Oahu Vacation Planner and Island Guide

HonoluluNot checked yetBeach days

Ala Moana Beach Park

A long, calm beach where locals actually go.

Protected water, real parking, grass and trees. Much calmer than Waikiki.

Time: 2-3 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: easy
Kids: yes
Lifeguard: Daily 8am-6:30pm

Worth knowingA reef keeps the water flat, which is great for kids and dull for waves. The Magic Island end, at the Waikiki side, is a walled saltwater lagoon - flatter still, and lifeguarded the same hours. Both ends are on the State lifeguard list.

WaikīkīNot checked yetSlow afternoons

Ala Moana Center

The largest open-air shopping centre in the world, between Waikiki and downtown.

The food hall downstairs is the actual reason: it is where people who live here eat, and it is a fraction of Waikiki prices.

Time: 2-3 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingIt is a shopping mall, and an enormous one. If you are not shopping or eating there is no reason to be there, and it is busy every day of the year.

HonoluluNot checked yetSlow afternoons

Aloha Stadium Swap Meet

A large open-air market in the ring road around Aloha Stadium.

It is the cheapest place on the island to buy anything to take home, and it is three times the size it looks.

Time: 1.5-2.5 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: Small entry fee per person
Parking: easy
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingThree days a week only, and the stadium has been shut and partly demolished, so confirm the market is still running before you go. It is a car park in full sun and most of the stock is imported.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Aloha Tower

The 1926 harbour tower that was the tallest building in Hawaii for forty years, with a free observation deck.

Ten floors up over the working harbour for nothing, and it is the building everyone arriving by ship saw first.

Time: 30-45 min
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: yes

Worth knowingThe marketplace around the base has emptied out and refilled more than once, so do not go for the shops. The lift to the deck is sometimes out.

North ShoreNot checked yetGet out there

Banzai Pipeline

The most famous surf break in the world, right off the sand.

In winter you can stand on the beach and watch world-class surfing up close.

Time: 1 hour
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: maybe
Lifeguard: Daily 8am-6:30pm

Worth knowingThis is a spectator spot, not a swimming spot. The wave breaks onto a shallow reef.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Bishop Museum

The state museum of Hawaiian and Pacific culture and natural history, in a Victorian stone hall.

The Hawaiian Hall is the single best hour you can spend understanding where you are, and the feather cloaks are not on display anywhere else.

Time: 2-4 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: paid
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingIt is in Kalihi, not near anything else you are likely to be doing, so it wants to be the anchor of a day rather than a stop on one.

WindwardBig views

Byodo-In Temple

A red Japanese temple at the foot of the cliffs, with koi ponds and a big bell.

Unexpectedly peaceful, and beautiful against the green mountains.

Time: 1 hour
Effort: easy
Cost: $10 adult, $6 child + $6/hr parking
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingIt sits inside a working cemetery. $10 to enter for ages 13 to 64, $8 for over-65s, $6 for children 2 to 12 - and parking is $6 an hour on top. Card only: they do not take cash.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Capitol Modern

The state art museum, in a 1920s building beside the capitol, free to walk into.

It is the best look at what artists here are actually making now, rather than what gets sold in Waikiki, and it costs nothing.

Time: 1-1.5 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: difficult
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingClosed at the start of the week and it is not large. Treat it as an hour, not an afternoon.

East O‘ahuNot checked yetBig views

China Walls

A long lava ledge at the end of Portlock where the shelf drops into deep water.

It is where people in this part of town go at the end of the day, and the light along the ledge at sunset is the reason.

Time: 30-45 min
Effort: medium
Cost: free
Parking: difficult
Kids: no

Worth knowingNo lifeguard, no railing, no facilities. People jumping from the ledge have been badly hurt and swimmers have been swept off it. Parking is on residential streets where enforcement is real. Go to look, not to swim.

HonoluluNot checked yetSlow afternoons

Chinatown

The oldest Chinatown in the United States, still a working market district rather than a themed one.

Lei stands, fish counters and noodle shops in buildings that have been doing the same thing for a century, and the best eating per dollar in Honolulu.

Time: 2-3 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: difficult
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingIt is a real neighbourhood with real problems and the blocks change character quickly, particularly after dark. Come in daylight, and treat the markets as somewhere people shop rather than a photo opportunity.

WaikīkīBig views

Diamond Head

Walk up an old volcano and see a huge view over Waikiki.

The best view of the city and coast you can get on foot.

Time: 1.5-2 hours
Effort: medium
Cost: $5 per person + $10 parking
Parking: limited
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingOut-of-state visitors must reserve online in advance, and pay twice: $5 a head to enter and $10 for the car. Hawaii residents go free with a state ID, but visitors brought along by one still pay. Last reservation is 4pm and the gates shut at 6pm. Go early - there is no shade and it gets very hot.

