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This 7 day itinerary is going to lead you on an adventure through Oahu. During this trip you are going to surf the world famous Waikiki Beach, hike the Diamond Head Volcano Crater, visit Pearl Harbor, check out the former movie sets on Kualoa Ranch, and watch surfers crushing it on the North Shore. Let's go!
Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive on Oahu
Aloha! Welcome to Hawaii, one of the most beautiful places on Earth. If you are looking for a relaxing "sit-on-the-beach" vacation, this isn’t the itinerary for you, but you really don't need an itinerary to do that. This is an adventure vacation, so be prepared for some great activities. You’ll have the opportunity to surf at the world famous Waikiki Beach, hike to the top of Diamond Head, visit Pearl Harbor and explore tv/movies sets filmed in Hawaii.
I suggest staying at the Moana Surfrider in the heart of Waikiki Beach. I’ve stayed there a couple of times and it's right in the middle of everything. If your budget allows it, I would highly recommend a room with an ocean view so you can watch the surfers from your own private balcony.
Waikiki Beach is a short drive from the airport, and both Uber and Lyft are easy options to get you to and from the airport. I am suggesting you rent a car for 1 day on the itinerary, but I don’t think you need to rent a car for your entire trip. Car rentals are pretty expensive and parking in Honolulu is even more expensive.
Take your time getting settled in, day 1 is about arriving and adjusting to the time difference if you’ve traveled far. The best advice I can give to get over jet lag is to force yourself to get on local time as soon as you land. This means eat dinner at the appropriate time and stay up until a reasonable sleep time, trust me it’s worth the effort as it will make the rest of your trip that much better!
If you feel like leaving the resort for dinner there are a number of restaurants within walking distance of the Moana Surfrider. Have a great first night and enjoy falling asleep to the sound of waves crashing on the beach, it doesn’t get much better than that!
Day 2: Surf Lesson
In my opinion, you can’t go to Hawaii without taking a surf lesson, even if you’ve never surfed before! One of the surf schools I’ve used is the Ohana Surf Project. The surf school is all inclusive so they will pick you up from a convenient location, drop you off at a beginner friendly surf spot, provide a surf board and some water shoes for your lesson. Make sure you also add pictures to your lesson as you will want relieve those memories.
I would suggest an early morning surf lesson, as the surf is usually better in the morning and you will likely be up early due to the time difference. The lessons are typically 90 minutes, which is plenty of time to get some good tips from your instructor and start catching waves. Plan to take a 10am lesson with a pickup time of 9:30am and return time of 12:30pm.
You will likely be exhausted after your surf lesson so plan to grab a hearty lunch to refuel. After lunch, grab a lounge chair on the beach or by the pool and take a quick nap if needed, just don’t forget the sunscreen!
Hopefully you are refreshed and refueled in the evening. Honolulu is a foodie paradise with high-end Michelin star restaurants as well as great local eateries. I’ve put some food recommendations at the end of the itinerary, feel free to explore just make sure you make a reservation ahead of time!
Day 3: Hike Diamond Head
Rise and shine, I’m sure you are feeling a bit sore after your surf lesson yesterday but no pain no gain, right?
Check out the hotel activity schedule and see if you can catch a morning yoga session out on the beach. It’s a great way to relax and ease some of the soreness from yesterday’s surf lesson.
Today is a great day for a morning hike of Diamond Head. The volcano crater is a beautiful site that can be seen all along the coast of Waikiki beach. Diamond Head is part of the Ko’olau volcano range that erupted over 300,000 years ago creating the crater. The hike is on an out and back trail that is ~2 miles and should take about an hour to complete.
Grab a Uber or Lyft and head to Diamond Head. There is an entrance fee so make sure you have some cash on you to get a ticket.
Hiking Diamond Head is fairly easy, I passed a wide range of people from kids to seniors on the trail so don’t think you have to be an avid hiker to make this trek. Make sure you have good sneakers and pack some water, you’ll be at the top in no time. Pro tip: grab a shaved ice at the base of the hike and enjoy it on the hike up.
