Oahu, Hawaii
Hawaii is a bucket list state for nearly every American and for people around the world. While there are 8 main islands, the state consists of 137 islands if you include the Midway Islands know for the WWII Battle of Midway. Oahu is not the largest island land wise but is home to the capital city of Honolulu and 80% of the state’s population. Oahu has green tropical mountains, crystal clear blue water, extinct volcanos and plenty of important historic sites. There is also a unique Polynesian Culture and history to explore as well. We visited Oahu in February of 2023, and it finished our journey to visit all 50 US States! Here is what our experience in Hawaii was like!
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Getting to Hawaii and Transportation
As you might expect, there are only 2 ways to get to Hawaii and that is by plane or by passenger ship. There are multiple major airports in Hawaii including on Maui and other islands, but the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport is by far the main gateway to Hawaii. There are many flights from the mainland US with many originating from the West Coast but plenty from elsewhere on the US Mainland. There are also many flights to Asia and island nations in the Pacific. We flew to Hawaii and changed planes in Oakland before heading to Hawaii. Another option is to go on a cruise from the West Coast of the US Mainland. There are cruises that will make a stop to Mexico (as required by US law that a foreign flagged ship need stop in a non-US port before heading to the next port) and then continue with a few Sea days before reaching Hawaii and eventually disembarking there. Norwegian Cruise Lines has The Pride of America that is a US flagged ship does 7-day cruises to the different islands in Hawaii.
As for transportation renting a car is easy but can be expensive to do and parking costs at resorts can be very high. There are public busses and coming in 2025 is an elevated rail line in part of Honolulu. There are taxis and Uber/Lyft available as well. We used the Hop-on Hop-off bus to visit much of Honolulu and areas on the East Coast. We booked guided tours to visit sites around the island such as Pearl Harbor and the Polynesian Cultural Center. We found that the easiest and most economical way to see areas outside of Honolulu itself and we got a guide to tell us more.
Honolulu Airport Transportation Services:
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and largest city in Hawaii with a metro area of over 1 million people including suburbs. It has been an important part of Hawaiian and United States history over many years. When Hawaii was an independent nation Honolulu was ultimately made the capital multiple times and eventually became the Hawaiian Kingdom’s permanent capital. It’s the main gateway to Hawaii and is full of different things to do there. You can visit the Iolani Palace where the royal Hawaiian family lived, visit nearby Pearl Harbor to see the tragedy that was the surprise attack against the US Pacific Fleet and airbases by Japan in WWII, extinct volcanoes, plenty of shopping and restaurants and of course great beaches. We made Honolulu our base on our visit to Oahu, but we also took the time to see much of Honolulu as well!
Hop On Hop Off Trolley Tour
To visit many of the great sites in Honolulu we booked a multi-day hop on hop off trolley tour that took us all around Honolulu and out onto the East Coast of Oahu. We found it a great way to see museums, the state capital, Diamond Head, The Punchbowl and so much more. We even had the chance the new version of Magnum PI being filmed on the streets of the city. Here are the different sites we got to see while touring Honolulu!
Iolani Palace
One of our first stops was to the historic and famous Iolani Palace that was the home to the Royal Family of Hawaii from 1845 to the end of the Hawaiian Kingdom. It then served as the capital of the territory and state of Hawaii well into the 1900s. Today it’s a great museum and historic site where you can see the restored rooms and exhibits about the Hawaiian Royal family and the Hawaiian Kingdom before the US overthrew the government and took over Hawaii. It’s a beautiful building with a unique Hawaiian style. It also has bragging rights as the only Royal Palace in the United States. The gift shop has a lot of unique items celebrating Hawaii so be sure to stop by there. Another interesting fact about the palace is the outside of the palace was used as the Hawaii 5-0 headquarters. We would have liked to have stayed longer than we did but we were trying to see as much as we could, so we continued on! There is a fee to enter, and we took around an hour to tour the palace.
