Hawaii!

Leaving in four weeks for 5 days in Oahu.  Any "not to be missed" suggestions?  It's my first trip there...

Never been to Oahu.. only been to Kauai.  Have a great time! 

I have only passed through Honolulu airport, and stayed in Maui during my visit.  If you have the time, I recommend a visit to Maui. 

bvamin

Leaving in four weeks for 5 days in Oahu.  Any "not to be missed" suggestions?  It's my first trip there...

Hi, I have been to Oahu ( July 2002) for 7 days and Maui (August 2003) for 10 days. I liked both islands very much but did prefer Maui over Oahu. There is Waikiki Beach, of course, and it is a nice beach with the occasional celebrity spotted. The shopping is excellent and I would recommend the international marketplace which is in the Waikiki/downtown area. Near Waikiki Beach there was, at least at the time, free movies available to the public on the big screen (2-sided) right near the beach. My husband thinks this may have only ran during the summer but neither one of us recall for sure. We watched the kids movie "Ice Age" later on in the evening while the kids played on the beach and watched the movie. It was pretty neat, many locals and tourists and a friendly environment.

Then there is the swap meet type thing at the football stadium which was very cool! I'll try to dig up a link on that because that is a must-do in my opinion. We acquired many souveneirs at a good price there. Swap meet may be the wrong term to use here, because this wasn't used items the vendors were selling.

Also, when we went to Maui we went snorkeling, parasailing and to a luau -- all of which I would recommend doing while on Oahu. We went out with a tour company to do the snorkeling, about 30 other people were on the boat. It was a great time and fun for adults and kids (we have 3 kids that went with us both times) and if you do go snorkeling, spring for an underwater camera. We have some great pictures of colorful fish, turtles, a manta ray and even a huge eel. The tour company deal will cost some money but I think it was worth it and would do it again on another trip.

Also, we shop ABC Stores while we have been in Hawaii (a chain of stores only in Hawaii with the exception of one in Las Vegas). These stores are everywhere there and good for things like film, beach towels, and souveneir type items. They also have some food available.

I would also recommend going out to the North Shore area if you get a chance. We drove east from Waikiki towards Diamond Head and then north, along the coast, eventually making our way back to our hotel in Waikiki. There are many beaches there with less people than the Waikiki area. They say locals can be a little unfriendly, esp away from the touristy areas like Waikiki, but we never encountered any of that. We found a great restaurant in the North Shore area -- the sushi there was incredible.

The downside to Oahu is the traffic in the Honolulu area and the freeways in the downtown area.....not so good    ! I don't think we ever were able to even go the speed limit on the freeway a vast majority of the time, much too much traffic. Oahu is definitely more crowded than the other islands but fun all the same.....I am going to try to find you some links on things to do and will post them within this thread if I find some good ones. Hope you have a great trip! 

Heather

Ok, I guess it is called a swap meet!  When we were there we saw souveneirs, etc....I imagine it is still the same.

This link provides all the info on costs to get in (not a lot), address,driving directions, etc...

http://www.alohastadium.hawaii.gov/events/swapmeet.html


Here is the link for the international marketplace,

http://www.internationalmarketplacewaikiki.com/

Many stores and some private vendors......my mother-in-law's mother used to sell Portugese sausage in the marketplace in the 1970's and 80's (my mother-in-law is Filipino and grew up on Kauai and Oahu). There are more stores there now than vendors but it is a good shopping experience.

Mike, my husband, recommends this beach (Hanauma Bay) for snorkeling without a tour company. His mother used to take him there when he was a kid and he took us there when we went to Oahu. I thought the water was a bit cloudy for snorkeling purposes (may just have been that day) but the water is calm and good for swimming or just hanging out on the beach. Since it is a bay the water is too calm for surfing, not enough break.

http://www.discoveringhawaii.com/Is_Oahu/HanaumaBay.html


The USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, etc.....long lines to get in but worth the wait. And the line did move pretty fast considering the # of people waiting to get in. Once you have paid the admission I believe the park workers assigned customers into groups. The wait for our particular group was a bit but not terribly long. Gave us a chance to visit the gift shop before seeing the actual memorial after the boat ride.

http://www.nps.gov/usar/


At the Ala Moana Mall near downtown Honolulu there is a restaurant called Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. Good food and drinks, excellent desserts (we went on my b-day). Went on the recommendation of a friend who had been, was not disappointed.

http://www.bubbagump.com/html/oahu.html


Then there is Hilo Hattie's, a Hawaiian dept. store. A little more expensive than the outdoor swap meet but not too bad. It seemed to be a tourist hot spot and we have been to one on Oahu and Maui. I believe there are buses that take people from downtown Honolulu to the store, specifically for people wanting to shop there.

http://www.hilohattie.com/


This is what one website says about the outdoor movies on the beach:

""Sunset on the Beach" at Waikiki Beach's Kapahulu Pier: the beach becomes an outdoor movie theatre, with food booths, free movies on a giant screen, other entertainment....."

It also does not say if the movies are only played during the summer. This is the website: http://travelwithkids.about.com/cs/hawaiiwithkids/a/waikikibeach.htm

Don't know if you're traveling with kids but we took ours to the zoo and the aquarium, which are both near the Waikiki Beach area. Fun for kids and I liked the aquarium better than the zoo.

I am sure you have probably reserved your lodging but if not, we stayed at the Park Shore Waikiki and the price per night was very reasonable. This hotel is not as fancy as some of the others there but our room was nice and clean, no complaints whatsoever. One of my husband's co-workers and his wife have also stayed there, they liked it too. Also, it is right across the street from Waikiki Beach with an ABC Store and a Starbuck's right there as well when you go downstairs.

Aloha , and have an excellent time!!

Heather

honeymooned in Maui..  the closest i've been .. Hope the weather is  good. not rainy.. 
have a fantastic time..