3 day Guide on Oahu

So when we decided to go to Hawaii for our summer vacation/anniversary we knew we wanted to visit the Oahu and stay in the Honolulu area and experience everything there first! I feel that you can actually do a lot with just 3 days there and see everything you need to see!

So we got there on Wednesday Afternoon and we just walked around on the beach and explored a little bit. We kinda kept it low key this day as it is a very long day. The flights there and being up early as well as the time change of 5 hours is rough! I do recommend however no matter how tired you are to try and stay up till 8 or 9 pm! This was very tough as 8 pm back home is 1 am. We made it till about 8 and had to call it a night as we had been up for 21 hours and we were exhausted!

I’m going make a list first then I will go into more detail on each day with pictures at every stop we made! I think pictures is a big deal when writing a travel post. It just lets everyone really see what it is and if they might want to do the same thing!

Day 1 Thursday
Pearl Harbor
Dole Plantation
Wow Wow Lemonade
Hiking
Dinner at Dukes
Shopping and exploring

Pearl Harbor
So Pearl Harbor is something I think everyone should go experience even if you don’t stay for long! I’m not huge on history but it was interesting to see and hear the story of what happened on that day. (No bags are allowed in but there is a place to store them while you are there for 5$) It’s also free to see a presentation and to go out and see the USS Arizona Memorial! I do recommend getting there early when they open and getting a ticket for a time slot.
We got there at 7:30 and was able to see the 8:05 presentation. You will watch a presentation for about 20-25 mins where Pearl Harbor is explained and shows a bit of what happened that day! Then you will take a boat ride out to the USS Arizona Memorial. The actually Memorial itself was closed for repairs when we were there but they take you out on a boat and you get pretty close to it and can take as many pictures as you would like! All of this takes about 45mins -1 hour which really isn’t bad and was interesting. Honestly that was good for me and I was ready to go.

There is much more to see around there and things you can pay to do as well if you would like! I know some people stay there all day. So depending on your interests, plan around what you would like to see while you are there! I would say if this really interests you plan a day for just this alone!

The grounds at Pearl Harbor are just beautiful so be sure to take your camera!
We were there for a total of 4 hours my husband enjoyed it and I just let him look and followed him. We went to the aviation museum as well while we were there. (My husband loves anything that has to do with planes so I wanted him to do what he wanted to while we were at Pearl Harbor) I will say I was bored but I knew this was something that my husband wanted to see so I wanted to make him happy!

Dole Plantation
So we got the the Dole Plantation around noon. It was perfect going from Pearl Harbor to here because they aren’t to far away from each other!
They also have a restaurant to eat at if you are hungry which is what we did! Dole Whip anyone??

So good! A must do while on Oahu the grounds are just beautiful and so colorful! Kids would also enjoy being here! There is a maze, train and tour you can do of the grounds there! We just decided to eat and walk around. Just a quick stop at a beautiful place!

So we decided we wanted to do some hiking next but first I had to get some lemonade cause when in Hawaii you must stop at Wow Wow Lemonade!

This place isn’t too far from the Dole Plantation and worth the stop I feel like! I got the Pina Colada Lemonade cause why not it’s a pineapple kinda day lol! Soo good and I got this super cute mason jar to carry home! I still will drink out of it when I wish I was in Hawaii.
There is also some food trucks close by as well that looked very good if we would have been hungry! They say the Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck is to die for! Yelp is always one of my go to for searching food when going on vacation. Always a menu and pictures so you can really see if you want to go there!

Above is when we were leaving the lemonade stand on our way to the hiking trail. We had to stop for this photo because it was stunning. The landscape is like nothing you have even seen.

Hiking
Puu O Hulu Trail

Absolutely beautiful! Get the All Trails app on your phone. There is so many trails in Hawaii and this app can help you find them! The good thing to is you can save any you may want to do while in Hawaii and its easy to find it under your saved trails! I just went to the trail on my app and it will give you directions to the trails as well as where to park and any other info you may want!

You will need water and lots of it! I promise if you don’t get water you will not make it up on a hot day! It was pretty hot when we did this trail so if possible morning time would be best for sure! This trail is not easy as its basically straight up the mountain the whole way. The views will be worth it though! We unfortunately didn’t make it to the top cause we had no water with us. I don’t know what we were thinking. We went up a good ways and the views we did see were of course gorgeous.

After we got done hiking we decided we would go back to change and go have dinner cause we for sure needed food at this point! We decided on Dukes on Waikiki Beach which did not disappoint!

Ok so I think I definitely deserved this one after that hike! So good The Lava Flow get it you wont regret it! Promise!

I got these fish tacos! They were amazing. A great meal with a great view! Highly recommend this spot on the water in wakiki.

So after dinner we decided we would walk around get some chocolate and shop a little bit! We found the coolest mall I have ever been too!

I would recommend walking around here even if you don’t want to shop. It’s really cool and the fact that this banyan tree was planted in 1800 is crazy! Its the International Market Place Honolulu

That completed our first day on Oahu and I would say it was a very good day and we got to see so much. Your days will feel like they last forever when you get here just because of the time difference if your in the USA so take advantage of it and explore what you can while you are there cause who knows when you will be back!

Day 2 Friday
Sunrise at Makapu’u
Makapu’u Point Lighthouse trail
Diamond Head Summit Trail
Lunch at Oahu Mexican Grill
Waikiki beach
Dinner
watch fireworks on the Waikiki beach

Sunrise at Makapu’u
I highly recommend seeing a sunrise in Hawaii! I honestly can’t recommend it enough because it’s absolutely stunning! Breathtaking to say the least! More than likely you will be awake early anyways since the time change so take advantage of it the first few days you are there and go see the sunrise! I would arrive to the place you are going to watch it by 5:20-5:30! We parked at Makapu’u beach park and it was perfect. Don’t forget your camera! Take it all in cause the day we saw ours it was unreal!