Hawaii State Capitol
When we get the chance, we like to visit the state capitol building in the US or the capitol building of other countries as like a state or national museum it gives you a view into the culture of the area. The Hawaiian Capitol is a unique design compared to many of the mainland. It somewhat looks like an office building from the outside but has a hallow center with the two chambers (house and senate) and built below the main building. The chambers are the shape of a cone volcano and partially surrounding the building is reflecting pool that represents the ocean surrounding the islands. There is an interesting sculpture of Father Damien who has a very touching story. He was a Catholic Priest from Belgium who taught Catholicism, but his true act of kindness was taking care of leprosy patients at a leper colony in Hawaii for over a decade. He caught leprosy himself but kept doing his work until the disease killed him. He is honored by Hawaii for his sacrifice in front of the capitol in Hawaii and is a statue sent to Washington DC to be in the US Capitol Building. In travel you never know what impromptu events you might encounter. The capitol building was one of those for us because a agriculture event showcasing the food and farms of Hawaii was going on. We got to try some great snacks and food from locals in Hawaii. After the event and visiting the chambers, we headed off to the next place!
The Punchbowl
The punchbowl is an extinct volcano located in Honolulu. It’s a fairly tall and imposing land mass in the area. It’s been thousands of years since the last eruption. The crater has been used throughout the years as a sacrificial ritual site and more recently as a place for cannons, military training, shows and now a hallowed resting place of soldiers fighting in the Pacific. It’s now the National Memorial Cemetary of the Pacific where so many soldiers who gave their lives for the US during WWII. We did not stop at the Punchbowl as it’s not allowed for the trolleys to stop but they do drive through so you can see it and honor the fallen in your own way. If you want to visit longer you will need to make your own way there.
Diamond Head State Monument
Another prominent and famous extinct volcano is Diamond Head. From Waikiki Beach it is clearly visible to the Southeast of the beach. Today it’s a state park that we hopped off the trolley and did a little hiking into the crater. There are plenty of trails inside the large crater and you can climb up to the rim. There are plenty of interpretative signs explaining the geology, history and significance of the hundreds of thousands year old volcano. Since we were on the hop on hop off trolley, we did a light hike for around an hour to see what we could before we headed back. Now reservations are required to visit the park and there is a $5 fee per person and $10 for parking if you have your own car.
East side of Oahu
The trolley took us to see the beautiful scenery of the lesser populated East side of Oahu. There are luxury homes in the area but at a point you see cliffs dropping into the blue water of the Pacific Ocean. We passed by a somewhat lonely and small monument to Amelia Earhart’s solo flight from Hawaii to the mainland US. She was the first person to do such a feat that was truly daring at the time considering there is nowhere to land between Hawaii and the mainland. It becomes pretty windy on that side of the island and when we were there the winds were extra high with there being some power outages on the North side of the island. My mother-in-law lost her hat that ended up flying off the cliff due to the wind. We got off the trolley to view the. In an exposed volcanic rock area, there is an old lava tube that when the waves of the Pacific crash into the tube it causes a tall geyser of water shoot up into the air. It’s a pretty area with great scenery. It’s also been a place where multiple films have had scenes shot including one of the Jurassic Park films. The final stop to the East is the Sea Life Park Hawaii that has dolphin shows and exhibits about ocean life including Hawaiian sea life. It’s an educational and place to learn about conservation. We did not have time to fit it into our tour, but it looked like a nice place to visit. We saw al that we could using our two-day pass. It’s well worth exploring Honolulu this way!
Hop On Hop Off Trolley We Took:
Other Honolulu Sites we Visited and Tours we Took
Over the few days we spent in Honolulu we took advantage and saw as much as we could. If you stay in the Waikiki Beach area there are plenty of things to do within walking distance. A lot of great restaurant choices, multiple shopping malls and unique snacks. There is of course one of the most famous beaches in the world as well. Here are some of the sites we visited and tours we went on around Honolulu itself.
