Oahu, O'ahu in Hawaiian, is the island of Honolulu, the state capital, and Waikiki, and the one where city, history and beach sit closest together. This page covers twelve experiences: Diamond Head and Hanauma Bay, both on reservations, a surf lesson and a sunset sail off Waikiki, the North Shore's winter waves, Kualoa Ranch and the Polynesian Cultural Center on the windward coast, Iolani Palace, the Bishop Museum and Chinatown in Honolulu, a paddle to the Mokulua islets from Kailua, and the plate lunch and shave ice that locals live on. The USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor has its own entry on the USA page.
Waikiki is the practical base: Diamond Head rises at its eastern end, Hanauma Bay lies along the coast beyond it, and the windward coast and the North Shore are day trips by car. Book the timed entries first, because Hanauma Bay releases its slots only two days ahead and closes on Mondays and Tuesdays.
A crater formed in a single eruption about 300,000 years ago, climbed through a lit tunnel to a 1911 fire control station.
What it is
Diamond Head, Leahi in Hawaiian, is a tuff crater formed in a single eruption about 300,000 years ago at the east end of Waikiki, and its summit trail was built in 1908 for Oahu's coastal defences. The trail climbs 560 feet in 0.8 mile from the crater floor, first on concrete, then on switchbacks, up steep stairs and through a lit 225-foot tunnel to the 1911 Fire Control Station. The view runs from Koko Head to Waianae, with whales in winter.
How to do it
Non-residents must reserve entry and parking ahead on the state parks website: $5 per person and $10 per car, in time slots from 6 am to the last one at 4 pm, with entry until 4:30 pm. Gates lock at 6 pm, and the park closes on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
Snorkel Hanauma Bay with a reservation made two days ahead
Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, east Oahu
Timed entry
Hawaii's first marine conservation district, protected since 1967, with visitor numbers capped to protect its reef.
What it is
Hanauma Bay was the first of Hawaii's Marine Life Conservation Districts, protected since 1967, and the city now limits visitors to protect its reef. Everyone must watch the conservation video at the Marine Education Center before going down to the beach, on foot or by tram. Snorkel gear can be rented on site.
How to do it
It opens Wednesday to Sunday, with entry from 6:45 am to 1:30 pm; everyone leaves by 4 pm, and it closes on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Non-residents aged 13 and over pay $25, booked online two days ahead from 7 am Hawaii time, so Monday for Wednesday; parking is extra and paid in cash. TheBus Route 22 runs there from Waikiki.
Good to know
A few walk-in tickets go on sale when the car park gate opens, first come, first served, and authorized shuttle packages from Waikiki include admission.
Where Duke Kahanamoku made surfing famous, a long, rolling break still suited to standing on a board for the first time.
What it is
Waikiki is where Duke Kahanamoku, the Olympic swimmer, made surfing famous around the world, and its long, rolling break is still the classic place to stand on a board for the first time: it suits longboards, tandem riding and beginners. Half the beach is marked off for surfers, so lessons happen right in front of the hotels.
How to do it
Surf schools and beach stands along the sand rent boards and run group or private lessons; a natural meeting point is the 9-foot bronze statue of Duke, installed in 1990 at Kuhio Beach. The waves can push hard on windy days, which is the time to book a private lesson rather than a crowded group.
Good to know
The water stays shallow, with rocks on the bottom, for some distance out, so fall flat, never dive head first, and keep the leash on.
The sun sets into the sea from mid-September to late March, best seen from a catamaran that launches straight off the sand.
What it is
From Waikiki Beach the sun sets into the sea from mid-September to late March, and the best seat is on a catamaran that launches straight off the sand. Several boats work the beach in front of the hotels, so there is no harbour transfer: Holokai, for example, a 49-passenger beach catamaran built in 2015, checks guests in at the Outrigger Reef hotel, 2169 Kalia Road, and sails toward Diamond Head with an open bar while the Honolulu skyline lights up behind.
How to do it
Most Waikiki hotels are within a short walk. By day the same boats run snorkel trips to Turtle Canyon to swim with green sea turtles, which you must keep at least 10 feet from, and in winter they add whale watches from the beach.
Good to know
Wear clothes that can get wet, because you board from the beach.
In winter the swells that made this the world's big-wave stage roll in, and watching from the beach costs nothing.
What it is
In winter the North Shore receives the swells that made it the world's big-wave stage, and watching from the beach costs nothing. Three famous breaks lie a few miles apart: Waimea Bay, the big-wave bay, which has lifeguards; the Banzai Pipeline off Ehukai Beach Park, where waves average 9 feet and can reach 20 over a shallow, cavernous reef, one of the deadliest breaks in surfing; and Sunset Beach further on. Above Waimea Bay, Puu o Mahuka Heiau State Monument, an important Hawaiian temple site, looks over the coast.
How to do it
Drive Kamehameha Highway (Route 83) through Haleiwa to reach them. From about May to October the sea usually calms, and Shark's Cove at Pupukea, a Marine Life Conservation District with no lifeguard, becomes a snorkel spot of caves and ledges.
Good to know
Stay on the sand, because in winter currents and waves make this whole stretch extremely dangerous.
