How to See Oahu in 1 Day
If you only have 1 day in Oahu, Hawaii make it memorable one. We arrived to Honolulu late, it was already dark. My very first impression is Las Vegas on the ocean or Los Angeles. It is very similar in many ways to these two cities. Honolulu is very urban. Many of the roads are one way and difficult to navigate late at night if you don’t know where you are going.
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We stayed a half of a block from Waikiki Beach. At 11:00 at night the street across from the beach was still crawling with people. Warm trade winds and beautiful scenery. We had very limited time here while waiting to fly to Kauai.
Hike Diamond Head
If you want to take a refreshing hike with a fantastic view of the city and the island, Diamond Head is a great way to start out the morning. We started early and hiked to the top. We arrived at Diamond Head at 7:00 am. The trail opens at 6 am. If you want a head start, before the tour buses arrive, come early.
The walk starts out as pavement and then becomes a dirt path that winds around the crater, a set of stairs, more path, the awful steep stairs, set of spiral stairs and you will come to a room, duck under the stone and you will have an awesome view of the Island.
Walking up obviously takes more time than going down, so I advise resting and take in the view! Walk down the skinny paved path to the left where you can walk a few more stairs to get the best views.
We loved the view-it was well worth the hike! Just look at the views of the city, the beaches, the lighthouse and the variations of color in the ocean. Awesome!
For more information visit the website: www.hawaiistateparks.org
Waikiki Beach
Of course if you come here, you must visit the infamous Waikiki Beach. Waikki is a great beach for all ages. It is also a very popular beach, which means it is crowded here.
We enjoyed walking on the grounds across from the zoo on the Waikiki beach side and looking at the trees. Huge Indian Banyan trees were fascinating to look at it.
Iolani Palace
Since we didn’t have time to take the tour we did the best thing and drove to see the Iolani Palace. It is the only authentic palace in the United States, so we wanted to at least walk on the grounds and take a photo.
Right across the street you can view the statue of King Kamehameha. It was sent to Honolulu in 1883 after the first statue was lost at sea. The first statue was eventually salvaged and placed on The Big Island of Hawaii.
After some lunch and shopping we flew to Kauai- I took this rainbow photo from the airplane while we were leaving Oahu.