Waikiki Beach
Waikiki is a region of Honolulu that is of course famous for its wonderful beaches, but it’s so much more than that. It has many different well-done malls and shops throughout the area and plenty of different types of restaurants. While there we got great food at the grocery store across the street that served many different types of Poke, and other Hawaiian foods. They had a nice balcony eating area as well. We also ate at the Former Japanese Iron Chef’s (Masaharu Morimoto) Japanese Restaurant where we got wonderful Ramen. There are plenty of different levels if you want to get fast food all the way up to gourmet. Do know that food is fairly expensive in Hawaii since much of it is shipped in. While there we of course headed to the famous Waikiki Beach. It can be fairly crowded at times due to there being so many resorts in the area but it’s still a great beach with blue water and plenty to see and do. You can also visit the famous Duke Kahanamoku statue. He was a Hawaiian man who spread surfing as a sport worldwide. He was much more than just surfing as he represented the US in multiple Olympics and won multiple Gold Medals in the early 1900s. His statue is of him with open arms with a surfboard behind him. People put Hawaiian Lays on him, and he is flanked by torches. As a kid I would watch a webcam of the statue and beach area dreaming of heading to Hawaii. We also visited some of the resorts such as the historic Royal Hawaiian Resort that stands out as the large Pink Building. The Hilton Hotel has a firework show that is nice to see while there as well.
Snorkeling with the Sea Turtles - Catamaran Ride
We love to snorkel as it gives you the chance to see a completely different world. We wanted to snorkel with the sea turtles just offshore from Honolulu. The family-owned Catamaran pulled right up on the beach. We headed off and soon after a mild storm came through that churned up the water a bit, so we had a little be of a rough ride out to the snorkel site. We headed into the fairly deep water (probably 20 feet deep or more) to snorkel. There were tons of tropical fish in the water that surrounded us. in the deep we could see a few sea turtles swimming in the deep. The family had the husband and wife running the ship and their son out swimming with us in case someone needed help. We all had life jackets on just in case. After seeing a lot of Pacific Sea life we headed back to Waikiki after another unique snorkeling experience. Each one is different even if you snorkel in the same place as you never know what you might see!
Oahu Snorkeling and Turtle Tour Options:
Wakiki Aquarium
Pearl Harbor
Hawaii is of course home to one of the most tragic and consequential moments in US history that decimated the US Pacific Battleship fleet and brought the United States into World War II. Pearl Harbor has been the headquarters for the US Pacific Fleet since the World War II. On December 7th, 1941, 6 Japanese aircraft carriers launched their attack on the US fleet and the air bases in Pearl Harbor in Oahu. It did do tremendous damage to the US fleet with 5 battleships being sunk and 4 others damaged. Countless US aircraft and other ships were damaged or destroyed and over 2,000 American servicemen were killed and more wounded. While the attack was devastating, they failed to sink the US Aircraft Carriers who were not there and vital for the war effort. The Japanese had losses in a number of aircraft and 4 midget submarines that were sunk. You can still see one of them recovered in Fredericksburg, Texas.
We took a guided tour that picked us up from the hotel and took us out to Pearl Harbor. We visited the visitors center that has a nice museum and video. Due to the wind, we were afraid we would not be able to take the US Navy run boat tour to the USS Arizona Memorial and Battleship Row. Our sailing was cancelled (they are timed tickets), but thankfully when it was safe to run again, they were able to fit us on. We didn’t get to stop at the USS Arizona memorial dedicated to the graves of the sailors on the still sunk battleship due to the wind. We could see the USS Arizona under the water and then markers for where each battleship had been moored on Ford Island. We sailed by the USS Missouri which was one of the last battleships built by the US and even served in the Gulf War. It was also where the Japanese surrendered to the US in Tokyo Bay in 1945.
Our next stop was to head to the USS Missouri and tour the historic and important battleship. We visited the site of the surrender of the Japanese, the bridge, Combat Information center and so much more on the battleship. They have well preserved the ship so you can see what life was like on the battleship and how it changed over the years. It’s unique to see a WWII battleship that also has modern cruise missile launchers and anti-aircraft equipment. To see it all in detail it would take a couple hours. We went fairly quickly so we could have time at the next amazing spot. The admission to the USS Missouri was included in my tour.
