Things to do in Honolulu
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Honolulu
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season sweet spot: warm, pre summer crowds, and the North Shore turning calm and swimmable by late May.
Peak family season with the highest prices and the most competitive Hanauma and Diamond Head reservations.
Hottest, most humid and stillest stretch, with thinner crowds, the warmest ocean and the tail of hurricane season.
Wet season: humpback whales December to April, big wave surf November to February, greener waterfalls and muddier trails.
What's on
- Sony Open in Hawaii January
The PGA Tour at Waialae Country Club, a neighbourhood course you can watch but not play.
- Honolulu Festival March
Pacific Rim cultural festival with a Waikiki parade and fireworks.
- Lei Day May 1
Kapiolani Park lei contest, small, local and lovely.
- Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawaii Memorial Day evening
Thousands of lanterns at sunset at Ala Moana Beach Park; arrive hours early.
- King Kamehameha Celebration Floral Parade mid-June
Floral parade from Downtown to Waikiki.
- Prince Lot Hula Festival July
Hawaii's largest non competitive hula showcase.
- Aloha Festivals September
Waikiki street party and Floral Parade.
- Hawaii Food & Wine Festival late Oct to early Nov
Ticketed Oahu events close the festival, featuring chefs from the Eat list; book ahead.
- Honolulu Pride October
Waikiki parade in October.
- Vans Pipe Masters December, when swell allows
Big wave competition at Pipeline on the North Shore.
Best things to do in Honolulu
Pearl Harbor National Memorial
The essential memorial visit: museums, film and the Navy boat to the Arizona memorial straddling the sunken ship.
Battleship Missouri Memorial
The battleship where World War II ended, worth adding to Pearl Harbor if you have a full day and real interest.
Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum
Aviation museum on Ford Island that pairs with the Missouri and Bowfin for a full Pearl Harbor history day.
USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park
A World War II submarine and museum that rounds out a full day at Pearl Harbor alongside the Missouri.
ʻIolani Palace
The only royal palace on US soil, where a guided or audio tour makes Hawaiian monarchy history feel concrete.
King Kamehameha Statue
The landmark statue across from Iolani Palace, an easy free stop on a downtown history morning.
Kawaiahaʻo Church
Historic church across King Street from the palace, a free stop that completes the downtown history walk.
Bishop Museum
Hawaii's deepest museum visit, with Hawaiian and Pacific halls that make the whole island make more sense.
Where to stay in Honolulu
Waikiki centre (Kalakaua Ave)
first trip, best walkability
Everything at your feet and no car needed, at the priciest rooms per square foot and the most crowded beach.
Waikiki east end (Gold Coast and Kapiolani Park)
quiet Waikiki base
Greener and calmer, with the zoo, aquarium and Sans Souci beach at your end and the strip a beach walk away.
Waikiki west end (Fort DeRussy and Ala Moana edge)
resort scale stays and fireworks
The widest beach, the big resorts and Ala Moana Center walkable, fronting the Friday fireworks.
Ala Moana and Kakaako
modern, less touristy base
A resident condo and hotel district with the beach park and mall at your door and Chinatown dining 10 minutes east.
Kahala
secluded luxury
A wealthy residential enclave with one resort on a calm beach, choosing quiet over anything to walk to.
Ko Olina
families who plan to stay put
Four calm lagoons, golf and Aulani in a self contained enclave, but a poor base for Honolulu sightseeing days.
Think twice about
- Downtown and Chinatown as a base
Visit for dinner, do not sleep there: the office district empties after dark and streets near Aala Park carry the city's most concentrated visible homelessness and open air drug use.
- Airport, Nimitz Highway and Kalihi motel strip
Industrial, freeway noisy and nothing walkable, with encampments under the viaducts; the saving evaporates in rideshares.
- Waianae and Makaha as a cheap rental base
An hour plus away on one two lane highway, few legal stays, large visible encampments in coast parks and higher property crime reporting.
- Kailua, Lanikai and North Shore nightly rentals
Short term rentals under 30 days are essentially illegal outside resort zones, enforcement is active and unpermitted listings can be cancelled.
Best restaurants in Honolulu
Helena's Hawaiian Food
The essential Hawaiian meal since 1946: pipikaula, kalua pig, laulau and poi at a no frills Kalihi counter.
Fête Hawaii
The special occasion Chinatown dinner, island produce through a global lens, with one of the city's best cocktail lists.
Senia
Ingredient driven tasting menus a few doors from Fete, with an eight seat chef's counter that books out.
MW Restaurant
Hawaii Regional Cuisine's modern flagship, known for mochi crusted kampachi, butterfish and standout desserts.
The Pig and The Lady
Modern Vietnamese landmark now on Waialae Avenue, famous for its pho French dip and Le fried chicken.
Mud Hen Water
Native Hawaiian ingredients reimagined with total respect on Waialae Avenue, plus one of the city's best brunches.
Ono Seafood
The poke benchmark: super fresh ahi and tako mixed to order at a tiny takeout counter near Waikiki.
Side Street Inn
The chefs' after shift institution: huge family style garlic chicken, ribs and fried rice, kitchens open late.
