Hub · All of Oahu
Things to Do in Oahu
Oahu is small enough to circle in a day and dense enough that most visitors leave half of it unseen. These are the 49 things we would send a friend to do, grouped by region so you can plan one side of the island at a time. Each entry is short, tagged by trip type, and links to our full guide, the official ticket page, or a tour we would book.
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Diamond Head from Waikiki Beach. Photo: Partyk1d24, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Jump to a Region
Oahu, Side by Side
- Waikiki & Honolulu17 things · Waikiki Beach, Diamond Head, Bishop Museum, ʻIolani Palace
- East Side6 things · Hanauma Bay, Koko Head, Makapuʻu
- Windward Oahu7 things · Kailua, Lanikai, Kualoa Ranch, the Pali
- North Shore9 things · Turtle Beach, Waimea, Pipeline, Haleʻiwa
- Central & Pearl Harbor6 things · Pearl Harbor, ʻAiea Loop, Kō Hana, Dole
- West Side4 things · Ko Olina, Kaʻena Point, Mākaha
Trip types
How to use this page: pick the side of the island you are spending the day on, then scan its list. The tags mark who each stop suits best. “Free” means no ticket, though parking can still cost (the Pali Lookout charges visitors $7). Anything that needs a reservation says so, because on Oahu that list keeps growing.
Waikiki and Honolulu
Most trips start here, and a few days could stay here: a swimming beach, a crater hike, the state’s best museum and the island’s densest food scene, all in one city.
Things to Do in Waikiki
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01
Waikiki Beach
The beach everyone pictures when they picture Oahu, and it earns the reputation: a gentle break, lifeguards, and a beach path along the whole stretch.
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02
Diamond Head State Monument
A 90-minute round trip up an extinct volcanic crater to the best skyline view on the island. It runs on timed-entry reservations now, so book before you go.
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03
Honolulu Zoo
Forty-two acres in the middle of Waikiki, walkable from most hotels, with an African savanna section kids remember longer than the beach.
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04
Waikiki Aquarium
A small, serious aquarium run by the University of Hawaii, one of the oldest in the country, with a monk seal pool and a Hawaiian reef tank. Adult admission is $12; pair it with a walk through Kapiʻolani Park.
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05
International Market Place
An open-air shopping center built around a century-old banyan tree. Stop for the tree even if shopping isn’t the plan.
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06
Atlantis Submarine
A real submarine dive off Waikiki, down to reef and wrecks 100 feet below, with no snorkel skills required.
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07
Take a Surf Lesson in Waikiki
The gentlest, most forgiving break in the state to learn on, and a two-hour lesson is enough to stand up.
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08
Catch Sunrise at the Right Spot
The island’s best sunrise viewpoints, mapped out so you aren’t guessing at 5 a.m.
Things to Do in Honolulu
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09
Bishop Museum
The state’s museum of natural and cultural history, planetarium included. Go here first and the rest of the island’s Hawaiian history makes more sense.
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10
ʻIolani Palace
The only official state residence of royalty on US soil, restored room by room. Tickets are sold online only, with no walk-ups or same-day booking, so plan ahead.
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11
Ala Moana Beach Park and Center
Where Honolulu actually goes to swim: a calm, reef-protected beach across the street from the state’s biggest open-air mall.
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12
Downtown Honolulu and Chinatown
Herb shops, lei stands and some of the best hole-in-the-wall eating on the island, in a few blocks that still work as a neighborhood, not a set piece. A guided tasting walk is the easy way in.
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13
Take an Oahu Food Tour
A guided route through the dishes that define local eating, not the luau-buffet version of it.
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14
Eat Oahu’s Best Poke
The dish to get right on this trip, and where to get it right.
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15
See an Oahu Luau
Every luau running on the island, compared, with the ones that earn the ticket price.
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16
Sunset Sail From Kewalo Harbor
Ninety minutes on the water off Waikiki, at the one time of day when the light does all the work.
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17
Whale Watching (Winter)
Humpbacks return to Oahu every winter, and a boat out of Kewalo Basin takes you to them without the guesswork of chasing them yourself.
East Side
The coast east of Diamond Head strings together Oahu’s best easy snorkeling, its hardest stair climb and its roughest bodyboarding beach.
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18
Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve
The best easy snorkeling on Oahu, in a protected volcanic bay. It runs on advance reservations, so plan the day around your booking.
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19
Koko Head Crater Trail (the Stairs)
1,048 railroad-tie steps straight up an old military tramway: one of the hardest 45 minutes you’ll spend on this trip. No permit or reservation needed.
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20
Koko Crater Botanical Garden
A free, uncrowded dryland garden inside the crater itself, and a quiet contrast to the stairs next door.
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21
Sandy Beach Park
The island’s rite-of-passage bodyboarding beach. The shorebreak is strong enough that the lifeguards mean it when they say “know your limits.”
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22
Hālona Blowhole and Eternity Beach
A lava-tube blowhole that fires on the right swell, beside the cove made famous in From Here to Eternity.
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23
Makapuʻu Point Lighthouse Trail
A paved path you can push a stroller up, out to a lighthouse, with humpbacks offshore in winter.
