Oh yeah - I forgot the flea market at Aloha Stadium. It is incredible! Be sure to get an iced coconut to drink! You can get anything from a green mango (don’t) to stereo equipment. Great place to shop for gifts to take home - much cheaper than any place else - especially Waikiki.
If you’re comfortable on bikes, watching the sun rise over Haleakala volcano and then riding a bike back down is awesome. My husband isn’t much of a cyclist, and he actually expected to do most of the trip in one of the support vans, but he didn’t have any problems.
We did the drive to Hana, and it’s also pretty amazing. We got to snorkel with the sea turtles.
I loved Hawaii.
First off, congratulations on the anniversary.
Second, both Mrs Polekitty and I grew up in Hawai`i (she was born there, I was there for a good 12 years of my youth)… We’d concur with most of the above suggestions.
For good ono-kine (“tasty”) local-style food, a plate lunch from L&L simply cannot be beat. Not haute cuisine by any stretch of the imagination, but good solid meal for a grueling day of supporting the local economy.
I’d recommend against the Polynesian Cultural Center, partly because I’ve been dragged there on more field trips than I care to remember, but it always seemed like a zoo for people to me.
I`olani Palace, right by downtown Honolulu, is worth a look-see, being the only palace for like ROYALTY in the US of A. A little depressing once you study the history but it’s very pretty and scenic.
Waiamea Bay is a fun place to watch shorebreak and bodyboarders.
If you do rent a car (which I recommend, since the mass transit system in Honolulu is lousy), drive around Roundtop Drive/Tantalus, preferably in the evening. Sunset and the famed Honolulu City Lights are delightful (although the road is super-twisty, if anyone’s prone to motion sickness maybe pass on this).
If you’re into trees, Lyon Arboretum is fun, plus if memory serves me correctly it’s waaaaay in Manoa valley, and thus cool and misty.
Matusmoto’s Shave Ice stand in Hale`iwa is practically a local shrine, crowded most of the time but the best shave ice anywhere (shave ice, for those of you keeping score, is basically a fluffy snow cone in various flavors, sometimes with ice cream and/or sweet red bean paste in the bottom. It is just slightly the mortal side of ambrosia.)
I’m not as familar with Maui, but Lahaina is a fun town. I have friends that run a dive shop there; If you’re into boats and diving and such I can tell you where they are.
Advice for dealing with people: Virtually everyone speaks Pidgin english with varying degrees of density. In most touristy places you’ll be fine, but newcomers can occasionally be a little confused. Check Google for a dictionary of pidgin to acclimate yourself to the colorful language of the Islands.
Places NOT to go unless you’re really good at not looking like a tourist: Makaha, Waianae, Kalihi, and the area around Palama Settlement.
The North Shore has been mentioned above, and yes, it’s prime surf time right now, but ferOg’ssake BE CAREFUL! The waves can get suprisingly big pretty fast. The shorebreak at Waiamea can creep up on you!
Most importantly, have fun, wear sun tan lotion, and eat some of the local foods.
I don’t know about shuttle buses, but Hawaii does have good public transportation. You can take the 57 (I think) to Hanauma Bay from your hotel, and to many other locales without using a rental car.
I second Keo’s for Thai food and for an excellent, cheap American breakfast. It’s right on Kuhio, near Ala Moana Boulevard, but there’s also one closer to your hotel on Seaside and Kuhio, I think.
Check out this page for plenty of links to day cruises. DO NOT use Dream Cruises Hawaii, as they have either had some very bad luck lately or are run very poorly. Don’t risk it.
Diamond Head is pretty much straight up, but you can take your time and it’s not a very long hike. Make sure you bring LOTS of water, though. It is very hot.
The waves are typically very calm and perfect for learning how to surf. It will vary from day to day, but the instructor won’t take you anywhere dangerous.
You will die of heat in a knit shirt, even in Hawaii’s winter. Jeans, shorts, tanks and flip flops should get you through the day. Jeans and a nice aloha shirt will be fine for the upscale restaurants.
It depends on where you eat. L&L is along the lines of fast food in most of America; upscale is upscale ($30-$50 for fine dining); and groceries will kick your ass. Get ready to pay $6 for a gallon of milk. No, I’m not kidding.
Hawaii…volcanoes…virgins…
Need I say more? 
Congrats - have a good time.
Again, thank you all! MY SO is somewhat of a computerphobe, and I am a computergeek…but I showed him this thread and he was so impressed at all the tips and suggestions and said, “those are really nice people to write that”…(I didn’t show him the Pit section on the boards…will save that for another decade).
Thanks also for explaining what the food is…and we like to experiment with different foods, and are not wimps when it comes to hot spicy food, or something that looks odd, so we will certainly give some of those local shops a try.
Renting bikes sounds like a great idea! But so many have mentioned renting a car, I might have to reconsider…see, to be honest, I thought the islands were all about the size of a big Walmart parking lot (hey, never been there and when I think of island, I think small), but I guess they are a tad larger than I thought, so maybe a rental car might make sense.
