My husband and I are taking our 2 kids 23 and 15 to Oahu for a week leaving next Monday. It's our first time visiting Hawaii and we are very excited. We will be staying near Waikiki and so far our plans are to go to the Arizona Memorial on Tuesday (the 7th), stadium market on Wednesday, and the PCC show on Thursday. We also want to snorkel at Hanauma Bay, hike Diamond Head and visit China Town and the North Shore. Any advise on which days would work best for our other activities and things "not to miss" in the area would be appreciated. Thanks for sharing!
P.S. We will have a car.

Hi. My husband and I just got back from a week on Oahu and really enjoyed it. We went to Pearl Harbor and saw the Arizona Memorial, toured the battleship Missouri and went aboard the Bowfin submarine. Taking our time it took us about 4 hours to see all. Great experience. The aloha stadium is right by the entrance to the memorial and if you get there at 8:00am you could go to the swap meet afterwards on Wednesday. A couple hours there is more than enough time. Take water. Get to Hanauma Bay before 9:00. We got in easy at 8:30, but people were getting turned away by 9:30. Hike Diamond Head early also. It was warm climbing at 8:30 and people were really warm climbing up as we were coming down around 10:00. Spend some time at Lanikai and Kailua beaches. Great and not very crowded and the kayaking was sure fun. Be sure to take some time to drive to the North Shore. The waves were 8 feet when we were there and it was fun watching the surfers. Most of the championships are on the weekends. China town has a walking tour on Tuesdays. Better than on your own. Have fun. I miss it.
deb

Breakfast at Duke's - the BEST
Genki Shusi - GREAT locals place
Roy's - A MUST
Sam Choy's - Excellent

ENJOY!!

Always love the drive around the island. We usually set aside a whole day for this. I like doing the island counter-clockwise, picking up malsadas at Leonards to munch on the way to hike Diamond Head. Stopping at the North Shore for lunch at one of the shrimp trucks/shacks all the way around for shave ice at Matsumotos. Perhaps I should have said "eating" our way around the island.

The combination of Pearl Harbor (any or all of the attractions) and then on to the swap meet is the way to go!

Thanks to those who have given advise. Only 3 days to go now and I can harldy stand it. One of the things I am most looking forward to is beach time like snorkeling and boogie boarding. Where is the best place to buy a boogie board and at this time of year where do you think our best chance of seeing sea turtles would be? Thanks to all who post here.

The ABC stores (just about every half block in Waikiki) sells them reasonably. There is also a Walmart near the Ala Moana shopping center. On our drive around the island last week we were going to stop at Turtle Beach, but didn't. The surf was pretty high and I wasn't sure if there would be optimum viewing. We didn't see any at the beaches we stopped at. I hope you find some. Have a terrific trip.

Not sure if this is why you are going, but wanted to point out that the 7th is the anniversary of pearl harbor day.

Often on Dec 7, the memorial is very, very crowded. The boats may even have to stop for a while is there are ceremonies on the memorial with dignitaries or survivors.

This is not a 60th or such, so not much may be going on. I don't know.

Rent a car for the day - a convertible and drive to the North Shore! You will love the beaches....simply perfect!

Jaggirl - You asked about renting a boogie board. You can rent them from stands on Waikiki Beach and boogie board right there. Also saw people boogie boarding at Kailua Beach and they have rental shops there. We saw two turtles while snorkling at Hanauma Bay and also by San Souci Beach.

lcuy-Yes the reason we are going to Pearl Harbor on Tuesday is beacause it is the 7th. My husband is a fanatic history buff and has read mountains of books on Pearl Harbor. That is going to be his speceial day. I was also lucky enough to score reservations on one of the special "historic" boat tours the park rangers are conducting that day and I have researched the ceremonies ect. Thanks to all!

I'm so glad you get to be a part of the special day! Should be very moving.