Hawaii: Oahu

Whether you’re spending your entire Hawaiian vacation on Oahu or catching a flight to another island, Honolulu International will be your first stop. Welcome to Hawaii!

Fun Facts about Oahu

O’ahu is the third largest and most populous island.
Average temperatures range from 74° F to 88 F° with moderate humidity of 53 percent during the day.
The state capital, Honolulu, is located on Oahu’s southeast coast.
Honolulu International Airport (HNL) was featured in the old and new Hawaii Five-O TV series, Snakes on a Plane (2006), and Godzilla (2014).
In Hawaiian, Honolulu means, “sheltered bay” or “calm port.”
Waikiki Beach in Honolulu is one of Hawaii’s most popular tourist destinations.
The attack on O’ahu’s Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, pushed the U.S. into the global war.
Four years later, on September 2, 1945, Japan signed its unconditional surrender on the USS Battleship Missouri, which rests in Pearl Harbor today.
In 1959, Hawaii became the 50th U.S. state.

Iolani Palace, *House of the Heavenly King,* Oahu

Places to Visit on Oahu

The Bishop Museum
Pearl Harbor Historic Sites
The Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum
The USS Missouri
National Cemetery of the Pacific at The Punchbowl
The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai’i (I bought a beautiful Japanese Tea Set in their gift shop!)
- In the Future: The Honouliuli National Historic Site – a former internment camp
Hike to the Nuuanu Pali Lookout or Diamond Head, or Koko Head
Visit the Lanai Lookout and see if you can see Maui, Lanai and Molokai!
See more Attractions in the dedicated area sections below!

USS-Missouri-Battleship — The USS Missouri

Transportation

Getting to Oahu

The Honolulu International Airport (HNL) is on the island’s south coast. Currently, 27 international and domestic carriers, 3 inter-island airlines, and 4 commuter airlines use the airport.

Fun Fact: One of the airport’s runways, known as the Reef Runway, was the world’s first major runway constructed offshore. It is a designated alternate landing site for NASA’s space shuttle program.

Getting Around Oahu

Public Transportation

Visitors have access to all ground transportation services at Honolulu International Airport. The airport is about 10 miles from Waikiki and 6 miles from downtown Honolulu. Oahu’s public transportation is the City & County of Honolulu’s excellent bus system, TheBus. Access is on the airport’s second level.

If a bus transfer is needed, it should be requested when the fare is paid.
Exact change is compulsory.
Monthly bus passes are available.
Senior citizens and riders with disabilities qualify for discounted fares.

The open-air Waikiki Trolley is fun way to get around inside the city. One, four, and seven-day passes are available and can be purchased online. Tram-style shuttles pick up passengers around Waikiki Beach to take them to the expansive Ala Moana Center.

Pro Tip: Traffic in the city is very congested. I recommend using public transit or a tour until a trip outside the city is planned.
Fun Fact: Robert Louis Stevenson, Jack London, Mark Twain, Herman Melville, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and W. Somerset Maugham were among the renowned writers who were entertained and hosted in the early days of Waikiki.

Accommodation

Most travelers to Hawaii find accommodation in the Waikiki District. The rest of the island is less touched by tourism with only a few resorts and B&B on the Windward Coast and the North Shore.

The Royal Hawaiian Oahu — The Royal Hawaiian

The Westin Moana Surfrider is Hawaii’s oldest resort still in operation.
The Royal Hawaiian, Waikiki’s Pink Lady, was unveiled in a coconut grove in the center of Waikiki Beach in 1927.
- The Royal Hawaiian hosts the Royal Luau on Waikiki Beach every Monday evening. With Diamond Head as the background, it is one of the island’s most romantic luaus.
The Halekulani (House Befitting Heaven), one of Waikiki’s original beachfront hotels, is an acclaimed luxury resort.
The Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa, one of the largest properties, has almost 4,000 guest rooms and a spectacular location on Duke Kahanamoku Beach.
The five-star Kahala Hotel & Resort is located on a beach in Honolulu’s exclusive Kahala area, east of Diamond Head.
The all-inclusive Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, is in Ko Olina Beach. It opened in 2011 – one of the few Disney Vacation Club Resorts located outside a Disney theme park.

Fun Facts: In its first five years, the The Royal Hawaiian welcomed movie stars such as Shirley Temple, Carole Lombard, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford.
In 1961, Conrad Hilton bought half of the Hawaiian Village Hotel. That year, Elvis Presley filmed Blue Hawaii at the resort, staying on the 14th floor of the Ocean Tower (Alii Tower) in the Mahele Suite.

