I am a long time lurker/first time poster on these boards, so please be gentle ;-)

My husband and I are planning a trip to Oahu for late Sept. His third time (business travel the first two times, this time is for fun), my first. We're using FF points for airfare, and Hilton Honors points for accomodations, hence we are staying at the HHV in Waikiki. I have heard many negative comments on the boards regarding Waikiki, but we both love cities and the hustle and bustle they provide, so I'm sure we'll be fine.

Our goal is a balance of relaxation, fun and exploration. We'll be there 7-8 days. Based on the extremely helpful and knowledgeable advice I have gathered from the messages on these boards, I have developed a loose itinery for our stay as follows:

1) Arrive in Waikiki late afternoon (from east coast), unpack, relax, explore hotel, have a mai-tai and maybe explore surrounding area. Sunset at Dukes, possibly dinner there or nearby. Walk through Waikiki in evening and turn in around 10 pm.

2) Get up early next morning (I hear it's inevitable) and take shuttle to Pearl Harbor to tour the area. Have lunch (nowhere in particular) and spend afternoon parked on the beach or at pool of hotel.

The next few activities are in no particular order:

3) On one of the weekdays (not Tuesday) I'd like to rent a car and drive up the coast. Start out about 7 am, get to Hanauma Bay by 8 for some snorkeling. Then, drive up the coast, through Windward, stopping at a few notable beaches along the way, eat lunch at roadside truck (gotta get the local flavor), continue up coast to North side, stopping wherever we find interesting, watch the surfers at Sunset Beach, dinner and drinks, watch sunset, have shaved ice at Matsumotos and then drive back through the center of the island to Waikiki.

4) AM: Diamond Head Hike; PM: Beach or pool

5) Polynesian Cultural Center (I hear it's an all day thing)

6) AM/early PM: Downtown Honolulu, to see palace, chinatown and other sites there, PM: Beach or pool

7) AM: Shopping (Aloha towers, stadium, etc.) PM: Guess where??

In the evenings, we'll do what all the tourists do--hang out, watch the sunset, maybe catch a dinner cruise. I have heard that the Luaus are mostly a waste of money, perhaps someone reading this could convince me otherwise.

I don't think I have crowded our days, and have tried to leave room for other things that we may want to do. As I mentioned before, we do like the action of the city, as well as just parking our a--es on the beach and relaxing. I am also one who likes to walk and explore--the streets of London and Paris were paradise to me.

Any insight you kind folks can provide would be very much appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Sounds great! (Personally I've never been interested in the Poly. Cult. Ctr., so I'd skip that; but many people consider it a must-do.) Your pacing sounds realistic to me, and relaxing.

Iolani Palace is very interesting. The tours require advance reservations, as you probably know. In my opinion it is well worth a visit.

The weather should be perfect in Sept. also.

wow, that sure sounds great! The only day of concern to me is Day #3. I have driven round the island before and it took me all day....considering that you will be snorkeling, that will take a while. Exploring the Windward side can take a while. Don't get me wrong: It CAN be done but it may either get rushed or you may have to cut something short. So....maybe keep yourself flexible in case that happens. You could maybe combine Hanauma snorkeling with Diamond Head hike day. The hike only takes a couple of hours total. Then you can shop a little in the afternoon before the sunset cocktails? Just my 2 cents, of course there are tons of variations on the itinerary.

Sounds like its well planned. Only thing you are missing is more time that says "lay on beach or by pool". Don't be running all over every day. Regarding Day 3 that is exactly what we did (with 2 teenage boys) and we left later than the time you said and it did lots of snorkleing and stopped at lots of spots along the way and had the shaved ice etc and made it back to Honolulu
early evening. and it was liesuly pace -- its just not all the way around the island you cut back through the middle. The only thing you are missing that is worth it is the Pali overlook. Take a slight detour on day three up the mountain to it. And have a burger at CheeseBurger Paradise on Waikiki. Enjoy!

Through the itinerary away!!! Itineraries are for the 9 to 5 work world back home. In Hawaii, take it as it comes !!

Wow--thanks for the feedback, everyone! Actually, my intent was to do most of the "planned" activities in the AM and then beach or pool it in the afternoon. These are just things that I wanted to do, based on websites and this board--and in no particular order, save for the tour of Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial. Great advice, tremendously helpful, many thanks.

In my opinion the Polynesian Cultural Center was interesting, but in the long run, not worth the money. The highlight was the night show, so if you're going to go, don't miss the show in the evening.

My husband I didn't think we would like Waikiki and we're young! We thought it would be too crowded, etc.
And it was! It's super-crowded, but that's what makes it so interesting!
We went there for an hour and just sat on the beach eating coneydogs while we watched all the people. It's amazing that so many people can fit on one beach. It's really neat to watch!

As someone recommended, do take time for the Pali and include Punchbowl Cemetery on your drive. We stopped at the Dole Pineapple place and enjoyed it.

I am not a fan of the Polynesian Cultural Center, either. After a couple of stops, they all seemed the same; and my family members are far better cooks than the people who do the dinners although I overheard people raving about the food. Personally, I would rather spend my money on a good luau.

We got back from Oahu last week. Avoid Mon and Wed when you go to Hanauma Bay. We're informed by the guide that those 2 days were very crowded (we're there on Mon) since they close on Tues for cleaning up. Surprisingly, best days are on Sat and Sun. Visitors pay $5 per admission and are required to watch a 10 min video presentation. We had to wait for our sloted time schedule to watch it (since there were so many people) before we could hit the bay.