More than 250 films and TV shows, the Jurassic Park films among them, were shot on these 4,000 acres.
What it is
Kualoa Ranch covers 4,000 acres from Kaaawa Valley down to Kaneohe Bay, about 45 minutes from Waikiki at 49-560 Kamehameha Highway, and more than 250 films and TV shows have been shot on it, the Jurassic Park films among them. Everything is by guided tour of 90 minutes to 3 hours, including a briefing. The Movie Sites tour suits most visitors. Other options include horseback rides with a paniolo, Hawaii's cowboy, a zipline over Kaaawa Valley, a jungle expedition into Hakipuu Valley and the Ocean Voyage, which crosses the 800-year-old Molii fishpond to a catamaran on Kaneohe Bay.
How to do it
The UTV tours often sell out weeks ahead, so book those first. Round-trip transport from Waikiki costs $30 extra per person, plus tax.
Good to know
Tours run rain or shine unless there is lightning or high wind.
Spend an afternoon and evening at the Polynesian Cultural Center
Polynesian Cultural Center, Laie
From 12:15 pm to about 8:35 pmBook ahead
Six Pacific Island cultures in village settings, then a luau and an evening show of fire dancing with more than 100 performers.
What it is
The Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie, on Oahu's northeast coast, presents six Pacific Island cultures in village settings, and a full visit runs from lunch to night. The Island Villages open from 12:15 to 5:30 pm with cultural presentations and hands-on activities; dinner follows at the Alii Luau, with kalua pork and a royal procession, or at the Gateway Buffet; and the evening show, Ha: Breath of Life, with more than 100 performers and fire dancing, runs from 7:15 to 8:35 pm.
How to do it
By car from Waikiki allow at least 60 to 75 minutes via the Likelike and Kamehameha highways, past Kualoa and Kahana Bay, and expect heavy traffic from 3:30 to 6:30 pm on weekdays. Shuttle seats from Waikiki can be added to the ticket, which spares the night drive back.
Good to know
The centre is closed on Sundays, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
Tour Iolani Palace, home of Hawaii's last monarchs
Iolani Palace, downtown Honolulu
Book ahead
The only official royal residence on US soil, with the room where Queen Liliuokalani was held.
What it is
Iolani Palace in downtown Honolulu was built in 1882 by King Kalakaua and was the home of Hawaii's last reigning monarchs and the centre of the kingdom's political life until the monarchy was overthrown in 1893; it is the only official royal residence on US soil. It has been restored with original furnishings recovered, repaired or replicated. The first floor holds the public rooms, the Grand Hall, State Dining Room, Blue Room and Throne Room, and the second the private suites, the Music Room and the Imprisonment Room, where Queen Liliuokalani was held.
How to do it
Choose a guided tour with a docent or the self-led audio tour; both cover the two floors. The palace opens Tuesday to Saturday from 9 am to 4 pm, and tickets are sold in the Iolani Barracks, Hale Koa, from 8:30 am.
See the royal heirlooms in the Bishop Museum's Hawaiian Hall
Bishop Museum, Kalihi, Honolulu
No booking needed
The world's largest collection of Polynesian cultural artefacts, with a sperm whale skeleton over a hall of koa wood cases.
What it is
The Bishop Museum, in Honolulu's historic Kalihi district, is Hawaii's state museum of natural and cultural history and the place to understand the islands before the monarchy fell. Charles Reed Bishop founded it in 1889 to keep the royal heirlooms of his late wife, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last heir of the Kamehameha dynasty, and it now holds the world's largest collection of Polynesian cultural artefacts. Start in Hawaiian Hall, built in 1898 and lined with koa wood cases, where a complete sperm whale skeleton hangs over the central gallery and a stone image of the shark god Kaneikokala is set into the floor. Polynesian Hall, built alongside it, covers the wider Pacific.
How to do it
The museum lies just off the Likelike Highway, so it combines well with a drive to the windward coast.
Wedge-tailed shearwaters nest on two islets about 0.75 miles off Lanikai, reached by kayak.
What it is
Kailua Bay on the windward coast is the starting point for paddling to Na Mokulua, the Mokes, two islets about 0.75 miles off Lanikai. Both are state seabird sanctuaries where wedge-tailed shearwaters nest, so the rules are strict: you may land only below the high-water mark, Moku Iki, the smaller southern islet, is off limits to visitors, the interior of Moku Nui is closed, and both islets close from sunset to sunrise, with no fires, dogs or camping.
How to do it
The law bars delivering rental kayaks to Kailua or Lanikai Beach, so you hire them in Kailua town and wheel them to the sand; a guided tour handles that. Above Lanikai, the Kaiwa Ridge trail climbs to the World War II pillboxes for the classic view of the islets.
Good to know
A kayaker drowned after being swept off the rocks in 2011, so go only in calm conditions.
Walk the markets and lanes of Honolulu's Chinatown
Chinatown, downtown Honolulu
Free
One of the oldest Chinatowns in the United States, where the city still shops for fish and produce.