CentralWith kids

Dole Plantation

A pineapple visitor centre with a train, a giant maze, and pineapple soft serve.

An easy stop with kids on the way to the North Shore.

Time: 1-2 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: Free to enter; garden tour $8.50
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingVery touristy. Walking in and browsing the shop costs nothing - it is the attractions that charge. The garden tour is $8.50 for adults and $8 for children 4 to 12, and the maze and train are priced separately. The soft serve is the bit everyone actually remembers.

WaikīkīNot checked yetBeach days

Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon

Five acres of still saltwater behind the Hilton, cut off from the surf entirely.

No waves, no current and a sandy bottom, at the quiet west end of Waikiki.

Time: 2 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: difficult
Kids: yes
Lifeguard: None in the lagoon. The Waikiki Duke's tower covers the ocean beach, daily 8am-6:30pm

Worth knowingTreat the lagoon as a maybe and the beach as certain. Every guidebook says the lagoon is open to all, but Hilton's own page describes the activities and never states who may use it, and the city does not list it either - so nobody authoritative has said yes. Duke Kahanamoku Beach, on the ocean side, is unambiguously public. Parking is the other catch: this is hotel parking at hotel prices, and you are better off walking, taking the bus or paying for a car park further back. The water is pumped in and does not move much, so it is bath-warm and not clear.

HonoluluInto the green

Foster Botanical Garden

The oldest garden on the island, in the middle of downtown, full of trees nothing else here has.

A conservatory, a butterfly garden and a stand of cycads older than the lawn they sit on.

Time: 1-2 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: $5 adult, $1 child (6-12)
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingThe only one of Honolulu's five botanical gardens that charges: $5 for adults, $3 with a Hawaii ID, $1 for children 6 to 12, under-5s free. Open 9am to 4pm. It is small and it is downtown - come for the trees, not for a long walk.

North ShoreNot checked yetSlow afternoons

Haleiwa Town

A small surf town with food trucks, shave ice, and slow traffic.

The natural lunch stop for any North Shore day.

Time: 1-2 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: yes
Lifeguard: Daily 8am-6:30pm

Worth knowingOne road in and out, and it backs up badly in the afternoon - go early or late. The town itself costs nothing; the food trucks and shops are the spend.

East O‘ahuNot checked yetBig views

Halona Blowhole Lookout

A lava tube that fires seawater up through the rock when the swell is right.

The cove below it is the small beach from the film, and the blowhole itself is a proper spectacle when the south swell is running.

Time: 15-20 min
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: yes

Worth knowingOn a flat day it does nothing at all. The car park is small and fills, and the path down to the cove is closed for good reason.

East O‘ahuGet out there

Hanauma Bay

A protected bay inside an old crater, full of fish and easy to snorkel.

The most beginner-friendly reef snorkelling on Oahu.

Time: Half day
Effort: easy
Cost: $25 per adult + $3 parking
Parking: limited
Kids: yes
Lifeguard: Yes, during park hours

Worth knowingNot free, and not walk-up. Non-residents pay $25 each to enter plus $3 to park; Hawaii residents enter free and pay $1. Children 12 and under are free. Reservations open two days ahead at 7am Hawaii time and go fast, though about a quarter of the capacity is held back for walk-ins. Open Wednesday to Sunday only, with no entry after 1:30pm, and everyone watches a short conservation video first.

HonoluluNot checked yetWith kids

Hawaii Children's Discovery Center

A hands-on museum for younger children at Kakaako waterfront.

It is built for the age group that runs out of patience at every other museum on this list.

Time: 2-3 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: paid
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingAimed squarely at under-tens and it will not hold a teenager. Check the opening days, which are limited.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Hawaii's Plantation Village

A reconstructed plantation camp in Waipahu, with houses built in the styles each group brought.

It explains modern Hawaii better than anywhere else on the island: who came, in what order, and how they ended up living next door to each other.

Time: 1.5-2 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: paid
Parking: easy
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingGuided tour only, on a schedule, and the site is modest. It is in Waipahu, which is not near anything else you are doing.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Hawaiian Mission Houses

The oldest standing Western houses in Hawaii, with the print shop that produced the first Hawaiian-language type.

The printing press is the thing. Hawaiian went from unwritten to one of the most literate populations on earth in a generation, and it happened in this yard.

Time: 1-1.5 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: paid
Parking: difficult
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingGuided tour only for the house interiors, on a fixed schedule. Downtown parking is the real cost of this one.

WindwardNot checked yetInto the green

Heeia State Park

A small headland over Kaneohe Bay, looking down on an 800-year-old fishpond.

The best view of Heeia fishpond and the bay behind it, from a quiet lawn that almost no visitor finds.

