Critique our Oahu itinerary please!

[dolewhipdreams]

Hello all! My DH and I are making our first trip to Hawaii and I would love some advice on the plan I have put together from you Aloha veterans out there.

A bit about us for perspective: We are mid-20s (ugh I turn 25 this year so I'm officially above the 'low-20s' mark) and we have plenty of energy and love adventure. We don't mind being on the go and want to get the most out of our vacation. Our plans may seem a little packed so what I'm looking for is any advice on what physically is not possible or you think would make us absolutely miserable.

We are getting the Go Oahu card and want to take advantage of a lot of those offerings.

We are going during Thanksgiving week so any extra tips on that holiday in Oahu would be helpful!

Here's what we have:

Fri 11/17 (arrival): Flight lands at 10:55am in HNL. Pick up rental car and some food. Head to the hotel in Waikiki to drop our luggage off. Pearl Harbor at ~2pm (we will reserve tix ahead of time). Then dinner and early bed time to adjust to Hawaii time.

Sat 11/18: Early Diamond Head hike, then hike Manoa Falls. After lunch a catamaran sail from Waikiki then afternoon/evening at Waikiki beach.

Sun 11/19: Drive to the North Shore for 2-hr surf lessons, then take time to scope out some of the Lost filming locations. See/hike to Waimea Falls. Check into North Shore Air BnB.

Mon 11/20: Check out the Turtle Bay resort beaches and banyan trees (another Lost location- huge fan here). Then lunch and the movie sites tour at Kualoa Ranch. After the tour, hit up the Tropical Farms and Laie Point. On the way down the east coast stop at Byodo-In Temple shortly. Check into Kailua area Air BnB.

Tues 11/21: Hike Nu'uanu Pali lookout in AM, then lunch and spend the afternoon/evening at Polynesian Cultural Center (I know we'll get mixed advice on this but it's something that we really want to do so you won't talk us out of it ).

Wed 11/22: Drive to Hanauma Bay at opening and snorkel in the AM. Then lunch and back to Kailua beach for kayak rental and checking out Lanikai Beach.

Thurs 11/23-Sat 11/25: Aulani! We purposefully are not planning anything these days and just want to chill at the resort and soak it all in without any plans. The one thing I may plan is a surprise massage for the two of us. Would anyone suggest doing it on a specific day (trying to decide if it would be a nice send-off on our last day or if we should do it before then).

Any advice would be helpful! Only 6 months away!

 

[dolewhipdreams]

I'm also taking any food suggestions! I hate seafood (lame, I know) but my DH is okay with it, especially when we're near the ocean. We're from the Midwest so we don't have regular access to 'fresh' seafood. As you can see we'll be all over the island so we would love any and all ideas. Trying to stick to all local places and avoid anything we can get on the mainland.

 

[nkereina]

I put some comments in red -

Fri 11/17 (arrival): Flight lands at 10:55am in HNL. Pick up rental car and some food. Head to the hotel in Waikiki to drop our luggage off. Pearl Harbor at ~2pm (we will reserve tix ahead of time). Then dinner and early bed time to adjust to Hawaii time.
Where are you flying in from? With the morning arrival, I'm guessing West coast? If that's the case, Pearl Harbor would be doable. But if you're coming in on a red eye, you will likely be exhausted! Also, be fluid with your plans on this day in case you can't get the Pearl Harbor time you want, your flight is delayed, or you are just too tired from traveling. If Pearl Harbor is a must do for you, I might move it to another day. If you keep it on arrival day, I might shoot for the last tour of the day at Pearl Harbor which is 3pm. If you land at 11am, you'll need to collect luggage and get on the shuttle to the rental car office and pick up the car, which will make it say 12pm. Stop and get food, 12:30pm-12:45pm, and then it's a 30 minute drive to Pearl Harbor with no traffic. Plus parking. I just feel like 2pm could be calling it close.

Sat 11/18: Early Diamond Head hike, then hike Manoa Falls. After lunch a catamaran sail from Waikiki then afternoon/evening at Waikiki beach.
Good call starting early at Diamond Head!

Sun 11/19: Drive to the North Shore for 2-hr surf lessons, then take time to scope out some of the Lost filming locations. See/hike to Waimea Falls. Check into North Shore Air BnB.

Mon 11/20: Check out the Turtle Bay resort beaches and banyan trees (another Lost location- huge fan here). Then lunch and the movie sites tour at Kualoa Ranch. After the tour, hit up the Tropical Farms and Laie Point. On the way down the east coast stop at Byodo-In Temple shortly. Check into Kailua area Air BnB.
When we were there, Byodo-In Temple was only open until 5pm. Doesn't seem like you'd have enough time for that. At Kualoa Ranch, I highly recommend the VIP Movie Sites tour! Although, when we did it, it was only offered once a day in the morning. That may have changed. But we loved it! There's some photos and details in my trip report in my signature. We are LOST fans too and enjoyed it.

Tues 11/21: Hike Nu'uanu Pali lookout in AM, then lunch and spend the afternoon/evening at Polynesian Cultural Center (I know we'll get mixed advice on this but it's something that we really want to do so you won't talk us out of it ).

