Oahu, Hawai'i - Even One Day

Matt and I divided our June 2021 Babymoon to Hawai’i into three parts: Oahu, Kauai, and Maui. Because I was 21 weeks pregnant when we flew from Denver to Seattle to Honolulu, we knew we’d have to take it a little bit easy on our island vacation. Luckily, Oahu was the perfect mix of relaxation and adventure.

At the Honolulu airport, Matt and I rented a car and drove the short distance to the Alohilani Resort at Waikiki Beach, where we’d be staying for a few nights. I think we were both immediately shocked by what we saw! It was 9pm at night, and the streets of Waikiki were buzzing with tons of tourists. It felt like we’d stepped into a Panama City spring break. Luckily, Matt knows me well enough to have reserved a room at the very, very top of the many-storied hotel, so from 17 floors up, we weren’t disturbed by the hustle and bustle of Honolulu’s nightlife. The view from our room, even late at night, was unbelievable.

When we woke up, the streets below were fairly deserted, and we spent part of our morning watching the waves dance along Waikiki’s famous shore.

For breakfast, we ventured down into our hotel and ate alongside a giant, 280,000 gallon “Oceanarium” filled with over 500 species native to Hawai’i.

After breakfast, we drove east to Diamond Head State Monument, where a hiking trail climbs up to the summit of the Diamond Head volcanic crater. Because I was pregnant, we decided to forego the hike and instead drove into the park for photos from various viewpoints. It was extremely crowded at 10am, so I’d suggest that hikers or other tourists try to make it earlier than we did.

From there, we began a drive up the east coast of Oahu, stopping at various lookout points: Lana’i Lookout, Halona Cove and Blowhole, Makapu’u Beach, Waimanalo Bay beach park. We spent the morning watching surfers, admiring the coastline, and jumping into the surf.

At every turn, the views got wilder and less populated. We stopped inside a tiny cafe up the coast and bought local art prints while we ate sandwiches and drank passionfruit juice. Our drive back took us through the jungle in the center of the island.

After lunch, we changed into bathing suits and ventured down to the famous Waikiki Beach below our hotel.

The beach is a two-mile stretch of white sand with turquoise-blue waters perfect for surfing. Matt and I floated around for a few hours, watching children take surf lessons close to us and dodging canoes and boats coming in and out of the shore.

After getting cleaned up at the hotel, we drove back east to another famous spot–Haleiwa Joe’s Restaurant in Kaneohe.

Haleiwa Joe’s operates two locations in Oahu, but we chose the Kaneohe spot because it is situated in a lush valley between the island’s Ko’olau mountains. At the time we visited Hawai’i, Haleiwa Joe’s wasn’t taking reservations, so we waited almost two hours to be seated. The experience was well worth it. While waiting for a table, we explored the tropical koi pond that the restaurant overlooks.

Around 8pm, we were seated outside on a patio overlooking the gardens and mountains around us. Dinner was incredible (lots of seafood!) but dessert was better. It was our first time trying Hula Pie, a Hawaiian dessert we’d order over and over again on our trip. The version of Hula Pie served at Haleiwa Joe’s was an Oreo pie crust filled with kahlua ice cream and topped with frozen fudge.

The next day, we woke up early and drove about an hour across the island to the North Shore. Oahu’s North Shore is a surfing destination world-famous for its big swells. On our drive along the northern coastline, we kept our eyes open for good snorkeling spots. It was clear we’d reached a promising location when we came across a packed parking lot. We clambered down to the beach, Laniakea (better known as Turtle Beach), and quickly discovered why it was so popular. Green sea turtles!

The famous honu, native to Hawaii and the largest hard-shelled sea turtles in the world. They were everywhere–on the sand, in the breaking waves, swimming in the shallows. We donned our snorkeling gear and jumped in the water with them.

We were careful not to disturb them or get too close, but the current and waves often made for some close encounters. We discovered that some of the turtles seemed curious about us too, swimming right up to us and forcing us to make a quick retreat.

After our swim with the turtles, we packed up the car and wandered into the North Shore for acai bowls and shopping.

That night, we attended our first-ever luau at Paradise Cove, situated oceanfront on the southern part of the island.

Upon arrival, we were greeted with mai tais (just juice for me) and puka shell necklaces. Before taking our seats at the dinner tables, we took photos as the sun set and watched hula dancers perform a welcome dance.

Dinner included a variety of Hawaiian foods, including poi, which is a thick, purple paste made of crushed taro root. I’ve wanted to try it since I learned about it when I was young in a book about Hawaii, but it wasn’t as easy to eat as I had envisioned.

After dinner, once the sun had fully set, the dancers performed a set of traditional fire dances and hulas. Overall, the experience was a bit kitschy, but unmissable all the same.

We really enjoyed the fire dancers and the views from Paradise Cove. It was probably my favorite sunset I experienced in Hawaii.

The next morning, tired from our late night, we spent some time soaking in the surf at Waikiki before packing our bags, grabbing treats at a local pastry shop, and heading to the airport. In the next post, I’ll share more about our three days in Kauai, the Garden Isle!