Our last stop in Pearl Harbor was the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum at the historic Ford Island Air Base. There they have many historic aircraft from the pacific war, and they have the details of the history of the exact aircraft you are looking at. For example, they have an SBD Dauntless Dive Bomber that flew off the famous US Aircraft carrier USS Yorktown but ultimately crashed in Lake Michigan during a training exercise and was later recovered and restored. When you go outside the main museum you can see hangers that actually where there during the battle and they still have bullet holes from Japanese aircraft. Something we unfortunately did not have time to do was to tour the original Aircraft Control Tower (ATC) for the airfield that was there on December 7th. There are areas in Pearl Harbor you are not allowed to take pictures in as it’s still an active US Navy base. We could see a huge oil rig with a large white radar dome there that was there for maintenance. It’s usually somewhere in the Pacific as an early warning radar for missile attacks. We spent the entire day doing this tour and paid the extra cost for the Pearl Harbor ($30 for walkup like us but you get a discount if bought online). This is a must see when visiting Hawaii.
Pearl Harbor Tour Options:
Island Tour and Polynesian Cultural Center
We love learning about different cultures and history, so we absolutely wanted to head out to the Polynesian Cultural Center on the North side of the island. We could have rented a car and driven there on our own, but we decided to instead take a tour done by the Polynesian Cultural Center. We were picked up near our hotel and we spent the day touring other areas of Oahu we had not seen yet. The tour was designed to get us to the Polynesian Cultural Center when it opened. We left Honolulu and headed along the coast to see areas we had not seen yet. After seeing the gorgeous water and beaches we headed into the mountains for our stop at an important Hawaiian battlefield.
Battle of Nu'uanu
We stopped at a site high in the mountains that is important to Hawaiian history. Around the same time the United States became a new nation and was dealing with the forming its government after the Revolutionary War, the Hawaiian Islands were separate kingdoms. In 1795, Kamehameha from the big island of Hawaii sought to unite the islands under his rule. He came to Oahu to conquer the island from the king of Maui. At the Battle of Nu’uanu he defeated the army from Maui and became the ruler of a united Hawaii. The site we visited is high in the mountains overlooking a green and scenic valley and the ocean. The battle concluded at the overlook with many Maui warriors being forced off the cliff there. It is very windy up in the area and actually pretty cold. Our guide let us know that is normal for that area. It was another beautiful and historic place that was well worth the short visit.
Dole Pineapple Plantation
Our next stop was the Dole Pineapple Plantation. As might be expected Hawaii is a great place to grow pineapples. Dole has a visitors’ center where the Dole agricultural company grew. There is a lot of activities there with a large maze, exhibits about pineapples and you can see them growing in the garden area. They have a restaurant that serves the much sought after Dole Pineapple Whip that you can only find in a few places like Disney World. They also have a small train that will take you into the plantation itself to see the operations and learn more of the history. We unfortunately did not have the time to take the train tour but we did visit the grounds, the gift shop and got Dole Pineapple Whip with pieces of fresh Hawaiian pineapple. It’s a great and unique stop in Oahu that is well worth it. If you haven’t had Dole Pineapple Whip, try it! There are fees for the different activities that range from around $8 to $15.
The North Coast
After our Dole Plantation visit it was time to head up towards the Polynesian Cultural Center. We passed through small cities and beautiful countryside looking at the water. The Northern side of the island is the prime area for surfing with the larger waves. They have international surf competitions on the North side, and we could see setups for the media and spectators. The traffic was pretty high on the small two-lane road as everyone was heading to surf and enjoy the beaches on the day we went. After the nice scenic drive we got to the city of Laie and the Polynesian Cultural Center.