Attractions

North Shore

North Shore beaches are renowned for towering surf that attracts surfing professionals and spectators. Big wave season is from November through February.

The legendary Waimea Bay, along with other famous spots including Ehukai Beach (Banzai Pipeline), Sunset Beach, and Haleiwa Beach host renowned surf competitions.
The Van Triple Crown of Surfing, known as the Super Bowl of Surfing, happens yearly between November and December.

Waimea Valley is a tropical park with birds, hiking trails, pools, waterfalls, and entertainment programs of hula and cliff diving. The grounds include more than 2,500 tropical plants and trees and several ancient Hawaiian sites. Guided and self-guided walking tours are available, as well as horseback riding, kayaking, and mountain biking.

The Turtle Bay Resort is the North Shore’s only large hotel – the setting for the short-lived TV series North Shore. A few condos and house rentals are available.

The town of Haleiwa on the North Shore has a casual rural character marked by a wide variety of surf and sports shops offering everything from custom-made surfboards to mountain bikes and wet suits. The town has boutiques, art galleries, and places where tourists can eat and cool off.

At the North Shore Surfing Museum, visitors can explore the history of surfing and displays of colorful boards
Liliuokalani Protestant Church is a historical landmark in Haleiwa, founded during the 1830s.
The Polynesian Cultural Center features a collection of six recreated island villages, representing the unique cultures of Hawaii: Fiji, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Samoa, Tahiti, and Tonga. Each village offers authentic dances, songs, and cultural presentations.
- The Center’s award-winning Ali’i Luau offers guests an authentic “all you can eat” Polynesian buffet while enjoying an island performance of song, dance and celebration from across the Pacific. Also featured is an outstanding evening show, “Ha: Breath of Life”, featuring an epic tale of courage, love and adventure with over 100 performers, including 10 fireknife dancers and 3 fire walkers!

Windward Coast

The windward coast on the east side of Oahu is the wetter and more lush part of the island, with secluded beaches, quiet villages, and one of the Pacific’s largest Marine Corps bases. Other interesting sites include

Kailau, a thriving beach town on the shimmering ocean
Makapu’u Beach & Makapu’u Lighthouse Trail
The Molokai Channel: a great place to see whales during whale-watching season between December and May.
The Valley of the Temples—The Japanese Buddhist temple, Byodo-In Temple, is a duplicate of a 900-year-old temple near Kyoto, Japan.
Kualoa Ranch – Tours by bus or ATVs are available through the lush landscape. Activities include horseback riding, ATV rides, and movie location tours.

Fun Fact: Jurassic Park, Pearl Harbor, Lost, and others have used Kualoa Ranch as backdrop.

South Shore / Honolulu

The South Shore includes Hawaii’s capital and business center Honolulu and its resort district of Waikiki. Although the City and County of Honolulu encompasses the entire island, “Honolulu” in conversation usually refers to the urban center.

The city is home to Foster Botanical Garden, Liliuokalani Botanical Garden, and Walker Estate. Waikiki is for many visitors a destination complete in itself. Waikiki Beach is Hawaii’s best-known beach, remarkable for its festive atmosphere.

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor is Hawaii’s largest natural harbor, a World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, and the only U.S. Naval Base to be designated a National Historical Landmark. Much of the harbor and surrounding land is part of the base, the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet. In 2010, the Navy and the Air Force merged their two bases: Pearl Harbor joined with Hickam Air Force Base to create Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Pearl Harbor honors the December 7, 1941, history-changing event with several sites.

Pro Tip: Lines, crowds, and a limited number of tickets can make an independent tour difficult. Taking a tour eases the problems. Visitors should wear respectful clothes. Due to security, no bags, purses, or strollers are permitted. Cameras are allowed.

USS Arizona Memorial—Visitors can take a boat shuttle to the memorial, which was built over the sunken hull of the ship, which can still be seen poignantly resting under water. The USS Arizona sank in just 9 minutes during the attack on Oahu, taking with it 1,777 sailors and Marines. The shrine room in the memorial displays the ship’s bell and the names of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.
Battleship Missouri Memorial—Visitors can tour the decks and quarters, including the spot where General Douglas MacArthur accepted Japan’s unconditional surrender that ended World War II.
USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park— Visitors can enter and tour the Bowfin, a World War II submarine that introduces tourists to the life of its sailors – including those tiny passageways! It really gives guests a new perspective on what life would be like in those claustrophobic quarters.
Pearl Harbor Pacific Aviation Museum— Visitors experience a chronological retelling of the events of December 7, 1941; see authentic planes from World War II (including the famous B-17E Flying Fortress Swamp Ghost, whose mascot was drawn by Walt Disney); and poignantly ponder the bullet holes that were purposefully left in the windows of the hangars that stand as a witness to the events of that day.
USS Oklahoma Memorial—A memorial to honor the 429 crewmen of the battleship who lost their lives when the ship was hit by nine torpedoes and capsized in only twelve minutes.

