O'ahu, HI. May 2022
postcard from Honolulu
The last time my family traveled together on a flight was 5 years ago to Cancun, when my brother graduated from college. 5 years later, he is graduating again - this time from med school - and we decided to do a family trip before it becomes impossible to coordinate one.
I have always wanted to take my parents to Hawaii - it’s the perfect family vacation spot and I’ve gotten a ton of recommendations from friends who traveled there in the last 2 years during the pandemic. The stars aligned when I found a deal on flights to O’ahu early spring (Google flights is one of the tabs I have open on my laptop at all times), and the trip was booked. We opted not to island hop this time as we have just about 8 days to fully explore O’ahu.
After a full day of traveling (and making an extra stop in Seattle in exchange for travel credit on an overbooked flight), we finally made it to O’ahu in the evening. We rented the car for our stay via Turo, arranged for the pick up right at the airport, stopped by a hotel restaurant for a quick meal before checking into our airbnb and calling it a night.
Diamond Head, Lanikai Pillbox
The next morning we were up by 4:30AM (mostly jet lag, but we also intentionally planned our hikes early in the morning to avoid crowds) and got ready for our first hike in Hawaii at the Diamond Head State Monument. Located on the eastern edge of Waikiki and right by the coastline, Diamond Head is the signature wok-shaped crater that is visible when you fly over the island of O’ahu. We entered the park and made it to Kahala Lookout by 5:45AM just as the sun emerged, and a short train of cars lined up by the front of the tunnel for the park to open its gates at 6AM.
Travel tip: Advanced tickets/ reservations are now needed for non-Hawaii residents to visit as of May 12, 2022. Hopefully this will help with the crowds as parks everywhere in the US have seen an influx of visitors since the start of the pandemic. Plan accordingly!
The hike starts from the parking lot where you pay for your entry and goes up from the crater floor to the top, gaining about 560ft in elevation. The temperature was already in the low 70s in the morning, very comfortable as we hiked up the paved road onto rockier switchbacks.
Towards the top is a set of steep stairs leading to a tunnel, and you have to option to go left for a view of the crater or go right with even more stairs leading towards the bunker. We opted for the ascend from the left with a view and made it to the summit. On one side is a beautiful view of Waikiki, and as you turn clockwise it’s a view of the Diamond Head crater, Koko Crater in the distance, then the lighthouse and the Pacific Ocean.
After a hike, we stopped by Leonard’s Bakery to try the famous malasadas - Portuguese doughnuts without a hole. Fun fact - malasadas are from Portugal but they’re from Azores, an archipelago in the mid-Atlantic that’s 850 miles from mainland Portugal. For this reason I didn’t manage to find any malasadas when I visited mainland Portugal exactly 2 weeks after Hawaii. We stuffed our faces with fresh, warm regular, cinnamon and Li Hing (sweet & spicy) malasadas, and also treated ourselves with some malasada puffs with fillings.
After our “breakfast” we drove to Diamond Head Gill & Bar to pick up our early lunches to eat back at our airbnb. The loco moco is such a simple dish but was delicious! We rested at the airbnb before we drove out to Nu’uanu Pail Lookout, a very windy, panoramic lookout of O’ahu from the pali - cliffs - at 1200ft elevation in the Ko’olau Range.
Our next stop was the Lanikai Beach area, on the east side of the island. We were actually headed to the Ka‘iwa Ridge Trail (Lanikai Pillbox) hike which was a short walk from the beach, but parking all along the beach area was packed and we somehow got lucky with a spot right at the beach parking lot. Though we didn’t spend time at the Lanikai Beach, we saw kayaks in the clam waters as we walked along the shoreline towards the trailhead. Houses along the walk looked nice as well though they probably have to deal with the influx of cars headed to the beach, or people picking on their mangoes…
The trailhead of the Lanikai Pillbox hike is on the opposite side of a country club, marked with signs with arrows pointing to a small dirt path next to a long driveway. The steep incline will require some assistance with ropes at certain spots, and I definitely had to get on my hands a few times. The hiking poles we brought with us came in very handy as there’s loose dirt on the trail and I felt I might slip even with my hiking boots.
Despite the rather challenging incline at the first part of the hike, we were rewarded with an amazing view of the Mokulua Islands and the entire windward coast of O’ahu.
We continued up to the next lookout, spotted the pillbox up at the top of the hill in the distance, and continued our way up! Fun fact - though the trail is known as the Lanikai Pillbox hike, the pillboxes on the Ka‘iwa Ridge aren’t actual military pillboxes but observation stations. It made sense because you could see far into the ocean and the views were amazing!
