I want to go to Oahu someday, but I’m short on cash and knowledge of the place. I have some questions regarding getting there, lodging there, getting around there, what to do there and how to save up to make it happen.
When is the cheapest time to go there?
How do I get the best airfare?
What is the cheapest lodging available?
What is a cheap way to get around the island?
What are the must see places?
How do I save money for the trip?
Is it a life changing experience?
Spend less than you make.
They’re on other Hawaiian islands (Oahu is my 4th favorite).
Frankly, I would visit Oahu only after visiting Maui, Kawaii or Hawaii.
Oahu is too much like California.
I agree that Kawaii is the best island, and in the before times I could have given you lots of information but who knows what its going to be like when things get safe again.
I wouldn’t say it was a life changing experience, but its always been a whole lot of fun.
The easiest way to save money is to open a savings account just for the trip. Direct deposit 20-50 bucks out of each paycheck and FORGET that you have it, so you aren’t tempted to take money out for something else and pay it back. You won’t and your trip will be delayed.
Well, I live on Oahu, in Waikiki. It’s okay, but I agree with other posters that you may find some of the other islands more interesting. My favorite is probably Kauai. (Note that it is “Kauai” and NOT “Kawaii.”) There is stuff to see, but really, just take a look in a guidebook.
Life-changing experience? It was for me, but only because I met my future wife in grad school here.
If you’re short on funds, Airbnb and such may be the way to go. There are some hostels. I don’t know your age – once you get beyond a certain age, staying in a hostel is kind of sad. Bear in mind that during the pandemic a LOT of hotels have shut down, and restrictions have tightened up on vacation rentals like Airbnb. No idea if the hostels are still open. All bars are shut, many restaurants are shut. This is not a prime time to visit.
One word about getting around the island. Oahu is the only one of the islands with a decent bus system, and there are two circle-island routes – one clockwise, one counterclockwise. An all-day pass is $5.50. It takes four hours to circle the island once without getting off.
I disagree with the Oahu hate if you love Military history Oahu is the place. Not only Pearl Harbor with the USS Arizona memorial, and museum ships USS Missouri and USS Bowfin you also have the Pearl Harbor aviation museum in the same park. The in Honolulu itself is the US Army Museum of Hawaii, then traveling to the other side of the island is Schofield Barracks Museum.
I’ve been to Kaua’i and Maui several times each and to the Big Island at least 15 times. Never been to Oahu and have little interest in it. If you’re going for any of the usual reasons (beaches, snorkeling, beautiful tropical scenery), I would recommend the Big Island. But for any of the islands, I strongly recommend the Revealed guide books, like The Big Island Revealed for the Big Island. I see there is an Oahu Revealed, so if you really must go there, get that book.
the must-see is the Polynesian Cultural Center–it’s run by Mormons (don’t worry, no evangelizing, but no caffeine!), but the place is staffed by authentic island culture, if they’re open to public due to Covid
I did a whirlwind tour of Hawaii about a year and a half ago.
I wanna live in Kauai. Such incredibly stunning beauty. So overwhelmingly much beauty in so little space.
And the big Island was so foreign, and so exotic, and so wonderful. Wonderful food, wonderful people, and freaky nature. Honestly, if it weren’t that I’m afraid of lava eating my home, I’d want to live there. If you get there, definitely visit volcano national park
My husband visited Oahu. I visited a large conference center. Nice weather, looked like a nice hotel looks. And wow that coconut was expensive. I did enjoy watching sunrise from our lanai as we ate breakfast every morning.
I haven’t been to Maui. Or, really, Oahu.
I disagree completely. The place is a scam. Or used to be, and I can’t see that it’s changed much. The first time we lived here 30 years ago, the local newspaper would from time to time run stories about how the staff are all college students from throughout the Pacific islands, here attending the local campus of Brigham Young University, and if they didn’t agree to work, then they’d be shipped back home. Again, it might have changed, but I doubt it. My sole visit there, I was not impressed.
Backpackers, couch surfers, hostel guests, please share your wisdom on experiencing Oahu on the cheap. Bourgeois ass Kauai and Maui aren’t for me. Oahu has Pearl Harbor for history, the North Shore, the windward coast, Diamond Head, Jack Lord, great public transport, Lanikai beach, and a bunch of other interesting shit, probably. I want to say that I’ve been to the real Hawaii I care about, that’s why I choose Oahu.
