If you’re planning a trip to Oʻahu and are looking for a variety of activities to add to your itinerary, you’ve come to the right place. Here, we list our recommendations for one-off experiences that you can sprinkle in throughout your stay. They don’t take a lot of effort – they range from short stops to snacks and happy hours – and most require very little, if any, advanced planning.
Consider trying out some of these suggestions as you roam:
Table of contents
- Have a happy hour overlooking Diamond Head at The Deck
- Try a malasada from Leonard’s Bakery
- See the Waikiki skyline from a boat at sunset
- Hike to Kaena Point during nesting season
- Try an Uber tart in Wahiawa
- Pick up a chocolate haupia pie at Ted’s Bakery
- Visit a noodle factory in Chinatown
- Have lunch overlooking Pearl Harbor at Restaurant 604
- Do a self-guided brewery crawl in Kakaʻako
- Drink a Primo’s on the beach
- Watch the sunrise from Kailua Beach
- Visit the Kukaniloko Birth Stones
- Picnic on the grounds of the ʻIolani Palace
- North Shore Lookout of Waimea
We can personally vouch for every item on this list because we often do them ourselves when we have some time on our hands :). This perhaps also explains how some of them have made it into our 7-day itinerary for Oʻahu.
Have a happy hour overlooking Diamond Head at The Deck
Diamond Head provides a stunning backdrop to Waikīkī Beach and has become the most-famous volcanic formation in all of Hawaiʻi. Many people choose to hike to its summit, while others simply bask in its beauty from the beach. Either way, it’s an integral part of the day-to-day experience for those staying in Waikīkī.
But here’s a vantage point most visitors never see: The view of Diamond Head from The Deck at the Queen Kapiʻolani Hotel. Featuring a large rooftop patio with unabated views of Diamond Head, it’s one of the best kept secrets in town and the only bar/restaurant offering such a view. Happy hour runs from 3 p.m. – 5 p.m. and you can walk there from the beach.
Afternoon shadows on Leahi (aka Diamond Head) with Honolulu spreading our in the background. Credit: Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) / Vincent Lim
Try a malasada from Leonard’s Bakery
A malasada isn’t a traditional Hawaiian desert – it’s actually Portuguese – but it’s been around the islands for so long that it’s considered a local treat these days, and you’ll see people lining up for one at Leonard’s nearly every day.
Simple and satisfying, a malasada is a fried doughnut sprinkled with powdered sugar. There’s a joke that if you bring a box to the office, your coworkers will love and hate you simultaneously: They’ll love you because they want one, but they’ll hate you because they’ll end up eating two or three.
Depending on your sweet tooth, you may consider stopping by Leonard’s on the first day of your trip and picking up a box. Alternatively, you could swing by after dinner for dessert – they are open until 9 p.m.
Malasadas (or malassadas) are Portuguese sugared and fried balls of fluffy yeast dough. They are bad for you but OH so tasty!
See the Waikīkī skyline from a boat at sunset
Millions of people visit Waikīkī each year, yet only a small percentage get out on the water. It’s one of our biggest pet peeves, because only from a boat do you get to take in the scenery of the entire region all at once – the skyline of Waikīkī and Honolulu, the summit of Diamond Head, and the Koʻolau Mountains that hover overhead.
Once you remove yourself from the city and look back on it, it begins to take on a new perspective. Seeing the sun set over the ocean from a boat while enjoying a maitai is just the icing on the cake. Jump on one of the catamarans right there in Waikīkī, such as Maitaʻi Catamaran. (read more about sunset sails on Oʻahu)
View of Waikiki during the sunset. Image credit: Floyd Manzano, source.
Hike to Kaʻena Point during nesting season
Kaʻena Point is a popular area with locals for fishing, and its reputation has grown as a highly-scenic area for walking and whale watching (during winter), especially the trail on the west side from Yokohama Beach. However, one should not forget the main purpose of this preserved area as a bird sanctuary.
Laysan albatross nest right there at Kaʻena Point and begin their nine-month breeding season in November. During the winter, they make their nests and lay their eggs just off the walking paths. While it is important not to approach or disturb them, one can get a good look as the birds sit on their eggs. Then, in late summer, you can see baby birds as they hatch. You can learn more about the nesting cycle here.
Sunset at the Kaʻena point State Park. Image credit: elenasuvorova
Try an Uber tart in Wahiawa
As you drive the H2 to the North Shore from Waikīkī, make a stop into the small town of Wahiawa to try a unique, trendy dessert known as the “Uber Tart,” pronounced “Ube,” as in sweet potato.
Known as the “Uber Factory,” the place is a simple hole-in-the-wall takeout counter. They make all different types of pastries now, but it all started with the original Uber Tart, which we couldn’t recommend more. Grab a box for the road and enjoy on your drive to or from the North Shore.
Pick up a chocolate haupia pie at Ted’s Bakery
If you haven’t had enough dessert, there’s yet another famous institution on the North Shore called Ted’s Bakery, famous for its Chocolate Haupia Pie.
Buy it by the slice or the whole pie; either way, it’s a classic Oʻahu treat and should not be missed. The chocolate filling is topped with haupia, a kind of whipped coconut custard that is very popular in Hawaiʻi.
If you don’t end up making it to the shop itself, you can also purchase Ted’s pies at grocery stores throughout the island.
Visit a noodle factory in Chinatown
If you have a condo or vacation rental with a kitchen, here’s a really good idea for a cheap, local, make-it-yourself dinner. In Chinatown, you’ll find a handful of “noodle factories” that make a variety of Asian noodles – ramen, Udon, chow mien, and others. Many of the noodles are sold to local restaurants, but they also sell them to the general public. They are incredibly affordable, only one to three dollars a pound.
