Oh hello 200th post! Holy Moly! I can’t say I ever thought I would make it here, so thank you all for supporting this blog! Okay now onto the actual blog post.
Hello friends! Today I’m sharing some of the many things there are to do on the island of Oahu in Hawaii! I’ll be sharing all of the things we did on our trip, as well as some of the other things we planned to do, but didn’t quite get to. Okay’s let’s get started!
Helicopter tour
We did a helicopter tour of the whole island with Blue Hawaiian Helicopter Tours and it was amazing! Neither of us had been in a helicopter before and although we both got a bit of motion sickness, it was really fun! It took off from very close to our resort which was really convenient!
The north shore
I would highly recommend renting a car and driving up to the North Shore! We went in early November and stumbled upon some beaches with large waves and even a surfing competition! You can see our North Shore experience in this vlog that went up on Monday!
matsumoto’s
Make sure to stop at Matsumoto’s for a shave ice, they are the best! Just be prepared to wait in line because it gets busy! I wasn’t brave enough to try the traditional beans and condensed milk topping, but if that’s your thing give it a try!
horseback riding
This was the one thing I wanted to do, and it was the highlight of my trip! We were originally going to do horseback riding at Kualoa Ranch, but it was changed to ATV’s a few weeks before our trip so we booked the horseback riding elsewhere. We went to the Hawaii Polo Club and did the group horseback riding on the beach, it was amazing! I would highly recommend it!
waikiki
We spend only a morning in Waikiki, checking out the beach after hiking Diamond Head. My feet were pretty tired, and we ended up parking pretty far away (free parking at the Ala Moana centre), so we only walked a bit. This is probably the most touristy area of Oahu, with hundred of hotels in the city. If you are looking for nightlife, it would be here!
Leonard’s Bakery
We had to make a stop at Leonard’s Bakery for the famous Malasadas, they were delicious!
diamond head
We hiked Diamond Head early in the morning, and I would recommend that timing because it gets hot and busy quickly!
waimea valley
We hiked here on our North Shore day, and it was beautiful! Normally you can swim in the water so bring your bathing suit! There were mudslides a few days before we were there so it wasn’t allowed, but they were giving rain checks so you could come back if you wanted. Ethan was particularly amazed by the Monkeypod trees walking through here, they were beautiful!
pearl harbour
We opted to not go to Pearl Harbor on this trip because the memorial on the water is currently under refurbishment, but we did get to fly over it on our Helicopter tour! You can purchase your tickets in advance for specific times, and I would recommend doing that because times will sell out.
Kualoa Ranch
We really wanted to go here and had an excursion booked through our resort that ended up being cancelled, but I’m sure we will go next time! Lots of movies have been filmed here and there are tons of activities for families to do here! Plus the scenery is beautiful! We did fly over it in our helicopter tour, so we saw a bit of it from the air!
Hikes and Lookouts
There are so many hikes and lookout to see on Oahu. Ethan compiled a list from Google and Trip Advisor and while we only stopped at a few, they were beautiful! I talk more about the stops we made in my Disneymoon Trip Recap post.
Tips to Consider
Try to balance your days! We really tried to balance sightseeing and relaxing at our resort, and didn’t get to some of the things we had planned. Plan out your days, and see if you can map out multiple stops in a day. Ethan had a whole driving route planned for our day going to the North Shore.
And in terms of hikes, make sure to do your research including the skill level of the hike. Be safe! And some hikes are illegal, so make sure what you are doing won’t get you into trouble!
If you’d like to hear more about the many things there are to see and do on Oahu, check out the video below!
If you’ve been to Oahu, what’s one place you’d recommend? Let me know in the comments below!
Thank you so much for joining me today!
