It’s always been a dream of mine to go to Hawaii! The airline my husband flies with has routes to Hawaii so we decided to take a trip and ride on his benefits!
I wanted to make sure we did a good mix of outdoor activities, local excursions and relaxation! Here’s our itinerary from our trip!
Day 1
We woke up early and drove to the Dole Plantation. There’s a lot you can do here! We decided to do the train tour and then went into the shop to get a pineapple dole whip
Since we were almost to North Shore, we decided to explore that area for a bit! We snorkeled at Sharks Cove (but don’t worry you won’t run into sharks here it’s basically a large tide pool). There’s a little shop across the street where you can rent snorkel gear.
We also paid $20 a person (I found this steep) to hike and swim in the waterfall at Waimea Valley
There’s a lot of good food in North Shore but we heard about the famous Giovanni shrimp truck. Please note this is cash only and you also need to pay $2 cash to park in the parking lot.
While in the North Shore you have to get shaved ice from Matsumoto. Pro tip: get condensed milk on top to make it creamier 😋
We ended the day by doing the luau at our hotel, Hilton Hawaiian Village . This is pricier for sure but it was a fun experience.
Day 2
We started our morning doing a sunrise hike. We decided to hike the Diamond Head Crater. Note that it’s $10 for parking and $5 a person for the hike. This is all paid by card, not cash!
At the bottom of the hike, there’s a delicious smoothie truck and we got an açaí bowl. So good!
After cleaning up at the hotel, we went over to Kualoa Ranch. We first stopped by Yummm Yummi chicken for some amazing grilled chicken and rice.
I recommend booking your excursion with Kualoa Ranch as soon as you can! They sell out quickly. We decided to do the ATV tour which drove us around the property and also took us to iconic film spots. You will get SUPER dusty and dirty on this tour.
We decided to do a sunset hike at Makapu’u Lighthouse. This is free to hike and park at. It will take about an hour Roundtrip to do this hike, so you’ll want to plan accordingly if you want to catch the sunset!
We ended the night going into Waikiki and checking out Cuckoo Coconuts Tiki Bar.
Day 3
We started our morning getting Masalas from the famous Leonard’s Bakery. This line can get super long so plan for that!
We then headed to Byodo-In Temple. You have to pay $5 a person to enter. It was a beautiful spot!
Just 15 minutes away is the beautiful Ho’omaluhia Botanical Gardens. This is free to walk around.
We then wanted to go swim at a beach so we found one in the NE part of the island. There’s a ton to choose from!
We wanted to support a local place for lunch so we headed over to Rai Rai. Their Katsu Curry ramen was so good!
We then hung at one of the 5 pools at our hotel and enjoyed another snow cone!
We did then went on a sunset booze cruise with Holokai Catamaran. Once again I would book this in advance.
Day 4
This was the day we flew out of the island but we still had almost a full day to explore! We started the morning exploring some sea caves in southern Oahu
We then we’re going to snorkel at Electric Beach but just know you need to bring your snorkel gear. There is no nearby place to rent from. This is also not a beginner snorkel spot as their is a current you have to swim through to get to the open water.
We grabbed lunch from the delicious Big Kahuna and shared a small pizza and sandwich. This is near the airport and definitely recommend it!
Overall we had a fantastic and adventurous trip to Oahu. I cannot wait to go back and explore some of the other islands. As always, make sure you are respectful and clean up after yourself when exploring!
You can find me on Instagram at @ lifeofthepilotswife
Happy Travels!
Life of the Pilots Wife 