aulani excursions

[TALB]

We will be spending a week at Aulani for Spring break. We are bringing our boys 15 and 11. We plan to spend a day at Pearl Harbor. Other than going there, can anyone recommend excursions and the companies they used. We will have a rental car. Thanks

 

[TALB]

anyone?

 

[DenLo]

You might want to read some of the trip reports for Aulani as people have been posting their excursions there.

We were at Aulani for a week in September and we just rented a car for the week and drove ourselves to Pearl Harbor (buy tickets ahead otherwise you could end up spending hours there waiting to take the boat out to the Arizona Memorial, http://www.recreation.gov/tourParkDetail.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=72369

We drove to the north shore and to Pearl Harbor. The concierge at Aulani will recommend places to snorkel and beaches to check out. You can hike Diamond Head on your own. Many have mentioned that on their trip reports. And you can do a catamaran snorkel through the Ko Olina Marina. http://www.koolinamarina.com They also offer dolphin and whale watching tours (but the whales are not in Hawaii year round). My DSIL and family took a tour through Aulani to Waimae Falls, where they hiked to the falls, swam in the pool and hiked back through a Bamboo Forest. They had a wonderful time.

At the resort in the lagoon you can rent a paddle board (size of a small surf board) and take turns using that. These were pretty popular. There are free boogie boards available and free umbrellas. Your boys will probably enjoy the lazy river at Aulani. It was really popular with teens, kids, parents and grandparents. Aulani has a small catamaran that you can rent a spot to paddle or just take a ride on it. But it's very expensive as it's always manned by Aulani employees.

Definitely read some of the TRs, they'll give you some good ideas for your family.

 

[abdgeek]

We will be spending a week at Aulani for Spring break. We are bringing our boys 15 and 11. We plan to spend a day at Pearl Harbor. Other than going there, can anyone recommend excursions and the companies they used. We will have a rental car. Thanks

I was at Aulani for 8 nights in July. I rented a car at the resort for three days and did my own sightseeing. The only Aulani excursion I did was the Polynesian Cultural Center one. I highly recommend it because they do the driving to the venue which is an hour away. Most of the excursions require that you get to Waikiki to catch the excursion. I figured if I had to do that, I might as well drive myself! A lot of the tour companies do pick ups in Waikiki but not Ko Olina. Aulani is trying to change that.

I visited the following on my own: Diamond Head Crater, Pearl Harbor, Bishop Museum, Spalding House, Honolulu Academy of Arts, 'Iolani Palace and King Kamehaha(sp) statue. Aulani had excursions to all of these, but I paid a fraction of what they would have charged me and I was able to move at my own pace. I rented a GPS with the car and was glad I did. I had printed out all of my directions ahead of time, but I'm not sure they would have gotten me to each location.

 

[epgirl]

I have been to Oahu before and I would recommend driving over to Haleiwa in the North Shore, Hanauma Bay, and Diamond Head.

 

[saintstickets]

DW and I just returned from Aulani 7 weeks ago. Since you have a car, definately go to the North Shore. I would also recommend a visit to the Kualoa Ranch. My TR link is below. You might also want to find the TR from podsnel. She visited Aulani the week before Labor Day with DH and her sons that are close to the same age as your children.