Accommodations | Itinerary | Activities | Food | Budget
Hawaii will always hold a special place in our hearts. My husband and I were married at the LDS Temple in Laie, Hawaii in December 2018. We had a blast exploring Oahu for our honeymoon and we can’t wait to go back. One of the highlights of our trip was exploring all of the different parts of the island and trying to eat everything we possibly could! We had a great time, but did have hit or miss weather for most of our trip, unfortunately coming across quite a bit of rain (and not just the short rain showers, but full on Seattle rain!). Despite the rain, we still had a blast!
Accommodations
We spent a total of 9 days in Hawaii including our wedding day and the day we left. We decided we would split our time between Waikiki in a nice hotel, and an Airbnb near Lanikai. The reason behind this decision was because we didn’t want to be in the busy hustle and busy of the city the entire time (and the expensive parking), but also wanted to have a few days of typical honeymoon accommodations to kick off the trip.
Waikiki Hotel: In Waikiki, we stayed at The Prince Waikiki, which is a 4-star hotel on the far end of the main strip of hotels along the beach. We picked this hotel because their resort fee included self-parking, which would save us about $45 a day, and because it was relatively “affordable” compared to some of the alternatives. It had a nice rooftop pool, and all of the amenities you would expect from a 4-star hotel. We really enjoyed our time there, and they helped our time there feel extra special. We paid for this hotel with points, so I don’t have an exact price for it, but it is typically priced at around $260 per night.
Kailua Airbnb: We had a hard time narrowing down where to stay for the rest of our trip, but we ultimately picked an Airbnb near Lanikai (the Airbnb was specifically in Kailua), which is known as one of the best beaches on Oahu. We wanted to stay at a place that was nearby some stores and restaurants, but was still closer to the North Shore for when we wanted to explore for day trips. The Airbnb also had a small kitchenette, which allowed us to go to the store and buy snack food and breakfast food to save a bit of money. We enjoyed our stay there, and the host was pretty hands-off, which we prefer. It was a few minutes away from some restaurants, which was perfect for us after a long day. The price for the Airbnb is $140/night.
Itinerary
See below for an overview of our itinerary for our trip. Please keep in mind we got married on this trip, so the first 3-4 days were mostly quiet because they were full of wedding-related festivities. Anything highlighted in yellow represents a Go Oahu activity that we planned to do.
Activities
After crunching numbers, we ended up buying the Go Oahu pass through Costco, which allowed us to do 4 days of activities for a flat fee. The Go Oahu Pass isn’t for everyone – for it to be worth it, you need to be strategic with the activities you do to get the most bang for your buck. You can see in the itinerary above what we used the pass for, and how we spaced out key activities to get the most out of our days.
On the activities overviewed below, *= used Go Oahu Pass
We had a few more activities planned, including a visit to the Waimea Valley, but unfortunately, we were on our trip during the surfing competitions, which made it almost impossible to get over to that side of the island for a few days of our trip. If you are smart enough to plan your trip around the competitions, definitely take advantage of some of the beautiful activities over near Hale’iwa.
Catamaran Ride*: When we were staying in Waikiki, we did an afternoon catamaran ride. It was a pretty big boat, and we enjoyed going out on the water. The catamaran ride we did (through Go Oahu) included one drink, so we used ours for some pops and sat back and enjoyed the sailing. It got pretty bumpy about halfway through, so we ended up holding on tight to the railing and covered in water. It was still a blast and I’d definitely recommend it, but be careful if you get sea sick!
Dole Plantation: The Dole Plantation was a must stop for us on our trip. We mostly wanted to go to get our hands on some fresh Dole Whip, as we aren’t into souvenirs and weren’t planning on buying stuff to send home like many people do. We still had a fun time doing the train ride through the fields (which was mostly aimed at children, but we still enjoyed it), and looking around the gardens. Of course, don’t leave without some Dole Whip!