Buy up a bunch of noodles, swing by the grocery store for meat, veggies, or broth, and you’ve got the makings of a good stir-fry or noodle soup. Perhaps more interesting than the meal itself is the chance to stop by and check out the noodle factories. Many people, including locals, aren’t aware of this hidden gem.
Have lunch overlooking Pearl Harbor at Restaurant 604
While most know to visit the Arizona Memorial and take a tour of the U.S.S. Missouri when going to Pearl Harbor, few realize that you can have a meal nearby the harbor. Restaurant 604 is located within walking distance from the main parking area at the Visitor Center, and it offers an open-aired atmosphere with tables that look out over the water.
The vibe is fun and friendly – especially on Sunday mornings during football season – and the menu has plenty of local options, like fresh fish plates and kalua pork. In the summer, when it’s especially hot at Pearl Harbor, it’s a great place to pop in for a beer before or after your tour. You can check out the live music schedule as well.
Battleship Missouri and USS Arizona memorials in Pearl Harbor. Credit: Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) / Tor Johnson
Do a self-guided brewery crawl in Kakaʻako.
Kakaʻako, a former industrial district in Honolulu, has seen its stock rise in recent years. A large amount of time, energy, and money has been put into reviving the neighborhood, which now boasts a variety of trendy shops and restaurants, as well as a handful of local craft breweries.
Beer lovers should not miss it. In fact, they should make a crawl of it. Hit Aloha Beer Company, Waikiki Brewing, and Honolulu Beerworks, all of which are just a few blocks of each other. Then, pay a visit to the Village Bottle Shop & Tasting Room, home of the island’s best craft beer selection (on tap and in to-go bottles).
Drink a Primo’s on the beach
A bottle of Primo on the beach. Credit: Travis Thurston, CC BY-SA 3.0 , source, via Wikimedia Commons.
Oʻahu has a great selection of craft beer these days, a stark turnaround from just a decade ago when craft beer was hard to come by on the island. But don’t be fooled: Hawaiʻi does have a long history of brewing, and it mostly revolved around a beer called Primo’s.
Known as “Hawaiʻi’s first beer,” Primo’s was brewed in Honolulu back in the early 1900s. Though initially independent, it has been acquired by several companies over the last century-plus. Today, Primo’s is owned by Pabst and continues to be popular with locals as a refreshing beach beer. You may be all about the craft scene these days, but any beer lover should read up on its history and give this old-fashioned lager a try.
Watch the sunrise from Kailua Beach
Each night in Waikīkī, everyone and their mother gathers to watch the sun set over the ocean. It’s a nightly celebration, punctuated with drinks and sighs of relaxation. Head out to Kailua on the east side at sunrise, however, and you won’t find the same enthusiasm.
In the summer, the sun usually comes up before 6 a.m., so we understand why many choose to forgo getting up that early. But in winter, the sunrise in Hawaiʻi is actually quite reasonable. In December, for example, the sun comes up around 7 a.m. each morning.
Most days, dozens of young people will gather at the Lanikai Pillbox to watch the sunrise (it has become popular through blogs and social media), but take a walk on Kailua Beach itself or farther north at Kalama Beach, and you’ll most likely be one of just a handful of people (if that) enjoying its shoreline. The colors at sunrise are just as spectacular as sunset, and it’s a wonderful way to start the day.
Kailua Beach is a paradise-like large white sand beach on Oahu. Image credit: PBPhotos
Visit the Kukaniloko Birth Stones
Hawaiians believe that stones carry a lot of power, or mana, within them. A lot of this reverence comes from ancient times when woman would give birth on stones – they were, in fact, called birth stones.
Most of them had the shape of a chair, allowing the woman to sit back on it and maintain a good position for giving birth. There are many birth stones scattered across the islands, but the Kukaniloko Birth Stones in Central Oʻahu is a rare place where you can see many of them together.
While not large enough for a long stop, it’s a great side activity or stop along a drive to the North Shore. We recommend reading up on the history before going to bring it to life.
The 5-acre Kukaniloko Birthstones State Monument was used as a royal birthplace for seven centuries. Birthstones like those found here still form a connection between life before birth and people alive today in Hawai‘i to those in the afterlife. Image credit: Joel Bradshaw / Public domain (source).
Picnic on the grounds of the ʻIolani Palace
When visiting the ʻIolani Palace, most people take a tour, going as quickly as they came. However, those who appreciate the intersection of history and the modern world in large cities will enjoy hanging out for an hour afterwards on the lawn of the ʻIolani Palace.
Sprawling a city block, large trees provide plenty of shade and the chance to sit in the presence of the royal palace, reflecting back on the days of the Hawaiian monarchy and what it must have been like to live there (which the tour will bring to life), and how many important events, both culturally and politically, have taken place on these same grounds. Bring a bagged lunch or pick up something nearby, and enjoy a few moments of quiet reflection before continuing on with your trip.
North Shore Lookout of Waimea
Waimea Bay and Waimea Falls are two popular stops on the North Shore, and for good reason. The bay is absolutely stunning and pristine in the summer, and a big-wave surf spot in winter. Waimea Falls is the only place in the islands where you can swim in a waterfall with a lifeguard, which is ideal for families with small children.
But there’s another, lesser-known way to experience Waimea Bay: From above. The Puʻu o Mahuka Heiau sits on the cliffs above the bay, giving you a bird’s eye perspective. You don’t have to stay long – take a walk around the ruins and take in the view – but we recommend this vantage point for a postcard view of Waimea Bay.
