Excursions close to Aulani?

justme0729

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 11, 2014
We are thinking about visiting Aulani for 8 nights in April. We would want see the following while we are there. Can any of these be done on the same day when we are in one area of Oahu or do you have other suggestions for extra things before/ after these excursions that are in the same area?

  • Diamond Head Hike
  • Waimea Bay
  • Kualoah Ranch
  • Manoa OR Waimea Falls
  • A Luau (Paradise Cove since it's close?)
  • Pearl Harbor

Thanks :)
 
You’ll find better responses than mine all over this board. But to start...

It was our first time to Oahu and the island was much smaller than I’d expected. I’m used to commuting, so an hour drive is nothing to me. To others, or locals especially, it can seem like a big ordeal. So, you’ll need to calibrate with what you’re used to. There are only 3 highways.

Thereafter, you could do diamond head and kualoa on the same day easily.

Pearl is not far, but it’s own thing based on how much time you’d want to spend there. Could conceivably do that early and then go north.

There’s a lot on here about Paradise Cove. Aulani has a luau too now.
 
We are used to having to drive an hour everywhere too, so we found Oahu to be much smaller than we expected also. You could drive the perimeter of the island in probably a few hours. You would likely want to set aside a day for Pearl Harbor if you have one whole day just for that. My hubby and son did only about 4 hours worth and said they could have easily done the whole day there. They were completely rushed and didn't even tour the Arizona (due to weather, but they wouldn't have had time anyway!)

You can easily do Diamond Head and Kualoa Ranch in one day and be done in the afternoon. That's what we did. Get to Diamond Head as early as you can. The earlier, the less people. When the parking lot fills up, you just can't get in. You get in a line to wait.

You can do Waimea and Waimea Falls in one day also. We had to skip Waimea Falls simply because we didn't have enough time, and also because we had spent so much money on excursions that we decided to cut that one out.

The only one you don't have on your itinerary that we didn't have on it either, but that turned out to be one the biggest highlites of our trip is Hanauma Bay at the crack of dawn. Bring snorkel gear (cause you can't rent it that early) and then DON'T acclimate to the time change (if you are from anywhere on the mainland) and then go as early as you possibly can to Haunama Bay. We arrived at like 5:15 am. You get free admission cause it isn't open yet, and you'll have the beach mostly all to yourself. It was 10X more glorious than we expected, and the fish were amazing! Even our little one who didn't snorkel was surrounded by fish just being in the water. It was so warm, sunny, clear, and wonderful! It is completely OK to enter before it opens. We were even welcomed by the rangers there. As we left at 9:30 after having our fill, thousands were heading in. I was so glad we didn't miss that. We had planned on skipping it.
 


I don't know what time the buses start running, but I would guess (just a total guess!) that they get you there when it opens. I think the only way to have the beach to yourself is to arrive well before the masses. If it were us, knowing what we know, we would look into an Uber or Lyft there.
 
I lived on Oahu for two years while my husband was stationed at Kaneohe Bay, and here is what I recommend from experience:

  • Laie Beach on the northeast coast. It's a drive, but it's in close proximity to North Shore (another must-see) and parking is free. The beach itself (in my opinion) was the prettiest on the entire island, hands down.
  • North Shore and Ehukai Pill Box Hike. North Shore is famous for its pipeline waves and food, and the hike will give you an incredible view of the northern coast of Oahu.
  • Lanikai Pill Box hike at sunrise on the windward side of the island. This will give you an unparalleled view of the world famous mokes, and it is not very strenuous, so it will be good for families or inexperienced hikers.
  • Hanauma Bay which is located within thirty minutes of Aulani. This is an incredible spot for snorkeling and easily worth dedicating a whole day to. Leave as early as possible as the lagoon fills up quickly.
  • Makapu'u Lighthouse Hike on the southern point of Oahu. This easy hike is made up of a paved road, and from the top will give you a stellar view of the windward coast. Like the Lanikai Pill Box hike, this is easier and good for everyone.
  • Skydive Hawaii if you or anyone in your family is adventurous. The sights are second to none, and it was the coolest experience my husband and I had while on the island. At 12,000 feet you can see all of the Hawaiian islands!
 


We also went to the Dole Plantation and then drove up to the North Shore and watched the waves and the surfers and walked along the beach. The Dole Whip with crushed pineapple (DH had one with toasted coconut) was worth the trip to the plantation.
 
We are at Aulani now, but spent a few days in Waikiki two weeks ago. In one day we did the following:
-Pearl Harbor- Just the Arizona, we got there early and got tickets to the 8am tour. I know some people can spend the day there, but my kids are 6 and 8 and the movie, boat ride, and discussion was enough for them. I felt it was important to go but really it was the less “fun”part of our trip. We did walk around a bit and look at various misses and stuff but did t do other paid tours.
-Dole Plantation -we did the maze, had lunch, rode the train
-Drove to the North Shore and stopped at one beach, which was rough, then drove to Turtle Cove and snorkeled. Obviously one could spend days at these beaches, but drive time wise it didn’t take long to get there.
-Shrimp trucks for an early dinner then drove east around the rest of the island. It was dark by then, but it’s November, summer months you’d have more time.
Most would say to go the opposite direction we did for the “circle tour”, but I wanted to do PH too so we went clockwise.

Also I recommend getting the Shaka Tour or Gypsy Guide apps, or both, for narration as you drive. These really added to our learning about the islands while we drove ourselves.
 

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