Wed 11/22: Drive to Hanauma Bay at opening and snorkel in the AM. Then lunch and back to Kailua beach for kayak rental and checking out Lanikai Beach.

Thurs 11/23-Sat 11/25: Aulani! We purposefully are not planning anything these days and just want to chill at the resort and soak it all in without any plans. The one thing I may plan is a surprise massage for the two of us. Would anyone suggest doing it on a specific day (trying to decide if it would be a nice send-off on our last day or if we should do it before then).
You will love the couples massage! We did ours at 10am, so we got there around 9am to enjoy the hydrotherapy gardens. We then had time after our treatment to enjoy the gardens as well, and then we still had the rest of the day to relax. However, if you have a later flight home, I think the spa is a great option because you can use their shower and locker room to get cleaned up after your service. The amenities they provide are great, and it's less busy than the day room lounge they provide for people with late flights on check out day.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

@nkereina thank you so much!

Yes, we are flying out from LAX at 7am so no red-eye for us!

Hmm I guess I was being optimistic about getting out of the airport in a reasonable amount of time. I could change it around but that would probably mean hiking Diamond Head in the afternoon. Do you have any experience doing this? I've heard it's better to do in the morning but if it's possible to do later on then I'd rather deal with crowds/heat than not do it at all! Pearl Harbor is definitely a must-do so we don't want to miss it.

And for the massage, our flight doesn't leave until 11pm on our last day so we've got the whole day at the resort pretty much.

 

[thornton0511]

Just a note since you mentioned the Go Oahu card. I am in the beginning phases of planning a summer 2018 trip and getting the card seemed like a no brainer for us, but I was curious about doing some "upgraded excursions". I contacted Kualoa Ranch and they said you can use the card to upgrade to any of their tours, not included on the card, and they will subtract $30 from the total cost of that tour per person. Also with the catamaran they said you can upgrade the sunset sail as as your premium to the Friday night Fireworks sail for an additional $50 per person, though I'm not sure if that a really good deal and would not work for you since you flying in on a Friday.

 

[buffettgirl]

I think the arrival day and pearl harbor would be tight. Say your flight gets in on time. It's the slowest baggage here that I've ever seen before. Say you pick up your luggage by 11:30. Get rental car. Ok. It's about noon. I'd stop at Guava Smoked for lunch, BTW, you'll find it on google, it's on your way down town if you stay off the h1. So you'll get to your hotel at the earliest by 12:30, but more like 1, 1:30 depending on traffic. Check in, clean up a bit then turn right back around and leave for pearl harbor. It will be friday so rush hour can start pretty darn early here on Aloha Friday and you'll get stuck in a lot of traffic. You might get to Pearl Harbor by 2. Probably not. That's if everything goes totally on time. For me, it would be way too much rushing.

You could pick your car up and then go directly to Pearl Harbor. It would save you the time of driving down into Waikiki only to turn back around. The airport sits at the entrance to Pearl Harbor. It's only about 3 miles or so up the road and you'll have very little traffic (like a 10 min drive or less)

I've hiked Diamond Head mid day. It's doable. It's hot, and i did it on a really hot day, but I've also got more than 20 years on you and I'm probably in a lot worse shape. Yeah, it can be crowded. But it's always pretty crowded.

Edited to add: Apparently Zippy's is the go to place for people who don't want to cook thanksgiving. I haven't tried it, but everyone I know gets take out from them (cooked meals for thanksgiving). Otherwise, just about every restaurant will have something to offer. Do turkey sandwiches on the beach....

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Just a note since you mentioned the Go Oahu card. I am in the beginning phases of planning a summer 2018 trip and getting the card seemed like a no brainer for us, but I was curious about doing some "upgraded excursions"..

This is a great idea. I contacted the catamaran about upgrading our afternoon sail to the turtle canyon snorkel sailing!

I think the arrival day and pearl harbor would be tight. Say your flight gets in on time. It's the slowest baggage here that I've ever seen before. Say you pick up your luggage by 11:30. Get rental car. Ok. It's about noon. I'd stop at Guava Smoked for lunch, BTW, you'll find it on google, it's on your way down town if you stay off the h1. So you'll get to your hotel at the earliest by 12:30, but more like 1, 1:30 depending on traffic. Check in, clean up a bit then turn right back around and leave for pearl harbor. It will be friday so rush hour can start pretty darn early here on Aloha Friday and you'll get stuck in a lot of traffic. You might get to Pearl Harbor by 2. Probably not. That's if everything goes totally on time. For me, it would be way too much rushing.

You could pick your car up and then go directly to Pearl Harbor. It would save you the time of driving down into Waikiki only to turn back around. The airport sits at the entrance to Pearl Harbor. It's only about 3 miles or so up the road and you'll have very little traffic (like a 10 min drive or less)

I've hiked Diamond Head mid day. It's doable. It's hot, and i did it on a really hot day, but I've also got more than 20 years on you and I'm probably in a lot worse shape. Yeah, it can be crowded. But it's always pretty crowded.