Time: 45 min - 1 hour
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingThere is no beach and no swimming here. It is a viewpoint with grass, and the community groups running it sometimes have the gate shut.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Honolulu Museum of Art

A museum built around a series of open courtyards, with a serious Asian and Pacific collection.

The building is the argument: galleries opening onto planted courtyards, which is what a museum in this climate should be.

Time: 2-3 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: paid
Parking: limited
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingClosed at the start of the week, so check the day before you build an afternoon around it.

WaikīkīWith kids

Honolulu Zoo

A small, shady zoo right next to Waikiki.

An easy morning with young kids when everyone needs a break from sand.

Time: 2 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: $21 adult, $13 child (3-12)
Parking: limited
Kids: yes

Worth knowingSmall compared to a mainland city zoo - best for under-10s. $21 for adults and $13 for children 3 to 12; under 2 free. A Hawaii ID or military ID cuts that to $10 and $6.

WindwardInto the green

Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden

A huge free garden with a road running straight at the green cliffs.

The cliff wall behind it is the most dramatic backdrop on the island.

Time: 1-2 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: Free
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingClosed every Thursday, which catches people out - and 9am to 4pm the rest of the week. Standing in the road for photos is not allowed and is enforced. It rains here often; that is why it is so green.

WindwardNot checked yetBig views

Huilua Fishpond

A walled Hawaiian fishpond at the mouth of Kahana Bay.

One of the few fishponds left whose shape is still legible from the shore, and it sits in the prettiest bay on the windward side.

Time: 20-30 min
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingStorm damage means the wall is broken in places, and there is no visitor centre or signage to speak of. You are looking at it from the beach, not walking it.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Iolani Palace

The only royal palace in the United States, in downtown Honolulu.

The real story of the Hawaiian Kingdom, told where it happened.

Time: 1.5 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: paid
Parking: limited
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingThis is where the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown. Treat it as a historic site, not a photo stop. There is no parking on the palace grounds - you park on the street or in a nearby lot. Ticket prices are not listed here because we have not confirmed them.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Judiciary History Center

A small free museum inside Aliiolani Hale, the courthouse behind the Kamehameha statue.

It covers the overthrow and the legal machinery around it plainly, and it is free and thirty seconds from Iolani Palace.

Time: 45 min - 1 hour
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: difficult
Kids: no

Worth knowingWeekdays only, it is inside a working courthouse with security at the door, and it is genuinely small.

West SideNot checked yetBig views

Kaena Point, Keawaula end

The end of the road on the west coast, and the trail out to the northwest tip of the island.

The last stretch of Oahu with no road on it. Albatross nest at the point and monk seals haul out on the shore, behind a predator fence.

Time: 3-4 hours
Effort: medium
Cost: free
Parking: easy
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingThe trail is an old rail bed with no shade and no water for two and a half miles each way. Take more water than you think. This is the west side approach; the Mokuleia trail reaches the same point from the other direction and they are an hour and a half apart by road.

North ShoreNot checked yetBig views

Kaena Point, Mokuleia end

The North Shore approach to Kaena Point, past Dillingham airfield where the road runs out.

The same reserve from the other side, and the more natural end to a North Shore day than turning round at Haleiwa.

Time: 3-4 hours
Effort: medium
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingNo shade, no water, and the last stretch of road is rough. Do not confuse it with the Keawaula end: same destination, opposite side, and no way through by car.

WindwardNot checked yetInto the green

Kahana Valley State Park

A whole valley from ridge to reef on the windward coast, with a bay at the bottom of it.

It is the last publicly owned ahupuaa on Oahu, which means you can walk the shape the island was organised into for a thousand years.

Time: 2-4 hours
Effort: medium
Cost: free
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingIt rains here more than almost anywhere else on the island and the valley trails turn to mud. The bay is calm and shallow but often murky after rain.

WindwardNot checked yetBeach days

Kailua Beach Park

A long white beach with actual facilities and room to spread out.

Everything Lanikai has, plus toilets, showers and a car park.

Time: Half day
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: easy
Kids: yes
Lifeguard: Daily 8am-6:30pm

Worth knowingThe better choice than Lanikai if you have kids or want to stay more than an hour.

HonoluluNot checked yetSlow afternoons

Kaimukī

A short main street behind Diamond Head that is where Honolulu goes out to eat.

Waialae Avenue has more good food in four blocks than Waikiki has in its entirety, and almost none of it is aimed at visitors.

Time: 1.5-2 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: yes

Worth knowingSmall rooms that fill, and several of the best are closed at the start of the week or take no bookings. Street parking only.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Kaka‘ako

A warehouse district between downtown and Ala Moana, now covered in large-scale murals.

The murals are repainted every year for Pow Wow, so the walls are genuinely different from one visit to the next, and it is all walkable in an hour.