Pearl Harbor*: We used our Go Oahu pass to see Pearl Harbor. We originally only planned on spending an hour or so there (I generally don’t love museums or museum like attractions), but we spent about half a day there. We got up early and got there right when it was opening, which I would recommend, as it gets busy as big buses come by with tours. It was definitely a heavier stop, but we both enjoyed seeing everything, going on the boat ride, and going into the USS Arizona. We found every portion of the visit to be enjoyable, so I don’t recommend skipping any of it if you have the time. We didn’t pay for a tour or for the audio guide, and had no issues finding our way around.
Hwy 72 Drive: The day we switched Airbnb’s from Waikiki to Lanikai, we spent the morning doing a little bit of a scenic drive on highway 72. We mostly stopped at viewpoints, and loved being able to enjoy some of the beautiful ocean landscapes without a set agenda. It was super super windy (as you can see in some of the photos), so I wouldn’t recommend wearing a dress like me unless you want to risk flashing everyone! I recommend going to the following:
- Koko Crater Trail
- Halona Blowhole
- Makapuu Lookout
- Waimanolo Beach
Sea Life Park*: Sea Life Park is not too far off of the main road if you are on your way up to the North Shore. We could access the park for free with the Go Oahu pass, so we decided to stop by. We had to pay for parking, so keep that in mind – I think it was about $5. In our opinion it was a mediocre aquarium – we mostly went to see the Dolphin show. I wouldn’t recommend going unless you have the Go Oahu pass and some time to burn.
Byodo-In Temple*: The Byodo-In Temple is a beautiful Buddhist temple up in the mountains behind He’eia State Park. We swung by on a whim, since we had free access with our Go Oahu pass (but admission is normally only $5/person), and it was a great quick detour. There isn’t much to do in the temple itself, but the grounds were beautiful and we enjoyed feeding ducks, exploring the gardens and generally soaking in the scenery.
Kualoa Ranch Jungle Tour*: We booked 2 weeks ahead of time (the earliest we could book) and scheduled ourselves for the Kualoa Ranch Jungle Tour (essentially a Jurassic Park tour) through the Go Oahu pass. We ended up doing an 8:30am tour, the earliest that was available so we could go to the Polynesian Cultural Center afterwards. We had a great time on the tour and the scenery was beautiful. There is a ton to do on Kualoa ranch, so depending on your interest you can do a Jurassic Park tour, an ATV ride, a horseback ride, or a beach day. Highly recommend making time for this on your trip – my in-laws highly recommend the ATV tour. Make sure you get there early – about 30 minutes before – because you need to check in a the ticket counter and walk to where your tour leaves from on the ranch.
Polynesian Cultural Center Luau*: After going on our Kualoa Ranch tour, we stopped for food and went to the Polynesian Cultural Center (often referred to as the PCC), to do the Luau. We went there at noon, and were there until around 9pm – it was a very long day! The Polynesian Cultural center consists of Island Villages – which represent the Polynesian Nations and each have a presentation or performance associated with them, a Luau (buffet dinner), and a show. Each of these things are worthwhile, and we enjoyed all of them, but by the end of the day and squeezing in every second we could, we were exhausted. We had front row seats to the Fire show, and were practically falling asleep. If you have time, I’d recommend doing it differently than we did.
My recommendation: If you are going to do the Luau and the show, I’d recommend splitting your visit into two days. When you get your ticket on the day of your Luau, you will get a ticket that will allow you to come back once in the next 3 days to visit the Island Villages. There is SO much to see, so the Luau and show the first day (and maybe some of the Island Villages), and then come back the next day to do any Island Villages you missed the first day. Get the schedule for the Island Villages performances when you get there and plan out where to be and when so you don’t miss anything! There is a performance on the river that you will want to make sure you get a seat early for – this is when we took the opportunity to buy a nice Pineapple smoothie – totally worth the overpriced ~$7. The PCC is by far the best experience we had in Hawaii and we would have enjoyed it so much more if we had split it up to two days.
If you aren’t going to be getting tickets to the PCC through Go Oahu, if you book at least 10 days in advance on their website, you can save 15%. Unless you really want a tour or guaranteed seating, I’d recommend doing the Ali’I Luau Package and skipping the ambassador packages.
