One day North Shore Outing from Aulani - Can it be done

[newdeal]

Depends on the wait, the wait at Giovannis can be long, the wait at Matsumotos can also be long, the drive from the North shore to Kualoa is not short, Waimea Valley you can either walk up the path or pay and take the tram. Its a long walk and there are things to see on the way and also some activities to do. If you plan on taking the tram up and back this is doable. If you want to walk and enjoy the scenery then I think this is too much. Also the drive to Kualoa from Aulani is incredibly beautiful and worth doing both there and back (once you get past Honolulu and in to the jungle). My suggestion would be to spend the whole day at kualoa and do the catamaran also, stop by the blow hole which is nearby as well. Then do everything you listed but Kualoa on your north shore day and possibly stop at the Dole Pineapple plantation instead which is on the way to the north shore. If you want to swim in Waimea I would highly suggest water shoes. To get in to the water is a bit of a walk on large and sharp rocks before you get to the spot you can swim in. If you don't bring water shoes there is a reasonably good chance that your kids won't make it past the rocks and in to the swimming area. 20 feet of walking to get into the swimming area may not seem like much but it is a problem when it is on submerged, extremely sharp rocks.

 

[newdeal]

Can't comment about Giovanni's...never been. Our goto shrimp truck on O'ahu is Big Wave Shrimp. We weren't disappointed yesterday for lunch...see below.

The line at Matsumoto was a mile long...didn't stop.

View attachment 653557

This shrimp is nothing like Giovannis. Giovannis shrimp is cooked in massive amounts of butter and garlic and served on rice. It is also blazing hot when they give it to you and the shells are still on the shrimp so to me it was not only reasonably gross but also a pain in the butt to eat because you had to take shells off of the burning hot shrimp in order to eat them which burns your fingers. After you have done your work deshelling the shrimp the whole thing just tastes like garlic butter. Also the wait is long and the parking is terrible. To me it is completely skippable and I have no idea how it got to be so famous. I expect they spend an enormous amount of money on advertising because of all the things we did on Oahu it was by far the most overrated possibly followed by Matsumoto shaved ice which is no better than what you can get at Aulani. To the original poster I would avoid paying extra for the mouse ears on the Aulani shaved ice. Makes for a good photo but then they fall off and on to the ground as once the spoon hits them they can no longer resist gravity

 

[Paul Stupin]

This shrimp is nothing like Giovannis. Giovannis shrimp is cooked in massive amounts of butter and garlic and served on rice. It is also blazing hot when they give it to you and the shells are still on the shrimp so to me it was not only reasonably gross but also a pain in the butt to eat because you had to take shells off of the burning hot shrimp in order to eat them which burns your fingers. After you have done your work deshelling the shrimp the whole thing just tastes like garlic butter. Also the wait is long and the parking is terrible. To me it is completely skippable and I have no idea how it got to be so famous. I expect they spend an enormous amount of money on advertising because of all the things we did on Oahu it was by far the most overrated possibly followed by Matsumoto shaved ice which is no better than what you can get at Aulani. To the original poster I would avoid paying extra for the mouse ears on the Aulani shaved ice. Makes for a good photo but then they fall off and on to the ground as once the spoon hits them they can no longer resist gravity

You are exactly right on everything! Peeling the shrimp at Giovanni’s is a huge, unfun pain, and with the amount of butter the meal is basically a grease fest, not to mention a heart attack on a plate. There’s another food truck in the same Haleiwa location where you don’t have to peel the shrimp that is way less greasy and tastes a lot better. Also, in addition to the shaved ice at Aulani’s, there’s a stand on the beach that sells dole whips, but at least in our experience it’s almost never open.

 

[Lew]

Also, in addition to the shaved ice at Aulani’s, there’s a stand on the beach that sells dole whips, but at least in our experience it’s almost never open.

We've been here close to four weeks and the only time we noticed it being closed was a few days ago when we were leaving the beach late in the day.

 

[Paul Stupin]

We've been here close to four weeks and the only time we noticed it being closed was a few days ago when we were leaving the beach late in the day.

Great! Maybe it was a pandemic thing. We’ll be there in May and look forward to having some Dole Whips!