If you're interested in going to Hawaii, love trips filled with the best food spots and photo ops, but you're not sure where to begin with planning, then this post is dedicated to you.
BEFORE YOU GO
Accommodations
My boyfriend, Michael, and I spent about 4 days on Oahu and 3 days on the Big Island. We stayed at a hotel on Oahu and in an Airbnb on the Big Island. Since Oahu is so developed, you’ll have plenty of hotel options in Waikiki. Just don’t forget to budget for additional fees (i.e. resort fees and overnight parking). It is a pretty nice perk if your hotel offers beach towels. This ended up coming in very handy since we spent almost every day near the water at some point.
We found that it was harder to find a hotel on the Big Island since most of the decent options were pricey resorts. We ended up booking an Airbnb in the Kona area which we both very much enjoyed. Our Airbnb had so many additional perks like beach towels, snorkeling gear, small ocean view from the balcony, etc.
Although we’re very satisfied with everything we accomplished on both islands, the one thing I wish I had taken into consideration for the Big Island is how long it takes to get across the island. It is much larger than Oahu and can take a good chunk of your day. We stayed in Kona (close to the airport) for all three nights, but I would recommend considering staying in Hilo as well if you’re planning activities on the Eastside.
Rental Cars
With that in mind, it’s crucial to get a rental car on the Big Island. Everything is very far apart (2-3 hours) so you would quickly rack up the price if you tried to do everything via ride share.
Oahu, on the other hand, isn’t so bad. Since rental car prices are extremely inflated right now (post pandemic), we only got a rental car for a few days on Oahu.
Pay attention to the hours of operation for rental car offices. Our flight landed in Oahu at 8:30 PM, however the rental car office closes at 7 PM. With that in mind, we knew we wouldn’t be able to get a car until the next day at the earliest. Also, we were leaving Oahu on Labor Day and apparently they wouldn’t have allowed us to drop off the car because it was a holiday. That really forced us to plan our itinerary around those inconveniences.
We decided to get the rental car later in our trip because we figured we could do a handful of items around Waikiki and save money by walking or ride sharing. With the price of the rental car and overnight parking, we saved at least $100 just by going one day without the rental car.
Itinerary
Besides the rental car shops, we realized that many other businesses also have random working hours or close early or on random days (i.e. Tues-Thurs). Even the business hours declared online were pretty inaccurate (possibly because of the pandemic), so make sure you call to confirm. Don’t plan to go too close to closing either because they will likely have ran out of whatever it is you wanted to try.
One thing I felt was very efficient in our itinerary is that I planned things according to location. I grouped the activities and foods we wanted to try based on the area of the island (i.e. Honolulu, Northshore). This way we could minimize the time wasted driving around.
For most items, you won’t have to worry if you forget to pack something. There are ABC Stores everywhere (I’m talking every corner) on Oahu, which are little convenience stores that have almost everything you could need.
SITES TO SEE / ACTIVITIES TO DO
Oahu
If you’ve read my previous posts, you know I’m not much of a hiker. However, I enjoy the easy ones for a bit of outdoor exercise and the good pics.
One of the most common hikes on Oahu is the Diamond Head Summit Trail, which is said to be 1.8 mi out and back. This one was a bit tough for me since it is uphill and you are fully exposed to the sun. I had a hat to protect my face, but at a certain point it became too windy to keep it on. The main setback for this hike is that it is very crowded and you’ll be lucky to get a picture without people in the background.
At the entrance of the trail, there is a food truck that serves dole whip, acai bowls, etc. We had the pineapple smoothie in a pineapple which was very refreshing after a tiring hike, plus it was cute for the gram.
Last time I was here, I did the Lanikai Pillbox Trail which is said to be 1.8 mi out and back. It really was one of the best options for amazing pics, however the beginning of the trail was a lot steeper than I had anticipated.
This time, I wanted to try a different pillbox hike that still had a great view so we did the Ehukai Pillbox Trail which is said to be a 2.3 mi loop. This hike was still a bit tough for me since it is uphill, but was significantly better because it was pretty shaded. Michael and I only went to the first pillbox which was more than enough hiking for me! It was also significantly less crowded than the Diamond Head Trail which made it much more enjoyable.
I wanted to see a waterfall that didn’t really require hiking, so we went to check out Kapena Falls which is said to be 0.3 mi out and back. Although I knew it was a very tiny waterfall, we were pretty disappointed how murky the water looked. Since there was a lot of trash around the area, we didn’t feel safe taking a dip. I also got 20+ bug bites on this trail so it was overall not worth it.
While we were in the Northshore, we planned to stop at Waimea Bay, but the parking was so crazy, we didn’t want to bother with it. However, along the way we stopped at random beach spots and one gem we stumbled upon was Shark’s Cove. With all the rocks and shallow waters, there were many people taking a leisurely dip or snorkeling in the area. Just make sure you have water friendly shoes, because you can easily cut yourself on the rocks if you go in barefoot.
