Aloha Adventure in Oahu

Land in Honolulu, pick up rental car, and drive back to your accommodation.

The southern part of the island, including the famous Waikiki Beach, is popular with tourists. With its close proximity to the airport and variety of large resort hotels and apartment complexes lining the beach, it provides a convenient place to stay.

Of course, you may wish to stay somewhere quieter, away from tourist crowds and with more authenticity, such as the North Shore, Windward Coast, or Leeward Coast. You may need to compromise on price, and availability of different option.

This itinerary assumes you base yourself in Waikiki, and explore the rest of the island by car.

Options for places to stay:

🏠 Sheraton Waikiki

🏠 The Royal Hawaiian Waikiki

🏠 Ke Ike Beach Bungalows North Shore

🏠 Airbnb

On Day 2 of your Aloha Adventure, take some time to relax at your accommodation, on Waikiki Beach, and stay local in the South Shore area.

You can find a lot of the places mentioned in this itinerary, plus more, marked on the interactive Google Maps above which you can save to your device.

Coffee and breakfast options:

☕ Shoreline Cafe

☕ Coffee Window Waikiki

☕ Hala Tree Cafe

🍴 Liliha Bakery Waikiki Beach Walk

🍴 Brunch Spot Waikiki

Activities:

🏄🏽‍♀️ Surf Lesson

🤿 Snorkel Turtle Canyon

🏖 Relax on Waikiki Beach

Lunch options:

🍴 Poke Bar Waikiki

🍴 Maguro Brothers

🍴 Grab food from a grocery store and eat on the beach/ on the go

Dinner options:

🍴 Tiki's Grill & Bar

🍴 Pit Stop Food Truck

🍴 Heyday Pool Bar

🍴 Duke's Waikiki

On Day 3, head out to explore the Windward Coast (East) of Oahu.

You'll take the Kalanianaʻole and Kamehameha Scenic Highways along the coast.

Stop for coffee/ breakfast along the way at the following spots:

☕ Surf Camp Coffee Niu Valley

☕ The Point Coffee

Scenic viewpoints nearby:

🔭 Halona Blowhole Lookout

🔭 Hanauma Bay Ridge Viewpoint

If you want to get your lungs going early morning, try a couple of these (relatively) short hikes in this area:

🥾 Koko Crater - 1,048 stairs up a disused railway to the crater summit

🥾 Diamond Head

Continue driving up to Kualoa Ranch, where you can do tours of the Ka’a’awa Valley, famously known as the backdrop for hollywood movies such as Jurassic Park, Jumanji, and TV show Lost.

🚗 ⏳ drive time to Kualoa Ranch from The Point Coffee is approximately 1 hour but can vary with traffic.

🍟 Recommended en-route pit stop (⏳ 15 mins before reaching Kualoa Ranch): the world's most scenic McDonald's - even if you don't eat anything and just stop for the view.

Kualoa Ranch have a variety of tours, both on the water and on land, but they do get booked quickly so its 🚨 recommended to book in advance.🚨

If you choose to do the half day experience package, you'll start your tour around 10.30am and finish around 2.30pm, and it includes a buffet lunch.

If you don't book the package, you'll have a bit more flexibility with timings and can choose to eat somewhere else afterwards.

After Kualoa Ranch, continue driving north up the Kamehameha Highway with your final destination as the Lost Survivors Beach Camp (filming location for Lost Season 1).

Hawaii has a big food truck culture so you'll find plenty of roadside places to eat, complete with benches and sometimes restrooms.

Places to eat along the way:

🍴 North Shore Banh Mi and Beyond

🍴 Holy Smash - there are lots of other food trucks next to this too

🍴 Rye's Poke Shack Kahuku

You can take you food to go and eat at one of the following beaches:

🏝️ Hanaka'llio Beach

🏝️ Sunset Beach Park

🏝️ Waimea Bay Beach

Why not pair a stop at one of these beaches with a swim/ snorkel. ⚠️ always swim with caution, waves and strong currents can be present at many beaches in Hawaii ⚠️ if in doubt, don't go out ⚠️

You can also stop at a proper restaurant where you can sit down and dine. For movie fans, a number of movies including Forgetting Sarah Marshall were filmed at the Ritz Carlton Turtle Bay. You don't have to be a guest to eat at one of their many restaurants including:

🍴 Beach House by Roy Yamaguchi -

🍸 Sunset at Turtle Bay

Next stop will be Papa'iloa Beach or Police Beach which is a season 2-6 Lost filming location.

Next, travel on to the Lost Survivors Beach at Mokulēʻia Beach Park which is the crash site and survivors camp during season 1. Not only does this location resemble the set more, you also have the YMCA Camp Erdman nearby which is 'Dharmaville' in Lost.

You'll end your day exploring the Windward Coast and North Shore with a traditional Hawaiian Lūʻau at Toa Lūʻau. Here, you'll get a traditional buffet dinner complete with Polynesian dancing and storytelling. With your ticket, you also get a free pass to the the Waimea Valley Falls and Garden. This waterfall was also famously featured in Lost.

If you don't get a chance to do the Lūʻau , you can stop at Waimea Falls earlier in the day when driving the North Shore.

There is also an opportunity to do a Lūʻau tomorrow, in a different part of the island, so don't worry if you don't feel up to it today.

Head back to your accommodation in Waikiki via Highway 2 (🚗~1 hour).

On Day 4, you'll explore the Leeward (west) Coast.

Spend the morning relaxing at your accommodation. Choose breakfast/ coffee options from Day 2 of this itinerary, also located on the Google Maps on this page.

At around 2.30pm head up the Farrington Highway along the Leeward Coast to Keawaula Beach. Head straight there, and then work your way back down the coast. Today is simply about beach hopping and ocean views.

Places to eat along the way:

🍴 E&S Island Fusion

🍴 Surf & Sprout

Beaches to stop at along the way:

🏖 Mākua Beach

🏖 Makana Beach

🏖 Papaoneone - with a small viewpoint Mauna Lahilahi

End your day with a traditional lūʻau at Mauka Warriors Lūʻau if you didn't get a chance to go yesterday. The lūʻau starts at 5pm and you will need to get tickets in advance.

After a couple of days of driving and exploring, take day 5 to relax at your accommodation in Waikiki.

If you want some activities to do, you could opt for:

🤿 Beginner scuba diving

🦈 Hawaii shark cage diving

⛵ Sunset boat cruise

⚓ Pearl Harbour National Memorial

🍍 Dole Plantation

On your final day, take in the sun, sea and sand at Waikiki. Go back and do anything you may have missed. Leave anytime.

💡Tip: if you spend a Friday in Waikiki, you will experience their Friday-night fireworks which take place every Friday on the beach.