Things to do in Oahu

I’m confused by this - Oahu doesn’t really have a northeast corner. Could this refer to Kaena Point (the westernmost part of the island)?

You should check out Hanauma bay. It’s a marine sanctuary where you can swim/snorkel etc. When my family and I visited Oahu a few years ago it was one of our favorite activities.

My favorite boogie-boarding beach when I used to live there many moons ago was Bellows Beach. Its incredibly beautiful: gleaming white, finely-grained sands, blue water and you can actually walk a pretty fair distance out into the ocean without the water going over your head. Waves are nice there, too.

Also, hike the Kole Kole pass if you’re still allowed. I’m not sure if you are as its considered military property and adjacent to Schofield Barracks.

Sorry, I meant west. I always have to think about east versus west for some reason. There’s a sticky-outy part on the left part where we could go no further. :slight_smile:

So far it’s fantastic. I’m sure no one that knows me will be shocked that I managed to take one wrong turn and end up on an Air Force base. (yea, wrong turn…that was it!)

So far it’s a blast and I’m not sure we’ll be coming back. hehe.

Sorry I didn’t see this thread earlier, the Attackclan just got back from Oahu. I’d recommend the following:

  1. Surf School. I surf, so I enrolled the rest of the crew in Hawaiian Fire surf school, which works out of Barber’s Point. They were great with the kids, as well as Ms. Attack.

  2. We found Hanauma Bay to be full of people with limited snorkeling value. I’d consider Pokai Bay instead.

  3. I highly recommend Kualoa Ranch, (where they filmed Lost). It is gorgeous, and a horseback ride around the ranch is great fun. While on the windward side, visit Uncle Bobo’s barbeque, in Ka’a’awa, home of the world’s largest apostrophe mine*

  4. On the North Shore, stop in at Matsumoto’s Shave Ice in Halewa. I recommend the shave ice with ice cream and adzuki bean.

  • it isn’t, and technically it’s an 'okina, not an apostrophe.

If I may pick a nit, that’s ON Oahu. :smiley:

Do a Search for similar thread, as there have been a few over the years. We used to live there, and Eggs 'n Things in Waikiki was a favorite breakfast spot, although others have suggested better places have opened since we were there. Have not tried Eggs 'n Things in the new location, but it looks nice.

One favorite is the around-the-island bus. Just a normal city bus, but one route circles the entire island clockwise, another counterclockwise, all for your basic bus fare. The cheapest tour you’ll find! Especially if you buy a pass – available at lots of places, especially at ABC shops in Waikiki, of which there are lots - you can get off anywhere and back again for the next bus. I think they run hourly, but be sure you know when the last one is.

We didn’t much care for the Polynesian Cultural Center. Felt it was too plastic, like Disneyland. It’s run by the local Mormon church, and there were persistent stories that the staff there were sort of forced labor, students from the different island areas in Hawaii on church scholarship at the nearby Brigham Young University but who had to work there as part of the deal. I dunno, I worked part-time in school myself, so maybe that’s not much different, but the whole thing just felt a little creepy, especially with the occasional student complaints that would surface in the papers, and we never felt like returning.

Hiking up to the top of Diamond Crater from the inside is a good walk, won’t take you long. They actually charge a nominal fee now, like a buck or so. It was free when we lived there. What’s ridiculous is now – or they did when we were last there five years ago – have a small table close to the top where you can purchase a certificate from a park ranger verifying you made it to the top. Maybe five bucks? Not sure, as we didn’t buy one. I feel sorry for the poor shlub who’s drawn that duty, as I’m sure that’s not what the guy joined the park service for.

Ala Moana is a nice shopping mall, and right across the is a nice park and Magic Island (actually connected to Oahu and not an island.

Chinatown was looking good the last time we were there. Although a fascinating area even when we were living there, it was a bit grotty. Now it looks like they’re gentrifying it. It’s actually the the oldest Chinatown in the US, but the entire area was burned down in 1900. Public-health authorities were trying to burn down one bubonic-plague-infested house when the fire got out of control. Whoops! So the buildings are not nearly as old as some of the other Chinatowns on the mainland. In fact, it may be the oldest Chinatown outside of Asia, but that I’m not sure about.