Time: 1.5-2.5 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: yes

Worth knowingHalf of it is a building site and has been for years, so expect hoardings and detours. The murals are spread over several blocks with nothing marking a route.

HonoluluNot checked yetSlow afternoons

Kakaako Farmers Market

A Saturday market in Kakaako, smaller and less visited than the one at Diamond Head.

Much the same growers with a fraction of the queue, and you can walk to the waterfront afterwards.

Time: 1 hour
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingSaturday morning only, and genuinely small. Check it is running before crossing town for it.

West SideNot checked yetBig views

Kaneaki Heiau

A fully restored heiau up Makaha Valley, with reconstructed thatched structures.

It is the only heiau on Oahu restored to the point where you can see what stood on the platforms, rather than having to imagine it.

Time: 45 min
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingIt sits inside a gated residential valley with short opening hours, and access has been closed for long stretches. Check it is open before driving out there, because it is a long way to be turned around.

West SideNot checked yetBig views

Kaneana Cave

A tall limestone cave cut into the cliff on the Waianae coast, a few steps off the highway.

A sacred place named for Kane, the god of creation, that you can walk straight into from the road.

Time: 30 minutes
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: easy
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingThis is a wahi pana - a sacred place - and not an attraction. There are no signs, no lights and no facilities, offerings are still left inside, and nothing there is yours to take or move. Expect graffiti and litter on the walls, bring a torch, and watch the ceiling as well as the floor - the rock is loose and the ground is uneven. The car park is across Farrington Highway and traffic moves fast, so cross carefully and leave nothing in the car. It is about 90 minutes from Waikiki with little else out that way but Makua Beach and Kaena Point, so go because you want the west side, not for the cave on its own.

HonoluluNot checked yetInto the green

Kapena Falls

A small fall and pool in Nuuanu, five minutes from the car and ten from downtown.

It is the easiest waterfall to reach on the island by a wide margin, with petroglyphs on the rocks nearby.

Time: 45 min - 1 hour
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingIt is close enough to the city to get litter and graffiti, and the stream water quality is poor. Worth a look, not worth a swim.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Kawaiahao Church

The coral-block church at the centre of downtown, built from reef quarried by hand.

Fourteen thousand blocks of coral cut out of the reef and carried up here. The building is the story, and the royal tomb is in the grounds.

Time: 30-45 min
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: difficult
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingAn active congregation, so the interior is not always open to look round, and Sunday service is a service rather than a tour.

HonoluluNot checked yetSlow afternoons

KCC Farmers Market

The Saturday morning market in the car park below Diamond Head.

It is the one market where the growers are the people behind the tables, and it is breakfast as much as it is shopping.

Time: 1-1.5 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: yes

Worth knowingSaturday morning only and it is over by mid-morning. It is busy, it is not cheap, and the car park fills long before it opens.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Kea'iwa Heiau

A healing heiau at the top of Aiea Heights, inside a state recreation area.

The heiau and the Aiea Loop Trail share a car park, so a short walk through the ruins turns into a proper forest walk if you want one.

Time: 45 min - 3 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingThe drive up is a long, narrow residential road. The gate closes in the evening and cars have been locked in.

West SideBeach days

Ko Olina Lagoons

Four man-made lagoons on the dry west side, each one ringed by rock so the water barely moves.

The calmest saltwater on the island, and the easiest place to put a small child in the sea.

Time: Half day
Effort: easy
Cost: Free, including parking
Parking: limited
Kids: yes
Lifeguard: None

Worth knowingThe lagoons sit inside a private resort, but public access and free public parking are a condition of the resort's permit, open sunrise to sunset, first come first served. Lagoon 4 has the biggest lot at around 100 stalls; 1 to 3 hold under 20 cars each and fill early at weekends. There are no lifeguards, and the loungers on the sand belong to the hotels - attendants do check for wristbands.

East O‘ahuInto the green

Koko Crater Botanical Garden

A dryland garden on the floor of an old crater, with a plumeria grove in the middle.

Cactus, baobabs and plumeria growing inside a volcano, and almost nobody there.

Time: 1-2 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: Free
Parking: easy
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingFree and open sunrise to sunset, but there is no shade and no water - it is a dryland garden in a crater and it gets very hot by midday. Nothing to do with the Koko Head stairs, which are a different place entirely.

East O‘ahuNot checked yetBig views

Koko Head Stairs

A punishing climb straight up an old railway track. Over a thousand steps.

A serious workout with a big reward view at the top.

Time: 1.5-2 hours
Effort: hard
Cost: free
Parking: easy
Kids: no

Worth knowingThis is genuinely hard - relentless uneven steps with a gap section over a gully. No shade. Go at first light or not at all.