Swap meet shopping at the stadium are only available on Sat, Sun and Wed from 6am-3pm. 50cents per admission.

If you go to Chinatown, local fruits (like pineapple and papaya) are very inexpensive and delicious!

A suggetion for your first morning is your Diamondhead hike for the sunrise.(You'll be awake way too early for the Arizona Memorial) Don't miss a sunset, with dinner or drinks, at the "House Without a Key" at the Halekulani. You should spend time at the Bishop Museum early in your trip, as the museum will give you a wonderful overview of the history and culture of the islands. (Better, in my opinion, than the PCC.) Have a wonderful trip.

Thanks Carenrl for you Q.
While bored last night online, looking for something todo during that long weekend, I booked the week at the HHV the the Aloha package for labor day week also to surprise my wife.

My additional Q is do we need a rental car in Waikiki. I have been only to the Navy basein Oahu, drove by waikiki, but have not spent any time in Waikiki.

TKs

John

I'm headed to Waikiki in a week! Can't wait! My 4th time there. I love the activity on Oahu, and I'm glad that there are others out there who also enjoy the pace.
No car is needed on Waikiki, unless you want to rent for a day to drive around the island. Public transport is good, and there are many many places within easy walking distance from Waikiki anyway. I am also staying at HHV, in the Ali'i Tower. I've been there before and it is very nice, and it doesn't feel quite as "big" (the resort is large) because of the private pool on the 2nd floor. But the HHV is a great place to stay, with lots of rooms, pools, shops, restaurants, and easy walk to the main shopping street.
Have a great time all.

I would rent a car as needed. Rental places are all over Waikiki (we had one in our hotel and one a block away). I reserved a convertible for one day, two days in advance. The prices were the same or close to what I found when looking at prices in advance. Also, you don't need to worry about parking if you just return it in the evening.

There is a $7 rt shuttle to Pearl Harbor and we took the local bus to Diamond Head.

Again, great advice from everyone--especially about the timing for Haunama bay (it makes alot of sense, actually)--only on this board would one pick up valuable info such as that! I'm very appreciative. Another question: Our plane (from a stopover in Denver) will be arriving in Hon. airport at about 3:30 pm, Honolulu time. At about what time (if all goes well with the connections and the airlines are on time) can we expect to get to our hotel? We are planning to take the airport shuttle to the HHV. I'd love to start the vacation off right with a drink and a sunset, but maybe I'm dreaming....?

It's good to rent a car for 1-2 days to go round the island (You won't hit the western end because there is no connecting road. If you wanted to do that, you'd have to ride out and back in the same way), stop by Pali lookout, drive up Tantalus Drive shows a great view, especially at sunset and after dark.

Coming from the airport to Waikiki in the late PM, one would expect some traffic jam. However, it might not be too bad and in time for the sunset drink. Sun sets around 7.30PM. If not, there's always the next sun set to enjoy.

My husband and I just returned from a 2-week trip to Oahu and Maui, and your itinerary sounds great. We loved the HHV, which was better than the Renaissance Wailea in Maui (my husband also being an Hilton HHonors member helped get us a great ocean view room). In fact, we actually preferred Oahu and the "hustle and bustle" of Waikiki to Maui.

Additions to the great advice you've already received: It might be better to go to Pearl Harbor around 11am or 12pm. We arrived at 8am and waited until 9:30 to received our timed tickets for 10:45am. The line was non-existent when we left around 12pm. Matsumoto's is a definite must-do and well-worth the long line. Iolani Palace, as suggested by Aloha, is also a must-do if you're into history; the palace is beautiful. Diamond Head and Hanauma Bay - the earlier, the better 'cuz it gets hot and crowded. One thing that threw us off were the streets. We're used to driving one-way grids in Balto., DC, and NY, but those Honolulu streets freaked me out! Have a great trip!

Went to Honolulu on May 12. Our flight arrived at 3:25 pm. We got a rental car and were at the hotel (Hale Koa next door to HHV) before 5. Actually, I think we were at the pool at 5!
Maybe in Sept when you go it won't be too crowded. It was pretty empty the week we were there.
Something we enjoyed (me, my parents, and 2 college age kids) was the Outrigger catamaran ride. It was only us and another couple so it was like a private trip! Great views of Waikiki and Diamond Head. They have a sunset trip which might be better than taking one of the dinner cruises.
Like someone else said - definitely go to the Pali and Punchbowl Cemetary. Also, there's a good walking tour of Chinatown. And the Foster Botantical Gardens are interesting.
When you go to Hanauma Bay you have to view a film before they let you go down to the beach. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the film and then the film is probably another 15 minutes.
From the HHV it's an easy walk over to the Ala Moana shopping center.
Friday night (8 pm?) is the fireworks at the HHV. While they only last about 10-15 minutes, I think it's about 30 minutes worth of fireworks cause they just continuously go off - no waiting between fireworks. Before the fireworks start, there's a hula show at one of the pools.

By the way, carenrl, when will you be in Hawaii? The Aloha Festivals will be on from September 12. The opening ceremony for Oahu is on Sept 12 and events continue through Sept 19, including the Downtown and Waikiki Ho'olaule'a. Events happen throughout our islands till mid October.

This year's theme is E Mau Ana Ka Hula Ike Kanaka - Hula Lives Through Its People. There are many free events or discounted events with the purchase of an Aloha Festivals Ribbon--I'm sure every hotel will know where to get the ribbon, which is about $5.

To Jillwen-
Wasn't the Hale Koa fabulous? I've been there four times, and I wouldn't go anyplace else. I've been to some of the better places in Waikiki, and they don't compare.