Another spot in the Northshore I went to last time was Laniakea Beach. There I was able to spot sea turtles on the sand and take some nice pictures.
Last time, I went snorkeling in deep water with the sea turtles, so this time I wanted to snorkel in Hanauma Bay. Since it is a state park, it costs $3 parking (cash only) in addition to $25/person to enter (card accepted). This does not include the extra costs for renting snorkel gear.
The reservations to access the park don’t open up until 7 AM two days prior and the spots fill up pretty quickly. However, we were still able to get in with a separate reservation for our rental gear from Hanauma Bay Snorkel Adventures as long as we went early enough in the day.
Michael and I planned to snorkel for a couple hours then head out to another activity, but we loved the Hanauma Bay beach so much that we decided to stay for the remainder of the day. It was such a beautiful and peaceful beach, we both agreed it was worth the price.
For easily accessible sick pics, we went to Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden. It is a free garden that you mostly drive through. Although a lot of influencers post pictures on the entrance road, they do not allow photos to be taken there. However you can still get amazing pictures further into the garden itself.
Michael also went to check out the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, which has all the historical information related to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States’ entry into World War II. Although the individual museums cost money to enter, the grounds (and parking) are free for you to walk around. This includes a free museum that effectively captures the events of December 7, 1941. Unfortunately the boat to the USS Arizona Memorial was closed due to covid. Even though Michael is a huge history fan, he was still very satisfied with only doing the free activities there.
Big Island
One of the biggest attractions on the Big Island is the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. It is $30/car for a 7 day pass, although it is easy to knock it out in a day depending on what you’re interested in because it’s a relatively small national park.
After stopping by the visitor’s center, we drove up Crater Rim Drive to start at Uēkahuna and Kīlauea Overlooks. We then stopped at the Steam Vents and made our way to the Nāhuku Thurston Lava Tube. We drove the rest of the way down to the ocean to enjoy the scenic drive, and then ended the day with a quick hike down to the center of the Kīlauea Iki Crater. The hike was actually pretty nice because it was well shaded and very gradual. If you’re lucky, you may catch the Kīlauea Caldera erupting! Unless that leads to the park closing.
Another popular attraction on the Big Island is the Mauna Kea Summit. Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano that is over 4k meters above sea level. If you start from the base it is actually the tallest mountain on Earth. Yes, even taller than Mount Everest if you count below sea level!
We booked a tour through Mauna Kea Summit Tours by SuperVacation that took us to the top to watch the sunset and stargaze. It was great because they provided us with parkas and gloves since it is so cold at that elevation. Apparently it used to include dinner, but with covid restrictions they lowered the price and now provide hot cocoa and snacks (including cup of noodles) which was satisfying enough for us.
I enjoyed how they set up the telescope for us to view different planets and gave us some informational facts throughout the night. The tour also included a low exposure DSLR digital photo which was a big selling point for me, of course! It looks so cool that it almost looks fake, so I feel like I have to tell people it's not a greenscreen backdrop!
One thing to keep in mind is that there aren’t any restrooms at the stargazing point. The last opportunity you have to use the restroom are outhouses near the observatories (where we watch the sunset), or at the visitor center prior to that. This was the priciest activity from our whole trip but it was definitely worth it!
Something really neat about the Big Island is that there are three unique types of sand on a single island - white, black, and green. I wanted to be able to say that I saw all three.
So we started with Punaluʻu Black Sand Beach. Other than the long drive to the bottom of the island, it was easily accessible. It looked awesome, but the downside is that it was very coarse so it’s not ideal for bare feet.
Next we went to Papakōlea Green Sand Beach. This beach is quite difficult to access. It is a 5.6 mi out and back trail that can be very dusty and doesn’t offer any shade. Luckily, we had a local drive us in the back of his pickup for $20/person roundtrip. It was absolutely worth the price for me since I’m not a hiker and we didn’t want to take any chances with the sun setting soon. The road was so bumpy, Michael actually enjoyed the ride because it felt like we were on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland! Whether hiking or riding, be prepared to get very dirty with all the dust.
Although it’s not as obvious in pictures, the sand definitely looked green and was very cool to see in person. I took a close up picture where you can clearly see the green grains.
Finally, we went to Makalawena Beach for the white sand. This beach is also difficult to access as you would need to take a rough road for about 1.6 mi before you reach the hiking trail which is said to be 2.7 mi out and back. Shortly after turning into the road from the main street, we heard the bottom of our full-size sedan rental scraping the ground. So we decided to park there and walk/hitchhike to the entrance of the trail.
