How inconvenient are you finding the location? Considering a 2 night additional stay Waikiki beach

[corgi_monster]

Thanks for this! It kindof seems like a traffic nightmare! So we have enough points for 5-6 at Aulani, but we are also going to another island so I add another day in Waikiki but it would come from Kauai and I would like to be there 5 nights.

Thanks!

Many of your activities are concentrated on the North Shore rather than East Honolulu, so it would make more sense to spend a night at Turtle Bay rather than Waikiki. That being said, I'd just stay at Aulani the whole time. The drive from Aulani to the North Shore is faster than Waikiki to North Shore regardless of how bad the traffic is.

I would suggest the following itinerary (days 2-5 are in no particular order):

Day 1:
Drive around the island. You'll drive past Hanauma Bay, PCC, North Shore, etc. During the drive, mark down places you'd like to explore further.

East Honolulu Day (preferably a Saturday or Sunday to avoid rush hour traffic):
- Early morning Diamond Head Hike. Consider giving a sunrise Makapuu Lighthouse hike a try instead. Much less touristy and better scenic views.
- Hanauma Bay - It's iconic, but it's not the best place to see fish. If you want fish, go to Shark's Cove while you're on the North Shore.
- Waikiki Beach - It's a crappy beach imo and you may not want to spend much time there after seeing how beautiful the Ko Olina lagoons are.
- If you decide to try Makapuu Lighthouse, take a drive up Tantalus. There's a park with a lookout that offers one of the best views in town. It spans from Diamond Head to Makakilo.
- Eat dinner in the Ala Moana/Ward area and then drive home after traffic is "pau" (done).

North Shore Day:
Dole Plantation
Waimea Falls (is this the waterfall you're referring to?)
North Shore

North Shore Day 2:
Polynesian Cultural Center
Snorkling at Shark's Cove on the way back to Aulani

Day 5:
Pearl Harbor
Luau at Aulani or Germaine's

Also wanted to note that 5 days on Kauai is a very long time unless you're planning on hiking Na Pali coast or doing a bunch of tours. 2 days on Kauai and 3 days on Maui or the Big Island could be a lot of fun.

 

[corgi_monster]

Ohhhh thank you for posting this! I have looked at the Ilikai a couple of times but always backed away because of the issues with AirBnB etc that have been happening over the last few years.
Great to know.

Every unit at the Ilikai is legal

 

[3kidz4dis]

Many of your activities are concentrated on the North Shore rather than East Honolulu, so it would make more sense to spend a night at Turtle Bay rather than Waikiki. That being said, I'd just stay at Aulani the whole time. The drive from Aulani to the North Shore is faster than Waikiki to North Shore regardless of how bad the traffic is.

I would suggest the following itinerary (days 2-5 are in no particular order):

Day 1:
Drive around the island. You'll drive past Hanauma Bay, PCC, North Shore, etc. During the drive, mark down places you'd like to explore further.

East Honolulu Day (preferably a Saturday or Sunday to avoid rush hour traffic):
- Early morning Diamond Head Hike. Consider giving a sunrise Makapuu Lighthouse hike a try instead. Much less touristy and better scenic views.
- Hanauma Bay - It's iconic, but it's not the best place to see fish. If you want fish, go to Shark's Cove while you're on the North Shore.
- Waikiki Beach - It's a crappy beach imo and you may not want to spend much time there after seeing how beautiful the Ko Olina lagoons are.
- If you decide to try Makapuu Lighthouse, take a drive up Tantalus. There's a park with a lookout that offers one of the best views in town. It spans from Diamond Head to Makakilo.
- Eat dinner in the Ala Moana/Ward area and then drive home after traffic is "pau" (done).

North Shore Day:
Dole Plantation
Waimea Falls (is this the waterfall you're referring to?)
North Shore

North Shore Day 2:
Polynesian Cultural Center
Snorkling at Shark's Cove on the way back to Aulani

Day 5:
Pearl Harbor
Luau at Aulani or Germaine's

Also wanted to note that 5 days on Kauai is a very long time unless you're planning on hiking Na Pali coast or doing a bunch of tours. 2 days on Kauai and 3 days on Maui or the Big Island could be a lot of fun.

Yes! Waimea Falls is it..I just looked it up and when we were there it seemed to be a little more on the "down low" but this was before websites existed! I love your plan! We have actually have done all of these things twice, about 22 and 17 years ago and just wanted to bring the kids to experience. I agree with you on Hanauma Bay. And from what I remember, we did not like how much time Pearl Harbor took, is there any way to expedite? The way you placed the days, it does seem logical, practical and doable from Aulani.

We actually have been to Kauai before and Maui. Maui made my husband car sick everywhere we went and I was told that the Big Island may be the same with all the driving, but I would love to try a different island. We would like to hike the Napali coast..again with the kids. We did it 17 years ago. We sound a bit repetitive and boring as I am writing this!

