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Going to Conference in Hawaii. What can I do?
Akilae729
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I'm going to be staying at the Sheraton Waikiki for a week at a conference at the end of the month and I'm trying to book my travel plans.
I probably can only spend one extra day in Hawaii. Is there anything that is a MUST see that is near there?
Perhaps I can hike up a volcano or something?
I probably can only spend one extra day in Hawaii. Is there anything that is a MUST see that is near there?
Perhaps I can hike up a volcano or something?
Akilae729 on
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Hanauma Bay is beautiful if you can get there.
If I had one day back on the island, I'd climb Diamond Head crater (volcanoes!!) in the early morning, catch lunch at the Kona Brew Pub (10 minutes from Diamond Head), and stop in Hanauma Bay. If I was renting a car I'd continue the loop up to Kahuku for some EPIC shrimp (Remy's - the red colored hut), slide up to Haliewa for some shaved ice and tourist trap shopping and then do some serious quiet beach relaxing while watching the sunet in Mokuleia.
I'd skip Pearl Harbor (it's awesome, but intense. Watch the movie). The Waikiki beaches are pretty cool, but you'll see the best part of them in the late afternoon after your conference (when most of the tourists are back in their rooms or at the bars).
If you're there on a Friday night, the nearby Hilton in Waikiki sets off fireworks from their hotel roof. Every Friday night. Just cross the street to the beach from your hotel, look right and you'll see a rainbow colored building (Hilton). It's pretty neat.
Edit to Add: If you can swing staying through the 4th of July, you will see so many damn fireworks you'll be blind for weeks. Hawaiians. Love. Fireworks.
The Royal Hawaiian hotel and shopping center are literally next door to the Sheraton. There's a Grove in the shopping center in the middle where they do hula/music shows every night, around 6PM. They do some in the day and have some free lessons on hula, weaving leaves, and making leis.
I agree with the idea of a Diamond Head hike if you want nice views. There are no active volcanoes on this island, but Diamond Head is a nice walking hike that overlooks the beach. If you're down there on a Saturday morning there's an amazing farmer's market right at the KCC parking lot next to Diamond Head that sells super delicious things.
If you have some off time on conference days, wander around Waikiki a bit. It's pretty! There's lots of tasty food and shopping to be done. You can catch a trolley to Ala Moana shopping mall if you enjoy shopping or food (it's got pretty much everything there. I work there.) It's about 5 minutes away from Waikiki (15-25 walking); if you don't want to shop across the street from the mall is the Ala Moana beach park.
Heading towards Diamond Head from the hotel there's also Waikiki Beach, the Zoo, and the Waikiki Aquarium if any of those things interest you. We have lots of weird fish.
The best place to see those is Hanauma Bay. Snorkeling! And yes, Kona Brewing Co down there is pretty epic. There's also a smaller on tine airport now if you don't get to head down that way but have time to kill before your flight.
There are also a lot of luaus in that area but I haven't been to any so I'm not sure which ones are the "best".
You can get pretty much anywhere around the island on The Bus but it's a bit of a pain to go around the island because... well, it is. But it's there! Luckily there are tons of things in walking/trolley distance around there.
Diamond head sounds like a winner. Is it possible to take a cab there from the Sheraton??
Is it also possible to do that as an early morning thing and catch an evening flight off the island.
My conference ends Friday morning, and I could hike that, then catch a late evening flight back to LA and not have to pay for a night in a hotel.
Kinda bummed about not being able to stay in Hawaii for a lot longer, but I'll def have another chance to travel out there.
It offers some pretty spectacular views from the top, but on the whole is overrated imho since its a long hike surrounded by hot dirt and old military concrete only. It's not an active volcano or anything, just a really old crater. You can see much of the same stuff from the suburban hills in the islands center.
I'd recommend hitting the beaches and snorkling instead - much more memorable as your one activity in Hawaii.
The same goes for Hanauma bay. It's an amazing place to snorkel and relatively close to where you're staying, but can get pretty crowded later in the day.
But either are absolutely doable in the morning leaving you plenty of room for an evening flight.
Also, food! Oahu has a fantastic range of excellent food to choose from. I'd strongly recommend looking for places to eat out at rather than ordering in at the hotel.
Looking at my Hotel, it looks like I can get the drink Mai-Thai's on the beach thing taken care of during the conference.
And not at all worried if Diamond Head is a tough hike. I used to lead backpacking trips for a club at my university and did day hikes up Half Dome and San Gorgornio earlier this year. So really, any hike under 20 miles would be fine.
I assume that since Waikiki is in a city, I would have to journey quite a ways to see waterfalls and lush landscapes and such?
Definately going to wake up early to get the most out of my free friday. I usually get up at 5am for work everyday so thats not a problem. Maybe I can snorkle AND do Diamondhead
EDIT: I just looked up Diamond Head and the trail is LESS THAN A MILE LONG?
Time to start digging through this Hawaii state parks website........
Hopefully my one day limit doesn't keep me from a proper adventure.
One of my favorite places in Oahu is Waimea Valley just so god damn beautiful and an awesome and relaxing hike. After you are done, grab some dinner at the Turtle Bay Resort. Fancy and Delicious!
Edit:
also, drive through the H3 tunnel. it's awesome.
If you make it up to the North Shore it's so fun to walk around! And go to Ted's bakery and try chocolate haupia pie. Mmm, so delicious. Or get your hands on a Leonard's malasada.
If you see anything interesting and want more details we can help.
If you want a good longer one I can probably help you there. Aihualama trail is a solid hike. To get to it you follow the Manoa falls trail and combined it's about four miles to the top and back. It's fairly close to the city too. I keep meaning to do other trails but I really like that one. Also worth noting is a few trails split off from Aihualama if you decided you weren't done.
Also even though it's the city, it's a small one on a small island. Nature sights are everywhere.
Yes. This. I still dream about Ted's chocolate haupia pie. We did that loop on Saturdays often. Ted's Bakery, Remy's shrimp (BYOB) and some beach time in Mokuleia.
If you're unable to rent a car (most of the Waikiki hotels have car rentals onsite) you can take The Bus over to Diamondhead and Hauma. It's 2.50 per ride. You could probably hoof it to Diamondhead from Waikiki (I'd say 2 miles from hotel to trail entrance).