Oahu, Hawaii

In 2015, we finally made it to Hawaii (after years of simply talking about going). We had only one week to see as much as we could and we spent most of that time on the island of Oahu. It was as beautiful as we imagined, and a lot more crowded.

As suspected, Hawaii is a popular vacation spot for Americans as well as visitors from Japan. What was a bit more unexpected was the amount of people that live on the small island. While it only stretches 44 miles from coast to coast at its furthest points, it could take 3 hours to travel from one side to the other. It’s akin to rush hour traffic at 5 pm in Atlanta. In the city, small houses are packed together and stacked several floors high, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars (the average price of a home in Honolulu is almost $700,000). You may fair better on the outskirts of town, but most hotels are in areas that are almost guaranteed to be packed with other tourists.

Despite competing with tons of other visitors, we managed to accomplish a lot in only 4 days. A big thanks to needtravel.com for booking the trip for us. We simply told our agent what we wanted to do and she handled the rest.

Accommodations

While on Oahu, we stayed at the Outrigger Reef Hotel in Honolulu on Waikiki Beach. The hotel was fantastic. Our room was beautiful, with glossy wooden furniture that looked new, a television with several channels, and a nice sized bathroom with lots of big, comfy towels. The hotel had three restaurants and a Starbucks on the property along with several small shops with beachwear and souvenirs. One of the shops was similar to a convenience store so it had small food items as well. There was also a spa on site, but we did not partake in its services. There was a pool in the middle of the hotel on the floor level which was unique because the middle of the hotel was open air.

The one downside to staying in downtown Honolulu is the size of the beaches. Unlike the beach we visited in Maui, the one directly in front of the coastal hotels in Honolulu was quite small and rocky. There weren’t a lot of places to just pull up a chair or lie or your beach towel. We didn’t visit the North Shore or much of the other side of the island so cannot comment on those areas, but if you’re looking for big beaches within walking distance, downtown Honolulu is not the place to stay.

Food

One place you have to try if you’re in Honolulu is Duke’s, and we would recommend going for breakfast and dinner. Duke’s has a huge breakfast buffet that is converted to a salad bar for supper. This place can get crowded so plan on waiting at least 30 minutes at night.

We got incredibly lucky when we went to Duke’s for dinner because a man, with the same size party as us, left right as we got there and gave us his buzzer. It only took  5 minutes for a table. Thanks again, Steve! We each got the salad bar and split the Kushiyaki Kabob. The Kushiyaki Kabob had teriyaki chicken and steak served with rice. The salad bar had copious amounts of salads and a few soups and breads. The salad bar alone is worth the trip.

The Kana Ka Pila Grille is located at the Outrigger right next to the pool. It has a tiki hut vibe and had live music playing nightly.

Courtney: I had the chicken marsala to try something new. This definitely wasn’t the best place we ate while we were in Hawaii, but it is set up for people coming from the pool. That being said, the service at the Kana Ka Pila is phenomenal. They opened a bottle of wine for me and got me lemons for my water (Hawaii tap water tastes weird).

Mal: I had the pulled pork sliders and fries. They were very good and probably the cheapest thing I ate the entire trip! 🙂

The Shore Bird was one of the restaurants at the hotel and we at there once for dinner and once for lunch.

The Shore Bird is all about celebrating Hawaiian cook-outs and has a grill where you grill and season your own meat. No worries though… there is a chef standing by to ensure that you don’t give yourself food poisoning.

This restaurant also has a large salad bar with several types of pastas and potato salads, along with the traditional salad that we got with our chicken kabobs. It was delicious.

We also ate at the Shore Bird for lunch after coming back from the beach. We got the Outrigger Bistro burger, which came with a salad and pickles. The burger had caramelized onions and brie cheese which complimented each other with offsetting sweetness and earthiness. Basically, they were some killer hamburgers 😉

Spam Sushi?

Whilst shopping at one of 500 ABC stores downtown, we encountered spam musubi, which is basically spam sushi. It consists of a slice of spam on top of a rice rectangle, wrapped in seaweed. This particular version was heated and surprisingly tasty. Spam is a Hawaiian staple, so you should try spam musubi at least once while in Hawaii. Plus, since they sell it at the ABC store, you have no excuse. If you are in Honolulu, especially Waikiki Beach, you are probably 20 feet from an ABC store at all times.

Sweet Treats

Bubbies are the bomb! Bubbies consist of ice cream wrapped in mochi. You can hold them in your hand and not get sticky! We got chocolate and pineapple with toasted coconut at a coffee shop near our hotel. So good.

The shave ice at Island Vintage was killer. They start with a ball of creamy vanilla ice cream and then pack shave ice around it. Depending on the flavor you order, they then top it with the associated fruity syrups, but no matter what flavor, all of the fruity syrups are made from REAL, fresh fruits. They put some mochi and boba poppers on the side to give the dish some texture. This shave ice was seriously delicious. Yes. It is shave ice, not shaved ice. Also, a good rule of thumb on shave ice is to monitor what is being purchased ahead of you. Does it look like a snow cone with syrup coming out of a bottle with a sticker on it? Then, it is probably a snow cone. You can get snow cones in probably all 50 states of America. Pass that nonsense up and look for places with real, actual shave ice. Shave ice is smooth like ice cream, not chunky like a snow cone. The places with real shave ice and real fruit syrup will cost a little more than a snow cone, but it’s worth it.