Kudos to our parents who made it up to the pillbox with us as it was definitely a challenging hike. Spot the cute octopus when you climb up to the first pillbox.
After the hike, we drove back to our airbnb in Waikiki to freshen up before heading out to grab dinner. We stopped by ABC store (the first of many visits during our stay in O’ahu), and picked up dinner at Maguro Brothers. Closing time was at 8PM and we made the cut off as we were in line before closing. This would be the first of many times we wait in line for all the delicious meals in Hawaii. Coming from New York I am pretty use to waiting but waiting while hungry and jet lagged wasn’t a great combination…
Koko Head, Dole Plantation, Pearl Harbor National Memorial
The next morning the siblings and I got up early for another hike - this time the stairway to the top trail, the Koko Head Hike. The drive there took us about 30 minutes, and by the time we got to the trailhead there were people already done with the hike even though it was barely 6AM. Formerly a tramway track that the military used to transport equipment to the bunkers at the top of the crater, the Koko Head trail is now a very popular hike that will test your endurance as you climb over a 1000 stairs on a very steep incline all the way to the summit. These are not your regular StairMaster and definitely not for the faint hearted (the summit is 1208ft above sea level and the trail looks almost vertical), but I encourage you to turn around and look back when you’re taking breaks and take in the view.
The views on the way up is already amazing - you can see the city and the ocean, even Diamond Head from a distance. About halfway up the stairs, reach a point where the tramline bridge is less stable and is hollow at the bottom. The Murphy’s Bypass on the right is a shortcut that allows you continue up. The last 1/3 of the hike is definitely the most challenging - at certain areas it feels like a vertical drop when you look back as the incline is so high. Once you reach the summit, head over to the abandoned bunkers to enjoy the view, and continue to the back to get a view of the other side of the mountain.
The way back down was easier than the way up, but use your hiking poles if you have them as the height between each step can be a strain to the knees. After we finished our StairMaster workout, we headed back to the airbnb to freshen up, and to Tamashiro Market for a poke brunch. One benefit for traveling in a big group is being able to order a large variety of food - and we didn’t hesitate in ordering 8 different pokes to try across our group of 5:
Since there are no outdoor dining spaces by the market, we ate by our parked car right next to an elementary school, and we devoured our pokes as school children (and wild chickens) walked across the school grounds. My favorite was the ‘Ahi poke with creamy crab sauce - the winning poke of Frolic Hawaii’s 2021 Poke Fest, but all the other ones were fresh and delicious and we had no problem finishing every single one of them.
Post our early brunch (who says you can’t have poke for breakfast?), we headed to Dole Plantation, the historical plantation where James Dole started his pineapple farming business. Our first order of business was to locate the food area where they serve the DoleWhip, the swirly pineapple goodness perfect for a hot day. We then did a tour of the gardens and saw the pineapple fields, some banana trees, Hawaii’s state flower the yellow hibiscus, and other local plants (there was a coffee tree but no coffee flowers). Inside the gift shop I learned how to properly cut a pineapple and even got to try some with Li Hing powder. The Dole Plantation being a very family oriented destination, their gift shop have tons of souvenirs and we naturally spent some time there and shopped a little…
Up next is the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. Since we had some time before our timed entry for the USS Arizona Memorial at 3:30PM, the ranger recommended watching a film on the Pearl Harbor attack in the outdoor theater area. After the file we headed to the boat dock to board the US Navy shuttle boat to the USS Arizona Memorial on the other side of the harbor, the exact location where USS Arizona sunk during the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941. Accessible only by boat, the white memorial building is built perpendicular on top of the sunken battleship without touching it. At the end of the building is a shrine with a marble wall that bears the names of all the servicemen killed. Any surviving crew member of Arizona can choose USS Arizona as their final resting place by having their ashes interred within the wreck. As a teen you read about the events at Pearl Harbor in history books and movies, and it is certainly different when you are there yourself, picturing how the events of that day changed the world.
For dinner we headed to Helena’s Hawaiian Food, a local eatery that started in 1946 and a James Beard award recipient in 2000 (wow that was 22 years ago). We started off with a set menu and took some recommendations from the staff portions can be small, and we ended up with a whole spread. My favorites were the Pipikaula short ribs, the fried butterfish collar and the luau squid. We also tried the poi which is smashed up taro that is eaten in place of rice, but it wasn’t really to my liking even though I am a huge fan of taro.