The top of Diamond Head offers an amazing view of Honolulu, making the hike well worth it!
Once you get back from your hike, grab some lunch, I would suggest some fresh local poke.
After lunch head out for a massage, you’ve definitely earned it! Depending on your budget, you can get a massage on the resort or, if you are budget conscious, head out of the Waikiki area and book a massage off-resort.
After your relaxing massage head back to the hotel to freshen up and then make your way out to dinner. I’m sure you will be sleeping like a baby nice and early tonight.
Day 4: Pearl Harbor
Today is about visiting Pearl Harbor. You can visit Pearl Harbor as part of an organized tour or you can visit Pearl Harbor on your own.
If you are interested in an organized tour I would suggest booking a tour on Viator, they have options that run between 3 and 7 hours long. Some of the tours will even pick you up from your hotel.
When I visited Pearl Harbor I coordinated my visit on my own. You don’t need a reservation to walk around Pearl Harbor so you can arrive at a time of your liking. Reservations are needed if you want to visit the USS Arizona Memorial or Ford Island.
Pearl Harbor has multiple exhibits, memorials and museums to visit, if you are interested in seeing it all plan on spending the full day here.
Without a reservation you can visit The Visitor Center, the interpretive wayside exhibits and the Remembrance Circle. The Visitor Center has two exhibits where you can see photographs, artifacts and other memorabilia about the events of Pearl Harbor. There are numerous wayside exhibits around the grounds that have historical images of Pearl Harbor. The Remembrance Circle is an exhibit that honors those killed during the attacks and has the names of the Medal of Honor recipients onsite. To comfortably walk around these sites you should plan about 2 hours.
To visit the USS Arizona Memorial you will need to get a free ticket for a specific time. This includes a boat trip to the memorial site and a brief video documentary on the attack. The program will run for about 45 minutes but you should plan about an hour in total.
If you would like to visit the USS Oklahoma and USS Utah memorials and do not have an active military ID, you will need to book a reservation for the Ford Island Bus Tour. This only runs one time a day, check-in is at 3pm and the tour will be complete at 5pm. Please note the Ford Island Bus Tour only runs on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays so plan accordingly.
If you are visiting Pearl Harbor on your own and are feeling adventurous I would suggest renting a scooter and riding it there. Be warned its a pretty long ride from Waikiki so if you aren’t comfortable riding a scooter in and out of traffic, I would just suggest taking an Uber or Lyft there.
After your visit to Pearl Harbor, head back to the hotel, freshen up and get ready for dinner.
Day 5: Beach Day
Today is another beach day! You have a couple of choices on how to spend your beach day:
Grab a lounge chair and relax on the beach
Take a surf lesson
Go snorkeling or scuba diving
For me the choice was easy, I was in Waikiki to surf but you have plenty of options if you want to do something different. If you want to go snorkeling or scuba diving, check out Viator as there are plenty of options on Oahu!
While I enjoyed the surf lesson with the surf school on day 2, one of the best surf lessons I’ve ever taken came from the beach activity hut between the Moana Surfrider and the Outrigger Waikiki Beach resort. The beach hut is super chill, and they do lessons on a first-come-first-serve basis so walk over in the morning when you are ready and grab the next available time slot. You can also just rent boards from the hut which is super convenient due to the proximity, and their boards are in good condition.
It’s a private lesson so the 1 on 1 time is great to really progress your learning and hone your skills. This is a no frills lesson, so don’t expect to be given a rash guard or water shoes to use, but that’s part of what makes this lesson so special. You and your instructor are going to grab some surf boards and just paddle out. Your instructor will gauge your current surfing abilities and help you work on whatever you want. For me it was improving by ability to catch green waves and practice my turns.
Did I mention Waikiki Beach gets crowded...
After the lesson, rent the board for the rest of the day and keep surfing or relax on the beach, you can do some great people watching on Waikiki beach!
Clean up and head out to dinner. If you are interested in doing a luau, tonight would be the best night to do that.