Iolani Palace downtown is worth a look. The only actual palace in the US. They used to give guided tours but for some reason were not when we last visited. Still nice to look at from outside, and nearby is Chinatown and lots of other historic sites dating back to the events of the 1890s, when Hawaii was incorporated into the United States.

And I, too, vouch for Matsumoto’s Shave Ice in Haleiwa. That would be one good stop on your Circle Island bus.

I have to agree with **Siam Sam **regarding the Polynesian Cultural Center. It’s kind of a disney version of Polynesia. Also, I can’t believe I left out the Bishop Museum. Most awesome - check it out.

Ah, yes, the Bishop Museum. I forgot that, too. Very much worthwhile. (Bishop was one of the five main missionary families that ended up controlling Hawaii way back when. Another one was Dole, as in pineapples.)

And a good long-running bar is Anna Bannana’s. Still there, but we were disappointed last time that they had stopped serving food. Used to be great nachos. Man, do I have some great memories of THAT place.

There are no hot, shirtless studs at Disneyland, friends. And that, I believe, is the key difference. Mmmmm.

Ah, I see Anna Bannana’s (sic) has a MySpace page.

Ah, Hawaii. Just as Rick and Ilsa will always have Paris, the wife and I will always have Honolulu.

What can I say. The woman knows my tastes.

Holy Cow. I thought Anna Banana’s had gone out of business.

Sadly, our beloved Varsity Theater did go out of business. I just learned it closed in 2007 and the building torn down for a parking lot in 2008. Story here. “Uncovered structural damage made it cost prohibitive to save the building considered a landmark by some.” We watched Downfall there in 2005.

That story says it closed in 2006, but elsewhere it says 2007. The Varsity was a true legend, asoure of cheap movies, many of them indies, for us students at the nearby U of Hawaii. I recall they featured it in an article in one of the Sunday papers, I believe it was. One of the veteran ushers claimed credit for fixing up a couple. He knew so many of the regulars personally that one time when he saw a widow standing in the same line as a widower, he thought they would hit it off and took it upon himself to introduce them to each other, and a romance blossomed.

The wife and I are heartbroken at it’s demise. :frowning:

The swap at the Stadium is something that must be experienced. Wednesdays and weekends.
Pearl Harbor is has some very interesting stuff if you are into history.

Well, the Varsity Theater may be gone, but Bubbies Ice Cream Shop is still right by where the cinema used to be and just around the corner from Anna Bannana’s. Bubbies is, hands down with no exaggeration whatsoever, our favorite ice-cream shop on this entire planet, and we’re not alone. Branch info here. The Hawaii Kai location must be new, as it was only ever the Varsity site for years. Trust me, you will NOT be sorry you ate this ice cream.

Ah, pardon me if I’m hogging the thread now, but if you want a little bit of Siam Sam history, I see Aaxtion Video and Books is still around on Kapiolani Boulevard, close to Ala Moana shopping mall. It’s a 24-hour adult-video store with video and live-action fantasy booths inside. I actually worked there part-time for a semester or two. My job: Sweeping up the Kleenex from the complementary tissue boxes in the video booths after the customers finished, er, watching the movie. :smiley:

It was a secret job, the only ones knowing about it being my future wife and one fellow student who worked in the strip joint behind that’s owned by the same people. (The friend was the one who got me the job.) This is NOT something that I’ve included on my resume.

It was an interesting job though, to say the least. Some real characters worked there, and I got along with them all. But there were a couple of staff who were rather on the shady side, and so even though I was a part-timer, being Joe College and at least to all appearances relatively respectable-looking made me one of the few entrusted with helping go out and pick up porno stars when they flew in for a live appearance in the club behind. I was thus one of the few entrusted with the location of the secret hotel room in Waikiki where they put the porno stars up. I doubt any of the girls are still in the business, it was so long ago, and I can’t even remember their names. I personally did not pick up any big names like Christy Canyon from the airport, although she did appear there more than once. But they were interesting to talk to. One was even from Albuquerque or had lived there, and she knew the apartment building I’d lived in while there.

We’re at Hulas bar right now. Its pretty dead and overpriced but then its only 9.

That’s moved from it’s original location in the heart of Waikiki. Now I believe it’s on the edge, on Kapahulu Avenue.