I mean not much can pass this beautiful photo! This photo was taken from my camera I did not edit it! It was absolutely incredible so you can only imagine how beautiful it was in person to see this! It changes quickly so I just kept taking pictures and hoped to have a couple really good ones!

Makapu’u Point Lighthouse Trail
After the sunrise we went hiking just up the road to Makapu’u point lighthouse trail! It was beautiful and would also be a good place to watch the sunrise if you are up early enough to get to the top! This trail is easier than the one we did the first day but you are still gonna want to take a few breaks on the way up and enjoy the views along the way! Just simply beautiful!

On a clear day I imagine it’s even more beautiful!

Diamond Head Summit Trail
Just do it! The views are incredible! The hike isn’t to bad besides a couple hundred stairs but once you get to the top it’s so beautiful! I would recommend getting there early because it gets crowded and hot! Don’t forget to take water!

It was incredible being up there! Lots of people but so pretty! Now lunch time!

Oahu Mexican Grill
Honestly so good and just a good causal place to eat! I got a quesadilla and my husband got a burrito! We both liked them a lot! Of course we had to get margaritas cause what is better than a margarita on a hot summer day! They were really good! The best margaritas in Hawaii that we had! I love a good frozen margarita!

So it was only like 12 at the point cause we got up early so we went and changed into our swimsuits and time to go layout and enjoy the beach for a bit! Waikiki is very crowded but you can find some spots that aren’t to bad! So we just found a spot and enjoyed the afternoon!

We enjoyed a drink at the barefoot bar which was right close to where we were on the beach quick place to get a good tropical drink! I got a Mai Tai which is of course the drink you can definitely get everywhere in Hawaii!

We wanted pizza for dinner so we went to Round Table Pizza! It was not bad nothing special! If you want pizza and it’s close to where you are staying it’s not a bad choice!

So if you are in Waikiki Beach on Friday night they have fireworks around 8 on the beach we had a great view on the beach close to the Tropics bar and grill! We actually ate at this place when we arrived in Honolulu the sweet and spicy wings I got were great and I would recommend but the mai tai not so much! I’m sure there is other drinks that would be good. It has a great view of Waikiki beach!

The fireworks are about 10 mins or so but I love fireworks and seeing them in Hawaii was awesome! So it was a must see for me!

A Mai Tai is always a must in Hawaii. However, this one was not very good. Looks great but was not. From Tropics bar and grill.

These wings however were soo good! If you are wanting a snack and you are close to the Tropics Bar and Grill get these Spicy and Sweet wings!

After the fireworks we were so exhausted and headed back to our room to get some sleep!

Day 3 Saturday
Liliha Bakery
Ho’omaluhia Botanical Gardens
Lanikai beach
Sushi
flight to Maui

So this was our last day in Oahu we flew to Maui at about 6:30pm this evening! Which I would recommend just spending the night and leaving the next morning early that way you can really have a full day but we still got to see a lot even though we had to get to the airport!

Liliha Bakery
We went here for breakfast it was pretty good! I had some pastry’s and my husband had blueberry pancakes which he said were very good! Just a good local bakery! They have lots of different pastries options and cakes as well.

Ho’omaluhia botantical gardens!
A Must see! It is like heaven on earth. So incredibly beautiful and lush just a breathtaking place period and you just need to go! It’s free and you can drive through it and we took a short walk to where this picture below is taken! Which if you pull up a map on your phone of the gardens its the K. Kuou parking area. Highly recommend the perfect picture spot.

Just incredible to say the least! We could have spent a lot longer here but we didn’t have a ton of time this day and I wanted to see the next beach and spend time there. You really don’t need to spend a lot of time here but you could easily bring a picnic and eat here and some people camp out here!. Next time I will take a picnic and some wine.

Now it was beach time!

Lanikai beach!
Just beautiful! One of the most beautiful picturesque beaches in Hawaii! It’s also not near as crowded as Waikiki so it was so nice! It is also ranked as one of the top beaches in the USA! We just spent a couple hours on the beach enjoying the views!

We wanted to do the Kaiwa Ridge Trail (pill box hike) but unfortunately it was closed while we were there and said would reopen in October of this year! I would definitely recommend this cause there is no doubt it would be a beautiful view! Look it up I feel like it’s a must do hike in Oahu. Now lunch time!

Sushi

We drove back to Honolulu and ate at Genki Sushi across from Ala Moana beach park! What I had was good I love me some fried sushi! A quick and easy place to eat for lunch nothing fancy! There is lots of shops and food around here also! So many different options!

The ala Moana beach park is pretty cool place we drove through here and would be a cool place to hang out on the beach! Many parties and wedding pictures going on while we were there!

Now time to go get our luggage and head to the airport! Most places you stay in Hawaii will hold your luggage for you since most flights out of there are in the evening!

Renting a car

Renting a car in Hawaii is a must. You will miss out on so much if you don’t get a car. We used our car everyday while in Hawaii. While we were there we rented a convertible mustang! Was a good car to explore the island with the top off! I highly recommend using Turo to rent a car on Oahu as the rental companies charge more! David was great to work with and it was a very easy process! I will say Turo was cheaper in Oahu but I found one on Expedia for cheaper in Maui. So just keep your options open.

Now off to Maui we go!

If you have any question about the Island of Oahu feel free to ask. I love talking vacations and helping others plan their trip!

Much Love,Hannah