Both of my kids have been traveling since they were 6 months old. They have grown to love everything about it– even the flying– which I personally loath. So with the new baby coming this fall, we wanted to be sure we got in one more “big” vacation, as it may be quite a while before we get to visit anywhere that requires a long flight.
After much thought, we ultimately decided to head back to Hawaii– this time, to the island of Oahu.
When we told people about our trip, they mostly had the same reaction “WOW! Hawaii – AGAIN??” But, believe it or not- when we worked the math (and by math I mean various reward point clubs we belong to) traveling to Oahu as a family was incredibly less expensive than going to Disney World (which, in a brief moment of insanity- I did throw into the running)… and well, who wouldn’t want to see more of Hawaii?
{Side note: James is the Wizard of reward points. He amazes me every time. I am trying to get him to write a post about it, because I think it would help so many families cut travel costs and see some amazing places.}
I have an entire post dedicated to Disney’s Aulani Resort, which is where were spent the bulk of our stay and is the epitome of kid-friendly Hawaii.
But beyond the tons of resort activities– just as we did in Maui– we wanted to really explore the island as a family. So we began our family adventure by staying 2 nights at the Hyatt Regency on Waikiki Beach and ventured out every day through out our trip to get to know the island better.
Picture taken at sunrise on Waikiki Beach
While staying at Waikiki Beach, we quickly realized that Oahu is a very different island than Maui.
On the plus side, the ocean was incredibly more vibrant and blue. On the flip side, because most of the business’ in Hawaii are on Oahu, much of the island was built up and city like– especially, the famous Waikiki Beach area, which reminded me a lot of the beach strip in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
It’s not that we didn’t appreciate Waikiki beach’s beauty– we definitely did. Even with the tall buildings and city hustle and bustle, there were plenty of absolutely breathtaking places to visit all over Oahu!
The Kuhio Beach Torch Lighting and Luau Show is a fun and free activity for the whole fam that takes place on Waikiki Beach Tues-Thurs-Fri-Sat, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Unfortunately, we were not there on a performance day but we heard rave reviews of this authentic Hawaiian dance show from the helpful staff in the Hyatt Regency Club. (* It’s good to note if you are planning to attend this show- it takes place at the Kuhio Beach Hula Mound, near Duke Kahanamoku statue, beachside at Uluniu & Kalakaua Ave.)
While we were still jet-lagged and waking up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 4am, we took a ride to a ride to Lanikai Beach to watch the sunrise.
We had learned about this “secret” Oahu beach through Instagram (oh, social media- how I love thee). It was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen.
The kids loved swimming in the calmness of the warm water. There was virtually no one else on the beach except for one or two passers by walking their dogs. They felt like this ocean was all theirs, and for a moment… it was.
Another sight we found through Instagram, the Sunflower field located in the surf town of Haleiwa. This hidden gem is pure happiness.
We’ve never seen so many bright, beautiful sunflowers standing so tall. Just look at these flowers and TRY to have to be in a bad mood… I dare you.
We had heard a lot about the famous Matsumoto’s Shaved Ice in Haleiwa, so while we were in town we made it point to stop in. When we drove up, there was no question where Matsumoto’s was. There was a line around the building. The good news is that this long line moved fast! They make and take shaved ice orders like a well oiled machine. I was impressed.
While explore things that are “off the beaten path” and allow you to explore on on your own time is always our favorite thing to do when traveling, there were a few popular tourist sights on the island that we wanted to check out. For those attractions, we used our Go Oahu Card.
The Go Oahu Card allows you to visit up to 36 Oahu attractions and activities for one low price. The card can be purchased daily and is is best utilized when you plan multiple tourist attractions in one day.
Hawaii’s Sea Life Park was one attraction we wanted to visit for the kids. They love touching, feeding and getting to know animals better and Sea Life park offers these experiences, as well as fun shows.
The dolphin show at Dolphin Cove was my personal favorite part of Sea Life Park.
Dolphin Cove is the parks open-air arena that is right off the the ocean! Twice a day there is a dolphin show and it just gorgeous!
The Dolphin and Penguin show at the park’s Hawaiian Ocean Theater, was another favorite for my kids because it allowed them to sit in the front and be splashed.
The home of many famous movie and TV sets, the Kualoa Ranch offers a variety of activities including, ATV Tours, Movie Tours, and horse back riding.
During our visit, we chose to use our GO Oahu card to experience the Movie Tour which allowed us to see remnants of scenes from Jurassic Park, LOST, Big Foot and more via a tour bus.
While I do wish the tour stopped for more photo opps along the way, this Jurassic Park moment made James and Ryan more excited than I can possibly tell you.
We heard so much about the Dole Plantation, it didn’t feel right going home without visiting. Our kids weren’t thrilled with the train ride through the plantation, that was narrated by a pre-recorded guide, however they did enjoy the maze and the ridiculously delicious Pineapple ice cream!
I am not normally a big ice cream fan, and this was easily the first ice cream cone I’ve finished in over 10 years! This alone, was worth the visit.
credit: Dole Plantation
Ok. So this last one was really for me and the hubs and may only be impressive to those who followed the show LOST- but we had so much fun I had to include it.
The popular TV show series, LOST was filmed on the island of Oahu. When the show was on, we watched religiously, so we made sure to seek out every possible LOST sight that was left to be seen.
Sadly, we found that most of the props, etc have since been removed from the island. However, the “Others Camp”? Still standing!
It is a YMCA camp and for a nominal donation of $5 a person, you can tour the camp- we were all over that!
The kids were unimpressed, but hey! its only fair that Mom and Dad get to have a little fun too right?
(For the record, their expressions were planned. Promise they were not this miserable- ha!)
Disclosure: Many popular attractions we visited on Oahu, such as Sea Life Park, The Kualoha Ranch and The Dole Plantation were visited using our Go Oahu Card, which was provided to us by the Oahu Visitor Center. As always, all thoughts and opinions are our own.
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I so enjoyed your post! We are planning for Hawaii next year so this is so helpful. And I can't wait to read your review of Disney's Aulani Resort as we were planning to spend a few nights there too. And I too hate the flying part of travel but I'll put up with the trip to visit someplace beautiful :)
Thanks the post. Maybe I will be there someday with your family.