WindwardGet out there

Kualoa Ranch

A working ranch in a valley you have seen in films, with tours by ATV, horse and bus.

The landscape from Jurassic Park, and the only way onto that private land.

Time: Half day
Effort: easy
Cost: Tours about $60-$165
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingYou cannot enter the valley without booking a tour, and tours sell out weeks ahead in high season. Single tours list at around $100-$155 and full-day packages at $165, though the site almost always has them discounted to roughly $60-$100. Check the price on the day rather than trusting a number you read somewhere.

WindwardNot checked yetInto the green

Kualoa Regional Park

A grassy shoreline park looking out at a small cone-shaped island.

The classic view of Mokolii, with mountains right behind you.

Time: 1 hour
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: easy
Kids: yes
Lifeguard: Daily in summer; weekends and holidays otherwise

Worth knowingA view and a picnic spot rather than a swimming beach - the water here is shallow and silty.

North ShoreNot checked yetBeach days

Kuilima Cove

A small reef-ringed cove at the island's north tip, calm when the rest of the North Shore is not.

The one place up north where you can put a child or a first-time snorkeller in the water in winter.

Time: 2-3 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: yes
Lifeguard: None

Worth knowingThe reef across the mouth does the work, which is why this stays swimmable in the winter months that shut Waimea and Pipeline. The beach is public and so are the free stalls, but there are few of them and they go early - after that you are paying the resort. Look for the Ritz-Carlton signs: the hotel is still Turtle Bay to everyone on the island but it changed names. No city lifeguard. Snorkel the sandy middle rather than the reef edge, where a big winter swell still wraps in.

West SideNot checked yetBig views

Kuilioloa Heiau

A heiau on the point at the end of Pokai Bay, out over the water on three sides.

The setting does the work. It sits on a spit with the Waianae range behind it and the bay on either side, and almost nobody is there.

Time: 30 min
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingThe beach park it sits in is a local one and can be busy at weekends. Do not leave anything in the car.

CentralNot checked yetBig views

Kukaniloko Birth Stones

The stones where Oahu chiefs were born, in a grove of trees outside Wahiawa.

One of the few places on the island that is still exactly what it was, and it sits at the geographic centre of Oahu for reasons that were not an accident.

Time: 30 min
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingThere is almost nothing to look at and very little interpretation on site. It is worth going for what it is, not what it looks like, and it is an active sacred site.

WindwardNot checked yetBig views

Lāʻie Point

A narrow point of rock running out into the sea, with a sea arch off the end of it.

The whole windward coast lines up behind you, and the arch in the islet offshore is genuinely odd to look at.

Time: 20 min
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: yes

Worth knowingYou drive through a residential street to get there and park at the end of it. There is no shade, no railing at the edges, and the surge on the rocks is serious.

East O‘ahuNot checked yetBig views

Lanai Lookout

A pull-off on the southeast coast road where the lava shelf drops straight into the water.

The layered rock is the best roadside geology on the island, and on a clear day you can see Molokai and Lanai from the railing.

Time: 15 min
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: yes

Worth knowingPeople climb down onto the shelf for photographs and the surge comes over it without warning. The railing is where the view is.

North ShoreNot checked yetInto the green

Laniakea Beach

A small beach where green sea turtles come up to rest on the sand.

You can usually see honu, wild and up close.

Time: 30-45 min
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: difficult
Kids: yes
Lifeguard: Daily 8am-6:30pm

Worth knowingParking is on the far side of a busy highway and people cross carelessly. Stay well back from the turtles - keeping your distance is required by law.

WindwardNot checked yetBeach days

Lanikai Beach

Calm, bright blue water that genuinely looks like the postcard.

Probably the prettiest swimming beach on the island.

Time: 2-3 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: difficult
Kids: yes
Lifeguard: None

Worth knowingNo toilets, no showers, no lifeguard, no shade. You park on residential streets and walk between houses - be quiet and park legally.

WindwardNot checked yetBig views

Lanikai Pillbox Trail

A short, steep climb up Kaiwa Ridge to two wartime observation posts above Lanikai.

Forty minutes of effort buys the view of the Mokulua islands that everyone else is looking at from the beach.

Time: 1-2 hours
Effort: medium
Cost: free
Parking: difficult
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingThe first section is loose, steep and genuinely slippery after rain. Parking is in a residential neighbourhood that tickets and tows, and there is no shade anywhere on the ridge.

WindwardNot checked yetBig views

Likeke Falls

A wide, low fall over mossy rock, reached by a short walk off the old Pali road.

It is the shortest walk to a real waterfall on this side of the island, and the old cobbled highway on the way in is a sight in itself.

Time: 1-1.5 hours
Effort: medium
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingThe usual access runs through a golf course and the etiquette around it changes; check the current route. Slippery basalt the whole way.

