it to be declared illegal and there have been many cases with people getting citations and arrested while attempting to climb them. So we decided to take the back route – a long, hard and exhausting 10.3miles round trip hike to see them. The day started cloudy with a good chances of rain but we were hoping that it could get better as we climb up and away from our airbnb.

The gates to the parking lot is open from 7AM to 7PM. The first 2 miles of the hike is pretty straightforward and flat with lots of creeks and beautiful green flora of the Moanalua Valley. At around 2.5 miles from start you will see a small trail head mark to your left for Kulana’ahane. That’s were the ridge hike and elevation gain starts. You start crossing these narrow ridges with steep valleys on either side and then use ropes to climb up the mountains every once in a while. On a normal day I would say it would have been manageable. But it had started raining and the winds were harsh. The ropes to climb were so muddy and slippery and the trail itself was too slimy and not suitable to climb. As we went to higher elevation the winds started getting so much stronger that crossing the barren ridges became too risky. We were 0.3 miles to reach the stairs but we made a painful decision to head back down since we knew we would not have the time to reach back to our car before 7PM if we kept on going. It was also because we were scared the condition could go worse anytime and we wanted to be at a safer location while it does. It was also because there was absolutely no view since it was too foggy to see each other a little far apart as well.

It was a grueling climb down but we did make it right on time to the parking lot where we could change clothes(restrooms available) and headed to our second airbnb in the north eastern shore. We had dinner at North Shore Tacos walking distance from our Airbnb.

Day 6: Dolphin Excursions, Nu‘uanu Pali Lookout, Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden, Kualoa Regional Park

Swimming around Dolphins: Dolphin Excursions Hawaii

Dolphin excursion was a late decision, hence we had to drive 1.5 hours towards opposite side of the island to reach them. We wanted to keep this day lighter, after our previous full day hike, but we could not bring ourselves to not do what our heart wants! We were really exhausted but equally excited to swim with Dolphins. We had picked Dolphin Excursions Hawaii after their raving reviews and we were not disappointed. We were a group of 20 on the boat. We saw a pod of spinner dolphins within 10-15mins of offshore, we waited to see if they would be fine joining them for a swim. When we realized they didn’t mind us hanging around, we hopped out of the boats in a domino style to observe them in their habitat free and wild. Absolutely loved them!

Our excursion also included whale watching – we saw couple of them and it was so special. Finally we were taken to another spot to swim with sea turtles. Saw couple of them along with good variety of fishes and we even saw sting ray! It was a great 3 hour excursion and the crew was so disciplined and fun! They provided a lot of info about all these amazing creatures throughout the trip. We were very glad to have decided to add this to our itinerary! Our Oahu Dolphin Excursion package for 140$ included Waikiki pickup (10% off if no pick up needed), complimentary lunch after the excursion and touring around the West coast for Spinner dolphins, humpback whales, sea turtles and beautiful tropical fishes.

After lunch we drove to Nu‘uanu Pali Lookout that we missed due to rains few days back. And then headed to Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden where I was very eager to go for the picturesque surroundings. However, due to heavy rains from previous days, the garden was closed which was very disappointing! If you guys are around the area please drive or stroll around this beautiful park. Its iconic Oahu picture park with towering mountains, greenery all around and a nice curvy road leading to no where.

We then drove to Kualoa Regional Park to see the Chinaman’s hat island and to chill until the sun came down. If you were here for longer, you could rent some paddle-boards or use kayak to reach the tiny little island.

After sunset we headed home, took a nice shower and went to dinner at Papa Ole’s Kitchen, a highly rated local favorite restaurants walking distance from our airbnb.

Day 7: Swim with Sharks, Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, Kailua Beach Park, The Byodo-In Temple, Sunset Beach Park

Sharks Adventure – North Shore Shark Adventures:

This was our last day in Oahu and there were so many places still to be visited. Due to some bad weather a lot of things did not work as we had planned in our itinerary, but we knew it was a pretty good day since we were going to swim with sharks! We had reserved our excursion with North Shore Shark Adventures. Tip: Book the earliest slot since the waters are too choppy and your whole experience could be worse with sea sickness. It was about 30mins from our airbnb. We started before sunrise for our 7AM tour, driving along the beautiful north shores. While booking, we had two options – go on a cage swim or snorkel/free-dive in the wild( One Ocean Diving) . After some research we decided to go for the cage since the chances of seeing the sharks was almost 99% guaranteed and they do get pretty close to you. Although we did not go with One Ocean diving, from our experience it feels like snorkeling, free diving with this amazing creatures in the wild would also be a great and adventurous experience that I want to try when we go back to Oahu again. (For the stairs 😛 ) .

So how do these cage tour companies guaranty that sharks will be at the location? They use spots where crabbing is common and where sharks come to eat the bait (free food, who does not want it) . It has been said that these sharks are accustomed to the sound of diesel engine and treat them as signals for finding food. That is why these tour companies use diesel engine boats to lure these sharks from deep under ocean to the surface for our amusements.