The hike is fully exposed to the sun, however it is a nice flat path. Throughout the path you’ll pass other beautiful beaches, but trust me, keep going until you reach Makalawena Beach. Once we got there, it was like a dream. The sand was so fine and soft and the water was a gorgeous clear turquoise. The best part is that it was completely empty when we were there. It was hands down our favorite beach and we wished we could’ve spent the entire day there.
One of the most popular waterfalls on the Big Island is Rainbow Falls. However I’ve read/heard it's not as exciting of a site so I didn’t include it in our itinerary. I did want to check out Akaka Falls, but we ran out of time considering all the driving we had to do.
FOODS TO EAT
Oahu
My hands down favorite restaurant on Oahu is The Alley Restaurant Bar & Grill which is located in Aiea Bowl. When you think of food at a bowling alley, you probably think of basic pizza and chicken tenders. However, this restaurant offers scrumptious but reasonably priced comfort food. It was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives, and for good reason!
Their ‘tasty chicken’ is one of my favorite island style fried chicken dishes because it is so crispy and full of flavor. They’re also known for their oxtail soup - unlike most places, they do not skimp on the amount of oxtail they give you. I am not a big fan of cake, however we tried their strawberry crunch cake and I really enjoyed it. It was so fluffy and moist, and the icing wasn’t thick and gross like most other cakes. The crumble they used for the ‘crunch’ was definitely my favorite part. We also tried their boneless kalbi and deep fried pork chops, which did not disappoint.
Last time I was on Oahu I came to this restaurant twice, so of course I had to come twice during this visit too. This ended up being Michael’s favorite restaurant as well because he appreciated their ‘bomb but not bougie’ food.
For more authentic Hawaiian food, we went to Helena's Hawaiian Food. We ordered short ribs, kalua pork, laulau, poi, and it came with complimentary haupia. The short ribs were my favorite because they were thick and had that ‘off the grill’ bbq flavor I like. I can see why they are so expensive. The kalua pork was good but not our favorite. Michael liked the laulau (pork cooked in taro leaves) because it was unique. Poi is a starch dish that is taro blended into a thick paste, which I was not a huge fan of (I prefer to stick with rice). Although Michael and I are not big coconut flavor fans, we were both surprised by the haupia, which is coconut jello served with raw onions and himalayan salt. We tried it altogether as they recommended, and it was surprisingly delicious!
Michael’s favorite kalua pork was from Kono’s Northshore where he ordered the pork plate lunch and I got the chuns breakfast bomber/burrito with guava bbq sauce on the side. We found this kalua pork to be very tender but not soggy. Heads up, this location doesn’t have a lot of seating options.
Of course while in Hawaii you have to get some poke! Last time I didn’t get a chance to try Ono Seafood so I made sure I did this time. Michael got the spicy ahi and I got the shoyu ahi. Although it was good, we didn’t feel like it lived up to the hype.
Our favorite poke place was Off the Hook Poke Market where Michael got the spicy ahi and I got the ginger ahi. We both agreed that we loved the flavor of this poke more. Keep in mind, it is take out only and they may run out of items the later in the day you go.
Musubi Cafe Iyasume is a great option for on the go because musubis are still delicious at room temperature and are easy to eat. I like this spot because they give you so many variations to choose from. Our favorite was the eel, egg, and spam musubi. The only downside is that this place is poppin at all hours, especially in the mornings at opening. We waited about 30 minutes in line and another 30 minutes for our food.
Another place that was always poppin is Marugame Udon. Although this was recommended to me by a friend, I didn’t put it on our itinerary because Michael isn’t a huge soup fan. However, we were intrigued by the consistent line out the door and around the corner. Since there was a morning I had extra time to kill, I decided to check it out.
I got there at 10:10 AM and there was already a line to the corner even though the restaurant didn’t open until 11 AM. Even though the line looks long, it actually moves quickly. I was probably about 10th in line and I had my food for take out by 11:16 AM. We tried their most popular dish - Curry Nikutama Udon which had delicious thinly sliced beef and a rich curry soup.
While Michael was near Pearl Harbor he ate at Kimchee 7 where he ordered the short ribs and meat jun. Meat jun is a Hawaiian Korean dish that is thinly sliced beef dipped in egg batter and fried. He really enjoyed it with the sauce it came with. He also said the short ribs were very tender and tasty.
I’m a huge fan of afternoon tea so I had to try the Veranda High Tea located in the Moana Surfrider Hotel. Although it’s a bit pricey at $65/person, I was intrigued by their Hawaiian inspired flavors. The savory menu included roast beef and swiss cheese sandwich, smoked salmon toast, crab salad croissant sandwich, hummus tart, and truffled egg salad sandwich. The sweet menu included haupia roll cake, mango passion mousse cake, chocolate macaron, panna cotta with strawberry coulis and fresh fruit, and blueberry scones with clotted cream and lilikoi curd devonshire cream. I really like the truffle flavor in the egg sandwich and the rich unique flavor of the lilikoi cream.
