Oahu, Hawai’i Travel Guide

Introduction

I spent five days on Oahu in January 2025, hiking, eating, and lounging around the island. This was my first time visiting Hawai’i’s most populated island (I’d visited Kauai in 2017) and I was excited to explore everything it had to offer.

Hikes and Viewpoints

Lanikai Pillbox #2: Great sunrise spot

Time: 1–2 hours
Difficulty: Moderate (Short and steep)

Lanikai Pillbox is known for being a fantastic spot to watch the sunrise on Oahu. The “pillboxes” are concrete boxes that were used as lookouts during World War II. Today, they provide a panoramic view of the ocean, the towns around Oahu, and the mountains. I would not attempt this trail after heavy rain, as it gets extremely slippery and muddy.

Ka’ena Point Trail: Good for a chill walk

Time: Can turn back whenever (I went part way and spent about 2 hours)
Difficulty: Easy

The trail is a very chill and scenic walk along the northwest coast of Oahu, passing beaches, massive waves, and potentially seals. The views are similar throughout the trail, so you can turn back anytime.

There are two trails to Ka’ena Point – one starting from the south, and one starting from the west. I took the west side trail, so that I could stop by North Shore for food before starting the hike.

Makapu’u Lighthouse: My personal favorite (best views!)

Time: 1-2 hours
Difficulty: Easy

The hike up to Makapu’u Lighthouse is my personal favorite hike on Oahu. The trail is relatively short, easy, and has really rewarding views at the end. The lighthouse itself wasn’t my favorite view on the trail (although it’s cool), my personal favorite view was of the Oahu coastline!

Parking can be a little tough to find, but there was plenty of parking along the road leading to the lot. There are large sections of the trail that get very little wind and are very exposed, so I would recommend bringing lots of water.

Koko Head: Brutal but quintessential Oahu hike

Time: 1-2 hours
Difficulty: Hard (Short, very steep, uneven footing)

Three days a week on the stairmaster didn’t fully prepare me for the hike up to Koko Head – It’s a short but brutal hike on old railroad tracks that goes straight up a mountain, with the last bit being the steepest part. There’s also a sketchy section in the middle where the trail is just tracks without a bottom, which can be thrilling or scary, depending on your point of view. What’s funny and discouraging at the same time is that you’ll see locals literally running up and down the tracks as their morning workout like it’s nothing.

The view at the end is really cool, although in my opinion, slightly less impressive than the one on Makapu’u, which can be reached with far less effort. However, if you’re up for the challenge, Koko Head is very much still worth it.

Diamondhead: Most popular hike, overrated in my opinion

Time: 1-2 hours
Difficulty: Easy

I found this hike underwhelming. The view at the end was much less impressive than views on my other Oahu hikes. The summit looks out onto Waikiki and I liked seeing Diamondhead lighthouse along with the Diamondhead Crater, but the Diamondhead Crater has essentially become a parking lot for the hike, so it was much less impressive than Koko Head and Makapu’u.

It also requires an advance reservation and entry fee, unlike many other free trails on Oahu. Overall, I’d recommend skipping this one and going elsewhere.

Beaches

Waikiki Beach: Great sunset spot, tourist central

The most famous and easily accessible beach on Oahu. It gets very crowded, especially midday, but early mornings are peaceful. A fantastic spot to catch the sunset over the water. Calm coves make it great for beginner swimmers and surfers.

Waimea Bay: Great spot for watching surfers

Waimea Bay is one of the most popular beaches along the Kamehameha Highway and a nice place to watch surfers, see cool rocks and trees, and relax for a while.

Parking can be tough on weekends at the main Waimea Bay area, but there are several additional roadside beaches with more parking.

Kawela Bay: Quiet and peaceful

Kawela Bay Beach is tucked away off the Kamehameha Highway – It was the most peaceful beach we found on Oahu, secluded and sheltered by nice trees, and with calm waves.

Kahe Point: Cliffside viewpoint, a bit of a letdown

Kahe Point is a viewpoint on Oahu’s west side overlooking the ocean. There’s no beach access, just a parking lot and cliff viewpoint (kind of mid view of sunset) – We also saw a drug bust going down while we were there. Would not recommend.

Maunalua Bay Beach Park and Kuli’ou’ou Beach: Sunset and sandbar

Maunalua Bay Beach is a shoreline with a shallow beach located near the Hawai’i Kai area. There’s plentiful parking and rock ledges to sit on, making it a nice, quiet spot to enjoy the sunset.

Kuli’ou’ou Beach is located across from Maunalua Bay Beach – The water is very shallow and leads to a sandbar, with off-leash dogs happily splashing around. It’s not a great spot to see the sunset (hidden behind trees), but it’s still worth visiting.

