Oahu, from Waikiki outward.
Pearl Harbor before the queues, turtles over the reef, the Kamehameha Highway all the way round to Haleiwa. What each day out is really like, what it costs, and where to book it.
The harbour, the loop, the catamaran.
The bookings that carry a week on this island: the harbour launch out to the Arizona, the nine-hour loop past Waimea Bay and the Dole fields, the catamaran that leaves the sand at Waikiki with the sun already low.
Majestic Circle Island Tour with Lunch
Circle Island in one long day from Waikiki, with Nu’uanu Pali views, Byodo-In Temple, Waimea Falls swim, and lunch included.
From $181 per person
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★ 4.5Books out earlyOahu’s Ultimate Tour: Dole, Turtle Snorkel, Pali Lookout & MoreFrom $1085,461 reviews
★ 5.0Kids love itOahu Circle Island Tour with Turtle Snorkeling – Small-GroupsFrom $1495,214 reviews
★ 4.5Locals send visitors herePearl Harbor USS Arizona MemorialFrom $555,209 reviews
★ 5.0Worth the early alarmPearl Harbor Remembered TourFrom $1435,143 reviews
★ 5.0Easy half dayPearl Harbor, USS Arizona Memorial & Honolulu City TourFrom $944,866 reviews
★ 5.0Rain or shinePearl Harbor City TourFrom $694,254 reviews
Round Oahu, clockwise, one long day.
Out of Waikiki by seven, up over the Pali with the windward coast opening below, Byodo-In and Kualoa by mid-morning, shave ice in Haleiwa, Waimea Bay and the Dole fields on the way home. Nine hours, roughly 120 miles, and the only day that shows you every side of the island.
How much Pearl Harbor do you want?
Almost every Oahu itinerary has a Pearl Harbor morning in it, and the version you pick decides whether it takes three hours or eats the whole day. Three ways to do it, each priced and rated below.
Half a morning
The memorial on its own
5 hours (approx.) · from $59 · 7,433 reviews
Shuttle from Waikiki, the film in the theatre, then the navy launch out to the white span over the hull. You are back on Kalakaua by early afternoon with the rest of the day intact. Bags are not allowed past the gate, so travel with pockets only.
See the Arizona visits →
Both ships
Arizona and Missouri
5 hours (approx.) · from $59 · 7,433 reviews
Where the war started and where it was signed away, in one crossing of Ford Island. Add the Bowfin submarine and the aviation hangars on Ford Island and it fills a full day. Book weeks ahead: the launch tickets are the bottleneck, not the coach seat.
See the two-ship days →
Harbour plus town
Pearl Harbor and the city
5 to 9 hours (approx.) · from $94 · 4,866 reviews
The memorial in the morning, then Iolani Palace, the Kamehameha statue, Punchbowl crater and the Nuuanu Pali lookout on the way back. Best value if you only have one full sightseeing day and no rental car.
See the combined days →
Fire knives and kalua pig.
The imu is opened at dusk and the pork comes out of the ground wrapped in ti leaves. What follows is Samoan fire knife, Tahitian drumming and Hawaiian hula, on a lawn at Aloha Tower or out past Ko Olina. Some serve buffet, some sit you at a table; the seat you pay for decides how close the flames get.
Honu, ten minutes offshore.
Turtle Canyon sits barely off Waikiki, and green sea turtles graze the coral heads there most mornings. Water is warmest and flattest before ten; anything that also promises dolphins runs further west toward Waianae.
The green wall behind Honolulu, from above.
Sacred Falls drops out of the Koolau range with no trail to it. Neither does the crater floor at Hanauma, or the wreck line off the leeward coast. Thirty minutes gets you the ridge and the crater; an hour gets you the full coastline.
The harbour still holds them.
Oil rises from the Arizona in slow beads, one every few seconds, eighty-odd years on. The launch runs on a timed ticket and the white memorial straddles the hull without touching it. Bring nothing you cannot carry in a pocket, and give the wall of names more time than the schedule suggests.
Oahu keeps going past Waikiki.
Waikiki for the beach and the catamarans. Pearl Harbor for the morning that stays with you. Diamond Head for the climb before breakfast. Haleiwa for shave ice and the surf breaks.
In the water, on a ridge, or above it.
Twelve ways to spend an Oahu afternoon, each with prices and traveller verdicts behind it.
Every one of these is a bus ride away.
Oahu is forty-four miles end to end, so nothing here needs an overnight bag. Pickup is usually kerbside at your Waikiki hotel, and most days are back by dinner.
Jet lag is an advantage here.
You wake at five whether you mean to or not, and the light is already good. Put the climb first, the harbour second, and save the long drive for the day you have stopped counting hours.
Day 1
Crater rim, then the sand
Up Leahi at first light while it is still cool, back down for loco moco, then the whole afternoon on the beach with an outrigger or a first surf lesson if you have the legs for it.
Plan day one →
Day 2
The harbour, then downtown
Early shuttle west for the Arizona launch, Missouri after it if you booked both, then Iolani Palace and Chinatown on the way back. Finish at a luau with the fire knives.
Plan day two →
Day 3
All the way round
Over the Pali, up the windward coast, snorkel stop at a turtle beach, shave ice in Haleiwa and back through the pineapple fields. Surf is biggest on the north shore November to February.
Plan day three →
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