1st time and have to pick and choose! Advice?

[NashvilleMama]

Relatively last minute trip - and our first one ever to Hawaii! - coming up in mid-October. The way we were able to swing it was to fly into Maui and out of Oahu, so while not ideal for a one week trip as we could easily be in just one spot the whole time and never scratch the service, it's a great excuse to stay at Aulani for a few nights!

That said: It is NOT enough time so would love some help prioritizing our too-short stay:

Arrive Maui Saturday morning, there until Wednesday
Fly to Oahu Wednesday morning, flight arrives 10:00am. Taking shuttle to Aulani but debating renting a car - itinerary will decide this!
Leave Saturday morning at the crack of dawn to fly back home

Family of 4 with 2 teen girls. We love beaches and boats, but also enjoy hiking and historical sites.

So:
1/2 day Wednesday: assume we should just explore/relax at the resort, going to try and get Ama Ama reservation for dinner
All day Thursday: Pearl Harbor is a must for us. BUT THEN WHAT? If you just had this one day on Oahu basically, what would you do?
All day Friday: last day of vacation so planning on a chill resort day, luau booked at 5pm

Would love a brain dump of ideas as I'm all over the place right now and reading through threads here to soak it all in! Thanks so much!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Rent a car. Aulani to Pearl Harbor alone almost demands it unless you want a restrictive tour.

Make sure to reserve tickets to the Arizona; that opens exactly 56 days in advance and otherwise you're in a standby queue.

Consider linking PH up with Lyon Arboretum and a hike to Manoa Falls.

 

[crisi]

If you enjoy military history, Pearl Harbor can fill two days. Especially if you are doing the Arizona visit - because that is timed and restrictive, it can eat up a lot longer of your day than you think - and the Pearl Harbor site is spread out on both sides of the harbor - so if you have a 1pm Arizona tour.....well, let's just say you don't want to be in the Magic Kingdom and have a 1pm Toy Story Mania booked.

Rent a car - onsite and nearby restaurants are insufficient for the capacity of the resort - if you are going to eat, you'll need groceries or transportation.

 

[maxbuffmelvin]

Yes, I would rent a car. Since your Oahu schedule is tight, the only offsite activity I would do is Pearl Harbor and spend the rest of your time at Aulani. I would return to Aulani after Pearl Harbor. I’ve never been to Maui, so I assume you will get your Hawaiian experiences there, where you can forgo the offsite Oahu tourist areas.

 

[teawar]

You can get “day before” tickets to see the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor at 3:00 the day before I believe, and they literally go in seconds. We were able to snag some on our visit this summer. We did that on the day we flew into Hawaii and ate at a yummy restaurant right next door to it. We made sure to get a rental car with a closed trunk rather than an hatch back and left all of our luggage and bags in the trunk to visit Pearl Harbor. (We put the luggage in the trunk at the airport to help try to avoid the “smash and dash” break in).

We went to aulani and never moved our car for 5 days! Everyone’s experience is different. Knowing how much we were spending on Aulani, we wanted to really immerse ourselves. We had planned to leave to see the north beach, Honolulu, and a lot of other things, but once we got on property, we decide to only do things you could walk to.

We had also spent a week on the big island before arriving in Oahu, so we had experience a lot from volcanos to manta ray snorkeling.

 

[monsterkitty]

Yes, I would rent a car. Since your Oahu schedule is tight, the only offsite activity I would do is Pearl Harbor and spend the rest of your time at Aulani. I would return to Aulani after Pearl Harbor. I’ve never been to Maui, so I assume you will get your Hawaiian experiences there, where you can forgo the offsite Oahu tourist areas.

I am the opposite of this post, haha! The Hawaiian and historical experiences are quite different on each island.

After PH and the Missouri (you must do both!), I would go to Punchbowl National Cemetery. Then I may return to Aulani and lay on the beach.

With teens I would probably do a half day at Waikiki. Park at the zoo and then wander around for a few hours. Then go back to Aulani and chill before the luau.

I would actually try to do the luau on Maui because you have more time there. We did the luau at the Old Lahaina Luau and thought this was probably the best luau we've done. If you do a Maui luau instead, I would definitely spend some time in Waikiki or even the North Shore and Haleiwa. Haleiwa is my favorite location on Oahu.

 

[tankin]

@NashvilleMama What do you like to do? Like everyone else, I'd say PH and the Mighty Mo are a must but after that...
My 2 cents ...
Rent a car. Rent a car. Rent a Car. Try and get your tickets for PH and MO on Wednesday. PH is right next to the airport. I would have on person run the bags to the resort and come back (theft is common at PH) but everyone else can look at the museums.

Things my daughters have liked
1. PCC (north shore afternoon thing)
2. Diamond Head Hike (you need tickets)
3. Dole Whip at Dole
4. Surf lesson on Waikiki
5. Snorkeling @ Rainbow Reef at Aulani
6. Pali Lookout

My girls are not big fans of Waikiki proper because its "just a big city on the sea." Other teens may love all the shops...

Its really a quantity vs quality thing... and how much your family wants to do at Aulani or if its just a home base. Do you want to have one big experience or multiple little ones

 

[Maddysdaddy]

No car = no daily run to get Leonard’s Malasadas. And if you’re not having malasadas every day, what’s the point in even taking this trip… (and yes, I know this is a donut emoji and not a malasada emoji)

 

[NashvilleMama]

No car = no daily run to get Leonard’s Malasadas. And if you’re not having malasadas every day, what’s the point in even taking this trip… (and yes, I know this is a donut emoji and not a malasada emoji)

hadn't heard about these yet so thank you!!

 

[Maddysdaddy]

hadn't heard about these yet so thank you!!

Don’t want to derail your thread, but think back to the best donut you’ve ever eaten. That donut will now be a distant second place.

Leonard’s has a storefront in Waikiki, but they also have a truck about 15 minutes from Aulani. https://www.leonardshawaii.com/malasadas/

 

[TheLyinKing]

Leonard's is where it's at! So good. Waikiki has lots of yummy food, so that would be what I would spend my day on. Just eating

 

[monsterkitty]

If anyone ever makes it over to the Big Island, your homework assignment is to go to Tex Drive in for the malasadas. You'll thank me later.

 

[NashvilleMama]

@NashvilleMama What do you like to do? Like everyone else, I'd say PH and the Mighty Mo are a must but after that...
My 2 cents ...
Rent a car. Rent a car. Rent a Car. Try and get your tickets for PH and MO on Wednesday. PH is right next to the airport. I would have on person run the bags to the resort and come back (theft is common at PH) but everyone else can look at the museums.

I hadn't even thought about this as an option - thank you! If our flight lands at 10:05am, if it were you, what time would you book PH and MO for that day? Checked bags, picking up rental car, running back to drop the bags, etc....

 

[monsterkitty]

I hadn't even thought about this as an option - thank you! If our flight lands at 10:05am, if it were you, what time would you book PH and MO for that day? Checked bags, picking up rental car, running back to drop the bags, etc....

The earliest I would book is 2 pm. However, in my experience, we have seen many of the boat tours to the memorial cancelled in the afternoon due to weather, especially wind and rough water. After missing boat tour the first try due to weather, we learned to book the earliest possible.

This is a tough decision. You may just need to take whatever time and day is available for PH and then build your schedule around that.

 

[yorkieteacher]

With only two full days in Oahu, I would not rent a car. I’d book Pearl Harbor tour as early as possible for Thursday morning through a tour company that picks you up. It was so I much easier for us. Spend the rest of your time enjoying the resort. Get all your hiking and luau experience in Maui so you can relax at the end of your trip.