Kailua Beach: Beautiful scenery

Kailua Beach is a sheltered beach with huge waves and soft sand, located on Oahu’s north east side, in Kailua. The beach was surrounded by beautiful palm trees and verdant mountains in the distance, and wasn’t too crowded!

Activities

Surf lesson at Kahu Surf School

I took an hour-long beginner surf lesson with Kahu Surf School. They advertise that 90% of students stand up on their first lesson, and they delivered on that for me.

I thought the lesson was a nice experience and a cool way to try out surfing. However, I sprained my knee during the lesson, and I don’t think I necessarily learned the “right” techniques (they teach the techniques that are most likely to let newbies stand up, but not work for more advanced surfers).

Where to eat in Oahu

Food was a huge part of my trip, and some of the food on Oahu is really good. These were my food highlights and lowlights.

The Good:

Best restaurants:

Musubi Cafe Iyasume ($): Great selection, great value. Fast casual spot a few minutes walk from Waikiki Beach. Often has long lines (even as early as 7am), but the line moves quickly and food comes out very quickly and is fresh. Recommend the unagi don and thin beef udon.
Maguro Spot ($$): Fresh and delicious, fast casual poke spot. Free topping during certain hours if you follow them on Instagram. Recommend the salmon bowl with sesame poke sauce.
Sato Seafood ($$): Really good, unique poke spot. Recommend the macadamia seared salmon bowl (so good I had it twice) – This was my first time having macadamia nuts and a seared fish in poke, and it was incredible.
Hale’iwa Bowls ($$): Great and fresh acai, good portions, a bit too sweet.

Best bakeries and desserts:

Leonard’s Bakery ($): Absolutely incredible, famous Hawaiian bakery known for their malasadas. The hype is completely deserved. Recommend the coconut malasada (perfect texture, flavor, etc., a bit messy to eat), and recommend skipping the li-hing malasada, which is definitely an acquired taste.
Saylor’s ($): North Shore coffee shop built inside a historic bank. Recommend the banana bread – Perfect crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, not too sweet.
Makua Banana Bread ($$): Specialty banana bread bakery. Recommend a loaf of their classic banana bread – It’s warm (fresh out of the oven), moist, soft, great flavor – No notes, the perfect loaf.
Moena Sweets ($$): Ice cream parlor with Hawaiian flavors. Expensive but big portions. Recommend the black sesame and kona coffee flavors!
Waiahole Poi Factory ($$): Roadside restaurant known for plate lunches, I didn’t try their food but I really liked their haupia ice cream – Very creamy, huge portions, strong coconut flavors.

Best coffee:

Rise & Grind ($): Great cold brew, very strong nut and chocolate notes.

The Bad:

Not so great restaurants:

Mama Woo’s BBQ ($$): Korean BBQ plate lunch spot. Top-notch service (fast, very nice) and value, but food was lacking. I had the BBQ chicken & bulgogi, broccoli, cucumber salad, with noodles on the side. Meat was a bit dry and I wasn’t super impressed. The sides were pretty good though!
Kono’s North Shore ($$): Casual Hawaiian BBQ & breakfast chain, known for their kalua pork. Their famous kalua pork is very dry and way too salty.

Not so great bakeries and desserts:

Kona Coffee Purveyors ($$): Long wait, expensive, and not that great. The black sesame kouign amann (their signature pastry) was too sweet and didn’t have much sesame flavor. The banana bread was ridiculously sweet and kind of stodgy. I did enjoy their macadamia nut opera cake from b-patisserie though.
Nanding’s Bakery ($): Terrible quality and a huge letdown. Had the ube ensaymada, cinnamon ensaymada, and ube twist – There was no discernable ube or cinnamon flavor but all of the pastries were way too sweet. The breads were dry and actually a bit stale.
Halekulani Bakery ($): Not bad, but unimpressive. Kona coffee kouign amann had no coffee flavor, just tasted like sugar, and the pastry was dry.
Matsumoto’s Shave Ice ($): Famous shave ice spot, I found it very artificial and too sweet, the flavors didn’t taste anything like they were supposed to. Overall pretty terrible, but I think it’s because I don’t like shave ice.

Final Thoughts

I had a great time in Oahu and felt like I had a great mix of hiking, relaxing, and eating while on the island. Would strongly recommend:

Going early, before things get too crowded
Renting a car to explore outside of Waikiki and the touristy areas
Checking out North Shore for the amazing banana bread
Doing the Makapu’u hike for the best views
Catching as many sunsets as possible