Oahu Itinerary
 

I am taking my wife to Hawaii in June for her X0th birthday. We will be spending 3 1/2 days on Oahu and 4 on Maui. I was hoping for some feedback on my plans.

Oahu first

Monday 6/11 Arrive 3:00 p.m. in HNL. Getting car and checking into Ohana West. Plans were to spend evening on Waikiki -Dinner at Duke's Canoe club, walk the beach, maybe take outrigger canoe ride (worth it?)

Tuesday 6/12 Hike Diamond Head (early), drive to birthing stones, Dole Plantation, North Shore and around to PCC. Spend afternoon at PCC, and do luau/Horizons show

Wed. 6/13 Snorkel Hanauma Bay in a.m., Hike to dragon's nostrils and lighthouse, and then kayak off of Kailua (sp?) Bay

Thur 6/14 Pearl Harbor -Arizona, Missouri and Bowfin. -question, assuming we arrive early and tour a a moderate pace -how long will this take? We have a 7:00 p.m. flight to Maui. Does Pearl Harbor take a whole day or should I have some additional plans ready?

Last question: How risky is it to leave a camera (out of sight) in our car while we snorkel Hanauma? Everything says "No valuables in car". But that makes it tough for shutterbugs like us to do a split beach/sightseeing day. Any thoughts?

Thanks
Kevin -Minnesota

Pearl Harbor attractions should not take a whole day, less time if you arrive early so you don't have to wait around for an hour to take the boat out to the Arizona Memorial. I'd say if you do don't have to wait, you'd need 3-4 hours tops to do the Memorial, the Bowfin, and the Missouri. You don't get much time at the Memorial - you have to take the boat you came out on, so you get about 15 minutes. I didn't do the Bowfin, but I spent an hour out at the Missouri. It's pretty big and I wandered and dwelled.

I certainly left MY camera stuff in the trunk of my rental car while I was snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. I really didn't have a choice - I wasn't going to drive back to my hotel to get it. While you are probably taking a chance, I'd say the warnings are overstated to scare people into being paranoid, probably a good thing. I'd probably not be seen putting the camera stuff into the trunk. Maybe get your stuff out of the trunk before you get to Hanauma Bay, have it in the back seat so you don't even have to go in the trunk. Truthfully, if you go at a semi-busy time early in the day, there will be enough people around that if your car isn't an obvious target, I'll bet you'll be fine.

Looks like a decent schedule to me.

Lots of Oahu info (many of the sights are good for Maui also):

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34812564

For Tuesday you can stop at Laniakea Beach (sea turtles), Ehukai Beach (Banzai Pipeline) each for a few minutes.

Wednesday - Stop at Halona Blowhole. It is between Hanauma Bay & Makapuu Lighthouse.

Thursday - You also have time to hike to the top of Diamond Head. Also drive to Punchbowl. Walk up to the lookout there.

As long as you don't open your trunk at Hanauma Bay, things should be safe in the trunk. If you do this, do it before you get to Hanauma Bay. Do not place any articles from the passenger section of the car to the trunk at any parking lot in Hawaii.

They also have locker rentals there if you don't want to leave any valuables in the car.

Get an Entertainment Book. Right now about $10 + $5 shipping. Coupon for Polynesian Cultural Center for $40 will more than pay for the book.

mark

Kevin, I seem to remember they have lockers at Hanauma Bay. So, you can also lock your drivers license away with your camera.

Pearl Harbor will not take an entire day even at a moderate pace.

When you leave Diamond Head be sure to make a stop at Leonards for some hot and fresh malasadas.

Have a fun time, and may I say, you are one very smart gentlemen by not revealing your wife's age!! She may just read this.

((r))

What ya gonna do on Maui?

Sounds good!

I'm not sure you'll have time that first evening for a canoe ride (or maybe catamaran cruise instead?). You might want to allow time for that on another evening in Waikiki.

Add (or subtract I guess) a couple hours end of day Thursday, to be sure and get to the airport for the Maui flight on time (allowing for possible Honolulu traffic, and airport stuff).

Thanks for the quick responses. I appreciate the feedback. Some of the "to do" ideas mentioned were on my list, I just omitted them to keep the message brief -but it is nice to see that other people thought they were worth mentioning. Leads me to believe they will definitely be worth the time.

I'll be posting my Maui itinerary shortly -I posted them separately to try and draw specific comments on each part -I am looking at each island as its own "mini vacation".

Thanks again everyone -you make this discussion board very, very valuable!

Kevin

We like Lanakai/Kailua area. Great beaches on that part of the coast. Find a place to escape from the heat at the PCC especially during the parade. Keep hydrated. We were there at exactly the same time of year that you are going (back in 2004). It thought that the Luau on Oahu was pretty commercial and lame. The Horizons show at the PCC at night was well done. We went to Shark's Cove to snorkel and saw great sea life and a sea turtle. This area is not know for sharks per the guide books. We felt completely safe there. The snorkeling an Hanauma Bay was good. Oahu is said to have some of the best beaches in Hawaii, but you need to get off the beaten track. There is a good driver's guide to Oahu, but the name of the book escapes me. Can find many hidden beaches this way. Waimea Bay was nice too on the north coast. We enjoyed the pineapple concoctions at the Dole Plantation. Have a great trip.

Just a thought -- in the June heat, your trunk may do more damage to a camera than any vandal, especially if you use film. :) But I felt like the parking lot at Hanauma was one of the most secure on the island, since it's on park property.

We got to Pearl Harbor at 7:30am and were out by noon, even though we took our time.

While you're on the North Shore, you may want to stop for lunch at Haleiwa Joe's. Amazing sandwiches! :)

When you travel up to the North Shore, be sure to take a ride down Farrington Road. There are some beautiful beaches on that stretch of the road (many locations from LOST are filmed in this area). There is also a beach where kite surfers go. It was pretty amazing to watch them.