Recommendations: Hawaii

[sauergeek]

Work is sending me and a coworker to Hawaii (for work, alas). However, I'll have two free days (6/24 and 6/30) as well as one free evening (6/23) to have a look around the place. I'm staying in Honolulu, and will be on Oahu the entire time I'm there. The hotel is one of the Honolulu International Airport hotels -- a Best Western, I think. There is a car available, but it's in my coworker's name, so I will likely not have ready access to it.

Questions for the assembled folk who know Hawaii:
* Does Honolulu have decent public transit? How about the rest of Oahu? If so, is there a website for trip planning?
* Do you have any tour books you particularly like?
* What do you recommend I do in my spare time?

I like trying out new food, new beer, and I suppose I should make at least one beach stop that involves fru-fru drinks with umbrellas in them. I also think I'd like to stop by Pearl Harbor and see the WW2 memorials there.

Thoughts?

Comments

[snolan.livejournal.com]

Warning, this information is somewhat dated - I was stationed at Hickam AFB in 1985 and 1986... however, it is probably still accurate.

Honolulu (the city's official limits cover the whole island of Oahu, though many parts of Oahu are rural and have smaller communities with their own name) has a fantastic public bus system called "The Bus" and the rates may have gone up but you can ride as long as you like for a flat fee (which used to be 50 cents). Even if it's $2 today, it'd still be worth it. I used to carry a walkman and a pack of tapes and simply ride around all day long to site see and people watch from the bus... which does go out of the main city to the North Shore and to Sandy Beach and many other excellent sites.

When I was there the Waikiki Aquarium was crap, but I have heard that the Aquarium was massively renovated and is now excellent. sutragirl and I plan to visit in August and we intend to go to Oahu as well as either Maui or Kuai just for the Aquarium and the WWII memorials.

The massive waves you hear about off the North Shore are a winter phenomena... you'll only see them from November through March. During the summer the waves are larger on the South shore (Eva Beach, Ala Moana Park, Waikiki, Kahala, and sometimes Sandy Beach) - but summer waves are not as dramatic as winter waves off the North Shore... you are talking about 3-4' swells and sometimes good waves of up to 7' (as surfers measure them, that 7' will look like 12' as you sit in the trough and face it) - but only on a spectacular day.

Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve is a fantastic place to swim and snorkel - the fish are friendly because they know they are protected there and you can see all kinds of wildlife (or is it tame-life?) you'd ordinarily have to dive or search for a long time to see. Hanauma bay (North side) is also where the famous "toilet bowl" is (natural bowl in the rock that fills up with waves and then flushes periodically - to many swimmer's delight).

Sandy Beach is probably my favorite beach on the island, and when you are there the chances are it will be a rockin' spot to visit for active people. It is not a sit on the beach and read a book kind of beach at all - the local rock station brings in big speakers and DJ's from the beach, and the waves there summon boogie-boarders and body-surfers galore... and when the waves are right occasionally surfers and wind-surfers. Sandy is also close to the famous Blowhole and "From Here to Eternity Beach" and there is usually a hundred kite flyers and hang gliders in the area too because of the winds. Be prepared that there are nearly no facilities at Sandy; it remains blissfully wild and undeveloped... just a place where people park their cars (or get off the bus) and hang out where there are no high-rise hotels and nearly no vendors. Bring sunblock!!!!

[snolan.livejournal.com]

In the summer the most of the North shore is open to safe swimming in calm waters and even some cliff diving.

WWII memorials at Pearl are all awesome, and "the Punchbowl" - the National Cemetary of the Pacific is disquieting. It is a bowl shaped Pacific version of Arlington cemetary; only more beautiful, set in stunning surroundings in the crater of a dormant volcano.

I am certain all the food and bar recommendations I had from the mid 80s are long outdated, but an interesting novelty that was pretty much available everywhere is that drinks that would be served with a slice of lemon or lime here are served with a slice of fresh pineapple there... Hell, even the McDonald's in Waikiki served cokes with a slice of pineapple when I was there! Fresh pineapple is amazing. I used to hate pineapple when I was a kid and all I saw were the tinned ones... but after my Hawaii assignment I love pineapple. YUM!

Warning: The locals have a staple called POI (a tuber I think) that you can survive on, but it tastes like crap. Think of the worst parts of ochre, potatoes, turnips, and radish all rolled into one. Gah!

The whole Eastern (or Windward) side of Oahu is lush jungles and tropical flowers on fantastic volcanic slopes - stunningly gorgeous. Any park or picnic time will be amazing.

Waimea has a State Park famous for it's waterfalls and exotic flowers and exotic birds.

Culturally Oahu is a fascinating melting pot of pacific cultures, and you can find fantastic Sushi, Chinese, Thai, Korean, Portuguese (yeah - never did figure that one out), Samoan, Phillipine, Vietnamese, California, New England, and even Russian food/communities/influences. All of that on top of the native polynesian/Hawaiian culture.

Sandy Beach

[snolan.livejournal.com]

Oh - forgot to warn you - if you do go to Sandy (which I recommend), do talk to the amazingly professional life guards about the current conditions before getting in the water. Their advice will be priceless. All the action and energy in the water that makes it fun also make it dangerous if you are careless.