HonoluluInto the green

Lili‘uokalani Botanical Garden

A small garden of native Hawaiian plants on land the Queen left to the city.

Native plants only, on ground that belonged to Lili‘uokalani herself.

Time: 45 minutes
Effort: easy
Cost: Free
Parking: limited
Kids: yes

Worth knowingFree, open 7am to 5pm, and genuinely small - half an hour is enough. Worth pairing with Foster, which is a few minutes away, rather than driving here on its own.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Lulumahu Falls

A tall, narrow fall at the back of Nuuanu valley, up a bamboo-lined stream bed.

The walk in through the bamboo and the old reservoir ruins is better than the fall itself, and it is twenty minutes from downtown.

Time: 1.5-2 hours
Effort: medium
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: no

Worth knowingThis crosses state watershed land that requires a permit, and people are cited for going without one. Sort that out first. The route is unmarked, muddy and easy to lose.

HonoluluNot checked yetBeach days

Magic Island Lagoon

A walled saltwater lagoon at the Waikiki end of Ala Moana park, flat as a bath.

The calmest water in town, with a lifeguard and free parking - the easiest place in Honolulu to put a small child in the sea.

Time: 2-3 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: Free, including parking
Parking: easy
Kids: yes
Lifeguard: Daily 8am-6:30pm

Worth knowingIt is the far end of Ala Moana Beach Park, not a separate trip - park once and walk. The rock wall that kills the waves also stops the water moving, so it is warmer and cloudier than the open beach, and after heavy rain it is the last place to clear. Packed on weekends and holidays. The park gates shut from 10pm to 4am.

East O‘ahuNot checked yetBig views

Makapu'u Lookout

The pull-off at the island corner, looking down on Makapuu Beach and the offshore islands.

It is the turn from the dry southeast into the green windward side, and you get both from the same railing.

Time: 15 min
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: yes

Worth knowingA roadside stop rather than a destination. If you want to be up on the headland, that is the lighthouse trail, which is a separate walk.

East O‘ahuNot checked yetBig views

Makapuu Lighthouse Trail

A paved uphill walk to a cliff view over the ocean and a red-roofed lighthouse.

Big coastal views without needing hiking boots. Whales in winter.

Time: 1-1.5 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: yes

Worth knowingFully paved and pushchair-possible, but completely exposed. Do it early or late, not midday.

HonoluluBig views

Manoa Falls

A short muddy rainforest walk to a tall thin waterfall.

Proper jungle, fifteen minutes from the city.

Time: 1.5-2 hours
Effort: medium
Cost: Free trail, $7 parking
Parking: limited
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingThe hike itself costs nothing; the parking does. The lot at the trailhead is $7 a vehicle, or $4 with a Hawaii ID or military ID, and it is open 8am to 6pm. It will be muddy - wear shoes you do not mind ruining. Swimming at the base is not allowed.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Mauna Ala, the Royal Mausoleum

The burial place of the Kamehameha and Kalakaua royal families, in a small walled ground in Nuuanu.

It is the one piece of the Kingdom that was never ceded, and the Hawaiian flag over it has never been lowered.

Time: 30-45 min
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: easy
Kids: no

Worth knowingWeekdays only, and it is sacred ground rather than an attraction. Quiet clothes, quiet voices, and the chapel is not always open.

North ShoreNot checked yetSlow afternoons

North Shore Country Market

A Saturday market on the school field at Sunset Beach.

It is the North Shore feeding itself rather than performing for anyone, and it is a hundred metres from the beach.

Time: 45 min - 1 hour
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: yes

Worth knowingSaturday morning only, and it does not run every week of the year. Small, and parking is on the highway verge.

North ShoreNot checked yetSlow afternoons

Old Waialua Sugar Mill

The shut sugar mill at Waialua, now coffee roasting, soap making and a few shops in the old buildings.

It is the clearest thing left of the industry that built these towns, and the coffee and chocolate are made on the spot.

Time: 45 min - 1.5 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingSmall and quiet, and several units are shut midweek. The mill itself is derelict and fenced; you are looking at it, not going in.

East O‘ahuNot checked yetBig views

Pahua Heiau

A small restored heiau on a hillside in a Hawaii Kai subdivision.

It is a reminder that the whole of east Oahu was farmed and settled long before the cul-de-sacs, and it takes ten minutes.

Time: 15-20 min
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingIt is genuinely small and hemmed in by houses. Park considerately: this is a residential street where people live.

WindwardNot checked yetBig views

Pali Lookout

The gap in the Koolau range where the wind comes through, looking down over the windward coast.

It is the clearest view of how this island is actually put together: a thousand-foot green wall with Kaneohe laid out at the bottom of it.

