Getting Around Honolulu

Your first stop should be Waikiki Beach. Chances are, your hotel might be there anyway; many of the Honolulu hotels are. There’s the classic view of Diamond Head standing at the end of a curved sandy beach. If the waves are good, you’ll see surfers trying to ride one in. Beginners are welcome.

The nice thing about Hawaii is that no one can really own the shoreline. Consequently, you can walk the beach along hotel row as long as you like. Especially around sunset, an evening stroll overlooking the Pacific Ocean can be very rejuvenating. After comparing yourself to the statue of super surfer Duke Kahanamoku, your hotel exploration should include the Ala Moana, the oldest built in 1901, the Royal Hawaiian, all in tropical pink, with even pink chairs in their ocean side Mai Tai Bar, and the Halekulani, which means “the house without a key,” which also happens to be the title of the very first Charlie Chan mystery, written right there on the beach by a former guest. 

Of course, the chances for stopping and drinking in the view will keep you coming back night after night.

If you can save these for a rainy day, great. However, you may just have to wait a while, and everyone else might join in. Whenever you go, there’s a lot of island history to learn at the Bishop Museum, the state’s largest. It has a tremendous collection of Hawaiian artifacts along with items from all over Polynesia. Iolani Palace, the official residence of the Hawaiian monarchy, was built in 1882 by King Kalakaua and was last occupied by his sister-successor Queen Liliuokalani. It’s been meticulously restored and is the pride and joy of all Hawaiians. 

A bit more current history sits in Honolulu’s oldest neighborhood, Chinatown, with narrow streets and active markets. Nearby is the Foster Botanical Garden, historic Honolulu Theater and the Hawai’i Heritage Center, focusing on Hawaii’s many cultural and ethnic groups.

This year marks the 85th anniversary of the attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet and the entrance of the United States into World War II. Every year, more than a million tourists visit Pearl Harbor, and this year is no exception.

The best place to begin is the Visitor Center at the National Park Service-run Pearl Harbor National Memorial. Various ticket packages are available, but there are daily limits, so an early start is best. The USS Arizona Memorial is free, with a small reservation fee for the ferry that shuttles out to the haunting site where over 1,100 sailors perished. Two other ships sank during the attack, the USS Oklahoma and the USS Utah.

Other ships offering tours are the submarine USS Bowfin and the battleship USS Missouri, on which the final enemy surrender was accepted by General MacArthur on September 2, 1945. So here, in this small, peaceful inland harbor, you can experience the beginning and end of World War II.

Hawaii is the birthplace of the World Championship Ironman, so you can expect an exercise-conscious community vibe. The race originally began on Oahu but moved to the less populous Big Island. Close to Waikiki, you can sample the active Hawaiian lifestyle with a scenic hike up Diamond Head for an incredible view of nearly the entire island. A little further east is the wide, curved, easily accessible Hanauma Bay, protected by a coral reef that makes for excellent snorkeling. You’ll likely catch sight of Hawaii’s state fish, the humuhumunukunukuapua’a, darting among more than 400 fish species in this inactive volcano crater turned nature preserve.

While you’re on the Windward side, drive through Kailua — the Obama family’s longtime Hawaii vacation neighborhood — for a glimpse of one of Oahu’s most scenic beach towns.

No trip to Hawaii would be complete without a little exposure to the surfing culture, and the best place to catch a wave is Oahu’s North Shore. The winter waves can be mind-boggling — ever hear of the Banzai Pipeline? Yet some of the finest beaches on the island, at Waimea Bay and Sunset Beach, are year-round delights. While you’ve made the trip north, you might as well pay a visit to the Dole Pineapple Plantation to learn about one of Hawaii’s most famous exports. (The Dole factory back in Honolulu is also worth a quick tour, if only for the fresh samples.)

There’s also golf at Turtle Bay and the surf town of Hale’iwa, where some say the refreshing snack “shave ice” was born. It’s much better than any sno-cone you’ll find back on the mainland.

– A luau (the best are located around Waikiki)

– Honolulu Museum of Art

– Hawai’i Food and Wine Festival

– Manoa Falls Trail

– Aloha Tower

– Polynesian Cultural Center

– Statues of Kamehameha the Great and Father Damien

– Any Tiki bar