Wanted to share our first-time experiences with visiting Hawai’i in hopes that it can help others plan their future trips.
Our goal this trip was to try and avoid some of the more tourist trap places but we were also traveling with in-laws (who generously paid for the majority of the trip) so we did a lot of family outings together. We had more fun venturing out from Waikīkī and trying to find local spots to try. As a general rule, we would walk to anything that was <30 minutes and Uber or Lyft to the further spots. We also ended most of our nights at Suzie Wong’s which was an awesome dive bar with great prices. Ty’s Food Truck outside also served up some incredible ribs, although I was also pretty drunk.
My highlights for O’ahu included visiting Pearl Harbor (as a huge history nerd and battleship nerd). We arrived at 9:00AM and immediately took the ferry to the USS Arizona Memorial before touring the USS Missouri. We didn’t have enough time to do the submarine exhibit or the aviation museum; a few people in the family ended up doing a second visit to enjoy those.
We also booked Diamond Head early in the morning and avoided most of the direct sunlight on the climb up. By the time we were coming down the sun was out and it was getting pretty crowded. Afterwards we grabbed a Surf n’ Turf plate at Diamond Head Market and Grill and coconut bread pudding for dessert. This ended up being my favorite meal on O’ahu.
The second island we visited was Kauai and it seemed like we all enjoyed the more laidback culture compared to O’ahu (although that was partially our fault for not venturing far outside of Honolulu). A rental car was definitely the right plan for this island compared to doing Uber or Lyft.
We did an early morning boat charter with Makana Charters to see the Na Pali Coast and do some snorkeling. We got lucky and ended up seeing dozens of dolphins and even a few humpback whales. Unfortunately I didn’t realize Tahiti Nui and Kalalea Juice Hale were closed on Saturdays so we missed out on trying those recommendations.
Food favorites on Kauai included dinner at Sushi Blue Wave and grabbing a Loco Moco for breakfast at Tip Top Diner. We also took the parents out to The Beach House as a thank you for such an amazing experience.
It was an incredible trip and we loved getting to talk with locals and experience the culture. Thank you for sharing your islands with us!