Thank you so much for your help! We are trying to incorporate in the 4th of July with this, so I am waiting for the rooms and airfare to be released. We have 10 nights to worth with.

 

[nkereina]

- Waikiki Beach - It's a crappy beach imo and you may not want to spend much time there after seeing how beautiful the Ko Olina lagoons are.

I agree that Waikiki Beach isn't worth spending beach time at, but I do think Waikiki in general is worth a visit in the afternoon/evening for shopping and dining at least. There were many stores and restaurants we don't have at home, and we loved all the open air bars and restaurants - something else we don't have many of at home in Buffalo. We loved the atmosphere in Waikiki and enjoyed sitting having drinks and people watching. Its uniquely different from any other area we saw in Hawaii.

 

[corgi_monster]

@nkereina I agree. Visiting Oahu and not walking down Kalakaua at least once would be like going to Vegas and never seeing The Strip. Or going to New York City an not seeing Times Square.

 

[longboard55]

Waikiki for oceanfront bars and dining, surf lessons, outrigger canoe rides, and catamaran rides. Nothing better than a outrigger canoe ride riding waves and they are pretty cheap at $20, the only place they offer them in Hawaii is Waikiki.

 

[Lilsia]

I agree that Waikiki Beach isn't worth spending beach time at, but I do think Waikiki in general is worth a visit in the afternoon/evening for shopping and dining at least. There were many stores and restaurants we don't have at home, and we loved all the open air bars and restaurants - something else we don't have many of at home in Buffalo. We loved the atmosphere in Waikiki and enjoyed sitting having drinks and people watching. Its uniquely different from any other area we saw in Hawaii.

I agree with this. We had never been to Hawaii before our trip last year. We spent time at Aulani and then 3 nights in Waikiki. Both had their benefits. We really enjoyed being able to just walk to everything in Waikiki and look around. They have some amazing food and lots of local shops. We also happened to go during the Pan-Asian festival so they had so many events right outside the hotel that we got to enjoy.

 

[3kidz4dis]

I agree with this. We had never been to Hawaii before our trip last year. We spent time at Aulani and then 3 nights in Waikiki. Both had their benefits. We really enjoyed being able to just walk to everything in Waikiki and look around. They have some amazing food and lots of local shops. We also happened to go during the Pan-Asian festival so they had so many events right outside the hotel that we got to enjoy.

Are you glad you split your stay? or do you think that you could have used Aulani as your home base and visited?

 

[cgattis]

Hanauma Bay - It's iconic, but it's not the best place to see fish. If you want fish, go to Shark's Cove while you're on the North Shore.

YMMV. We saw many more colorful fish at Hanauma Bay than at Sharks Cove. I think it’s probably highly dependent on weather and crowds. We definitely found the rocks sharper at Sharks Cove!

 

[nkereina]

We also happened to go during the Pan-Asian festival so they had so many events right outside the hotel that we got to enjoy.

There was some kind of festival going on when we were staying in Waikiki too. Seems like the kind of place where there's always something going on. The Leonard's Malasada truck was parked right outside our hotel for it too!

Are you glad you split your stay? or do you think that you could have used Aulani as your home base and visited?

I know I already answered this, but wanted to add that it's easy enough to just visit if staying at Aulani the whole time. But the benefit to splitting your stay, to me, is that you don't have to drive all the way back, presumably in the dark and on unfamiliar roads. We loved relaxing at Duke's on the beach having a drink and being able to stroll back to our hotel. Sitting and listening to music on the beach at House Without a Key watching the sunset is awesome. Enjoying the Friday night fireworks on the beach from the Hilton is great. So many things to see and do, so having a room in the area we can walk to was just pleasant and relaxing. We also found traffic in the area to be intense, with parking to be a challenge and expensive. So not having to deal with a rental car during that portion of our stay was also a benefit.

 

[Lilsia]

Are you glad you split your stay? or do you think that you could have used Aulani as your home base and visited?

We could have stayed at Aulani but I really did want to be "in the middle of it". At least for a few nights. It is nice to not have to drive around the Waikiki area. We pretty much parked our car at the hotel and left it until we went back to Aulani. I had to do our Waikiki stay in the middle of our trip since I could not get consecutive nights at Aulani. Waikiki is a great walking town with tons and tons of shopping and dining. There are many retail shops inside all of those buildings. If you are interested at all in spending time in Waikiki, then I would recommend a split stay.

 

[rocketriter]

The location is not inconvenient at all. On the contrary, it's away from Honolulu's traffic jams and concrete jungle. The north shore is easy to reach from Aulani, with many laid-back activities and expeditions that should interest your kids more than the long but narrow strip of beach, expensive parking, and endless shopping malls found along Honolulu's shore. The climb up the side of Diamond Head is one-and-done. You will, of course, want to drive into the city for the terrific Bishop Museum and Pearl Harbor, and to splash once in the ocean in view of Diamond Head, but that's all our family does in the city. Aulani's website lists a number of great excursions. Check them out (including the oddball but historic and informative island-hop to Kaluapapa on Molokai).

