Our first time in Hawaii and it was so incredibly special. We’re obviously late to the Hawaii game, and fell in love just like everyone else that visits, and I’m by no means now an expert, but I thought I would share a few details about the trip. I got so many amazing recommendations from so many people that actually are Hawaii experts, so I thought I could pass them along to anyone planning a trip in the future.
We spent a total of 5 days on Oahu, 4 of which we stayed in Waikiki at the Wayfinder hotel. Super cute hotel, currently under construction. Excited to go back to see it when it’s all finished and ty the restaurant. Waikiki was fun, very touristy, but we liked that it was close to the airport and kind of central to anything we wanted to do. We actually didn’t spend much time in Waikiki itself, other than for dinners and hanging in the downtown area.
And on our last night we stayed at the Disney Aulani Hotel. A cool experience, probably wouldn’t stay there again, but it was fun to experience once. Lots of stuff to do there, but I didn’t like that it felt like “manufactured Hawaii”, and not the real deal. Like if you didn’t leave the resort, you wouldn’t know you were in actual Hawaii.
Some highlights:
Zippy’s Hawaiian fast food
Leanord’s
Hanauma Bay ($25 per person but sooo worth it)
Kailua
Arvo
Matsumoto Shave Ice (walk around this cute little shopping area)
Manoa Falls hike (harder than it looks but still good for kids)
Kakaako for shopping and food
