5 Days in Oahu - Local Style!
In March 2023, my partner at the time and I went to Oahu, Hawaii. He grew up in Hawaii, so we explored the island like locals and went to all of his favorite spots! It was so fun seeing his home.
Day 1: We took an early flight from San Diego to Oahu, so we could optimize our vacation time. Once we landed, we ubered to our rental car. We decided to use Turo and rented a car from a local, which was a cheaper alternative to going through a car rental agency. After checking into our airbnb (a cozy studio on the 21st floor, with a spectacular view of Waikiki and the Ala Wai canal), we wasted no time and headed out to explore! First stop: of course acai bowls at daCove!
The acai bowls were yummy and just what we needed on a hot day after a long flight. After enjoying our bowls, we walked to Waikiki beach for a quick dip in the ocean to cool off.
We didn’t want to spend too much time on Waikiki beach because it was very crowded and touristy, so we went back to our airbnb to grab our car and made the drive to sandy beach. Sandy beach is nicknamed break-neck beach due to its shorebreak, so definitely swim and surf with caution. We love the beach, so just having our toes in the sand and feeling the water felt so good, especially after such a cold and rainy winter in San Diego.
After an hour at sandy beach we drove to spitting caves for the sunset. This place was INSANE! The view was unmatched and the sunset made it all the more beautiful. Spitting caves gets its name from the waves crashing against the cliffs and spitting out water. This is definitely more of a local spot so the crowds were minimal, which made it even better! Getting here can be a bit tricky as you literally pull into a neighborhood and walk down a path between two houses and onto the cliffs. But believe me, the view is totally worth it!
Day 2: We spent the next day with no real plans (in my opinion the best travel days are ones where you can roam and do whatever you want). Again, we wanted to stay away from Waikiki and see more of the local places, so after we saw a perfect rainbow from our balcony, we started the morning at Cinnamon’s restaurant in Kailua for breakfast. Obviously, we had to try what they’re known for - guava chiffon pancakes! Personally, they weren’t my favorite, but I think that’s because I don’t really care for guava! If you like guava definitely give them a try. I also ordered the crab cake eggs benny and that was amazing!
After breakfast we drove around the entire island, stopping at some fun places. The drive itself was beautiful. We stopped at Mokoliʻi Island, which means little lizard in Hawaiian. It is also referred to as Chinaman’s Hat due to its shape. The island is off the shore of Kualoa Regional Beach Park. You can access the island by boat, kayak, or even swimming! Since it was still morning and not very warm yet, we didn’t want to get into the water and instead admired the island from afar.
We then stopped at Kualoa Ranch. This is where the movie Jurassic Park was filmed, so it’s a really popular destination for people to visit. It offers loads of activities including horseback riding, ziplining, UTV tours, and of course the Jurassic adventure tour.
After this we went to secret beach and sunset beach. Secret beach is a hidden, mostly secluded beach that you can access by parking on the side of the road and walking through the woods. However, as with most hidden gems this place became popular, so we were disappointed to see quite a few people and a marked path making it much less of a secret. I still found the beach beautiful! We planned on spending a few hours there but due to the tree coverage, it was very shady and a little too chilly, so we headed to sunset beach. Sunset beach is on the Northshore of the island very close to the Banzai Pipeline. It is known for its great surfing. We spent a few hours here swimming and relaxing.
We stopped in Historic Haleiwa Town for lunch. Once we parked we were greeted with a wild peacock showing off his feathers. In town we explored numerous galleries exhibiting gorgeous art. Wy Gallery was our favorite - a large gallery exhibiting mind blowing artwork! It’s hard to grasp the talent people have! We came full circle and finished the night on Waikiki beach for sunset. The beach was very crowded, but the view was nice! The Oahu Festival was happening on the main street of Oahu, so we decided to check that out as well. The streets were full of food trucks and vendors selling art. We bought a few things and got a fun boba drink to end the night (sunset and sunrise were the name of the drinks). Overall, we had a fun, full day on the island!
Day 3: Kaʻau Crater hiking day! I want to preface this by saying that this hike is extremely challenging and includes steep inclines and scaling waterfalls so please be careful. That being said it was absolutely beautiful, totally worth it, and I felt so accomplished once we completed it. We only ran into 2 other hiking groups the entire time, so having the trail to yourself is very likely. When we started the hike it was raining and the rocks were really slippery so make sure you wear good shoes! The trail starts with a decline through the jungle into the valley and opens to a path down by the river. I just want to say there is no greater way to feel connected to nature than by hiking in the jungle in the rain - it was truly magical!
The trail is a little difficult to follow, but there are pink ribbons on some trees that we followed to guide us in the right direction. Eventually we came to a drop down with ropes. Using these ropes to scale down the rocks we were led to the first and smallest waterfall. We used this time to take a break, have a snack, and dip our toes into the chilly water.
The second waterfall is only a half mile from the first, but it is uphill, so it took us a little while! The trail led to the bottom of the waterfall, where we continued the hike by climbing up to the top of it. This was very scary to me, so I spent most of this part climbing up on my hands and knees (little did I know it only gets scarier lol).
We continued onward and upward to the next part of the hike. The trail led us to the bottom of the third waterfall, which looked small at first but as we continued hiking it went on and on. Now this is where the fun starts - you hike UP the waterfall! There are ropes that help you scale the waterfall and at one point you even cross it using a rope hung above you. I may have discovered my unknown fear of heights on this hike because I was terrified the entire time.
Once we finished hiking to the top of the waterfall, we hiked further upward using a mud path to get to the crater. This part of the hike was still extremely challenging, muddy, and slippery. It was definitely an upper body workout for me because the distance between each ‘step’ was wide, so I was using the ropes to pull myself up.
*Picture taken from the internet because we didn’t take any pictures of this part of the hike
Finally, we made it to the top of the crater, which gave us gorgeous views of the island. When we got up there, half of the view was obstructed by clouds, but we didn’t mind. It was actually pretty cool to be above the clouds! After enjoying the view and eating some snacks we began our descent. On the way back we bypassed the waterfalls to save some time.
The hike was just over 5 miles and took us more than 6 hours. It was by far the most challenging and frightening hike I’ve done, but it felt great to accomplish it. I tried to make the description of this hike as real as possible, I don’t say this to deter you from the hike, I only say this so you know what to expect. This was just my opinion of it, you may find it to be a breeze! But regardless I hope it inspires you to challenge yourself!
Day 4: We drove to Ko Olina, where Aulani Disney Resort is, to spend the day. Ko Olina is home to 4 lagoons, where snorkeling, swimming, and lounging is very popular. We explored each lagoon before deciding where we were going to make camp and decided on a shady spot under the palm tree. After resting for a little while, we hopped into the water to snorkel (thank you to our airbnb for the gear). The coral reef was thriving and full of sea life! Unfortunately, we don’t have an underwater camera so we didn’t capture anything, but we saw dozens of different fish and even a sea turtle!
Once we got hungry we walked across the street to the Ko Olina center where we cooled off with some gelato before dinner. As my gram always said, eat dessert first! After some shopping, we sat down at the Monkeypod for a great dinner. On our way to our car we caught the sunset over the lagoon!
We ended the night with a sweet treat - ice cream in shaka cones (you can’t have too much dessert on vacation)!
Day 5: Before we headed to the airport, we stopped by ALOH health bar and cafe near our airbnb for breakfast. We got an acai bowl, fresh squeezed juice, unique coffee with orange zest and chocolate banana toast. We were bummed we didn’t find this place sooner because it was so good! We had a layover in Maui and on our flight over we saw SO many rainbows!
I hope you enjoy this blog and have a wonderful day!