As it was an earlier dinner we had time in the evening after returning to our airbnb, and the ladies in the family decided to go out for a little souvenir shopping. We stopped by Duke’s Marketplace, an outdoor night market tucked in an alleyway, and International Market Place to do a little window shopping (yes, we did go into the ABC Stores, again). On our way back we got some Surf N Turf Tacos as our late night snacks. As with all other popular eateries in O’ahu there was a long wait, but it was worth it!
Inside International Market Place.
Hanauma Bay, Lookouts, and more food
The morning of a beach day consists of getting a good breakfast and for that we decided to stop by Leonard’s Bakery. They open at 5:30AM and we got a box of malasadas to go for the beach. Hanauma Bay, located on the southeastern tip of O’ahu, is a natural reserve that formed from undersea volcanic eruption. The name means curved bay in Hawaiian, and its diverse marine life attracts millions of visitors every year. Unlike other beaches in O’ahu, Hanauma Bay is a marine protected area. As part of the conservation, Hanauma Bay is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, has daily capacity limits (you can make a reservation online or go early for walk-ins), requires visitors to use coral-safe sunscreens and prohibits visitors to get too close to any marine life.
We opted to visit Hanauma Bay on a Wednesday as there is a better chance of seeing sea turtles after two off days, but I knew that was very unlikely given the number of people I saw at the natural reserve at 7:30AM in the morning. The new check in process was a little confusing given the new reservation system, but we were able to enter around 8AM. After the instructional video and tour, we carried our beach gear down towards the bay and spent the morning at the beach and snorkeling. Unfortunately due to coral bleaching, the number of fish in the area has gone down. Nonetheless the shallow waters is great for beginners snorkeling for the first time. Definitely head there early as the crowds pick up around the early morning, even with the ticketing system!
We initially opted to do the Hanauma Bay Ridge Hike but found that the trail is actually not open to the public and it is gated at the “trailhead”. Technically you can get fined for trespassing through government property so enter at your own risk. There are plenty of blog entries online describing the great view of Koko Head and Hanauma Bay (this one here is my favorite) so maybe I’ll be return another time.
On our way out we drove North and visited the 2 lookouts on the south east side of the island - Lānaʻi Lookout and Halona Blowhole Lookout. Lānaʻi Lookout features rock formations and cliff side views, with many dare devils (me included) climbing over the wall to get closer to the edge.
Halona Blowhole Lookout is a little bit further North and features a blowhole and a small beach. It also looks out to Sandy Beach further North. The water was clear and we were able to see 2 sea turtles in the ocean from afar - our first sea turtles sightings on this trip. Can you see it in the 2nd photo below?
After a day of activities it was time to fill our bellies! First stop was Ono Seafood for poke - one of my favorite poke places of all various poke options we had throughout our trip. My favorites were tako (baby octopus) and wasabi ahi. Our second stop was the indoor farmer’s market inside the Hyatt Regency Waikiki - an open-air complex right in the middle of the tourist area in Waikiki. It’s open Mondays and Wednesdays only from 4PM to 8PM. There were many of fruit stalls and we got some fresh coconut juice to keep us hydrated as we walked to our next (non food) stop.
88 tees, the famous 2nd floor boutique made even more popular by Terrace House. A great place to shop for souvenirs!
Last stop to round out the day was dinner - the must have in Waikiki and you definitely won’t have trouble locating it as the line goes out the dinner very early in the evening hours - Marugame Udon. The line does look long but it was moving fairly quickly. I had the ontama which is udon with a hot spring egg. The dish was very flavorful and just what I would expect straight from Japan.
Kualoa Ranch, Byodo In Temple
The next morning we had a much later morning call at 7AM as we head to a different part of the island. First order of business was breakfast before our booked activity, and we headed to Got’z Grindz in Kāne'ohe for some takeout musubi. Grindz mean local food in Hawaiian Creole English, and this place serves a large variety of musubis and other local favorites. We each picked our own musubis and I got to try the spicy furikake spam. We also got the garlic noodles and some frozen creme brûlée to share as it was recommended to us (I do recommend!).
We did our usual eat-at-the-parking-lot and continued our drive to our destination, Kualoa Ranch, for our ATV tour at 11AM. We checked in right by the stable, registered myself and my sister as the main drivers, and met our tour guides Austin and Shante. We got our introduction and watched an instructional video, got on our ATV, and off we go!
Kualoa Ranch is over 4000 acres of land (it was purchased by an American doctor for $1300 in 1850), and consists of 3 valleys - Ka’awa Valley on the right, Kualoa Valley in the middle, and Hakipu’u Valley on the left. The ATV guided tour is a 2 hour journey to all 3 valleys through dirt roads and dusty paths, with stops in between to enjoy the stunning views.