What it is
Honolulu's Chinatown, between Nuuanu Stream, Beretania Street and the harbour, is one of the oldest Chinatowns in the United States, a historic district where the city still shops for fish and produce. Oahu Market, opened in 1904 at King and Kekaulike streets, is a plain open-air hall of stalls that still sells fresh fish and fruit. Maunakea Marketplace sits behind a small brick arch with a green-tiled awning on Maunakea Street, and the Hawaii Theatre at 1130 Bethel Street stages shows.
How to do it
Two guardian lions, a 1989 gift from the sister city of Kaohsiung, mark the southern entrance on Hotel Street, by Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Park. Come in the morning for the markets.
Good to know
On the first Friday of the month, downtown holds an evening festival and the galleries stay open late.
Eat a plate lunch, poke and shave ice like a local
Kapahulu, Honolulu, and Haleiwa, North Shore
No booking needed
Everyday Oahu eating, best from a counter rather than a restaurant.
What it is
Three dishes sum up everyday eating on Oahu, and each is best from a counter rather than a restaurant. The plate lunch is a main dish with two scoops of rice and macaroni salad. Poke, whose name means to slice, is diced raw fish tossed in a dressing; the old Hawaiian version used sea salt, inamona, a relish of roasted kukui nut, and seaweed, while soy sauce and sesame oil came later with Chinese and Japanese plantation workers. Shave ice, which descends from Japanese kakigori, is ice shaved fine enough to soak up the syrup.
How to do it
The plate lunch is the speciality of Rainbow Drive-In on Kapahulu, at the eastern end of Waikiki, founded in 1961. For shave ice, the classic stop is Matsumoto Shave Ice in Haleiwa, serving the North Shore since 1951 and open daily from 10 am to 6 pm.
Good to know
Rainbow Drive-In is known for generous portions at fair prices.
Flights land at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), 3 miles northwest of downtown Honolulu, which is also the hub for inter-island flights to Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. The airport has a station on Skyline, Honolulu's rail line, and TheBus W Line, a limited-stop route, runs from there to downtown, Ala Moana and Waikiki. Taxis, ride-hail cars and shuttles wait outside, and drivers reach the terminals from exit 16 of the H-1.
Getting around
In Waikiki and downtown Honolulu, walk and ride TheBus, which also reaches Hanauma Bay: Route 22 stops on the highway above it. For the North Shore, Kailua and a full day on the windward coast, rent a car for a day or two rather than the whole stay, because parking at the popular sites is tight. Diamond Head sells parking with its non-resident reservations, Hanauma Bay's lot takes cash and fills early, and Kualoa Ranch and the Polynesian Cultural Center sell transport from Waikiki with their tickets.
How many days
In must30's view, five days make a good first visit: one for Waikiki, a surf lesson and a sunset sail; one for Diamond Head early and Hanauma Bay, booked two days ahead; one for downtown Honolulu, with Iolani Palace, Chinatown and the Bishop Museum; one for the windward coast, with Kailua in the morning and Kualoa Ranch or the Polynesian Cultural Center after; and one for the North Shore. Hanauma Bay closes on Mondays and Tuesdays, the palace on Sundays and Mondays, and the Polynesian Cultural Center on Sundays, so build the week around those days.
When to go
Oahu is warm all year; the seasons change the sea. In winter the North Shore gets its big swells and becomes dangerous for swimming, while from about May to October it usually calms down enough for snorkelling. Humpback whales are around from November to April, and you may see them from the Diamond Head summit. In Waikiki the sun sets into the sea from mid-September to late March. November to March is also the rainier season in the mountains, and storms can pass in late summer, as Lala, Lowell and Nolo did in August and September 2026.
Where to base yourself
Waikiki is the base for a first visit: most of the hotels, the beach, the surf schools and the catamarans, with Diamond Head and the Kapahulu food spots at its eastern end and buses into town. Ala Moana and downtown Honolulu are a short ride away and suit a stay built around museums. For winter surf, spend a night or two on the North Shore near Haleiwa, and for quieter beaches, Kailua on the windward side.
Questions travellers ask
Do you need a reservation to hike Diamond Head?
Yes, if you are not a Hawaii resident. Book a time slot on the state parks website: entry costs $5 per person and parking $10 per vehicle. Slots run from 6 am to 4 pm, gates lock at 6 pm, and the park closes on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
How do you get Hanauma Bay reservations?
Book online two days ahead from 7 am Hawaii time, for example on Monday for Wednesday; non-residents aged 13 and over pay $25. The bay opens from Wednesday to Sunday. Without a booking, queue for a walk-in ticket when the gate opens at 6:45 am, or buy a Roberts Hawaii package with transport, sold up to a month ahead.
When can you see big waves on Oahu's North Shore?
In winter, when the big swells arrive and Waimea Bay and the Banzai Pipeline fill with expert surfers. Watch from the sand, because winter currents and waves on this coast are extremely dangerous. From about May to October the same coast is usually calm.
Do you need a car on Oahu?
Not for Waikiki and downtown Honolulu, where you can walk and use TheBus, and Skyline rail serves the airport. A car for a day or two makes the North Shore and the windward coast much easier. Kualoa Ranch and the Polynesian Cultural Center also sell transport from Waikiki.
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