Time: 20-30 min
Effort: easy
Cost: Parking fee for out-of-state cars
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingThe wind is not a figure of speech. It will take a hat, a car door and a phone. It also clouds in completely, and there is no view at all on a bad day.

HonoluluBig views

Pearl Harbor

The memorial site for the 1941 attack that brought the US into WWII.

One of the most significant historic places in the country.

Time: Half day
Effort: easy
Cost: Free entry, $7 parking
Parking: easy
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingEntry to the visitor centre, museums and grounds is free, but parking is $7 a day, paid by app or QR code. Bags are not allowed in - there is paid storage by the entrance, but it is easier to leave everything in the car. The Arizona Memorial boat needs a separate timed ticket booked well ahead.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum

Hangars on Ford Island, still carrying bullet damage from the attack, filled with aircraft.

The hangar glass was never replaced. You are standing in the building it happened to, which the newer memorials cannot offer.

Time: 2-3 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: paid
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingIt is on Ford Island, which means a shuttle from the visitor centre and no private cars. Budget the whole morning for Pearl Harbor if you are adding this to it.

WindwardGet out there

Polynesian Cultural Center

A large park where islands across the Pacific each show their own culture, ending with a big show.

The most thorough introduction to Polynesian cultures in one place.

Time: Full day
Effort: easy
Cost: From $94.95 adult
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingExpensive and a genuine full day. The cheapest way in is the self-guided Islands of Polynesia ticket at $94.95 for adults and $75.96 for children 4 to 11, running 12:15 to 5:30pm; adding the evening show and a buffet takes it past $150, and the luau packages past $195. It is an hour from Waikiki, so do not pair it with anything else.

North ShoreNot checked yetBig views

Pu'u O Mahuka Heiau

The largest heiau on Oahu, on the bluff above Waimea Bay.

You can see the whole of Waimea Bay from the wall, and the scale of the place does more to explain pre-contact Oahu than any museum case.

Time: 30-45 min
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: yes

Worth knowingA sacred site, not a viewpoint. The stacked walls are the structure itself, so do not climb on them, and leaving wrapped rocks or other offerings is not a local practice.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Punchbowl, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific

A cemetery inside an extinct crater above downtown, for the Pacific war dead.

The bowl of the crater with the headstones set flush in the grass, and a lookout at the rim over the whole city.

Time: 1-1.5 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: easy
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingIt is a working cemetery and families are there. Keep it quiet, and leave the drone in the car.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Queen Emma Summer Palace

The small wooden retreat in Nuuanu that Queen Emma used to escape the heat of town.

It is domestic rather than grand, and that is the point: a royal household at close range, with the family possessions still in it.

Time: 1-1.5 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: paid
Parking: easy
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingIt is one small house and you will be through it in an hour. It sits right on the Pali Highway, so take it on the way somewhere.

East O‘ahuNot checked yetWith kids

Sea Life Park

A marine park on the southeast corner, under the cliffs at Makapuu.

The setting is better than the park: the sea cliffs and Rabbit Island are right behind the pools.

Time: 3-4 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: paid
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingCaptive dolphin and sea lion interaction is the main business here, which is not for everyone. Expensive once the add-ons start, and dated in places.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art

Doris Duke house on the water at Black Point, built around a collection of Islamic art.

It is an extraordinary building in an extraordinary position, and the combination of Islamic interiors and a Diamond Head shoreline exists nowhere else.

Time: 2.5-3 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: paid
Parking: easy
Kids: no

Worth knowingTours only, they sell out well in advance, and they leave from the Honolulu Museum of Art rather than from the house. Book before the trip, not during it.

North ShoreNot checked yetGet out there

Shark's Cove

A rocky cove with the clearest snorkelling on the North Shore. No sharks.

Calm summer water full of fish, over lava rock pools.

Time: 2 hours
Effort: medium
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: maybe
Lifeguard: None

Worth knowingSummer only. Sharp lava rock underfoot - bring water shoes. Unsafe when there is any winter swell.

North ShoreNot checked yetBeach days

Sunset Beach

A long golden beach famous for huge winter surf.

Watching professional surfers in winter, or an empty wide beach in summer.

Time: 1-2 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: maybe
Lifeguard: Daily 8am-6:30pm

Worth knowingSwimming here in winter is genuinely dangerous. In summer it calms right down.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Tantalus Lookout

A viewpoint up a winding road looking down over Honolulu and Diamond Head.

The best city view on the island for almost no effort.

Time: 30-45 min
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: limited
Kids: yes

Worth knowingNarrow twisty road to get there. Gates close in the evening, so check before planning a night view.

WaikīkīNot checked yetBig views

US Army Museum of Hawaii

A coastal artillery battery on Waikiki beach, now a museum, with the concrete left as it was.