Full Island (Circle) Tour Options:
The Polynesian Cultural Center
After our tour we made it to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It’s a large park that showcases the cultures and peoples of multiple island nations and territories throughout the Pacific Ocean. Each country has different activities, shows, and representatives from their country. It reminded me a bit of the World Showcase at Disney World but featuring Pacific Nations. We booked a package that included a guided tour of the park, the evening Lu’Au and the show Ha: The Breath of Life that tells the story of family and culture as seen through all the island nations featured in the park. The park is affiliated with the Mormon Church and helps college students from Polynesia go to the local University. In the center there was no pushing of religion from what we could see. There is an option tour to visit the city of Laie and the Mormon Temple that would be interesting, but we did not have time.
Our guide was a college student that was studying Computer Science which is actually my profession as well. As the park was open from the afternoon until the evening, we followed our guide to see the most important of shows and activities as we did not have time to see it all. The park consists of the nations, states and territories of Samoa, New Zealand (the Maori people), Fiji, Tonga, Tahiti, and of course Hawaii! Each island had homes and art related to the nations. In Samoa we saw a show with traditional songs, drums and stories. There were thatched room huts and places you could make art from grass similar to what is used to make baskets. In Tonga we saw a different style of architecture and a show showcasing the music and people of Tonga. Fiji had a large area different buildings in the Fijian style and a place where we made a drawing like is done in Fiji. Hawaii had a show that went over the art of dancing. We also saw a large ocean-going Polynesian ship that reminded me so much of Moana. We did not have time to see Tahiti so we took the Polynesian canoe powered by a staff member down the river to the front of the park. It was time for our Lu’Au!
The Lu’Au was a great experience, and we were ready to eat! They had a grand show telling the stories of Hawaii through music, dancing and the officiator of the program. The food was a buffet featuring different Hawaiian dishes including poke, different vegetables including a purple sweet potato, and different meats including a traditional full pig roasted underground. During the show they dug up the pigs from the ground in the showroom. We had a great meal and show in our first Lu’Au. After the show we visited a few other attractions such as watching a great film on Hawaii, the Polynesian Football Hall of fame and the gift shop. From there we saw the amazing show Ha: The Breath of Life. It told the story of a family facing different challenges and going through life. Each section of their life was told through legends and stories in each of the islands represented at the park. They did the Maori War Dance and so many others. It’s a wonderful show that is worth staying for. After the show it was pretty late, and it was time to head back to the hotel. The shuttle bus got us back to our pickup point and we made it back!
Click Below to buy Polynesian Cultural Center Tickets and Tours:
Other Luau Options:
Leaving Hawaii and Tips
We had a fairly long flight back home as we changed planes in Maui and Oakland as we were flying Southwest and got a very good deal. There are direct flights on airlines like United to Houston and others all over the US and abroad. It’s around an 8–9-hour flight from Hawaii to Houston nonstop. We arranged a transportation service ahead of time and headed to the airport. We boarded our flight and then the ground crew found that the plane had a damaged cargo door, and we had to switch planes. We got to Maui and didn’t have a lot of time. I headed to the food court and got Burger King Breakfast. Three Burger King breakfast combo meals cost $60. Airport food is usually higher, but it does showcase that their food prices are high in Hawaii. We made our flights and got home after a wonderful trip!
Hawaii is on many people’s bucket list, and it is absolutely should be as it’s a beautiful and unique place to visit in the US. It has history, attractions, natural beauty and of course great water activities and resorts. I personally don’t recommend renting a car as it’s expensive and at most of the resorts the parking price can be high. Taking guided tours and the Hop on Hop off are an easier method of seeing the island to us. Be ready for the high cost of food in your budget and generally higher cost on other items due to shipping costs. It’s a tropical destination so be prepared for rainy weather at times as we had one day of rain. A cruise would be a great way to visit Hawaii as you would get to see all the major islands on one trip. NCL has a great cruise option that starts in Honolulu and visits the islands without having to cruise from the mainland and stop in Mexico. We look forward to heading back to Hawaii someday in the future. It’s an amazing place and one we recommend to everyone!
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