Activities

We arrived in Oahu on Memorial Day so were able to attend their annual Memorial Day candle floating ceremony. They celebrate the lives of all lost loved ones. Seeing all of the lanterns floating into the ocean was an awe inspiring experience. Some local surfers sit a little ways out and collect the lanterns.

We got the chance to go to Sea Life Park one morning to swim with the dolphins. The park is similar to Gulf World in Florida. They didn’t have a ton of exhibits (like Sea World does) but they had amazing views.

We got to go into the park before it opened to the public so we didn’t have to worry about crowds. Swimming with the dolphins was awesome! They took a group of about 10 people out into the pool. One at a time, we got to swim out to the middle where we were then pulled across the pool by the dolphin.

On the fifth day of our trip, we took a city tour with Roberts Hawaii. The tour took us around the island and by several photo-worthy locations. Our tour guide was the best. His name was Kaow.

We stopped by the Lolani Palace, where the royals who ruled Hawaii lived and visited the statue of King Kamehameha. Both must sees. We also drove through the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. We had just missed the flags that are put on all graves for Memorial Day. While this is a place for reverence, it is also full of amazing people who had amazing lives.

Our last stop on the tour was Pearl Harbor.

We recommend doing the guided tour on the Missouri. We learned a lot and our tour guide was very entertaining and informative. The tour only covers a few of the upper decks but it was worth it. Unfortunately, doing the guided tour put us a little behind so we were not able to adequately tour the rest of the ship. We did what was possibly the fastest self-guided tour of the lower decks that has ever been done.

Unfortunately, for the first time ever, someone ran a tug boat into the dock at the Arizona Memorial and sank it the morning of our tour. Sadly, this meant we did not get to walk onto the memorial and only took a boat somewhat near it. Even still, seeing the memorial in person was a great experience.

We walked through the museum and learned a little more about this sad event in American history. It makes you proud of your country and those who fought to defend it and continue to defend it to this day.

Though we didn’t get to step onto the Arizona Memorial, we did get to see something special. While we were on the Battleship Missouri, the USS Carl Vinson, a Navy aircraft carrier, came into the harbor. The men and women on board all stood, lining the ship, saluting as they passed the memorial. While this is what put us a little behind on our tour of the Missouri, it was well worth it.

We were also able to get in a bit of exercise on our trip when we visited Diamond Head. It was on the list of not-to-miss in Oahu so we had to check it out. A lot of postcards feature views of Diamond Head and, sure enough, the view from the top is like a real-life postcard.

The hike wasn’t too bad and it was definitely worth it when you got to the top. Warning: if you go the harder route there are stairs. And not just regular stairs, but metal winding staircases and a small opening you have to crawl through. If that doesn’t sound appealing, take the easier route.

We attended a luau on our last night in Honolulu at Paradise Cove. The show was amazing and the food was delicious. It did take a while to get to the luau (traffic!), but fortunately we had an entertaining guide on our bus named Cousin Flo. She reminded us quite frequently that we were the good looking bus.

They had a lot of activities at the luau before dinner. There was canoeing, fake tattoos, lei making, photo opportunities with birds… A lot for adults and children alike.

We hiked a little ways down the beach from our hotel to visit the statue of Duke Kahanamoku. He was a surfer who did a ton of amazing things, like invent surfing. The restaurant Duke’s is named after him. If you have time, this statue is worth a visit and it’s right on the beach.

Shopping

Have you ever seen a staircase covered in license plates that leads up into the dark unknown? And have you also had a strong urge to follow said staircase because you are just too curious? Well, we did.

As it turns out, this was 88 Tees, a vintage T-shirt store that is frequented by celebrities when they visit Hawaii. (We didn’t see any but there were pictures on the walls.) It was a very neat little store and we both bought shirts. It’s worth checking out if you pass by.

Of course, we had to go to a Goodwill while we were in Hawaii. The one in Honolulu was huge with three partial levels. The main level had all of the clothes and shoes and a small entertainment section. A ramp that led downstairs yielded the knick knack section, the sporting goods, pots and pans, etc. Another ramp led to a book section that had several shelves and a ton of books. On the whole, this Goodwill was a solid six on a scale of one to ten. It had a large amount of merchandise and was fairly well organized. Also, the large selection of books was partially organized which is always a plus.

As previously mentioned, ABC Stores are everywhere in Hawaii. If you go to Hawaii and don’t go to an ABC Store… well, you have a lot of self-control or absolutely no desire for souvenirs. They are also good for buying small amounts of groceries or other items you may have forgotten at home. We probably visited about 20 different ABC Stores (they are literally on every corner in Honolulu) whilst in Hawaii.

All in all, Oahu was a wonderful place to visit. Just prepare yourself for the crowds and you’ll be fine!