peteandvanessa

We leave for Hawaii on Wednesday this week for a week (Can't wait)

Will be staying in Honolulu close to Waikiki beach.

Planning to visit the Memorial at Pearl Harbour, hire out a beach buggy - but what else would folks recommend we see or go.

(Wife, and 3kids coming too - kids are 15, 13 and 11)

Ray

Dog Chapman .....

peteandvanessa

Arh you mean Duane Lee "Dog" Chapman, nope, don't fancy meeting him.

penguinsix

Hi,

Honolulu is really like most other American cities, though with a large tourist industry. You'll be quite surprised really, with Targets and WalMarts and Home Depots and the like.

If you can, you may want to hop over to another island for a day or two. Maui is also quite built up (on the Western side) but you can drive over to the Eastern side on an amazing road. The Big Island is massively neat, with huge lava flows everywhere and if lucky, you can get down to the volacano itself still spewing. Kauai is the garden island and quite beautiful.

Anyway, as for Oahu.

* Hit Pearl Harbor early, before it gets touristy nuts.
* Also check out 'Hanauma Bay'. Also get there early before it gets all silted up. You can swim with the pretty fish and rent some googles for an amazing view underwater.
* Rent a car one day (or the whole week, cars are incredibly cheap there) and drive straight up through the Pineapple fields to the North Shore. You'll see these guys selling fresh shrimp out of the back of trucks. It's really really good. Then see the massive waves daring the surfers, and come back on the Eastern side of the island, seeing a few sites here and there.
* If you need simple things, like film or water or potato chips, go about four or five blocks away from Waikiki and pay the local rate, not the tourist rate. Can save some cash.
* I enjoyed eating at the Hau Tree Lanai in the New Otani. It's off the beaten track a bit from most of the hustle and bustle of Waikiki, but a beautiful view
http://www.kaimana.com/dining/hautreelanai.html

Have fun.

Jerseygirl

No 1 IMO is Pearl Harbour...you really cannot miss it. To think of all those men emtombed down there...to see the oil still rise to the surface of the ocean...it is gut wrenching.

Hawaii is my favourite holiday destination.

qwerty007

I'm actually thinking of moving over there it's so beautiful. The islands are not very big so you can just tour in a car and stop where you fancy.

Oahu
Waikiki is a good place to be staying for a first time. The main street has lost of restaurants, with some hotels right on the beach. So stroll along Waikiki in the evening. There's a restaurant on the top of a building that goes round like the Post Office Tower. Sorry can't remember the name. Drive along the coast towards diamond head, then all along the coast towards the north. Stop at Kailua Beach for lunch. Have a swim and look at Lanikai neighborhood. Hug the coast right up the north and back inland. You'll come across a little town/village where you can stop for coffee. I think it's near Waialua bay.

Maui
You must drive along the twisty coastal road to Hana. Black sand beaches, waterfall, lush forests ...it's beautiful. Go to Lahaina for dinner. It's an old plantation/whaling town with lots of character if a little over gentrified and artsy.

Kuai
Head up towards the Waimaea Canyon (mini grand canyon) and onwards for dramatic coastal views, and forest walks. Yeah, that's right "walks", that's what we use to call 'em. None of this hiking nonsense.

You have every reason to be excited, and you won't be disappointed.

Kaffy Mintcake

I second the recommendation to drive to the North part of the island - you won't regret it.

Take in a luau, go to the Polynesian cultural center, and be sure to drink POG (passion fruit, orange, guava).

Oh - and get everyone leis at least once - the kids will love that.

penguinsix

One other general point--don't pay the published rate for anything. Helicopter rides, scooters, luaus--everything is negotiable. You can find 'bucket shops' who sell tickets to several of the touristy things in bulk and often lower than what you'd pay at the door or from the formal sales staff.

lisa67

wow...sounds fab..wish I was going too..have a great time and be sure to tell us all about it when you get back> I'll be interested to hear how your kids like it as I'd like to take my 11 and 13 year old, maybe next year.

cindyabs

yeah but avoid poi like the plague-BLEGGGHHH

cindyabs

When we visited Oahu, (stayed at the military R&R hotel next to the Hilton), we used the city bus for transport everywhere-took the trolley on/off tour, went to the Punch Bowl on the bus btw, and used the free bus to go to Sea Life Park which is Diamond Head direction.

British Consul

In a former job, I used to be the custodian of the Captain Cook Monument in Kealakeakua Bay on the Big Island of Hawaii. If you're into history it's worth a visit, but it can be difficult to get to (trek down a very steep cliff, a donkey ride down the same cliff, or a boat/canoe ride across the bay).

Dean

Jerseygirl

It's a tough job...but someone's gotta do it.

Kaffy Mintcake

Just realized - only 2 more days for you! Has anyone told you yet that when you get off the plane you will smell flowers almost immediately? Ahhh ... Hawaii.

'Hang loose' (i.e. relax) while you're there.

Have fun with the signs and language too. (Humuhumunukunukuapua'a is the state fish by the way.) Just pronounce every vowel and you'll have Hawaiian down.