Ford-Island-Control-Tower- — Ford Island Control Tower

Pearl-Harbor-Aviation-Museum-Hangar — Ford Island Control Tower

Other Honolulu (City) Area Attractions

Ala Moana Center – Hawaii’s largest shopping mall
Aloha Tower—The ten-story Aloha Tower at Honolulu Harbor was built in 1926 as a welcome for tourists arriving on cruise ships.
Bishop Museum and Planetarium—Built in 1894 according to the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the museum holds the world’s largest collection of Polynesian cultural artifacts. The Bishop Museum offers guided tours, Hawaiian music, hula shows, planetarium shows, native Hawaiian craft demonstrations, garden tours, and storytelling.
Iolani Palace, the only royal palace on American soil

Fun Fact: Iolani Palace was the first palace to have flush toilets and the first building in Hawaii with intrahouse telephone systems. Also it had electricity before Buckingham Palace and the White House.

Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly Honolulu Academy of Arts)—The academy’s tiled roof and Moorish architecture, open courtyards and lily ponds, and collection of American and international masters make this one of the state’s top cultural resources.
Diamond Head—Called Leahi (brow of the tuna) in Hawaiian, the dormant volcanic crater is Hawaii’s most recognized landmark. Visitors can drive through a tunnel into the interior of the crater (the headquarters of the state Civil Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration). The hike to its summit is a dry, dusty one. The trail climbs through tunnels and gun emplacements left over from World War II.

Pro Tip: If you plan to hike Diamond Head, flashlights and good shoes are a must. The ascent requires stamina. The climb includes a stairway of seventy-nine concrete steps leading to the first tunnel, a dark passage through a long, narrow tunnel, and a second stairway of 99 steps.

Hanauma Bay (picture) —Volcanic action created this nature preserve on the island’s south shore east of Diamond Head. An inner and an outer reef make this conservation area an underwater wonderland that teems with tropical fish.
Kapiolani Park—In the shadow of Diamond Head, Kapiolani (ka pee oh lawn ee) is Hawaii’s largest and oldest public park, a grassy oasis loved by weekend athletes and families. The park is the home of the Honolulu Zoo, the Waikiki Shell, Sunday art shows, tennis courts, soccer fields, and a jogger’s course.
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific or Punchbowl—The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Puowaina, or “place hallowed by sacrifice”) is located in Punchbowl Crater fronting Pauoa Valley. The volcanic cone exploded 150,000 years ago. Today the crater contains the gravesites of victims of World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

National Cemetery of the Pacific Oahu Hawaii

Queen Emma Summer Palace (Hanaiakamalama)—The summer home of Queen Emma and her husband, Kamehameha IV.
Sea Life Park—Located north of Hanauma Bay, the park provides opportunities for tourists to interact with sea life. The spiral path around the Hawaiian Reef Tank offers nose-to-nose views of marine life, including sharks, manta rays, moray eels, turtles, and exotic reef fish. Visitors can even swim with dolphins and sea lions!
Waikiki Beach—Numerous shops, hotels, and nightlife opportunities are located along Kalakaua and Kuhio Avenues. Often thought of as one beach, Waikiki Beach is actually a collection of contiguous beaches stretching two miles along the shoreline.

Central Oahu

Schofield Barracks—West of Wahiawa, this beautiful military base was featured in the movie From Here to Eternity.
Dole Plantation—The history of pineapple farming in Hawaii is presented in exhibits, along with a gift shop selling food products made with pineapple. The Pineapple Express, a popular family train tour, gives riders an overview of the fruit’s history, agriculture in Hawaii, and the life of James Dole.

Pro Tip: When selecting a pineapple: the leaves should be fresh and green, and the body firm. The color of the outer shell is not a sign of ripeness. A pineapple’s flesh can be ripe, sweet, and ready to eat when the shell is still quite green.
Once picked, it won’t ripen any further since unlike most fruits, a pineapple draws its sweetness from starches in its base.