What better way to start the first main article on our blog, then to discuss our recent Hawaiian Honeymoon and share our Hawaii Travel Guide! We loved discovering Hawaii, and hope that our experiences help you plan your own trip!
We wanted to see a few islands and decided that for two weeks, three islands would be the right amount to visit. Over the course of 15 days, we visited Oahu (5 nights), Maui (4 nights), and Kauai (5 nights). This blog includes what we found were the highlights of each island, and we hope it gives you some ideas and tips for your own trip to Hawaii. You can also take a look at our complete itinerary with all of our activities here.
Table of Contents
Getting Around
We rented a car on each island so we could drive wherever we wanted. Oahu is supposed to have excellent public transportation, so you could probably get around without a car easily there. But it is much more convenient to have your own car and go wherever you want, whenever you want.
Accommodations
We stayed at a different style of accommodation on each island. On Oahu, we stayed at the Trump International Hotel Waikiki, which is a five-star luxury hotel. It wasn’t beachfront so we didn’t have to pay a “resort fee,” but it was a short walk to the water. On Maui, we rented a condo at the Aston Mahana through VRBO. We had our own kitchen, washer and dryer, and oceanfront lanai. On Kauai, we stayed at the Grand Hyatt, which is a 52-acre resort with numerous pools and access to Shipwreck Beach.
We were able to have different experiences with each type of accommodation. On Oahu, we had phenomenal customer service. The hotel concierge gave us a bag with beach towels, chilled water, and fruit to bring to the beach whenever we went. With our condo on Maui, we could do laundry and save some money by cooking some meals, all while having the most amazing oceanfront view. In Kauai, we could relax and float around the pools and lazy rivers all day, then eat and have entertainment on site.
Oahu
The first island on our Hawaii travel guide is Oahu. We had heard Oahu was busier than the others. So we decided to visit there first, and hoped the next two islands would be less crowded and more relaxing, which they were. We arrived in the afternoon, checked into our hotel, and walked around the Waikiki area to get a lay of the land. We explored Waikiki Beach and Kalakaua Avenue, which is lined with high-end shops and restaurants, and gets very packed in the evening. Our visit to Oahu was pretty filled with site-seeing.
Iolani Palace
The first full day of our Hawaii travel guide, we visited Iolani Palace, which MaryKate particularly loved. Iolani Palace was the residence of the Hawaiian monarchy, built by King Kalakaua in 1882. It was amazing to see this clearly Victorian-era building, done in the American Florentine architectural style, in Hawaii. The building certainly has some Hawaiian influence as well, like the beautiful koa wood throughout.
Iolani Palace had electricity and telephones from the very beginning, and had them even before the White House! There aren’t any light switches though, the king would send a memo saying when he wanted the lights turned on and off. We did the self-guided audio tour and it is certainly worth a visit!
Pearl Harbor
| Hawaii Travel Guide Must! |
We purchased in advance the “Passport to Pearl Harbor” ticket, so we could see everything and spent almost a whole day there. Our timed ticket for the Arizona Memorial was originally for 2pm, but when we checked in at Pearl Harbor at 7am, we asked if there was an earlier slot and got tickets for the 8am instead. The audio tour for the USS Arizona was included with our ticket, so we listened to that until 10 minutes before 8am when we went to wait line for the documentary.
| Tip: Visit early in the day. The parking lot fills up and it gets even busier as the day progresses. We arrived shortly before opening at 7am. |
For the Arizona tour, we watched a 23-minute documentary about the Pearl Harbor attack, then we boarded a boat. Normally, the boat takes you to the USS Arizona Memorial to de-board and explore the memorial. However, when we went the memorial was closed because of structural damage. Instead, the boat drove us all around the memorial and a volunteer who had lived through the attack told us about that fateful day in December.
| Tip: NO BAGS ALLOWED. We had read on the website before hand and didn’t bring any, but many people didn’t know and had to pay to check their bags. |
After the Arizona, we visited the USS Bowfin submarine (audio tour included in ticket), the USS Missouri (we did a free guided tour), the Pacific Aviation Museum (where we ate lunch), and then did the Pearl Harbor Virtual Reality experience. The VR was included in our ticket, and one of the experiences shows what the Arizona Memorial looks like on the inside, which was nice to see since we couldn’t see the actual memorial.
North Shore
The North Shore of Oahu is really worth exploring, and we spent a whole day driving around. It has great food, beaches, and views. We started off by stopping at Leonard’s Bakery for malasadas and then drove up north to Haleiwa Town. We arrived around 7am and so we stopped at Haleiwa Cafe for breakfast.
