Our Essential Travel Resources :
There are plenty of travel companies, but these are our favorite websites and resources for planning an unforgettable trip. This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Car rentals are best through Discover Cars - just make sure to bring your international driver's permit with you! We always use Expedia's easy to use platform for comparing hotels. To keep cell service while traveling, we always use Airalo’s easy eSIM’s (no installation required). For fun things to do, we always recommend Viator to find the best tours in the America's and Europe, and Klook for tours in Asia. Just in case, Safetywing is what we use for travel insurance. Lastly, our packing list for any international or domestic travels.
Logistics of Visiting Oahu (Where to Stay & Eat)
Where to Stay in Oahu
During our visit to Oahu, we stayed at the Ramada Plaza by Wyndham Waikiki, which was centrally located and perfect for walking to the beach and taking the bus to explore other parts of Oahu. Even though it wasn't technically "beachfront" it was close enough for us, and the price more than made up for it. If you're looking for something a bit nicer with more of a resort feel we recommend the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort or the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort or the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore.
Where to Eat in Oahu
You guys already know one of our favorite things to do when visiting a new place is to try as many new foods as we can, and the same goes for Oahu. If you're staying at a resort, chances are the resort will have a few of their own restaurants you might want to try, but if you're looking for something a bit cheaper or more local, we've listed a few of our favorites below! You can also check out our entire guide on best spots to eat in Oahu here. If you haven't tried musubi before (a spam and rice snack wrapped in seaweed), it's definitely something you'll want to try at least once!
Our Favorite Tours on Oahu :
- Oahu North Shore Shark Dive - Full Day Tour Oahu Top Sights - Kualoa Ranch & Movie Filming Locations
7 Best Activities & Things to Do in Oahu
With so much to do on Oahu, we've gone ahead and shorted this list to a few top activities you won't want to miss during your visit to Oahu. For most of them, you'll have to book a tour which can add up quick, so we recommend choosing a few that really resonate with you. Otherwise, if you're wanting to find a few activities that are more budget friendly on Oahu, we have an entire guide here!
1. Enjoy the Beach Oahu has some of the best beaches in the entire world, so of course our first recommendation has to be to enjoy the local beaches. Waikiki Beach is the most popular, meaning it's also the busiest, but the views are beautiful, and the sand is wonderful, making it a perfect spot to enjoy the day and go swimming. If you take a day trip to the North Shore, you'll be able to find more local beaches. A bus ticket is only $3 per adult each way, and typically beaches this way will be less crowded with more locals, surfing and enjoying the waves. 2. Go Hiking & Waterfall Chasing There's lots of hikes to enjoy on Oahu, but each one requires its own amount of research. Because they can get so crowded and busy, they're typically regulated and hikers will need a reservation. The Diamond Head State Monument is probably the most popular hike, but it leads to some incredible views, and is less than 2 miles round-trip (but with a bit of incline). 3. Visit Pearl Harbor Technically, the Pearl Harbor National Park Monument is free to visit, but only certain areas. We recommend booking a tour that fully guide guides you through the area, especially if you're wanting to learn as much as possible about the historical events leading up to Pearl Harbor and how life changed afterwards. 4. Experience a Traditional Luau Most luaus now that are open to the public require advanced tickets and registration. You can find a couple different options on tour website, but based on our research and experience, this one is the best choice. They include an "all you can eat" Hawaiian meal, have different stations where you can take part in various activities and learn about local culture, and of course, the traditional dance performance itself. 5. Snorkel with Sea Turtles, See Dolphins & Go Whale Watching Ok, so this is a lot, but typically it tours on Oahu will do at least two of these activities in a single tour - like this swim with the dolphins excursion. Even though we went whale watching off the coast of Maui, in general whale watching off the coast of Hawaii's islands is some of the best you'll ever see. If you find that the tours are a bit spender than you'd like, you can also try heading to Laniakea Beach, where depending on the season you might find sea turtles laying on the beach. We weren't lucky when we went, but you can always keep your fingers crossed. 6. Kualoa Ranch (Jurassic Park) The Kualoa Ranch is most famous for one thing, well, multiple things. The ranch itself is a filming location for many popular movies like Jurassic Park, 50 First Dates, and shows like Lost. There's plenty of activities here to take part in like horseback riding and zip lining, but I recommend going on this UTV tour for some of the best views. 7. Shark Cage Diving Even though Tyler and I haven't gone shark cage diving off of Oahu, we have gone in New Zealand, and I can easily say it it's one of the best experiences you'll ever have. There's really nothing like seeing these giant sharks up close - just keep your fingers in the cage and you should be fine. ;) If you can't really decide and want to just see as much of the island as possible, we recommend looking into this full day Grand Circle Island Tour. The nine hour tour brings you on the entire island of Oahu, while stopping at main sites like the Dole Plantation, the beaches on the North Shore, coastal blow holes and even Diamond Head. It's an easy way to hit top sites without having to plan anything yourself.
Watch our Oahu Adventures here!
Check out our other Hawaii posts!
-> Best Places to Eat on Oahu -> 10 Budget Friendly Activities on Oahu -> Best Things to Do on Maui
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Hi, we're Deborah & Tyler!
After our first move to Alaska, we decided to take a gap year and visited 30+ countries on a budget of $100 a day. This blog shares our best budget saving travel tips & international itineraries.
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