Does anyone have any suggested things to do in Oahu for a family of four(kids are 9 and 11)?

Aggiebaker07 said:

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Does anyone have any suggested things to do in Oahu for a family of four(kids are 9 and 11)?

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Going there in July with my family & would love some ideas from others myself.

My wife & I got married there 16yrs ago & this will be our first time back.
We loved the Pearl Harbor experience (memorial & Battleship Missouri). Very sombering experience knowing that's where WWII began for America.

Went snorkeling at Hanama Bay.
Go to one of the Luaus ( we did Germaine's).
If into hiking, you can hike Diamond head.
Get a car & drive around the Island as North Shore is much different than Waikiki.

These are some example of what we did but love other opinions as well.

We went last year. My son was 9. Rent a car/jeep on turo and get out of Honolulu (if you stay there.)

Pearl Harbor etc
Diamondhead (get there as soon as they open)
Beach days on the North Shore- we spent one day at Turtle Bay Resort. There's public access right there. We also spent a day near Haleiwa (beach and paddleboarding on the river.)
Beach days on the east side - Lanikai and Waimanalo

We also drove over to the west side where the Disney resort is and took a catamaran snorkeling trip through Ko Olina Ocean Adventures. They were first class!

My favorite resource for the island was thehawaiivacationguide.com.

We did everything you listed on our trip a few years ago. I'd also suggest, if you are there for more than a few days, getting on a puddle jumper and going to one of the other islands for a day. We did part of Maui this way.

There are cheap, round trip, flights that run nearly every hour. We left Oahu early in the morning and returned the same night.

Snorkeling at Hanama Bay was fantastic - better than every place I've been in the Caribbean (other than diving) hands down. Be sure to look for the humuhumunukunukuapua… they're not hard to spot.

We went in May with 4 kids (15, 12, 9 and 5)

- Diamond Head
- 21 Degrees Estate Cacao Farm (incl chocolate tasting)
- couple of free botanical gardens
- Pearl Harbor/USS Arizona Memorial (didn't do other museums but did walk all over the grounds and watched the film)
- North Shore day but it rained the whole time. Got shave ice.
- lei making class at our hotel
- lots of beach time, which was the group's favorite activity

We had a kitchen so we also went to Costco, Safeway and Whole Foods, plus a fish market. Oh and we watched fireworks at Hilton Hawaiian Village on Friday night then got ice cream at Lappert's.

Has anyone done the shark diving (snorkeling/swim) tours on the north shore? I'm looking for a good operator.

I would definitely recommend to minimize your driving. The traffic in the Honolulu area is insufferable at the best of times.

2wealfth Man said:

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I would definitely recommend to minimize your driving. The traffic in the Honolulu area is insufferable at the best of times.

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The traffic and the 15-35mph speed limits!! Took forever to get anywhere.

Pearl Harbor, and uss missouri. Walking around the ship was really cool. Other museums there depend on your kids.

What else to see on north shore besides turtle Bay Area? Is it worth it to go all way around east side ?

Is cheeseburger in paradise a must try ?

Any restaurant recommendations around Ka Olina ?

I'd try out as many of the shaved ice places as I could

AggieMD95 said:

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What else to see on north shore besides turtle Bay Area? Is it worth it to go all way around east side ?

Is cheeseburger in paradise a must try ?

Any restaurant recommendations around Ka Olina ?

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In my opinion, yes, it is worth it do drive all the way around the island. There are some really beautiful things to see all the way around, and you can easily do that in a day, without ever having long drives with nothing to see that will test the pre-teens patience. If you get a good guidebook, you could never drive more than 30 minutes at a time and see some really great stuff. The Pali lookout is definitely worth it on the SE side. If there is a popup rain storm, and you are on the east side, the H3 headed back towards Honolulu will spring up a whole bunch of waterfall on the cliffs around the tunnel and that is very cool.

The views from Kaawa Beach are, in my opinion, the best of Oahu, so if you don't want to put the kids in the car for a fun day excursion around the island, at least make it over there. It's beautiful.

Agree that northshore provides a good experience. We snorkeled last year at sharks cove in pupukea, and ate at the food truck park in haleiwa. Nice views at laie point and the various ridgeline hikes offer great views too. Also hit the hoomaluhia botanical garden along the way.