ALOHA!!
We spent our spring break (last week) in Hawaii on the wonderful island of Oahu!! This is my second time in the past year that I’ve been in Hawaii (and my 4th time on the island of Oahu). Last summer, we dropped off our daughter as a freshmen at the University of Hawaii! It’s been super hard having her so far away BUT it did make for an awesome vacation destination, both last year (for our 20th wedding anniversary) as well as this spring break with our boys. This was their first time there and we were really excited to show them some of our favorite spots, and also find new favorite spots!
Facebook is kind of a way for me to journal, so whenever we go on trips, I like to post daily updates of our adventures. People often come back and ask me about some of our excursions and such, so I figured I would compose everything into a blog post that I can share for my friends who are planning their trip to Hawaii! (I’ve already had a handful of friends reach out to me!)
There are lots of well-known places to visit on Oahu Island: Hanauma Bay, Pearl Harbor, Polynesian Cultural Center, The Dole Factory. I’ve been to all of those places and they are all awesome, but I thought I’d share some other lesser-known places to visit, and of course good places to eat! Because what’s a vacation without good food??
Before we get into all the amazing places to visit on Oahu, let’s talk about a few things you might wanna pick up and pack before you go!
Things To Pack Before You Go To Hawaii
Snorkel Gear
It’s worth the investment to get your own snorkel gear before you go. It’s expensive to rent, so if you go more than once, it will likely pay itself off, and then you have it forever! Our favorite snorkels are the full face masks. I don’t like having to breath through a tube. This mask fits fully over your face and you can actually talk while you’re wearing it! We also picked up flippers on the island (at Wal-mart), but they ended up costing more when we returned this spring and they weren’t as good as the ones we bought during our visit in the summer. These are the ones we got that we love. They’ll really help you swim while snorkeling!
Water Shoes
Water shoes are a must have when going anywhere tropical! There are lots of great tidepools to explore, which of course are rocky, so you’ll need a good pair of water shoes. These are the ones we like (except for my daughter, who prefers these).
Fanny Pack
Fanny packs are the epitome of motherhood, aren’t they? My mom used to wear hers on vacation every year. I never thought I’d be that mom, but here I am, rocking the fanny pack life! Purses hurt my shoulders and backpacks hurt my back; fanny packs are perfect! You can wear it as a cross body sling if you prefer 😉
Other Things To Pack:
- Ear buds (for the plane ride)
- Travel Blanket (also for the plane ride-I HATE being cold!)
- Reef safe sunscreen (Hawaii is really big on being reef safe!!)
- Beach blanket (this one is super compact, which makes it easy for travel, and sand doesn’t stick to it!)
- Good books to read!!
Best Places To Visit On Oahu Island
This excursion was #1 on my kid’s list! There are a few activities they offer but swimming with sharks is most popular!! I know…that’s crazy. I was low-key panicking the night before our adventure, but I was outvoted by every member of my family; this was on all of their bucket lists. There are so many myths about sharks; Hollywood has given them a bad rap. While there are certainly predatory, aggressive sharks, most sharks are not aggressive. On this tour, marine biologists guide you and provide some education about sharks. If you’re like me, you’ll want to know what their safety record is. I’m happy to report that in their 10 years of business, they have a 100% safety record. Nobody has ever been hurt and the last time they ever saw a great white shark in that area was in 2005. That should put your mind at ease 😉 Word of advice: if you get even remotely motion sick, take some Dramamine before getting on the boat. Sadly, I forget to bring some Dramamine, and I ended up chucking off the back of the boat. Other than that, it was a truly remarkable experience!! Another word of advice: buy the picture/video package!!!
There are sooooo many fun things to do at Kualoa Ranch!! You could easily spend a few days here. It was really hard to narrow down what we wanted to do, but we ended up choosing the UTV rides. We had a blast! It’s a beautiful drive where you follow a guide and make some stops to see sites where movies were made (they are most known for Jurassic Park, but they’ve filmed hundreds of movie at Kualoa!) Fair warning: you will get filthy dirty on the ride! Wear some clothes that you don’t care about getting dirty! They provide goggles and the face covering and I promise you, you’ll need them!
Kaneohe Bay
When my hubby and I went to Hawaii in summer, we rented kayaks at Kaneohe Bay. There is a lot of great snorkeling along the reefs-we even saw sea turtles! There’s also a sandbar that you can row to and get out and hang out on! It was beautiful scenery and probably the best snorkeling I’ve done in Hawaii!
Halona Blow Hole
Our kids loved the Halona Blow Hole! I’ve seen it before but never realized that you can walk right up to it. It was so cool to see upclose, and to watch my son get splashed with the water! There’s also a cool little hike below that leads to a cave. It goes pretty far back. I’ll be honest…we turned around halfway inside because it didn’t smell fabulous.
Shark’s Cove
This is a great place for littles to swim, and to snorkel! The water is gorgeous! There are little tidepools nearby that you can also walk around and explore.