Day 6: Kualoa Ranch and Island Tour
Last full day in Oahu, lets make the most of it!
Today I suggest renting a car so you can easily make your way around the island. My suggestion would be to rent a car from the HNL airport but shop around for the best prices. You can pick it up in the morning and drop it off tomorrow on your departure. Renting a car will allow you to drive to Kualoa Ranch to do a tour and then drive around the rest of the island, before returning to Waikiki at night.
If you aren’t interested in renting a car you will need to book a tour that includes transportation. Your options would be to book a Kuala Ranch tour and include transportation so the ranch will arrange transportation on your behalf. The other choice would be to book an organized island tour, there are lots of island tours to choose from on Viator.
Lets assume you are feeling adventurous and rent a car. Head to the airport to pickup your rental car. Once you have your rental car head to the Diamond Head lookout. The lookout is a pullout on the side of the road that will give you a great view of the ocean and the nearby lighthouse.
From there drive to Hanauma Bay. If you want to go down to the bay you will have pay the entrance fee for the park. My recommendation would be to skip the park fee and drive a little further to the Lana’i lookout. As you are driving make are you are looking inland to see the Koko Crater Railway. Koko Crater Railway is a vertical hike up an old railway line for an amazing view of the bay. I haven’t personally made the hike up (looked a little too intense for me) but I know someone who did, they said it was totally worth the stair master workout for the view.
Lana’i Lookout is a small parking lot that will give you great ocean views. After enjoying the views you are going to cross the street (be careful!) and walk down to a nearby lava tube. It looks a little sketchy but walk through the tube to an amazing ocean view.
If that lava tube doesn’t interest you then drive up a little further to the Halona Blowhole. The Halona Blowhole is also a lava tube but at certain times throughout the day you can watch sea water shoot up through the blowhole 30 feet into the air, kind of like Hawaii’s own Old Faithful.
From there you are going to drive to Kuala Ranch for your upcoming tour. If you are doing good on time, you could stop at the famous Tropical Farms Macadamia Nut store to sample some of their nuts.
As you are driving around the Moli’i Pond area lookout to the ocean to see the Chinaman’s Hat which is the small basalt island called Mokoli’i.
Once you arrive at the Kuala Ranch head to the check-in area and enjoy your tour. When I was there, I did the Hollywood Movie Sites Tour. The tour is 90 minutes and drives you through parts of the ranch where movies like Jurassic Park, 50 First Dates and Jumanji were filmed.
After the tour you are going to be ready for lunch. My suggestion would be to stop at a food truck for some local food. Some food truck options on your way are the Shrimp Shack, Thai Food Truck Express, Aloha Shrimp or Pho Vientiane. After your lunch head to your next destination, Lāʻie Point State Wayside.
Lāʻie Point State Wayside will look familiar to those who watched the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall starring Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Jason Segal and Russell Brand. This is where the movie characters jumped off the cliff into the ocean. If you are feeling adventurous go ahead and recreate the movie scene, otherwise enjoy the view and the nature bridge across the way.
From Lāʻie Point State Wayside head to another movie landmark, the Hukilau Cafe. The Hukilau Cafe is the inspiration for the cafe in the movie 50 First Dates with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. While it looks nothing like the movie version its still a fun stop to make.
Next stop is the Turtle Bay Beach Resort, the resort from Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Its an upscale luxury resort and a great option for your next stay in Oahu. After walking around the resort grounds and planning your next trip to Hawaii, head to Ehukai Beach Park to watch the Banzai Pipeline.
The Banzai Pipeline is home to world famous barreling waves and one of the most famous beaches in the North Shore. This is a great place to stop and watch the professional surfers do their thing!
From Banzai Pipeline head to the town of Haleiwa to walk around this laid back beach town and get a snack or early dinner.
Head back to Waikiki whenever you are ready, the drive from Haleiwa should take about an hour. Enjoy your last night in Oahu, make sure you fill up on mai tai cocktails before calling it a night!
If you are interested in visiting the Dole Planation during your drive around the island, check out the alternative itinerary below to fit the planation into your schedule.
