Diamond Head is an extinct volcano just to the southeast of Waikiki. You can walk up to the top (about a 45-minute hike, of which the last part is 99 steps up) for a great view.

Ko Olina is half an hour west of Honolulu. The very Disney Aulani is there. Can you get north shore instead? Turtle Bay or Haleiwa

Turtle Bay is a resort, Haleiwa is a town -- I don't think there are any hotels on the North Shore other than Turtle Bay.

Definitely try to get to the North Shore for a few days if you can - but out west - at the Marriot's Ko-Olima (sp?) is probably fine for some beach time.

Nothing like however the great ambiance of the North Shore - and if Turtle Bay resort is full - also check VRBO. A friend of mine and his wife rent their guest house out - and it's just on the north side of Waimea Bay, where the HUGE surf comes in during the winter.

There are vacation rentals at both Turtle Bay and Haleiwa. Look on VRBO.

OAHU....Hannauma Bay (sp?) for snorkeling but get there early. You can rent equipment in Waikiki. Drive to North Shore is awesome and beautiful but remember you will have to drive back into WAIKIKI so plan trip accordingly to avoid traffic. Def. pearl Harbor with the Missouri and the memorial to the Arizona...There is a swap meet outside of honolulu and if you can break away from the kids, I highly recommend Doris Duke Shangri La. You have to go thru the Honolulu Academy of art for tix as they re the only touring company and tix are limited Also a good walking book on Honolulu takes you thru Chinatown, and the Iolani palace and other historical landmarks. We enjoyed using ours. Fireworks at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Friday nights is fun to watch, I have walked up Diamond Head and it is very doable (bring water. There are crowds of people so you are not alone and the views are awesome. You can take a bus to the base. Buses are very good in Honolulu. Most ABC stores have schedules or you can go on line to find out which bus to take to Diamond Head....HEADS UP. Waikiki Beach is rocky so be sure to have some kind of water shoes. Reasonable dinners if you go to the early bird specials....many restaurants have them and there is a California Pizza Kitchen right on Kalakaua. $4.00 martini's at the the "Top of Waikiki" restaurant are decent.

A hike up Dimondhead is a great family walk. Just plan to go early in the morning (like before 8 am), when there is still some shade. Otherwise you will be in the full sun for the whole hike which is much less pleasant. Also, if you ahven't already done so, go online immediately and reserve tickets for Pearl Harbor.

layanluvs... we may be at Ko Olina at the same time (???). I'm coming in to the J W Marriott on the 27th for 2 nights (or are you back home by that time).

The teens won't be very impressed with the Doris Duke Shangri-La tour. Don't bother bringing them. But do bring water. It is hot and humid there.

Where are the rocks on Waikiki?

The rocks?

I've never used water shoes on Waikiki Beach myself. Maybe some parts are different but where I hang out (usually either in front of Kapiolani park or in front of Fort de Russy) aren't rocky.

I just wanted to come back and say a big thank you to everyone who helped me plan this last minute trip! This was one of the most relaxing trips my husband, kids and I have taken in a long time. Oahu was the perfect island for us and perhaps we'll go to Mauii sometime in the future. I'm not big on writing detailed trip reports, so I apologize, but here's my summary (I hope others will benefit from our experience):

As you all suggested-- we stayed on Waikiki Beach and loved it! It wasn't crowded at all (the hotel was fully packed but who cares!). We had an ocean view room at the Marriott which was clean and spacious. Our rate included buffet breakfast for two adults (of course, the breakfast does get old but isn't that usually the case with these hotel breakfasts?). I'd recommend our hotel. We loved the swimming pools, the fitness room, the location, and the service was great. Hey, it's Marriott and usually our experience with Marriott is A+.

I was nervous it was going to be a huge party (like in Miami) but it wasn't (maybe b/c we went toward the end of August?). Waikiki beach was perfect in every way. We loved the beach. We loved the free cookie samples at the Honolulu cookie shops (and bought a few boxes for family). We loved the restaurants (eat at a burger place called Mahalo at the shopping center where the Sheraton is located. They have delicious burgers!). We actually enjoyed looking around the many ABC stores too (those only sell alcohol in DC, lol).

We used a combination of taxis, the bus and car rental to get around the island. We hiked Diamond Head for a beautiful view! I highly recommend doing that. We also hiked in Manoa Falls through a rainforest to find an ok waterfall (I've seen better but it's still worth it! Go!). One word of caution: some people were "swimming" and drinking from the waterfall's water. Please don't do that! It has a bacteria that can be deadly. We tried warning them but they just wouldn't listen (my kids were so upset and afraid for them). We visited the Bishop Museum. I'm not sure I would recommend doing that. If you have time and want some history, then go ahead. However, it didn't "impress" us. I really wanted to learn more about the native Hawaiians and their history. I actually learned more online than in the museum. The museum was pretty empty when we visited. It was just o.k. We hung out at the beach most of the time and just tried to relax (we've got pretty stressful jobs). We skipped Pearl Harbor (we originally wanted to go but the beaches kept calling us and with only 7 days we kept asking ourselves if we really wanted to see a memorial? We live in DC so...we skipped it).

