Waikiki, Hawaii

Elphaba

Hi all, Myself and the boyf will be in Waikiki in a couple of weeks for 7 nights. Along with having a relaxing holiday we are planning on going to Pearl Harbour. Was just wondering if anyone would know of any other must see places to go over there?
Thanks

NiallJKelly

To be honest I was in Pearl Harbour a few years ago and its a bit of a let down. There really isn't a whole lot to see there at all-couple of boats in a harbour, the name makes it sound a lot more exotic than it is. I spent 2 weeks in Waikiki beach-had a really good time but I regret not seeing more of Hawaii. The island called Maui is supposed to be the best place to go by far. Waikiki is a suburb of Honolulu as Im sure you already know but its like being in Miami or something. Huge city, high rise and all that. If you do decide to stay there you should do a parachute jump and scuaba diving-both are deadly there and pretty cheap to do. Sorry don't want to put you off goin or anythin just said id let you know what i thought cos Waikiki and Honolulu in general werent what I was expectin-think you gotta go to the other islands to get the real experience!

bazzman

was only in honolulu for 2 nights cause i stayed in maui for the summer but make sure to do the skydive when you are there, it will take a few hours though but its well worth it, they picked us up at our hostel and dropped us back to it when we were finished, make sure to get the camera man though as well, i didnt and its the biggest regret that i have, would love to see the video of it now, but be warned the dive costs roughly (cant really remember) $150 and the video costs an extra $130 each but it would be worth every bit of it when you get it.
dont really have much more info on Waikiki, sorry, Pearl Habour is meant to be nice, never got to it myself.
enjoy it though, hawaii is class.

cfitz

I'm just back from Hawaii. I stayed in Waikiki for a few nights and also in the Waikoloa resort on the Big Island. There's a local bus that takes you around a lot of the island for just 2 dollars. The windows might be grimey though so you might not get good pictures. You can walk to the top of Diamond Head crater also, it's ok. I didn't bother with Pearl Harbour but the books seemed to think it was very worthwhile.

My favourite part of Oahu was around Haleiwa. It's a little surfer town on the north coast. Really chilled out and the beaches from there all the way to Turtle Bay are class. If I was going back to Oahu I think I'd stay up there somewhere - definitely visit this area, it's not that far from Waikiki.

If you're into partying and shopping, Waikiki is probably the best place in Hawaii. Also if you are into surfing/scuba diving/snorkelling you'll probably love Hawaii no matter where you go. (Though you might have to travel a little bit sometimes.)

rgfuller

I'm also just back from Hawaii/Oahu/Waikiki, spent 2 weeks there.
Pearl Harbour is good if you're into a busy ww2 naval museum, memorial built over the sunken Arizona and the guided tour on the Missouri, there is also a submarine there - I thought it was worth it - especially the Missouri (8/10).
Diamond head walk is worth it for the views (8/10).
Hanauma Bay is great for snorkelling/scuba (9/10).
Waikiki is good for beginner surfing I would say this time of year, plus you can learn the paddle surfing too (10/10).
There is a tourist submarine (2x subs) at Waikiki which were expensive but they do take you down 100+ feet to see a old sunken plane and ship and some artifical reefs, with lots of fish, though that far down everything looks blueish so not the best for photos (7/10).
If you are into the pacific culture the polynesian cultural centre with luau is good - though a long day and quite theme-parky - the show at the end of it is fun (7/10).
If you are into films, outdoor adventure and the like I would recommend a visit to Kualoa Ranch - we did a 1/2 day hummer tour of lost locations and other sites in the ranch which was brilliant (10/10).
A fascinating/cheap visit is also the aquarium along Waikiki beach an amazing amount of information to take and and some cool exhibits (9/10).
Just walking around waikiki itself is fun, saw a mustang for a police car, all the statues, parks, all the shops - now what does ABC store stand for
One thing I would advise against is the Maui Divers Centre - we found it just a hard sell for jewellery (which are pretty nice) and also all over Waikiki are "cheap" oyster opening deals for €15 or less but the catch is that the fittings are all pretty expensive.
Also if you use a credit card in shops you will most likely be asked for photo ID.
Cash machines are all over the place and charges varied from $0 to $3 for withdrawing $200-$300.