Three Days in Oahu

If you ask someone “if there was any place in the world they could visit, where would it be?” a lot of people will say Hawaii. My dad happened to be one of those people, and so after he retired he took my family on a trip to Hawaii during my college spring break. Originally, we had planned on a cruise around the islands, but our cruise was canceled due to covid. So instead, we planned a trip for three days at Waikiki Beach and three days on Maui. Here is everything we did those three days in Oahu.

Waikiki Beach Day 1:

When we first arrived in Honolulu it was mid-afternoon and we were all starving. After checking into the Outrigger Resort in Waikiki Beach, the first thing we did was find food. So, what does a starving American family who has been traveling for 18 hours get? Pizza. After housing two large pizzas as a family, we spent the remainder of our first evening walking the beaches of Waikiki. If you have never been to Waikiki beach, it is a very popular destination for tourists. The beaches are stuffed with hotels and resorts, but that does not mean it isn’t a great place to visit. Waikiki has good shopping (especially for luxury brands), a wide selection of food (not just NYC style pizza), and a beautiful beach.

Waikiki Beach Day 2:

On our second day in Waikiki, my mom and I spent the whole morning on the beach. That needs no explanation, the beach is awesome. However, in the afternoon we decided we wanted to hike Diamond Head which is a famous volcanic cone and state park on the island of Oahu. We found that the easiest way for our family to get from the resort to the park was to Uber. The Uber dropped us off at the beginning of a tunnel to access the park. We walked through the tunnel and entered the park.

Inside of the volcanic cone is a huge park with a small gift shop, a small ticket kiosk, and a couple of food vendors. It is advised that you purchase a ticket to enter the park online before you go, but since we did not know that we just used the kiosk that is at the park. You also have to pay for parking if you wish to drive there yourself.

The hike of Diamond Head was absolutely incredible. If you plan on completing this hike I highly recommend you drink plenty of water before, during, and after the hike. Also, use the bathroom right before you start the trail. The hike itself takes about two hours, but that does not account for taking in all the incredible views, taking pictures, and taking breaks for others in your group if need be.

I drank a liquid IV both before and during my hike, which I believe helped prevent me from cramping and getting dehydrated, but any hydration multiplier would be beneficial.

I also advise checking the weather to make sure you are not overdressed for the hike since there is not a lot of shade from the sun. Be sure to bring a sweat-resistant sunscreen, a hat, and comfortable walking shoes.

Once you get to the top of the trail, there is an old military bunker that you can explore (and use to keep out of the sun for a bit). Once you return to the bottom of the trail, I highly recommend getting a dole pineapple smoothie from the vendor. I was personally not a fan of pineapple, but this smoothie completely changed my distaste towards the fruit and I ended up happily eating pineapple the rest of the trip.

When we finished our smoothies, we walked to the end of the tunnel and ordered another Uber to return to our resort. After some cold showers, we got dressed for dinner and The Yard was a short walk from our house. I ordered a pork burger with bacon. If you did not know, pork is an incredibly important and popular staple in Hawaii, and a lot of the meals we had included pork.

Waikiki Beach Day 3:

If you make the trip to Oahu, you are most likely going to make a trip out to Pearl Harbor. We booked a bus trip to Pearl Harbor through our resort. With our trip, our tour guide took us through different parts of the island on our way to Pearl Harbor. Once we got there, he recommended how we should go about our day if we want to get the most out of our experience before the bus took off.

We got off and immediately booked a ticket to take the boat out to the USS Arizona. The USS Arizona is a memorial that was established on top of the sunken USS Arizona from the attack on Pearl Harbor. Visiting the memorial was one of the highlights of our trip, and I truly encourage anyone visiting Hawaii to make this stop if they visit Pearl Harbor.

We left Pearl Harbor and our bus took us to the USS Missouri. The boat is absolutely massive and worth taking the time to explore every aspect of it. I actually lost my family after we went inside, and we did not all find each other until we all exited the ship.

The bus took us back to our resort where we had a nice meal at the restaurant at our resort. We had to make a reservation to eat there, but the food was delicious. After dinner, we hung out at the pool and made sure to get some rest since we were heading to the airport to fly to Maui the next day.