3 days in Hawai Ohau - What to do.

[Bald-Eagle22]

Guys , I’m transiting through Honolulu next year on a fishing trip ( Kiribati ) but have a full day on the way out and three nights and 2 full days on the way back .

So anyone been , what are the must do’s ? Thinking helicopter ride and Pearl Harbour memorial are on my hit list ? Love the beach but I’m to old With knackered knees for surfing.

Suggestions please ?

 

[jeffk]

I’d recommend renting a car and getting out of Honolulu. Honolulu is a fairly generic American city (just more expensive), the Pearl Harbour memorial gets incredibly busy and Waikiki beach is pretty disappointing.

The north coast of Oahu has some incredible and mostly deserted beaches. The marine wildlife in general is amazing - turtles, dolphins, whales, tropical fish, crabs, etc. We did some shark diving off the north coast as well, which was a lot of fun. Just watch out for the 6am rush hour as every heads to work at the military base in the middle of the island!

 

[NickK]

Fly to big island or kawaii for a day or two (big island airports are international too IIRC).

 

[Rroff]

If you've not seen it before Hawaii is one of the better locations for viewing the Milky Way and if you are interested in that stuff in general has some decent offerings in terms of observatory stuff.

 

[jeffk]

If you've not seen it before Hawaii is one of the better locations for viewing the Milky Way and if you are interested in that stuff in general has some decent offerings in terms of observatory stuff.

The tour up to the top of Mauna Kea is one of the most awe-inspiring things I’ve ever done. The combination of being above the cloud line with the low light and dust pollution makes it perfect for stargazing.

Unfortunately it’s on the Big Island!

 

[NickK]

The tour up to the top of Mauna Kea is one of the most awe-inspiring things I’ve ever done. The combination of being above the cloud line with the low light and dust pollution makes it perfect for stargazing.

Unfortunately it’s on the Big Island!

Yup, some things you could do:

A) mauna kea, it takes a car rental to get up to the base camp (you can see the milky way overhead from there as you’re above the could level). To go further up you need to book a tour space.
I went up to the base camp and it’s good. Take some warm clothing as it’s freezing.
It takes time to drive from kona - there’a one road and 30-40mph all the way (speed limit).. did I say there’s one road? Dont fet stuck behind a slow truck lol.

B) you could look to get a full day - we got a chopper offer that took us from Kona to Hilo first thing in the morning that went south past the volcano etc. spent the say in hilo with a mustang, then the same heli offer tool us back hilo to kona around the north part of the island - large 2000ft waterfall, beach colours etc.

Kona had a submarine tour, and we also did a snorkelling off cook point.. but probably more difficult if you’re flying.