Best bars in Honolulu
House Without A Key
Sunset cocktails and Hawaiian music under the kiawe tree with Diamond Head in frame, the Waikiki splurge drink.
Outdoor things to do in Honolulu
Royal Hawaiian Golf Club
A jungle round carved through rainforest under the Koolau cliffs, scenic and famously hungry for golf balls.
Ko Olina Golf Club
The reliable polished resort round on the west side, immaculately kept and forgiving, with waterfalls.
Turtle Bay Golf
Arnold Palmer's championship test through ironwood forest to oceanfront closing holes on the North Shore.
Turtle Bay Golf - Fazio Course
The easier second course at Turtle Bay, a gentler option alongside the Palmer championship layout.
Ala Wai Golf Course
The locals' municipal course behind Waikiki, flat and honest with Diamond Head views at a fraction of resort prices.
Kapolei Golf Club
A mid tier step up on the west side that locals name when Ala Wai's municipal conditioning is not enough.
Hawaii Prince Golf Club
A mid tier west side course locals pair with Kapolei as the step up from Honolulu's municipal rounds.
Shark's Cove
Oahu's best free snorkelling in summer only: lava tubes, turtles and dense fish in a marine conservation district.
Best hotels in Honolulu
The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort, Waikiki
The 1927 Pink Palace, with garden grounds in the middle of the strip and Waikiki's best known historic setting.
Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa, Waikiki Beach
Waikiki's first hotel from 1901, the banyan court icon next door to the Royal Hawaiian on Kalakaua.
OUTRIGGER Reef Waikiki Beach Resort
The mid tier beachfront overachiever in central Waikiki, a step below the flagships in price, not location.
Ka Laʻi Waikiki Beach, LXR Hotels & Resorts
A luxury tower hotel in central Waikiki ranked among Hawaii's top hotels in 2026 reader voting.
Kaimana Beach Hotel
The boutique pick: small and stylish, directly on Sans Souci beach with its restaurant under the trees.
Queen Kapiʻolani Hotel Waikiki Beach
Park side rooms with Diamond Head views at the quiet east end of Waikiki, near the zoo and aquarium.
The Twin Fin Hotel
East end value across from the beach, a simpler base near Kapiolani Park and Sans Souci.
Park Shore Waikiki
A quiet Gold Coast option at the Diamond Head end of Waikiki, away from the strip's busiest blocks.
Is Honolulu expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $124 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $329 a person |
| Splurge | $926 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Pearl Harbor National Memorial: weeks ahead
- ʻIolani Palace: weeks ahead
- Diamond Head State Monument: a few days ahead
- Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve: a few days ahead
- Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design: weeks ahead
- Experience Nutridge: weeks ahead
- Kaula Luau: weeks ahead
- Ka Waʻa, A Lūʻau at Aulani: weeks ahead
- Pearl Harbor Arizona tickets release on Recreation.gov 56 days and 24 hours ahead and prime morning slots go in minutes.
- Hanauma Bay reservations open exactly 2 days ahead at 7am Hawaii time and sell out in minutes; it is closed Monday and Tuesday.
- Diamond Head entry reservations open up to 30 days ahead and the earliest 6 to 8am slots go first on weekends.
- Sushi Sho, the Senia counter, Fete, Experience Nutridge, Kualoa Ranch and popular catamarans need weeks ahead in season.
- Waikiki hotels book out for Christmas to New Year, summer, marathon weekend and major festival weeks.
Is Honolulu safe?
- The ocean is the real risk: swim at lifeguarded beaches, never alone, and never on an unguarded North Shore beach in winter.
- Stay 10 feet from turtles and 50 yards from monk seals, use only reef compliant mineral sunscreen and never stand on coral.
- Car break ins are the common visitor crime at lookouts, trailheads and beach parks; leave nothing visible or in the trunk.
- Valley trails flash flood after heavy rain and exposed midday trails hospitalise unprepared hikers; start early with a litre of water.
- Check your government's current travel advice before you go.
Honolulu travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Dole Plantation is a gift shop stop of 30 minutes if passing, never a day built around it.
- The Polynesian Cultural Center is a full day theme park, not your one luau, and serves no alcohol anywhere.
- Circle island bus tours stop everywhere and experience nothing; self drive the North Shore and windward days instead.
- Defaulting to dinner on Kalakaua Avenue pays the island's highest prices for its most average food.
- Lanikai parking is aggressively enforced; park at Kailua Beach Park and walk, or rideshare.
- Timeshare and free activity desks trade a sunset sail for a 90 minute high pressure presentation.
- Sandy Beach is a bodyboard spectacle nicknamed Break Neck Beach; photograph it and swim elsewhere.
Getting around Honolulu: public transport and more
- Do not rent a car for the whole trip if based in Waikiki; rent for 1 to 2 days only for North Shore and windward days.
- TheBus is island wide and good, with HOLO card fare capping linking Waikiki to Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Hanauma and Kailua.
- Skyline rail does not reach Waikiki or the downtown visitor core; airport to Waikiki stays taxi, rideshare, shuttle or express bus.
- Treat H-1 rush hour traffic as a schedule input and never put Hanauma, the North Shore or a tee time on your flight day.
Who Honolulu suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Honolulu your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
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