 

[Lilsia]

The location is not inconvenient at all. On the contrary, it's away from Honolulu's traffic jams and concrete jungle. The north shore is easy to reach from Aulani, with many laid-back activities and expeditions that should interest your kids more than the long but narrow strip of beach, expensive parking, and endless shopping malls found along Honolulu's shore. The climb up the side of Diamond Head is one-and-done. You will, of course, want to drive into the city for the terrific Bishop Museum and Pearl Harbor, and to splash once in the ocean in view of Diamond Head, but that's all our family does in the city. Aulani's website lists a number of great excursions. Check them out (including the oddball but historic and informative island-hop to Kaluapapa on Molokai).

See now, we really enjoyed the shopping and dining aspect of Waikiki. They have so many more stores then we have where I live. Plus the Asian and native Hawaiian food is amazing and something that we can not get(not decent Asian anyway) at home.

 

[nkereina]

The location is not inconvenient at all.

I respectfully disagree. Ko Olina is in a somewhat isolated western corner of the island, with not much around in the way of typical sightseeing, shopping, or dining. There is one way in and one way out of Ko Olina and that's via the busy H1 highway. The closest area around is Kapolei, and that's still 10-12 minutes down the highway. You have to drive 30+ minutes to get to the major tourist areas - North Shore, Kailua, Waikiki, Pearl Harbor, etc. All of those locations are heading east on H1 - to my knowledge, the only thing west is Waianae, and I don't think there's much there for visitors. Its a good 12-13 miles on the H1 before you even reach the H2 or H3 interchanges that go to the North Shore and windward side. And because of the area's reliance on the H1 to get to and from everywhere, you have to be mindful of rush hour traffic times when doing your sightseeing.

All of this being said, we didn't find the driving all that difficult to any of these places. Pretty straightforward directions. But if a visitor's main goal is to sightsee on Oahu each day, with minimal time spent at the resort, Aulani is not the most conducive to this. There are better options, or even a split stay which would help mitigate the commutes.

 

[3kidz4dis]

Many of your activities are concentrated on the North Shore rather than East Honolulu, so it would make more sense to spend a night at Turtle Bay rather than Waikiki. That being said, I'd just stay at Aulani the whole time. The drive from Aulani to the North Shore is faster than Waikiki to North Shore regardless of how bad the traffic is.

I would suggest the following itinerary (days 2-5 are in no particular order):

Day 1:
Drive around the island. You'll drive past Hanauma Bay, PCC, North Shore, etc. During the drive, mark down places you'd like to explore further.

East Honolulu Day (preferably a Saturday or Sunday to avoid rush hour traffic):
- Early morning Diamond Head Hike. Consider giving a sunrise Makapuu Lighthouse hike a try instead. Much less touristy and better scenic views.
- Hanauma Bay - It's iconic, but it's not the best place to see fish. If you want fish, go to Shark's Cove while you're on the North Shore.
- Waikiki Beach - It's a crappy beach imo and you may not want to spend much time there after seeing how beautiful the Ko Olina lagoons are.
- If you decide to try Makapuu Lighthouse, take a drive up Tantalus. There's a park with a lookout that offers one of the best views in town. It spans from Diamond Head to Makakilo.
- Eat dinner in the Ala Moana/Ward area and then drive home after traffic is "pau" (done).

North Shore Day:
Dole Plantation
Waimea Falls (is this the waterfall you're referring to?)
North Shore

North Shore Day 2:
Polynesian Cultural Center
Snorkling at Shark's Cove on the way back to Aulani

Day 5:
Pearl Harbor
Luau at Aulani or Germaine's

Also wanted to note that 5 days on Kauai is a very long time unless you're planning on hiking Na Pali coast or doing a bunch of tours. 2 days on Kauai and 3 days on Maui or the Big Island could be a lot of fun.

Corgi Monster...just working on planning and was looking through my old trip notes...we went to Sacred Falls, not Waimea Falls...It looks like that is closed! Still working on your itinerary as our guide. We are still trying to decide between Kauai and the Big Island. If you were to spend 3 days on the Big Island what would you do?

 

[dachsie]

Corgi Monster...just working on planning and was looking through my old trip notes...we went to Sacred Falls, not Waimea Falls...It looks like that is closed! Still working on your itinerary as our guide. We are still trying to decide between Kauai and the Big Island. If you were to spend 3 days on the Big Island what would you do?

I am going to the BI before Aulani in Jan. Am planning to go to Hamakua Macadamia nut factory, Akaka Falls, Honoka'a Chocolate company farm tour, Coffee farm tour, the seahorse farm and maybe a whale watch tour - depends on if we decide to do the one on Oahu instead