I picked their POG (passion orange guava) black tea which wasn’t as strong as I usually like, but still yummy. A little surprise at the end was a small scoop of green tea ice cream to finish it all off. The best part of it all was that I had the seat on the deck closest to the ocean. It was truly a dream with that view.
For dessert I took Michael to Shimazu Shave Ice where we ordered the guava, strawberry, mango with vanilla ice cream at the bottom and topped with condensed milk. It was Michael’s first Hawaiian style shaved ice and he really liked it! We both agreed the guava was our favorite. Many people talk about Matsumoto Shave Ice, but locals have told me that Shimazu is better. Plus it doesn’t hurt that the location is more convenient since it’s near Waikiki.
We also stopped by Paalaa Kai Bakery to try their snow puffies. They are pastries filled with custard and topped with a swirl of chocolate and powdered sugar. It was a nice, light, and flaky dessert.
Lastly, we took a stroll to Dave’s Ice Cream where we tried their mud pie (coffee/oreo) ice cream in a house made waffle bowl. Although it was delicious, it wasn’t the creamiest ice cream I’ve ever had.
A couple of places we didn’t get to try were:
Papa Ole’s which was recommended by a local for their peanut butter rolls. They were closed earlier than the hours listed online.
Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin and Tonkatsu Tamafuji were both reservation only.
ARVO for their charcoal latte. They were closed for Labor Day.
Big Island
While in Kona, of course we have to get some Kona coffee! We tried Kona Coffee & Tea where I got a vanilla latte with macnut (macadamia nut) milk and Michael got cold brew with macnut milk. We also tried Kona Mountain Coffee where I got the mauna kea (white mocha, macnut, coconut) and Michael got the kilauea (dark mocha, macnut, coconut). We were both really happy with the strong coffee taste and the unique flavor of macnut. I actually wish I had them back home so I can order it more often!
For some delicious seafood we picked up Kona Grill House where we tried the Hawaiian style and shoyu poke and the rodzilla. The Rodzilla included the fresh catch (fried mahi mahi), lobster crab cake, and crab mac salad. Everything was delicious and the customer service was even better.
One of the few late night options around Kona was Umekes Fish Market Bar & Grill where Michael ordered the kalua pork nachos and I ordered the ahi katsu. Both had large portions and were very tasty.
Even though it was dinner time, we were in the mood for a Hawaiian style brunch so we ate at Ken's House of Pancakes. Apparently Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson goes there often according to all the pictures on the wall. Michael got the corned beef hash loco moco which was a bit disappointing because there was very little corned beef hash. I had the keiki (kid sized) saimin which totally hit the spot and the keiki macnut pancakes which came with lilikoi & haupia syrup. I was pretty happy with my meal. Especially because I was in the mood for soup but also wanted to try the pancakes, so I was very happy I was able to order keiki sizes for both.
For on the go food we picked up Earl's Waimea where Michael got the korean chicken plate and I got the teri beef bento roll and somen salad. We were both really happy with our food, especially considering we ate them in the car later in the day.
While in the Hilo area I wanted to pick up fresh mochi from Two Ladies Kitchen to bring home as souvenirs for my family. We got there right when it opened and within a few minutes the line was getting long. I specifically wanted to try the different unique options so I ordered the fresh strawberry, strawberry shortcake, oreo, brownie, peanut butter, sweet potato, lilikoi, and butterfly (white chocolate and koshi). The strawberry shortcake was my favorite and the lilikoi was so soft it was comparable to a marshmallow! The only one we weren’t fans of was the sweet potato.
While waiting for my mochi order, we walked to Kula Shave Ice where we ordered ‘The Local’ because we wanted to try the local flavors, of course! It is lilikoi and soursop topped with haupia cream, and we added macnut ice cream. They were nice enough to give us a sample of the soursop flavor because we weren’t sure if we would like it. Overall, it was the refreshing tropical flavors that we hoped for and enjoyed very much.
A couple of places we didn’t get to try were:
Da Poke Shack was closed on Labor Day.
808 Grindz Cafe for their loco moco, adobo fried rice, and pancakes with homemade mac-nilla sauce. We didn’t have time for a sit down brunch.
Broke Da Mouth Grindz for their garlic furikake chicken. It was already extremely packed at opening time. We waited in line for 20 minutes and didn’t move an inch so we left.
Hawaiian Style Cafe for their huge pancakes and house made portuguese sausage. The Hilo location was closed for dinner time which was misrepresented on their website.
FINAL THOUGHTS
What’s great about a place like Hawaii is that you’ll have a great time even if you just spend each day relaxing by the beach. If you’re more like me and like to pack your itinerary with unique activities and food, make sure you do your research and call businesses to double check their hours of operations. Since the vibes in Hawaii are so laid back, try to embrace it if things don’t go quite as planned. Shaka (a.k.a. hang loose)!