Nothing else really opened until 9am, so we drove a little further down the road to Laniakea Beach (“Turtle Beach”) to try to spot some honu (sea turtles). It was rainy, so no turtles were out on the beach. So we headed back to Haleiwa to visit Matsumoto’s Shave Ice, which opened at 9am.
After that we headed to Waimea Bay Park. We went snorkeling and saw two small sea turtles! Then we headed across the road to Waimea Falls Park, where we took a mile stroll through gardens to a waterfall.
For lunch, on the North Shore, we stopped at a taco truck, then proceeded to ‘Ehukai Beach (a.k.a. Banzai Pipeline). During the summer months, when we were there, the waves aren’t nearly as big, although still bigger than what we see back home. We watched some local kids intensely boogie-board in the large waves for a while. Only the kids and three surfers ventured into the water, as it is still too rough to swim.
Then we drove further down the road and stopped at Romy’s Shrimp Hut and Kahuku Farms for food. In addition to this Hawaii travel guide, you can read more about the food on Oahu here.
Diamond Head
We also hiked Diamond Head, a crater near Waikiki with greats views of downtown Honolulu. The path up Diamond Head is paved and easy enough for small children to do.
| Tip: Go early in the morning because the parking lot can fill up, as well as it is cooler in the morning and better for climbing. |
Hanauma Bay
Another great stop is snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. Hanauma Bay has some nice coral and fish, although we did like other places in Hawaii better for snorkeling. Hanauma Bay is closed on Tuesdays to give the wildlife a day to rejuvenate.
| Tip: We recommend getting here early as well. In fact, if you arrive before 7am, you can park and enter the Bay for free! We didn’t know that but arrived at 6am when the gate opened and we were told we didn’t have to pay! |
Waikiki Fireworks
Finally, fireworks! The Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki does fireworks every Friday evening at 7:45pm or 8pm. You can view the fireworks from several places. Our hotel was a two-minute walk to Fort DeRussy Park, so we walked down to the beach and watched from there. Fort DeRussy is apparently a popular spot to watch because the beach filled up. The show lasts about ten minutes, and if you are staying in Waikiki, is worth seeing.
Maui
For our Hawaii travel guide, Maui is the shortest stop; we spent four nights, instead of five there. When planning your trip, you may want to extend your time here. Maui may have been our favorite island because it had a little bit of everything: swimmable beaches, snorkeling, museums, hikes, good food, etc. During our visit to Maui, we did a few tour excursions.
Road to Hana
| Hawaii Travel Guide Must! |
Hana is a town on the east side of Maui, and there is one long, winding highway that leads you to it. The journey to the town is really the attraction as you pass beautiful waterfalls, rain forests, cliffs, and more. The road has over 54 one-lane bridges and hundreds of hairpin turns.
| Tip: Book a tour for the Road to Hana instead of driving it yourself! A friend recommended that we not drive it ourselves, and many rental car companies void your agreement if you go past Hana on the road, which becomes unpaved and very rough. After doing the drive, we realized that Alex could have successfully driven it, but we wouldn’t have enjoyed. We would have been stressed out and worried about driving, rather than enjoying the views. So book a tour to enjoy it! |
So we booked Valley Isle Excursions “Road to Hana” tour (https://www.tourmaui.com/tours/road-to-hana-tour/) and we are so glad we did!
We were picked up at the lobby of our condo around 6:30 am and didn’t get back until around 6:30 pm, so it took a full 12 hours to get there and back to Kaanapali with stops. The tour company uses a luxury mini-bus that only takes 12 people, so we stopped to pick up a few more guests and then headed east! A light breakfast and full lunch were provided, and several stops had food that we could purchase. Our tour guide provided insight about everything we drove past and we learned a lot about Maui!
Our favorite stops were Aunt Sandy’s Banana Bread (delicious!), Waianapanapa State Park (a black sand beach), Haleakalā National Park (pools at Oheo gulch), and the many waterfalls. We highly recommend doing a tour for the Road to Hana!
Snorkeling Molokini
The other excursion that we did in Maui was Redline Raft Molokini (https://redlinerafting.com/tours/snorkel-adventures/). Molokini is a crescent-shaped crater that was once an island that collapsed on itself. It is just off Maui and known for amazing underwater visibility and great snorkeling. We researched different tours and found Redline Raft, which offered smaller boats instead of the large catamarans. It’s a rougher ride but meant fewer people in our group to scare away fish, and the company also offered to take you to the backside of the crater.
