Off Honolulu's Beaten Path
 

I'm going on a mini vacation to Honolulu the 13th thru the 17th of Oct (in a few days! yay). This is by no means as long as I would like, but I'm going for free, so have to take what I can get. There's obviously not a LOT of time to get around, but does anyone know any cool places to check out in the Honolulu area that might not be obvious? I'm going to basically have a day to myself to explore while they're checking out the university, and other than the no brainer of the beach, was looking for more non touristy stuff. Anybody have anything to share?

Like you said, the beach is obvious, but there are other 'touristy' places that are worth seeing. Pearl Harbor is crowded but worth going to if you have time. The Punch Bowl Cemetary is a cool place. It is a WWII cemetary in the shell of an extinct volcano. Very solemn and contemplative with awesome views. If you have transporation try taking the Pali highway to the other (less populated) side of the island. The views as you exit the Pali tunnel are spectacular. Once you get away from Honolulu, you really start to get the island feel. Drive along the North Shore and stop and watch the surf. This is the time of year that the 25 footers start rolling in from Tokyo. Go have dim sum in China town.

Thanks for the ideas! We'll have a rental car, but I'm not sure if I'll have access to it when I'm by myself.

One fun thing to do is take one of those island hopper flights to either the Big Island or Kauai - they are both a lot more natural and have better sightseeing than Oahu. The flights are really cheap, and you can just take a quick flight in the morning and get back later in the afternoon (it's like a 25 minute flight).

Honolulu is the home of 80% of Hawaii's residents. Get out of the city and get away from the crouds. Hawaii is beautiful! Go see the parts of it that aren't covered by the tourists and the vendors catering to them.

Hi,

I was in Hawaii (Waikiki) for 1 week a few years ago. A lot depends on if you have access to a vehicle and what you like to do.

Another touristy attraction that is close to the city but still pretty neat to check out is Diamondhead. It's a landmark of Hawaii, created from ancient magma activity. You hike up the crater to the top and the view is absolutely spectacular. What you see is exactly what the postcards look like, so bring a camera. The hike is deviously tougher than it looks, although no problem at all for a regular hiker. There are quite a few stairs and the sun coming down on you is hot, so bring a water bottle. The view is worth the trip.

I agree that if you want to have some of that "jungle" feeling, you absolutely have to leave the city area. It's a beautiful island and the further away you get from Honolulu, the greener it gets.

One thing I love to do is Snorkel and ScubaDive. There's lots of opportunity for this sort of thing. The fish are gorgeous and you swim amongst them. We saw a sea turtle which was pretty neat as well.

Hope you have a great trip! I long to go back to the Islands.

It was a lot of fun!

Got a chance to do a little bit of everything, but it was just enough to make me want to do more.