Swap meet sounds cool, but we are only in Honolulu for Fri/Sat/Sun so will have to see when it is open and how to get there…I can see I might have to look into renting a cargo hold on a ship to get the trinkets back home.
How late are bars and restaurants open? We are used to 24 hour Las Vegas…my guess is Hawaii might have closing hours like most large cities?
Also, regarding temperatures…is the water warm in February? I am a bit of a wimp with cold water…and regarding it being hot, is it also humid? Living in LV, I can handle heat, but having lived in Illinois, NY and Berlin, humidity is not my friend so I might have to change my idea of clothing for the trip…of course, I can always just buy a few shirts there I suppose.
Oh, and a few really stupid questions…cell phones, good connections? Roaming fees? (I have T-Mobile, I guess I should call and ask them.) Internet cafes? And considering I am still in the states, but just wondering, price of postage to mainland and to Europe (have to write lots of postcards) the same as on the mainland? I assume the answer is yes, but just asking as we thought we would buy stamps here instead of spending time looking for a post office there.
We are getting quite excited about this trip and I promise to fill ya all in on the details when we get back, but any further suggestions or ideas or tips or whatever will be greatly appreciated.
2 words: Loco Moco. Rice, a big hamburger patty, a freid egg or two, smothered in brown gravy. I lived off that for years…
It can seem that big after you’ve been there for a few years. Typical weekend fun when I was 19,20 was to drive around O`ahu clockwise, then turn around and do it counterclockwise. Not kidding.
Whenever I go back to visit family and friends, it always feels like I’m chewing the air. It’s a hot place surrounded by an ocean, it’s fairly humid, although not as bad as Illinois in the dead of summer.
You’ll be fine. It’s not like they all live in grass huts there, ya know 
Hope you have fun and at least I’m looking forward to hearing what you thought about it. I have mixed memories, frankly, but then again I lived there during my formative years, so I’ve prolly got a different persepctive.
Have fun!
One caveat about clothing. Mostly shorts and t shirts is fine, but if you decide to see the sunrise at Haleakala, it gets cold up there. Wear layers, because the temperature gets very nice as the sun rises, but before the sun rises, it is almost freezing.
And I really can’t recommend enough the Hawaii books that Rick and I have mentioned. I was continually running into people there that were using the books and loving what was in them.
Lok
Will be ordering them this week! As mentioned, will have plenty of time at the airport and six hours until we can check into the hotel, so with a little scotch tape holding my eyelids open, can read until we get into the room…thanks for that tip!
I jest…and I know I am being silly, but seriously, I have never been anywhere like this before. Big city boy. My SO used to fly to the Canary Islands all the time before I met him and he is more well-versed on island living. I think I may have seen too many episodes of LOST and tend to want to bring water and matches and signal flares.
I don’t know if I am repeating, crap, I stopped reading after a few posts.
Ahem, you do know that Hamburger marys is (was) a gay bar in Waikiki, right?
Large marge, bullshit!!! fucking bullshit on you.
Makaha is some of the most beutiful coastline we have in the islands. Granted they tend to be a little anti-tourist out there but I can say just being white won’t get you beat up.
Acting like an arrogant ass who thinks he owns the place will.
Oh yea, for those of you that follow real estate prices, a " grass shack" goes for about 250 thousand now, a real house is well above half a mil, affordable housing they call it
DMark
You say,
“I have never been anywhere like this before. Big city boy.”
But you don’t even know that Honolulu is the eleventh largest city in the United States, far beyond Vegas
Hence, Mr and Mr DMark…
Yeah…I saw an episode of House Hunters on HGTV that showed some yuppie couple from San Francisco moving to Hawaii…and they showed three places, the “cheapest” being $800,000…I think they bought the small house for a little over a million.
Again, showing my ignorance, but no…I didn’t know that…and Las Vegas is all proud and happy we just moved up to 24th largest city. (That doesn’t include metropolitan Las Vegas, including Henderson and North Las Vegas which totals about 1.8 million).
I am learning bunches here.
Hah
Hence, Mr and Mr DMark…
I didn’t know. My wife insists that hamburger mary’s is still open, me, I don’t know. I wish I knew gay bars well enough to help you out but I dont go there. Sorry.
If you want to know where the locals hang out I can give input.
BTW in Hawaii you are “Mahu” in case you care what the Hawaiian word for homosexual is.
“Mahu” eh? So what does that translate to…I mean, is that just the Hawaiian equivalent of Gay or does it mean “weirdo fag wacko” or somethin’? Slur or not? Should I tell the valet to be careful of my rental car as I am a Mahu?
Local hang outs are good…my guess is in Honolulu we won’t have much time, but in Maui, we have seven nights, so if you have any suggestions there…would like to hang out and have a few drinks with the locals, listen to the politics and hear the dirt on the tourists.
BTW, if your wife wants to show us where Hamburger Mary’s is, that would be cool…you’re safe leaving her with us…or you can come along…as an un-Mahu of course.
Hawaiian citizenship test
Knock knock,
Who’s there?
It’s me ma
Me mahu?
Retarded laughter cause someone fell for it, butt I wouldn’t cal it a slur.