Kayaking in Kailua
Kailua was an adventure!! There are several rental options through Kailua Beach Adventures (bikes, kayaks, paddleboards, etc) but we opted for the kayaks. There are a few different spots you can kayak to. The first is called Flat Island. This was ranked for beginners and just a short distance across from the beach where you start your kayak adventure. If you are feeling a little more adventurous, you can head over to Lanikai Beach. There is snorkeling there along the reef and it’s a good place to swim. If you are feeling like an expert, you can venture over to Mokulua Island. It’s 2 miles from the main beach and it’s a tough trip (not gonna lie). The guides at the rental company warned us that it was expert level and that it would be a good work-out. We accepted the challenge and I’m so glad we did! Was it exhausting? You bet! But the views were incredible! We even crossed paths with a couple of sea turtles on our ride out there and came upon a monk seal sunbathing on the shore. If you make it to the island, be sure to hike around the right side of the island and find Queen’s Bath. It’s amazing!!
If you’re looking for a luau, Germaine’s Luau is great!! I love that it’s on the beach, so you get the ocean in the background. The food is good (and all you can eat) and they put on a great show, representing not just Hawaii, but all of the Polynesian Islands. Our kids really enjoyed the show, even more than I thought they would!
Makapu’u Lighthouse
This is a one mile hike up a paved road which takes you to the highest point of the hill that overlooks two sides of the island. The walk is gorgeous and it’s the known place for whale sightings!! We saw whales playing in the ocean below the trail, which was really neat!
Sandy’s Beach
This was my kid’s favorite beach! With that said, the waves are very big and strong. I wouldn’t recommend this beach to people with small kids, and definitely practice safety and heed warnings given because they did say that there are a lot of injuries at this beach. You can’t beat the waves for boogie boarding!
Cliff Jumping at Waimea Bay
We ventured to Waimea Bay in the summer and jumped off cliffs, but unfortunately it was too windy to do that when we came back over spring break. It’s a great beach and a lot of fun, so long as the wind isn’t too strong.
This was a fun little stop that we made on our way from Waikiki to Kualoa Ranch. My son loved the wild chickens and baby chicks roaming around. He was determined to feed them! They have several different flavors of macadamia nuts that you can sample and purchase, along with other treats, trinkets and souvenirs!
Every Friday night, there is a fireworks show in Waikiki right over the Hawaiian Village. People usually gather on the beach behind the Outrigger Reef Beach Resort around 7:00pm. The fireworks go off at 7:45pm sharp. We left the island on Saturday morning, so this was a fun finale to our trip!
Shopping In Waikiki
Duke’s Alleyway is a popular place to go for all kinds of Hawaii souvenirs. Sure, you have an ABC store on every corner, but you’ll find better prices in Duke’s Alley, especially if you are good at haggling.
There’s another hole-in-the-wall place that we found that I highly recommend. There isn’t really a sign for the shop, just small writing above the door that reads “DKTL”. It’s on the corner of Kuhio and Ka-iulani and it has cheaper prices than Duke’s! For Hawaiian jewelry, hair accessories, wallets, etc this is guaranteed to be your price!!
Best Places To Eat On Oahu Island
This place has THE BEST waffles I’ve ever had in my life. We discovered it while we were there in August and it was our first stop when we returned with the kids for spring break. They are made with croissants and are perfectly crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. Don’t skip on the coconut syrup-it takes it to the next level!! It’s super affordable and they also sell acai bowls and shave ice. The prices are very reasonable, too! Definitely a great place to stop!!
Our friends recommended this food truck for breakfast, and it did not disappoint! We each tried something different and every single thing we tried was good; the breakfast burrito, vegetarian burrito, pancakes, French toast…so good!
This restaurant is located at the Polynesian Cultural Center. It’s outside of the main park, so you don’t have to pay to get inside. Someone recommended the mango pizza at this restaurant, and my son and I LOVE mango, so we had to try it! O.M.G. Even my non-mango lovers enjoyed this pizza! We also got the BBQ pizza, and our boys devoured it! Don’t forget to leave room for ice cream cookie dessert!
This is probably one of the most popular places to eat in Waikiki. The line is always out the door and for good reason. They make their noodles from scratch, their prices are really good (especially for expensive Hawaii) and their food is bomb! It’s so good, in fact, that our kids insisted we go again on our last night there. Don’t let the line scare you away-it actually moves fairly quickly! You might wait 15-20 minutes outside, and it’s worth the wait!
Everyone needs to experience shave ice while in Hawaii! It’s nothing like the shave ice we buy here on the mainland. The ice is so flakey; it melts on your tongue! They also add on options such as ice cream or sweetened condensed milk, which makes it creamy and yummy! There are lots of places to choose from, but this one was recommended to us by the locals and it’s a small, family owned business, which I love supporting!
Have you ever had a Portuguese donut? For some reason they are really popular in Hawaii. You can find malasadas in many places, but Leonard’s Bakery is the best! Leonard’s grandparents migrated from Portugal (also where my great-grandfather immigrated from!) and they have a fun history of their family written on boards outside the bakery.
You simply cannot leave Hawaii without eating a slice of Duke’s Hula Pie!! It has a cookie crust, with macademia nut ice cream and topped with fudge and whip cream.
Have I given you enough ideas for your trip?? This was actually a lot of fun to write up and brings back so many (not-so-distant-yet) memories of the fun we had in Hawaii. I think I might have to go back and chronicle more of our awesome vacations!
Let me know in the comments what things you like to do in Hawaii!!
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