They put you in the cage, in groups of max 6 I think and eat group gets about 20mins of time in cage. If you are prone to sea sickness, take precautions since the cage tied to the boat makes the whole sea sickness worse. The waters get choppy as the day goes by , so the first ones to dive into the cage have better experience than the last group. Over all it was a great 20minutes. The whole tour took about 1.5 hours and we were on shores by 8:30AM. There were no tour restrooms and you have to use the public restrooms so be prepared for that. For the amount of money you pay I did expect a decent changeroom/restroom! The tour costed us about 120$ (right now I see 20% discount going on ).

After that we headed down to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet for souvenir shopping. This is Hawaii’s biggest flea market which is only open on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. We bought some great local hand crafts for a good price here, much cheaper than in Honolulu.

After this we drove towards Kailua Beach adjacent to Lanikai Beach (we missed it due to bad weather after our pillbox hike).  We had lunch at Boots & Kimo’s Homestyle Kitchen before heading to the beach. Expect some wait but dont miss the Macadamia nut pancakes! After spending our afternoon at the beach which was pretty yet crowded but had a great restroom system, we headed to The Byodo-In Temple ( we crossed it everyday on our way to north shore airbnb, but always reached late so we had to make it today).

There is an entrance fee of 7$ for the temple which was built to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii. It is a replica of United Nations World Heritage Site by the same name in Uji, Japan. This temple is in the heart of the Valley of the Temples, a memorial park where thousands of Buddhist, Shinto, Protestant and Catholic residents of Hawaii are buried.

We had so many more places pending on our list – most importantly the north shore beaches. But it was 2 hours to sunset and an hour drive to north shore. So had to decide one place to enjoy our last evening in Oahu. We drove down to Sunset Beach , the enjoyed one of the most dramatic sunsets during our time in Oahu. We enjoyed the surfers playing with those huge pipelines, those were one of the highest waves I have seen. Surfing seems so much fun. Need to try some day(once I fully learn swimming ofcourse! )

We did not want the day to end. As the sunset, we sat there taking it all in, the most adventurous trip of the year, hating the fact that we were flying away from this paradise tomorrow.

Day 8: Fly back Home.

As we headed out. we witnessed a beautiful , bright sunrise on our way to airport, it felt like God cheated with us. We woke up everyday seeking such amazing weather which did not almost happen but today – today seemed like its going to be a great day, making it even more difficult to leave. We almost thought about postponing our flight to a day later (To leave after spending new years ), but convinced ourselves it was a crazy idea. (Not so comfortable with improptu plans) . We have promised each other to be back here again and visit the remaining saved places on our google map.

If you are not into full day hikes, may be you could cover some of the other places we could not make it on Oahu. Here are the notable ones:

• Shark’s Cove: I hear this is a great place for snorkeling on north shore.
• Waimea Bay Beach Park: Another surfing beach on north shore (more touristy)
• Banzai Pipeline : Wonderland for surfers. One of the heaviest and most perfect waves in existence during winters. 2020 Volcom Pipe Pro – World Surf League happens here. Summers – its just a regular beach.
• Kahana Bay Beach Park: A nice secluded beach with campsites – we crossed it so many times but could not stop for a view.
• Waimānalo Beach Park: This was on our itinerary but could not go because of bad weather.
• Tantalus Lookout – Puu Ualakaa State Park: You can see Waikiki skyline and the Diamond head crater from here.

There are two major touristy things that I have intentionally left out from this itinerary. The below two spots are rated the best by most travel company websites and I reckon that might be the case. But it was not inclining to the agenda we had for the trip. We wanted to experience more local – explore and experience the true essence of Hawai’i. Also these tours are not cheap and for us they did not seem to justify for the experience we would have. We will rather spend those couple of 100 dollar bills on other adventures.

1. Polynesian Cultural Center: Almost everyone who comes to Oahu the first time makes it mandatory to add this in their plan. We found this place too touristy and did not feel like it would provide us what we were looking for – a true experience of what Hawai’i and people of Hawai’i are. So we decided to give this a miss. No offense to people who go there. We were attracted to it too. But we had done an authentic Luau at Old Lahaina Maui , our previous visit, and had a great time. From the reviews and our research it looked like this one is more commercial and not as authentic.
2. Kualoa Ranch: A private nature preserve , active movie location and a tourist attraction providing different eco tours based on your liking. It seemed too commercial and the various packages provided kind of did not go with what we wanted to do with the time we had on the island. Note as part of the tour you could kayak to the Chinaman’s hat – but you can do that without any third party too, since the attached Kualoa Beach park is public.

Over all we had a blast in Oahu and now when people ask me whats my favourite island of Hawaii. I am completely torn between Maui and Oahu. They both have different vibes. I cant pick one better than the other. From these two trips one thing however has become evident. We are in love with Hawai’i and cant wait to be back to explore island of Kauai.