We enjoyed our tour with Redline Raft. They had all the gear we needed, even wet suits, which MaryKate ended up using. We snorkeled inside the crater, then went around the back. It was rough that day and the waves reduced visibility and made snorkeling the backside too dangerous, so we got to see it by boat but didn’t snorkel there.
We headed back to the inside of the crater and snorkeled, instead, right by the drop off where the collapsed island ends. It goes from about 3 feet of water above the coral, and then quickly tapers off and you can see about 300 feet down! After that, we drove along the coastline to La Perouse Bay and then to an area where sea turtles are known to be. We got out and snorkeled there. We ended up seeing three large sea turtles; it was great! Following that we had lunch (deli sandwiches) and headed back to shore.
Lahaina Town
We also loved exploring Lahaina Town! There are shops, galleries, and restaurants on the main street, Front Street. An impressive Banyan Tree, planted in 1873, is a main attraction. The town also has the Lahaina Historic Trail with different plaques with information all over town. Lahaina was once known as “the Venice of the Pacific” and was a large trading center. It was also the royal capital at one point. We ate dinner in Lahaina Town twice, and got Ululani’s Shave Ice both times for dessert.
Old Lahaina Luau
| Hawaii Travel Guide Must! |
One night, we did the Old Lahaina Luau, and it was amazing! It was the only luau we did during the trip. The Old Lahaina Luau is a traditional Hawaiian luau (i.e. no fire dancing), and we loved it!
We heard the earlier you book, the better seats you get. We booked at least 8 months in advance and we certainly did have good seats! You can choose to sit at traditional seats on the floor or at a table with chairs, we opted for chairs. The hula was spectacular, the food was good, and the atmosphere was great. The tables hold 8 people and we ended up sitting with 3 other couples: another set of honeymooners, one couple celebrating their 1 year anniversary, and another couple celebrating their 40th anniversary. It was a great table for us, but there was also plenty of families and other people in attendance.
Kauai
Kauai, the last stop on our Hawaii travel guide, is absolutely gorgeous! Everything is lush and green, you can easily see why it’s called the Garden Isle. On Kauai, we did a lot more relaxing at our resort, the Grand Hyatt. We spent a lot of time in their many pools and eating at their restaurants, but we still did plenty of discovering Hawaii. The Grand Hyatt is located in Poipu in the southern part of the island, and we enjoyed exploring that area, such as visiting the Spouting Horn or eating lunch at Puka Dogs.
Na Pali Coast
| Hawaii Travel Guide Must! |
Our favorite activity on Kauai, and for the whole trip, was seeing the Na Pali coast by boat. It was absolutely amazing! We used the tour group Na Pali Experience (https://napaliexperience.com/). It was a small boat that only took 6 people along with the driver. We were small enough to go into sea caves and really explore the coast by water. Our tour guide was excellent and we highly recommend this company.
Helicopter Tour
We also saw the Na Pali coast by air! On Kauai, we splurged and did a helicopter tour! We went with the Jack Harter company and opted for doors-off!! It was exhilarating (and terrifying), but without the doors, you really do get an amazing view. The helicopter tour lasted about an hour. We passed over Waimea Canyon, the Na Pali coast, the North Shore, and the inner parts of the island, including “the Weeping Walls,” a group of waterfalls coming down Mount Waialeale. Only about 20% of Kauai is inhabited, so it was nice to see a lot of the island by air.
Kauai’s North Shore
We also drove around Kauai’s North Shore. There had been flooding in the previous months and the furthest we could go was Hanalei, but we still explored the town of Hanalei and a few beaches. We even ventured to “Secret Beach,” which required driving down a dirt road and then descending a steep, ⅓ of a mile path to get to the sandy beach below.
Waimea Canyon
A different day, we drove up Waimea Canyon in the southwest of Kauai. Waimea Canyon, also known as “the Grand Canyon of the Pacific,” is stunning. It is a very easy drive with lots of scenic pullovers. There are two roads you can take, we drove Waimea Canyon Drive going up and took Kokee Road down. We stopped at the Kokee Natural History Museum and several of the lookouts.
Secret Falls
Another amazing activity that we did was kayaking to Secret Falls (or Uluwehi Falls). We went through a tour company, but if you rent kayaks, you could probably find it yourself. It’s a calm 2-mile kayak up the Wailua River and then about a mile hike into the rain forest to reach the falls. You can swim in the waterfall and it was amazing! If you want to swim in a waterfall, this is the place to go!
Hope you enjoyed our Hawaii travel guide!
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