We did go to Hanauma Bay and loved it. However, it didn't have as much coral as I thought it would have. Then again, we've been to Sharm Elsheikh and that's like the capitol of coral reefs. It was gorgeous though and I'd say go early and go! We rode the public bus one day and kind of accidentally did a tour of the east side (so we drove by Sandy Beach, the blowhole? which looked beautiful and that area surrounding it).

When we finally rented our car, we went to Ko Olina where we stayed at the Marriott Vacation Club. The Ko Olina lagoons are beautiful and great for kids. We loved the vacation club. We could barbecue, swim and relax without leaving the resort. Of course, we did leave nonetheless! We drove through beautiful mountains (I think we were on Pali highway? We just followed a scenic route on the east side). We stopped at Kailua beach (I apologize for my spelling. It was a beach town on the east side that, at some point, was rated the number 1 beach in America). After seeing a few gorgeous beaches, we couldn't understand why it was rated #1 but ok it was beautiful.

We visited byodnu temple (again sorry if i'm spelling it incorrectly). I'm a huge LOST fan and I just had to see a few spots where LOST was filmed. The temple was in a beautiful location, the drive to it was beautiful and I do recommend visiting it. It's a quick trip but the scenery is beautiful. Of course, we drove to the North Shore too! Again, we took a scenic route through the middle of the island stopping at the Dole Plantation. We knew that it was a tourist trap but it was a quick stop nonetheless (we didn't do any tours, my hubby just bought chocolate covered pineapple which we later discovered was sold in all of the ABC stores for a few dollars less! haha live and learn). My girls bought the pineapple soft serve ice cream which was ok but a bit too sugary for me.

At the North Shore, we stopped for shaved ice at Matsumoto and yummmmoooo! I got the tropical flavors and again yummmoooo! I highly recommend this place so go! We also stopped for shrimp at a shrimp truck (Mackys) and it was good too. I liked the coconut shrimp the best, then the lemon pepper and then the garlic flavored shrimp. After we were well fed, we stopped at a couple of beaches. Of course, we also visited the beach where LOST was first filmed.

We drove by China Town (not my thing), the royal palace we saw from the outside and downtown Honolulu. We didn't do everything but it was just so relaxing to hang out at the beach! My kids tried to surf and realized how it looked easier than it really was.

Of course, the native Hawaiians are really nice and it was interesting to learn that more than 90% of them opposed annexation to the U.S. That's not what I learned in school!

Mahalo for reporting back on your visit to Oahu. Although you did a lot, it sounds as though you got on Island Time enough to soak up enough Aloha to bring home with you! (I keep some Hawaiian music CD's in the car to calm me in expressway traffic.)

Yes, commercial interests are why the US annexed Hawaii. Maybe we should revisit ALL the 'history' we learned in school? LOL This stuff continues, with Matson Line the uncontested giant shipping agent in Hawaii.

Great summary! Brings me back to our trip in June. Kailua beach is nice but not as nice as some others I have seen outside of Hawaii. But just south of that is Lanikai which I think is just beautiful, but a little narrow. Thanks for the memories, and i too, love the H3 highway, it's so pretty!

Great trip summary!

I'm on Oahu right now. I started out at Ko Olina at the J W Marriott, using points. FABULOUS place!! I'm currently at the Courtyard Waikiki (not so hot) and will be moving to the Marriott Resort on Waikiki this afternoon. I've booked a really nice room there, and since I'm platinum w/Marriott, I should get an upgrade to a really nice room with beach view. I don't usually move from hotel to hotel like that, but I wanted to save a bit of $$$ by using points, staying off the beach, and then moving to the beach and paying for that view for the last 2 nights here. I have had a car for the full trip, and have been driving everyday.

I'm doing the island drive today. I'll stop for shrimp, of course. I've yet to do the shave ice, but just might make that stop today. We'll see.

My 6-might trip has been for shopping (which has been super) and visiting with friends from the internet. Two days ago I had dim sum at Empress of China at the Chinese Cultural Center with a FB friend. What a great meal! Yummy!!!

Last night was a visit with 3 fodorite friends at a place called Ryan's Grill, at Ward Center shops. We laughed and talked travel for nearly 4 hours! The burger and cold beer I had was tasty. It was a really enjoyable evening. It's always nice to visit with my fodors friends face-to-face. I come to Oahu once a year to do this!

I'm not a beach person (I don't swim) but I love being ON the beach, listening to the surf. Sooooo relaxing for me. I love spending time on a balcony overlooking the water (and/or Diamondhead) sipping my coffee, reading a good book, posting on fodors, etc. That's what Oahu is all about for me.

Thanks everyone! Simpson... U sound like you're having a lot of fun! Enjoy:-)

Thanks, layan. I AM having a great time. Two more days and then back to Illinois :( but I'll be back again next year.

Thanks, layan, for sharing your trip with everyone... I always appreciate knowing how a trip actually turned out after giving feedback on the initial plans. Sounds like a great trip!

Wonderful trip report, makes me want to go back now!!

To the poster who found Waikiki beach rocky,, that is so strange, I have visited most parts of it over the many visits, but I have never found it particularily rocky, there may be some spots towards Diamond Head end that are( not saying there are, but thats the only part of the beach I am not familar with, so perhaps there are there) , but I feel pretty confident in stating that the beach is pretty easy going sand walking/swimming for the majority of it and I personally wouldn't bother with watershoes on it.