Oahu fits in a week. The bookings decide which week.
Which turtle snorkel actually leaves from Waikiki. What a circle-island day costs with lunch. How early the Arizona Memorial slots go. Reviews of every tour you can book from a Honolulu hotel.
The four Oahu bookings a first week hangs off.
A full day around the island, the morning at Pearl Harbor, an hour with the turtles off Waikiki, and one long evening at a luau. What each costs and what the people who went say.
01The island loopOahu Grand Circle Island and Haleiwa Tour: 9-Hr Deluxe ExperienceNine hours around the coast with a stop in Haleiwa town. The day that shows you the windward side before you pick where to come back to.
02The Pearl Harbor morningSalute to Pearl Harbor Including USS ArizonaThe Arizona Memorial by boat, with the museums at the visitor center either side of it. Plan it for the start of the trip, while slots are still open.
03The turtle hourTurtle Canyon Snorkel ExcursionA short boat ride out of Waikiki to the reef where green sea turtles feed. Gear is on board and you are back for lunch.
04The luau nightParadise Cove LuauParadise Cove on the Ko Olina coast: the imu, the hula, the fire knife and a sunset over the leeward water.
Off Waikiki: turtle reef, catamaran sail or a sunset deck?
Most of an Oahu week happens within a mile of the sand. Four ways out on the water, what each one costs to board, and what it suits.
Turtle snorkelsMasks on over the reefs where the honu feed.
2
Catamaran sailsTrade winds, a swim stop and the Diamond Head skyline.
3
Sunset cruisesThe sun dropping behind Waianae with a drink in hand.
4
First divesNo certificate needed for the shallow intro dives.
All 150 Oahu boat trips →
Our pick★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · Turtle Canyon Snorkel Excursion · from $79
Pearl Harbor is a morning, and it starts early.
The USS Arizona Memorial sits over the sunken battleship and is reached only by a short Navy boat ride. The Battleship Missouri, the USS Bowfin and the aviation museum on Ford Island are separate tickets, which is why most visitors book a tour that bundles the transport and the timed entry.
- 1Salute to Pearl Harbor Including USS Arizonafrom $59
- 2Pearl Harbor USS Arizona Memorialfrom $55
- 3Pearl Harbor Remembered Tourfrom $143
The Pali, Kualoa, Haleiwa: one long loop around Oahu.
Leave Waikiki by the Pali Highway and the windward coast opens up: Kaneohe Bay, Mokolii islet, the Kualoa valley. Shrimp trucks at Kahuku, lunch in Haleiwa, turtles on the sand at Laniakea, and the H2 back through the pineapple fields.
Four Oahu bookings that will not wait for the hotel desk.
Most of the island can be sorted the evening before. These four run on reservation windows, entry caps and closed days, and none of them cares when your flight gets in.
- 01Salute to Pearl Harbor Including USS ArizonaArizona Memorial programs run on timed, capped reservations. Tours that include them hold slots that walk-ups cannot get.
- 02Diamond Head CraterVisitors from out of state need a timed entry reservation for the crater trail, booked online before the day.
- 03Hanauma Bay SnorkelingHanauma Bay is reservation-only, opens the booking window just two days ahead and closes on Mondays and Tuesdays.
- 04Polynesian Cultural Center: Islands of Polynesia Admission TicketThe Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie is closed on Sundays. A week with one free Sunday has one day less to fit it.
Oahu priced by the day: what each kind of outing costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by what it costs a head. A good share of the best Oahu days come in under the price of a Waikiki dinner.
Parasail rides, glass bottom boats, whale watches and the trolley lines along Kalakaua Avenue.
The full-day standards: turtle snorkels, catamaran sails, Pearl Harbor with the city tour, most luaus.
Helicopters over the Koolau, private drivers, dolphin swims and the deluxe circle-island days.
Three Oahu days you will not find on another island.
Beaches and snorkel boats are everywhere in Hawaii. A ranch valley full of film sets, sharks three miles off Haleiwa and a luau cooked in the ground are where Oahu earns its own week.
Kualoa Ranch
A working cattle ranch on the windward coast, with the Koolau cliffs behind it and Mokolii islet just offshore. Kaaawa Valley has stood in for several film islands, from Jurassic Park onwards, and the tours go by open truck, UTV or horseback past the sets and the fallen logs everyone photographs.
- 1Kualoa Ranch Movie Sites and Ranch Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,655 reviews
- 2Kualoa Ranch UTV Raptor Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,569 reviews
- 3Kualoa Open Air Jungle Expedition Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 555 reviews
The shark dives
A few miles out of Haleiwa, Galapagos and sandbar sharks cruise the open water under the boats. Most trips use a floating cage, so a mask and snorkel are all you need. The cage-free swims go with a trained guide, and the sea state decides whether the boat leaves at all.
- 1Oahu Shark Dive★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2,903 reviews
- 2Shark Cage Dive on the North Shore★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,485 reviews
- 3Shark Cage Diving on Oahu’s North Shore★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,391 reviews
The luau
A whole pig goes into the imu, the underground oven, in the morning and comes out as kalua pork at dinner. Between the poi, the haupia and the hula comes the Samoan fire knife dance. Ko Olina and Waimea Valley put theirs outdoors; Waikiki keeps its own on hotel lawns.
- 1Paradise Cove Luau★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 4,498 reviews
- 2Toa Luau at Waimea Valley, Oahu★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3,350 reviews
- 3Chief’s Luau Admission★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 3,018 reviews
When the North Shore swell arrives, the south shore stays calm.
From about November to March the big winter swell turns Waimea Bay and Sharks Cove into surf breaks, and swimming on the north coast often stops. The south shore around Waikiki stays calm, and the humpbacks arrive from December. In summer it flips: the north coast lies flat for snorkelling and Waikiki gets the waves.
By place, from Waikiki outwards
By kind of day: reef, deck, ridge or lawn
Waikiki to Haleiwa: how a first Oahu week usually runs.
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