You are inside a 1911 gun battery a hundred metres from the hotels, and it is free.

Time: 1-1.5 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: difficult
Kids: yes

Worth knowingClosed at the start of the week. The parking nearby is paid and expensive; walk to it.

HonoluluBig views

USS Arizona Memorial

A white memorial built over a sunken battleship. Over a thousand sailors are still below.

Quiet, moving, and unlike anywhere else. You reach it by boat.

Time: 1 hour
Effort: easy
Cost: Free + $1 booking fee
Parking: easy
Kids: maybe

Worth knowingIt is a war grave. The programme itself is free, but Recreation.gov adds a $1 non-refundable booking fee per ticket, and slots are released on a schedule and go fast. Parking at the visitor centre is $7 a day.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

USS Bowfin and the Submarine Museum

A Second World War submarine you can walk through, moored beside the Pearl Harbor visitor centre.

Going down the hatch is the point. Nothing else at Pearl Harbor puts you inside the thing itself, and the scale of it is hard to credit until you are bent double in the passage.

Time: 1.5-2 hours
Effort: medium
Cost: paid
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingSteep ladders, narrow hatches and no air conditioning inside the hull, so it is a real physical squeeze and there is a minimum age for boarding. It is a separate ticket from the Arizona Memorial.

CentralInto the green

Wahiawā Botanical Garden

A rainforest garden in the middle of the island, on an old sugar plantation's test plot.

Tree ferns and epiphytes in a cool upland gulch, when the coast is too hot.

Time: 1 hour
Effort: easy
Cost: Free
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingMostly shut. The City says the majority of the garden is closed until further notice after hurricane damage - only the entrance, visitor centre, multi-purpose room and main lawn are open. Check before you drive up.

WaikīkīNot checked yetWith kids

Waikīkī Aquarium

A small aquarium on the Waikiki shore, run by the university, focused on Hawaiian reefs.

The reef tanks show you what you are actually swimming over, and it is the third oldest aquarium in the country.

Time: 1.5-2 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: paid
Parking: limited
Kids: yes

Worth knowingIt is small. An hour and a half is honest; if you are expecting a large mainland aquarium you will be through it too quickly.

WaikīkīNot checked yetBeach days

Waikiki Beach

The famous city beach. Calm water, soft sand, and hotels right behind you.

Easiest place on the island to swim, rent a board, and learn to surf.

Time: 2-3 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: difficult
Kids: yes
Lifeguard: Daily 8am-6:30pm

Worth knowingIt is the busiest beach on Oahu and the water is not the clearest. Worth seeing once, but better beaches are 30 minutes away.

WindwardNot checked yetBeach days

Waimanalo Beach

A very long, quiet white sand beach backed by pine trees.

Space and shade, and far fewer people than Kailua.

Time: 2-3 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: easy
Kids: yes
Lifeguard: Daily 8am-6:30pm

Worth knowingDo not leave anything visible in your car at any beach lot here.

North ShoreNot checked yetBeach days

Waimea Bay

A wide, deep bay. Flat and swimmable in summer, enormous waves in winter.

Two completely different beaches depending on the season.

Time: 2-3 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: difficult
Kids: maybe
Lifeguard: Daily 8am-6:30pm

Worth knowingIn winter this is a watch-only beach with dangerous shorebreak. The car park fills by mid-morning year round.

North ShoreInto the green

Waimea Valley

A flat walk through a garden to a waterfall you can swim under.

The easiest waterfall on the island to actually reach.

Time: 2-3 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: $26 adult, $18 child (4-12)
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingPaved and pushchair-friendly the whole way. $26 for adults, $20 for seniors and students, $18 for children 4 to 12 - or $10 with a Hawaii or military ID. The shuttle to the falls is another $10 each way. Swimming depends on conditions and they will close it after heavy rain.

HonoluluNot checked yetBig views

Washington Place

The house where Queen Liliuokalani lived after the overthrow, and afterwards the governor residence.

She was held here, and lived here until she died. Standing in the room is a different thing from reading the sentence.

Time: 1 hour
Effort: easy
Cost: free
Parking: difficult
Kids: no

Worth knowingTours are by reservation on limited days and get cancelled for official functions. Confirm before you build a morning on it.

West SideNot checked yetWith kids

Wet'n'Wild Hawaii

The island water park, out at Kapolei on the dry side.

On a west side afternoon with children who have had enough of sand, it is the whole day solved.

Time: 4-6 hours
Effort: easy
Cost: paid
Parking: easy
Kids: yes

Worth knowingNot open every day out of season, and it is forty minutes from Waikiki with no shade in the car park. Check the calendar before driving out.

A little less rush.A lot more O‘ahu.

The places that earn the drive.

A little less rush.
A lot more O‘ahu.