Our group of 5 got assigned to our own ATV (the max capacity for each one is 6), and our train of ATVs followed our guide Shante through the bumpy dirt roads to our first stop in Hakipu’u Valley.
Our guide Austin told us the story behind this sacred land - it is said that this is where Hoʻohokukalani, a Hawaiian goddess, buried her stillborn baby Haloa. From that spot, the first kalo (taro) plant grew. The goddess’s second child, also called Haloa, became the ancestor of the Native Hawaiian people and took care of the taro plant on this land. There is a belief that Haloa provided for the Native Hawaiian people through the taro, as taro is a very important part of their diet, and they are connected to the earth through Haloa.
We took photos at our first stop and our guide directed us through a scene with us chased by a toy dino, as the Kualoa Ranch is the filming location for Jurassic Park and many other movies.
This replica of the giant stone statues on Easter Island remained on the Kualoa Ranch after a team of anthropologists and archaeologists conducted an experiment to test how the statues were moved to their resting places without wheels or animals. The theory? They “walked”. You can read more here.
We continued our scenic ATV drive and saw more movie filming locations, and had some fun taking photos.
Our last stop on the drive was Hakipu’u Valley, where we can get a view of Mokoli’i Island, shaped like a hat. We also learned about the aquaculture operation at the Ranch where they raise oysters in an 800 year old Hawaiian Fishpond. We washed up after our 2 hour tour as we all had a dirt unibrow and our masks turned brown, and stopped by the gift shop before heading to lunch.
The original plan was Ahi Assassins but we found out that they are only doing pre-orders so we went to Fresh Catch instead. Their salmon and seared ahi were great!
We stayed in the Kaneohe area and visited the Byodo-In Temple in the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park. Located at the foot of the mountains, the temple - a replica of one in Uji, Japan, brings you a sense of serenity as you enter the grounds. There is a bell house that contains a 5 foot tall sacred bell where visitors are free to ring before entering the temple. A huge reflection pond filled with koi fish surrounds the temple, and visitors can buy fish food at the gift shop, or look for the wild peacocks, turtles, cats, and black swans (a gift from Australia and they voluntarily decided to make the temple grounds their home).
We returned to Waikiki and our airbnb to freshen up after a long day out, and stayed local for dinner. We opted for a causal Japanese spot and winded down for the night.
North Shore
Today’s North Shore day! We got up at 5:30AM to prepare to head out to North Shore for the siblings’ surf lesson, and to look for sea turtles! Our first stop was Haleʻiwa Bowls, a local acai bowl place. I got the blue majik bowl and it was a great breakfast option to start the day. We then drove to Laniakea Beach, a small beach to spot sea turtles. While there were non sunning on the sand, we did spot one in the water! Little did we know there would be a lot more sightings later in the day. From Laniakea Beach we walked over to Kawailoa Beach, where my siblings would be taking their surf lessons later in the afternoon. We also chilled at Waimea Bay, a proper beach known for its 30 foot waves in the winter. In the summer time, the waters are much calmer and great for swimming.
After a morning at the beach, we got lunch at Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck - possibly the most famous food option in the North Shore. Expect the parking lot to be full (you have to pay $2 to park) if you’re visiting at peak hours and head straight to the line forming in front of the food truck. Order the scampi and you will not be disappointed. Yes you will be sweating as you consume the spicy and flavorful dish sitting on the benches in the parking lot and baking in the heat, but you can’t say you have been to the North Shore if you didn’t make a stop here.
Post lunch it was time for my siblings’ surf lesson back at Chun’s Reef Beach, a small but popular destination for surfing and sea turtle watching. As my siblings got ready for their lessons I kept getting distracted by how close the sea turtles came to the shore, many of them snacking on the seaweed growing on the rocks. I was able to get a selfie with one of them while it was busy eating near a rock. While the siblings are out surfing, I walked along the beach and was simply in awe by how many sea turtles there were. Some got so close to me that it nearly washed up against my feet! I had to remind myself to keep a safe distance as they would wash up closer to the shore with the waves.
After the surf lessons we drove to Waimea Bay to change - my siblings both got very sunburned on the back of their legs from laying down on the surf board. For our early dinner, we stopped by Surf N Salsa for some Mexican food before heading back to Waikiki. The outdoor dining space was very nice and they even had live music! Since there were some food places we didn’t get to try, we decided to come back to the North Shore the next day.