Day 7: Depart Oahu
It is time to say Aloha to Oahu. I hope you enjoyed your action packed Hawaii trip, you spent the week surfing, hiking, and sightseeing. Crushed it!
Timetable:
Day 1: Arrive in Oahu
Free day arrive at your own leisure
Day 2: Waikiki Surf Lesson
9:30am pickup for surf lesson
10:00am - 12:00pm surf lesson
12:00pm - 1:30pm lunch
1:30pm - 3:00pm lounge at the beach or pool
4:00pm - 5:00pm happy hour
5:30pm dinner
Day 3: Hike Diamond Head
8:00am - 9:00am yoga at Moana Surfrider
10:00am - 12:00pm hike Diamond Head
12:30pm - 1:30pm lunch
2:30pm - 3:30pm massage
5:30pm dinner
Day 4: Pearl Harbor
10am - 5:00pm Pearl Harbor
10:00am - 12:00pm walk around visitor center, wayside exhibits and Remembrance Circle
12:00pm - 1:00pm lunch in Pearl Harbor
1:00pm - 2:00pm USS Arizona Memorial
3:00pm - 5:00pm Ford Island Bus Tour
6:30pm dinner
Day 5: Beach Day
9:00am - 12:00pm beach time
12:00pm - 1:00pm lunch
3:30pm - 9:30pm Luau (optional)
Or
4:00pm - 5:00pm happy hour
5:30pm dinner
Day 6: Kualoa Ranch and Island Tour
9:00am car pickup at HNL airport
10:00am Diamond Head Lookout
10:40am Lana’i lookout & lava tube
10:50am Halona Blowhole (lava tube)
11:40am Tropical Farms Macadamia Nut
11:55am Drive past Chinaman’s hat
12:00pm - 2:00pm Kualoa Ranch
Main Option:
2:00 - 2:15pm drive from Kualoa Ranch to lunch
2:15pm - 3:00pm lunch
3:15pm Lāʻie Point State Wayside
3:45pm Hukilau Cafe
4:00pm Turtle Bay Beach
4:40pm Ehukai Beach Park (Banzai Pipeline)
5:15pm Haleiwa Town Center
Option 2 if you want to visit the Dole Plantation
2:00 - 2:15pm drive from Kualoa Ranch to lunch
2:15pm - 2:45pm lunch
2:45pm - 3:15pm drive to Ehukai Beach Park (Banzai Pipeline)
3:15pm - 3:30pm Banzai pipeline watching
3:30pm - 4:00pm drive to Dole Plantation
4:00pm - 5:30pm Dole Plantation (closes at 5:30pm)
Day 7: Depart Oahu
Things to Book:
6 nights lodging
6 nights of dinner reservations
Surf Lesson in Waikiki Beach (Ohana Surf Project)
USS Arizona Memorial
Ford Island Bus Tour
Luau (optional)
1 day car rental
Kualoa Ranch Tour
Food Suggestions:
Maguro Spot - lunch poke to take-away
Sam’s Kitchen - lunch poke to take-away
Sunrise Shack in Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort - breakfast acai bowl (service is slow but acai bowls are delicious)
ALO Cafe - breakfast vegan options
Sky Waikiki Rooftop - happy hour drinks and snack (reservations a must, also be warned its full sun up there any they only had out umbrellas for shade)
Appetito Craft Pizza & Wine Bar - happy hour or pizza for dinner (delicious Neapolitan wood fire pizza)
Maui Brewing Company - happy hour
International Market Plaza has several great dinner options (Eating House and Herringbone)
Basalt - reasonable dinner option
Hula Grill (in Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort) - dinner overlooking Duke’s
Duke’s (in Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort) - I think given the wait to get in its a bit overrated.
Moromito Asia Waikiki - high end dinner
Marugame Udon (fat udon noodles served from counter service) no frills counter-service place but delicious food. Food will be wrapped along the street but it's worth the wait. Best to go for lunch as wait is more manageable
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