I spent a few days in Oahu in a luxury hotel. But I recommend trying to surf and doing some hiking, both things compatible with your stated intentions. My husband took a surfing lesson but got seasick and quit. He also did some hikes the photos of which scared the shit out of me. But they were gorgeous.
The Mormons routinely pressure their youth to work as missionaries and otherwise to support the Mormon Church. So that doesn’t surprise me. I don’t see how that makes it a scam from the perspective of the tourists, though.
fwiw, I have a friend who grew up on Kauai who recommends the place highly. He’s gay and dislikes the Mormons, but he still enjoys the show.
Having been to Oahu once, 30+ years ago (with a 24 hour side jaunt to the Big Island): There wasn’t much memorable in the Waikiki area itself. I mean, it’s lovely there, of course, and very different frmo home, but not anything extraordinary. You’ll need to venture a bit farther to find anything really interesting. You’ll want pool shoes of some sort if you swim in the ocean as the beach was a bit more rocky than an East Coaster like me is used to.
We were staying in a lower-priced hotel a block or so from the beach, as my husband was there for a conference at the university. I would drop him off every morning, then go do sightseeing things.
Not too far away, the most memorable things were Hanauma Bay, where you could snorkel in fairly shallow water with all sorts of tropical fish. Siam Sam can pop in with whether that’s still a worthwhile place to visit; it was very crowded when we were there, and parking was a big issue (it’s where we learned to follow people in the parking lot to see whether they were heading to a car, and thus vacating a space). My husband found out that it’s hard to shout when using a snorkel - somehow he was not expecting to have FISH swim right up to him, and it startled him. “Whaaaaaablubblubblub…:”
Sea Life Park was nice also - his conference group had an event there.
One day while he was at meetings, I drove around the eastern edge of island to the north shore, which was interesting. Not swimmable, IIRC - though there were surfers there. But driving back through the middle, through pineapple fields was pretty cool. I even ordered some pineapples to take home - they had a deal where you’re pre-order them, and pick them up at the airport.
Far more memorable was the Big Island. You’ll find that rental car places will say “cannot take xxx road” (some less-paved roads), so be careful of any restrictions. We stayed in Hilo, rather than Kailua Kona (I gather a more popular tourist destination?) because we wanted to see the volcanoes. So we went from tropical paradise, to cool, cloudy rain forest (up into Hawaii Volcanoes NP) , then down to the coast south of the lava flow which was like being in hell, in a good way: everything we drove past was BLACK, and there was a smell of sulfur, and it was overcast; the only color was when we parked,. and walked up as close as we safely could to where the active flow was happening, and we could see cracks in the lava where it was still glowing red-hot underneath. Oh, and the ocean was blue there too. Even the beach was black - because it was just crumbled lava. If you do that, LISTEN TO THE RANGERS - we were chatting with one who said he frequently had to chase peopel back off the solid-looking lava, as frequently it was just a cooled shell on top of actively HOT stuff.
I think we also stopped at a macadamia farm / processing plant and ordered macadamias to be shipped home, as well, but the volcanoes and lava flows were the most memorable things about the whole trip.
I seem to recall that the airfare, hotel and car rental for that 24 hour jaunt wasn’t too spendy - 300 bucks, maybe, for 2 of us (bear in mind, this was 1989, and it was just the flight from Oahu to Hilo).
I expected to be underwhelmed but it exceeded my expectations. Fun & cheap things to do there:
Completely agree about Hanauma Bay being a must see. I was blown away by snorkeling with the tropical fish; it’s like living a page out of national geographic. I had a very memorable experience with a 6ft eel there (scared the crap out of me) but it was harmless.
The volcano/lava flows on Oahu is very cool and worth seeing.
Drive out to one of the less busy beaches after dark and play in the waves. The water is still warm! The darkness makes it a unique experience.
Buy/rent a bodyboard (make sure it has a leash) and learn how to use it. A touristy beach like Waikiki isn’t bad for this. You can get pretty good at it in a single afternoon. You don’t need any surfing experience to ride waves on a body board and it’s fairly safe as long as you have the leash attached. If you’re the brave variety, head up to the north shore on your 2nd day after learning the basics. Pay attention to the safety signs at the north shore. If it says it’s too dangerous don’t go in.
Swimming with the sharks in a surface cage is another option but it is a little more expensive. You don’t need SCUBA, knowing how to snorkel is enough. You’ll need to call ahead to make an appointment.
Hanauma Bay is still very worthwhile, and it’s open again. Was closed during much of the pandemic. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays though.
And the bars just reopened this week.