Makapu’u Point Lighthouse Trail, KCC Farmer’s Market, North Shore (again)
Our original plan was to try to catch the sunrise on our morning hike, but we didn’t manage to get out of the airbnb till around 5:30AM. Nonetheless, we got to the east side of the island for a relatively easy hike at the Makapu’u Point Lighthouse Trail. The trail is located on the east most side of O’ahu, and offers a great view of Koko Head, the shoreline, and the Pacific Ocean! During certain months you may be able to spot Pacific humpback whales! The hike up was slow and steady, a paved path all the way up where you can see the lighthouse and the islands on the east side - the larger one is called Rabbit Island, and both are bird sanctuaries. My sister was the real trooper on this hike as she was hiking with her massive sunburn. The surfing session yesterday left her legs completed sunburned and she could barely stand up straight.
We finished the hike just before the trail got busier with the Saturday morning traffic, and headed to KCC Farmer’s Market near Diamond Head which is only open on Saturdays. Taking place in the parking lot of Kapi'‘olani Community College, the farmer’s market features a lot of vendors with a huge variety of food options. We started with strawberry/ fresh fruit mochis (to make up for the fact that we couldn’t pre-order Happy Hearts Mochi this trip), tried some elote corn, coffee jello drink made with Hawaiian coffee, grilled abalone, takoyaki, and Hawaiian cane juice. I would highly recommend paying a visit if in town on a Saturday - it’s a great way to check out the local favorites in one go. It’s open on Saturdays from 7:30AM to 11AM.
After filling our bellies, we slowly made our way back to the North Shore for more food, making a stop at Green World Coffee Farm, right by Dole Plantation near the middle of the island. It’s a small farm but a great pit stop for us - we got our coffee and walked through the coffee garden.
Back at North Shore, my brother was on a hunt for tank tops so we visited a few shops in Haleiwa Town. We got some more sunscreen (yes we ran low on the supply of sunscreen we brought with us), saw a place selling roast chicken and decided to stop and try some, before continuing our shopping. We eventually made it to Masumoto Shave Ice, the place we waited to try but didn’t make it. I’m glad we decided to come back to North Shore for this because it was delicious! We got a large shave ice with mochi and condensed milk, with the Masumoto flavors - lemon, pineapple and coconut. There was live music while we waited in line, and the gift shop was a gem! I ended with the most purchases after this visit.
Before leaving North Shore, we dropped off our postcards at the post office and drove back to Honolulu for Rainbow Drive In, an iconic counter-serve spot that serves local favorites like the loco moco and the pork cutlet.
Waikiki Beach and last ditch for more food
Sunday was our last full day in Hawaii, and we’re taking an easy, relaxing day staying close to Waikiki to check off any places we didn’t get a chance to visit. The first on the list was Waikiki Beach - we were staying so close to it but still hadn’t gotten a chance to go. We made it to the beach pretty early around 7:30AM and it was already starting to get crowded. There were people laying on the beach, surfing, doing yoga on paddle boards, even boats embarking and disembarking right on the beach. We found a spot in the shade (no more tanning after the tans earlier in the week) to enjoy a morning by the beach.
Later on in the morning we started our food tour to close out our trip - starting at Maguro Spot for poke. The salmon ikura bowl was great for sharing! Then we hopped directly across the street for Musubi Cafe Iyasume, joining the line that has formed outside the small storefront. We got a few items to try while fending off the birds looking to attack if you leave your musubi in open air. On our way back to the airbnb to pick up the car, we stopped by ABC store to stock up on a few things. With the car we drove out to Uncle Clay’s House of Pure Aloha, and tried their classic rainbow and a special - windward skies. Next stop was another shave ice shop, Waiola Shave Ice. We got a few flavors to try and my favorite was the lychee.
Banyan Tree in Waikiki.
For dinner we opted for ramen at Momosan but the wait was 45 mins, so we did some shopping in Waikiki while we waited. The dinner appetizers were delicious - the soft shell bao and sticky ribs were good, and the ramen was on par with what I would get in the city.
Last Day
On our last morning in O’ahu we went back to Musubi Cafe Iyasume to pick up some musubis for the road. The store opens at 7AM and there is already a line at 7:15AM. We got our breakfast as well as snacks for the flight, and headed back to our airbnb to pack up. We checked out of our airbnb, loaded the car with our bags (had to play a little tetris to get everything to fit), and made it to the airport to return the car. After going through security check, we opted for a little last minute shopping, stocking up on some Big Island shortbread cookies that went on sale. The saleslady spoke Cantonese and raved about these cookies so we purchased a few boxes for ourselves and souvenirs. The last bit of our trip consisted of a lot of flying (with a red eye), but I was glad to have been able to spend a little over a week with my family on this magical island. Can’t wait to be back soon.