Waikiki is the easiest beach town in the Pacific: two miles of calm water, a hundred restaurants, and a harbor full of boats ten minutes away. It is also the base for an island that most visitors see from a tour bus window. This is the list we give friends who are staying on the strip: what to do without a car, which day trips are worth the drive, and how to put a week together.
The short version
- Without a car, in Waikiki: parasail or snorkel Turtle Canyon from Kewalo Basin in the morning, the beach all afternoon, the sunset catamaran off the sand at 5:30. Diamond Head at sunrise one day; Hanauma Bay another.
- One day on the North Shore: the shark snorkel at 8, garlic shrimp in Haleʻiwa, the beachfront ATV at 1, Waimea Bay, shave ice.
- One day on the windward side: kayak to the Mokulua Islands, Kailua town for lunch, Lanikai Pillbox the next sunrise.
- One early morning on the west side: the dolphin safari from Waiʻanae at 7, Ko Olina lagoons after.
- One half day of history: Pearl Harbor, reserved ahead.
In Waikiki, no car needed
Parasail over Diamond Head
The fastest way to see the whole south shore. A ten-minute ride to Kewalo Basin, an hour on the boat, a dry takeoff from the deck, and eight to twelve minutes at up to 1,200 feet with Waikiki, Diamond Head and the city laid out beneath you. From $75, ages 5 and up, hourly all day. Our parasailing page has the tiers, the weight rules and the harbor directions.
Snorkel Turtle Canyon
The reef a mile off Waikiki where green sea turtles rest and get cleaned by wrasse. Every boat on the south shore goes; the one we book has snorkel guides in the water with you, takes kids from age 3, and holds a perfect 5.0 across more than 9,000 reviews. Two hours from Kewalo Basin, from $79. Details on the Turtle Canyon page.
The sunset sail off the beach
Walk down to the Outrigger Reef, wade to the catamaran, open bar, 90 minutes under sail while Diamond Head turns gold and the lights come on. From $80. Book a Friday and watch the Hilton fireworks from the sand afterward. Our sunset sail page covers the boarding and the bar.
Diamond Head at sunrise
The crater hike is 1.6 miles round trip with stairs and a tunnel, 45 minutes up for most people, and the view from the rim covers Waikiki to Koko Head. Reservations are required for non-residents (book online a day or two ahead), the first slot is 6 am, and the first slot is the one to take: it is cool, the light is sideways and the crowds are asleep. Bus 2 or a $15 rideshare from the strip.
Learn to surf
Waikiki’s waves are long, soft and slow, which is why surfing was reborn here. The beach boys in front of the Royal Hawaiian and at Kūhiō Beach have been teaching for a century; an hour’s lesson gets most people standing. Mornings are glassiest. Summer south swells make it more fun for anyone who has done it before.
The beach itself
Waikiki Beach is really six beaches end to end. Queen’s and Kūhiō by the breakwaters are the calm swimming ends for kids; Fort DeRussy at the Hilton end has the most sand and the fewest people; the stretch in front of the Royal Hawaiian is the classic postcard. Our beaches guide breaks it down.
Evenings
Walk Kalākaua at dusk, watch the hula show at Kūhiō Beach on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights (free, at the hula mound), eat at a food hall or a plate-lunch counter instead of a hotel restaurant, and catch the Friday fireworks from the sand at Fort DeRussy.
Day trips worth leaving for
The North Shore
An hour north on the H-1 and H-2 and you are in country: one road, seven miles of beaches, shrimp trucks, surf shops. In winter (November to March) the surf is 10 to 30 feet and the beaches are for watching; in summer the same bays are glass. The two adventures we book are the cageless shark snorkel three miles off Haleʻiwa, which is the single most talked-about trip on the island, and the beachfront ATV ride in Waialua, the only ATV on Oʻahu and the best land stop for families. Between them: garlic shrimp at the trucks in Kahuku or Haleʻiwa, Waimea Bay, Sharks Cove snorkeling in summer, Matsumoto’s shave ice. Leave Waikiki by 6:30 am to beat the freeway and come back after 6:30 pm.
Kailua and the windward side
Thirty-five minutes over the Pali Highway, through the tunnels, and down to the bluest water on the island. The guided kayak to the Mokulua Islands is the day: a paddle across Kailua Bay, a permitted landing on Moku Nui, snorkeling and a picnic lunch. Lanikai Beach next door is the postcard; Kailua Beach Park has the parking and the lifeguards. The 30-minute Lanikai Pillbox hike at sunrise looks down on all of it. Kāneʻohe Bay and the Byodo-In Temple are 20 minutes north; Waimānalo’s long empty beach is 15 minutes south.
The west side at dawn
Oʻahu’s spinner dolphins hunt offshore at night and rest in the calm bays of the leeward coast after sunrise, which is why the dolphin safari leaves Waiʻanae Harbor at 7 am and why you drive out in the dark. Eight guests, naturalist guides, wild dolphins on the bow, a guided turtle snorkel, and whales from December to April. After it, the Ko Olina lagoons are the calmest swimming on the island.
Hanauma Bay
A flooded crater 25 minutes east of Waikiki with the best shore snorkeling on Oʻahu. Reservations open online two days ahead at 7 am Hawaii time and sell out in minutes; the bay is closed Mondays and Tuesdays; there is a conservation fee and a mandatory video. Go for the first entry, snorkel the inner reef on the right side, and stay off the coral. On the drive, stop at the Hālona Blowhole and the Makapuʻu lighthouse trail.
Pearl Harbor
Twenty minutes from Waikiki and the most visited site in Hawaii. The USS Arizona Memorial boat program is free but needs a reservation (released eight weeks out and the day before); the museums and the Pacific Aviation Museum, the USS Missouri and the USS Bowfin submarine are ticketed and fill a half day. No bags are allowed inside; use the storage at the entrance. Go early, book the Arizona slot first, and do the Missouri after.
Central Oʻahu
The Dole Plantation sits on the road to the North Shore and makes a natural stop (the pineapple maze, the train, the soft-serve). Wahiawā has the birthing stones. None of it is a day on its own; fold it into the North Shore drive.
A week in Waikiki, in order
- Arrival day. Beach, sunset sail at 5:30, early night.
- Day 2. Parasail at 9, Turtle Canyon at 11, Ala Moana Beach Park for the afternoon.
- Day 3. North Shore: sharks at 8, Haleʻiwa lunch, ATV at 1, Waimea Bay, home after dark.
- Day 4. Diamond Head at 6 am, Hanauma Bay at 9 (reserved two days earlier), Kakaʻako for dinner.
- Day 5. Kailua: Mokulua kayak in the morning, town for lunch, Waimānalo Beach after.
- Day 6. West side: dolphins at 7, Ko Olina lagoons, back for a surf lesson at 4.
- Day 7. Pearl Harbor in the morning, the beach and shopping in the afternoon, fireworks if it is Friday.
Swap days for weather: the North Shore and windward days want calm trade winds, the west side is good in any weather, and Waikiki is good always. The best time to visit guide explains the seasons.
Getting around
You do not need a car for Waikiki, Kewalo Basin, Diamond Head, Ala Moana or Pearl Harbor (the bus and rideshares cover all of it). You do need one for the North Shore, Kailua and the west side; a rental for two or three days is cheaper than rideshares and lets you stay out there. Hotel parking in Waikiki runs $40 to $60 a night, so rent by the day from the Waikiki rental desks rather than for the whole trip. The Oʻahu map has the drive times.
Written by Oʻahu locals who spend their days on the water.