Edited to add: Apparently Zippy's is the go to place for people who don't want to cook thanksgiving. I haven't tried it, but everyone I know gets take out from them (cooked meals for thanksgiving). Otherwise, just about every restaurant will have something to offer. Do turkey sandwiches on the beach....

Yeah I'm realizing now that I was super optimistic about getting to Pearl Harbor by 2pm on our arrival day. I may just leave our arrival day empty so we have a chance to wander and get acclimated without the pressure of making any reservations, then adjust our two Waikiki days to fit Pearl Harbor in there. And thanks for the food advice! We'll be at Aulani on Thanksgiving and we're looking forward to trying their meal but I'll add Guava Smoked and Zippy's to our list of places to try!

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Wow I just realized that I misspelled 'please' in the title of this thread. At least I'm good at math.

 

[nkereina]

@nkereina thank you so much!

Yes, we are flying out from LAX at 7am so no red-eye for us!

Hmm I guess I was being optimistic about getting out of the airport in a reasonable amount of time. I could change it around but that would probably mean hiking Diamond Head in the afternoon. Do you have any experience doing this? I've heard it's better to do in the morning but if it's possible to do later on then I'd rather deal with crowds/heat than not do it at all! Pearl Harbor is definitely a must-do so we don't want to miss it.

And for the massage, our flight doesn't leave until 11pm on our last day so we've got the whole day at the resort pretty much.

As PP mentioned, I've heard Diamond Head in the afternoon is considerably hotter and more crowded. The trail is narrow and gets crowded, but also the parking sucks and becomes more difficult later in the day. You could be walking quite a while before you even reach the start of the trail! We were finishing up around 11am and it was just starting to get pretty hot and busy. This was in mid September.

With an 11pm flight on your last day, I think a spa treatment in the morning would be ideal. Afterward, you can enjoy the pool or beach for a while and then head back to the spa to use the showers and locker room to get cleaned up before your flight home. The only other option is the check out lounge, but I have heard it is small and quite busy. By doing the spa service, you have use of the spa amenities all day.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

. By doing the spa service, you have use of the spa amenities all day.

Oh really? That would be awesome! I had read/heard that once you leave the spa you can't get back in. But if you can then that would be great.

 

[nkereina]

Oh really? That would be awesome! I had read/heard that once you leave the spa you can't get back in. But if you can then that would be great.

You can! Your service gives you access all day, even if you leave. We loved the shampoo and lotion they had in the locker room too, almost bought some to bring home

 

[mfleeting]

@nkereina thank you so much!

Yes, we are flying out from LAX at 7am so no red-eye for us!

Hmm I guess I was being optimistic about getting out of the airport in a reasonable amount of time. I could change it around but that would probably mean hiking Diamond Head in the afternoon. Do you have any experience doing this? I've heard it's better to do in the morning but if it's possible to do later on then I'd rather deal with crowds/heat than not do it at all! Pearl Harbor is definitely a must-do so we don't want to miss it.

And for the massage, our flight doesn't leave until 11pm on our last day so we've got the whole day at the resort pretty much.

We just flew from LAX to Honolulu on Friday with American. We left LAX at 8am and got to Honolulu at 1045am (it's a 5 1/2 hour flight). We walked to the luggage carousel (about a 10 minute walk after bathroom breaks), grabbed our luggage as soon as we arrived to carousel, called and waited for our taxi and was checked into our hotel by 12pm.

It may not be that fast for everyone but we had no issues and traffic was not bad at all. So a 2pm time may not be the worst case but a 3pm Pearl Harbor Tour would give you some extra padding. Also it will give you some extra time to have to stay awake with the time difference and long morning.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

We just flew from LAX to Honolulu on Friday with American. We left LAX at 8am and got to Honolulu at 1045am (it's a 5 1/2 hour flight). We walked to the luggage carousel (about a 10 minute walk after bathroom breaks), grabbed our luggage as soon as we arrived to carousel, called and waited for our taxi and was checked into our hotel by 12pm.

It may not be that fast for everyone but we had no issues and traffic was not bad at all. So a 2pm time may not be the worst case but a 3pm Pearl Harbor Tour would give you some extra padding. Also it will give you some extra time to have to stay awake with the time difference and long morning.

That's good to hear! I think we're going to try to go straight to Pearl Harbor from the airport to avoid some traffic, especially since it's a Friday and I've heard Friday rush hour starts early around Honolulu.

 

[oakleycat]

We also did LAX to Honolulu on a Friday, left at 9 and got in at 11:45, maybe at 10 minute wait for luggage and again for our shuttle and we were at Aulani by 1:00 with no traffic, so I would think your 2:00 reservation would not a be problem it you went there.

We also had no problems with the late departure lounge at Aulani if you're considering that as an option. We had a 9:30 flight out on a Saturday night and hit the lounge around 6:00. There was only one other family there and the amenities were nice. I think most people have earlier flights and the late night LAX flights put you in the lounge after everyone else has left.