Hale’iwa Drive: Note: we didn’t actually get to do most of these activities, but we had planned to drive along the coast and see the following on our way from Kailua over to Hale’iwa:
- Laie Point
- Paddle Board in Hale’iwa
- Banzai Pipeline at Ehukai Beach
- Sunset Beach (as the name implies, try to see the sunset here!)
- Laniakea Beach/Turtle Beach
Food
Honolulu:
Roy’s Waikiki: We went to Roy’s for our celebration dinner – this was our one big splurge on the trip. We did the 4-course Prix Fixe menu, which was $85 per person, but was worth every penny. The service was amazing, and everything was delicious. We walked to the restaurant from our hotel – about 20 minutes, but coming back it was such a struggle because we were so full and were bringing home leftovers.
Leonards Bakery: If you are going to be in Honolulu, a stop at Leonard’s to grab some Malasadas is a must! Malasadas are a fried dough, much like a donut, filled with a variety of fillings in both standard flavors (like custard) and fun flavors like guava and haupia (coconut). Try them all!
Cinnamon’s: There are a two locations of Cinnamon’s on the island (one in Waikiki and one in Kailua), and this is a must stop for breakfast! We ate there twice during our stay and both times we got the Guava pancakes. We still practically drool thinking about them to this day.
Hula Grill: Hula Grill is a nice restaurant located in a hotel off of the main drag in Honolulu. We went here for a family dinner the day before we got married and it was the perfect mix of casual but still delicious food. Most people in our group got the mahi mahi and everyone really enjoyed our dinner! We were also seated right by the open windows so we were able to enjoy a beautiful sunset.
North Shore:
Hale’iwa Joes: Hale’iwa Joes is an Oahu classic, with a location in Hale’iwa (given the name) and another in Kaneohe (where we went). Hale’iwa Joes doesn’t take reservations, so if you plan on going here, try to plan ahead and come early, and expect to wait for at least an hour. We waited for about an hour outside and it was definitely worth the wait! They do a prime rib meal that easily fed two of us that is first come first serve. The restaurant in Haiku Gardens was beautiful and open to the outside.
Crispy Grindz: A friend of ours recommended we go to this little food truck in Hale’iwa to check out the best acai on the island. We were not disappointed! The acai was pure and reminded us of the acai in Brazil, and they also sold other Brazilian snacks. If you love acai, this is worth a stop!
Matsumoto Shave Ice: Also in Hale’iwa, Matsumoto is probably the most well known location for Shave Ice on Oahu. There was quite a line up when we were there, but we really enjoyed it (who doesn’t love Shave Ice). Shave Ice is good no matter where you get it, in my opinion, but if you’re nearby definitely stop in. We had to pay for parking nearby, so keep that in mind when you’re parking in the area.
Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck: Although I don’t personally like seafood (I know, I know – judge me all you want), my husband devoured a bunch of garlic shrimp at Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck. There are a few locations throughout the island, so mark them on your map and swing by when you’re near one of them. They’re super busy, but service is fast.
Papa Ole’s Kitchen: This is hands down our favorite place on the island. We stopped here after a friend recommended it, and we immediately wished we had went earlier in our trip so we could have gone every day. The food here is incredible and affordable. The meats are in limited supply, so if you want to try the famous kalibi ribs, try and come early. Unfortunately we missed the kalbi ribs both times we went, but really loved the garlic chicken and pulehu ribs. The peanut butter rolls are also amazing and extremely filling. This is a must try if you’re going to be heading in that direction at any point.
Ted’s Bakery: This bakery is famous for their Chocolate Haupia Cream pie. We swung by on a drive around the North Shore and grabbed a slice to go. The pie was yummy, but didn’t blow us away. But – we’re just two people out of many, so I would still recommend it as a stop if you’re driving by.
Budget
Hawaii has been hands down my most expensive trip to date, so you’ll notice the costs I have listed are a bit higher than they might be for other trips of mine. We used points to pay for our hotel for the first few nights of our trip and for our rental car, but I’ll insert in comparable rates.