Windward Oahu
Where the Koʻolau range meets the water: ranch valleys, a temple under the cliffs, and the white sand at Kailua and Lanikai.
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24
Kailua Beach Park
Consistently ranked among the best beaches in the country, and the sand backs up the reputation.
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25
Lanikai Beach and the Pillbox Hike
A short, steep trail up to World War II-era lookouts above the two most photographed offshore islands on Oahu.
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26
Kualoa Ranch
A working cattle ranch where Jurassic Park, Godzilla and Lost were filmed, with UTV, horseback and zipline tours through the valleys.
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27
Byodo-In Temple
A half-scale replica of a 950-year-old Japanese temple in the Valley of the Temples, under the Koʻolau cliffs. No car? It is one stop on this circle island tour.
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28
Sea Life Park
Oahu’s only marine park. Buy ahead: adult tickets are $49.99 online and $59.99 at the gate, and kids 3 and under are free.
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29
Waimānalo and Bellows Field Beach Park
A longer, quieter stretch of white sand than Kailua, with a shallow shorebreak that is easier on small kids.
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30
Nuʻuanu Pali Lookout
The cliff where Kamehameha I’s forces drove Oahu’s defenders over the edge in 1795, with the whole windward coast below. Open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; visitor parking is $7 a car.
North Shore
Two seasons, one coastline. Summer flattens the water for snorkeling, and winter brings the surf the North Shore is famous for. Our North Shore map and guide puts every beach, food stop and tour on one map.
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31
Laniākea (Turtle Beach)
The most reliable place on Oahu to see a green sea turtle hauled out on the sand, no boat required.
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32
Shark’s Cove
A lava-rock cove that is a calm snorkeling pool in summer and a big-wave photo spot in winter.
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33
Waimea Bay Beach Park
Flat and swimmable all summer, then home to some of the biggest rideable surf on the planet in winter.
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34
Waimea Valley
A botanical garden and a 45-foot waterfall you’re allowed to swim at, run by a Native Hawaiian nonprofit. Adults are $26, and it’s closed Mondays.
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35
Banzai Pipeline at ʻEhukai Beach
The most famous wave in surfing, and in winter you can watch it from the sand for free.
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36
Haleʻiwa Town
The North Shore’s one real town: shave ice, surf shops and galleries along a couple of walkable blocks.
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37
Take a Circle Island Tour
A full-day loop up the windward coast, across the North Shore and back through central Oahu, with someone else doing the driving and the planning.
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38
Snorkel Pūpūkea and Three Tables
The calmer, less crowded water table right next to Shark’s Cove, and the better pick for beginners.
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39
North Shore Food Trucks
The Kahuku stretch of Kamehameha Highway is Oahu’s food truck row. Several longtime trucks have closed in the past two years, so check hours before you drive up.
Central Oahu and Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is why most visitors drive this way. The ridge trail, the rum distillery and the pineapple fields inland turn it into a full day.
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40
Pearl Harbor National Memorial
The most solemn stop on the island. Tickets to the USS Arizona Memorial are free but timed, and they go fast.
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41
Guided Pearl Harbor Tours From Waikiki
Skip the driving and the ticket-timing math with a guided tour that also gets you onto the Battleship Missouri.
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42
ʻAiea Loop Trail and Keaīwa Heiau
A 4.8-mile ridge loop through eucalyptus forest above Pearl Harbor, starting at a state park built around a restored healing temple.
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43
Kō Hana Rum Distillery Tour
Hawaii’s only agricole rum, made from heirloom sugarcane grown on site in Kunia, with a tasting at the end of the tour.
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44
Dole Plantation
A pineapple plantation turned roadside attraction in Wahiawā, with a train tour and a giant garden maze. No car? This shuttle from Waikiki pairs it with Haleʻiwa.
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45
Aloha Stadium Swap Meet and Marketplace
Hawaii’s biggest open-air market, with 400-plus vendors, now in the stadium’s Upper Hālawa lot during the rebuild. Open Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday; check before you go.
West Side
The leeward coast runs from the resort lagoons at Ko Olina up to the roadless tip at Kaʻena Point, with Mākaha’s local surf in between.
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46
Ko Olina Lagoons
Four man-made, reef-protected lagoons on the leeward coast, and the calmest swimming on the island for small kids.
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47
Kaʻena Point State Park
Oahu’s wildest coastline: a flat coastal hike out to a seabird and monk seal reserve at the island’s western tip. No vehicles past the gate, hikers only.
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48
Mākaha Beach
A wide, distinctly local beach with serious winter surf and none of the Waikiki crowd.
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49
West Side Dolphin and Snorkel Cruise
A catamaran along the leeward coast with snorkeling and a Hawaiian buffet, built to watch spinner dolphins, not swim with them.
Plan the Rest of Your Trip
Once you know what you want to see, the Oahu Itinerary Builder turns it into a day-by-day plan, and the Oahu Drive Map lays out the scenic routes between regions. For timing, read the best time to visit Oahu; for a base, see where to stay on Oahu.
