Hawai‘i is simply always a good idea and O‘ahu with kids is a particularly good idea. Alice took her husband and two kiddos to O‘ahu and discovered a whole side of O‘ahu she knew very little about but is now obsessed with and plans to return immediately. Her itinerary was ideal for families so here it is! Please do it too!
If there’s one travel saying that I know to be 100% true, it’s this one: Hawai‘i is always a good idea.
Particularly if you’re planning a holiday with kids. It’s a completely doable flight – it’s just over eight hours (on an overnighter) and when you get there it’s only one hour’s time difference (an hour ahead, but a day behind) and is pretty much guaranteed to be warm (or HOT), whatever time of year you’re visiting.
Honolulu – on the most populated island, O‘ahu – is where you’ll land after a direct flight from NZ, and it’s the place you’ll likely have seen a lot of happy, envy-inducing pictures on the gram. It’s home to Waikiki beach – a beautiful stretch of white sand, calm clear waters and palm trees. Perched on the water’s edge you’ll find plenty of high-rise hotels, apartments, bars, restaurants and a mall so big you’ll need to refer to the map constantly. There’s so much to do during the day to make the most of the sunshine, and by night, the shops and nightlife stay open late so you can cram as much as possible in.
But, if you’ve had Hawaii on your list, can I make a wee suggestion – Honolulu is great, but, there is an even better option. if you’re after a truly relaxing family getaway, get out of the thick of it and instead grab a rental car or jump in a cab and drive up the coast a little bit and stay at O‘ahu’s North Shore.
It’s heaven.
There’s the beautiful beaches of Honolulu, except you’ve often got them to all to yourself (well, if you don’t mind sharing the water with schools of colourful fish and the odd green sea turtle). You’ll be able to find a calm beach year round, but in winter you’ll want to be a spectator and head to Pipeline, where the beach transforms into a wild surf spot. If you’re there from roughly late November to late January you’ll likely spot pro-surfers, or even some of the world’s biggest surfing championships as the surf regularly reaches 20ft and beyond.
As well as all its incredible natural beauty, It’s also home to some of the most delicious food trucks you’ll ever try, plus world-famous poke bowls and shaved ice. The whole area has a much more laidback vibe to Honolulu, with zero high-rise buildings and a good old barefoot approach to holiday life.
There’s a tonne of activities to do in the North Shore area, so you could easily fill a week just hanging out there. But, if there’s a lot you want to do in Honolulu, I’d suggest splitting your time between basing yourself in each place. Traffic is a nightmare on O‘ahu – something can look a short distance on the map, but you can quickly, and often, find yourself in gridlocked traffic, no matter the hour.
There’s so much to think about when you’re planning a holiday, so, if the North Shore has your interest want to take some of the work off your plate. I researched the heck out of this trip for months – I’ve been to Hawai‘i three times before this trip – plus I consulted with lots of Hawai‘i experts to create our itinerary. And after living it, I’ve made a few adjustments, but here is what you NEED to do if you want an incredible/relaxing/adventurous/delicious/fun family holiday to remember:
A Five Night Dream Getaway Itinerary:
STAY:
We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott North Shore, which is perfectly located in Lā‘ie, roughly one hour’s drive from Honolulu. It’s right next to the Polynesian Cultural Centre, plus across the road you’ll find private access to a dreamy little beach (that we often had all to ourselves!). It’s a four star hotel but with a lovely laidback vibe, a beautiful pool area complete with a waterfall, a spa pool, plus a pickleball court and loads of fun activity areas – and a tasty and convenient restaurant (that serves Starbucks coffee). You couldn’t get a better spot for families.
One point worth mentioning here is that Lā‘ie is a dry town – so you can’t buy alcohol in the area, and there’s no swim-up bar serving margaritas. You can, of course, pick up your own alcoholic drinks elsewhere and drink them in your room. But to be totally honest, we ended up really enjoying having an alcohol free experience. For a start, it definitely kept the bill down, it was great for a family trip and we just didn’t missed it.
We stayed in a room with two queen beds and a sofa bed, which gave us plenty of room to spread out. Their rooms are all perfect for families, with decent sized refrigerators in every room and a large bathroom with a bathtub/shower. If you are after something a bit bigger they have connecting rooms, a family room with another nook containing four bunk beds, or their suites which have separate bedrooms/lounge areas with sofa beds.
Downstairs you’ll find a little mini convenience store with a microwave in it – some of the bigger rooms have microwaves, otherwise you can easily pop down and use this central one.
DAY ONE: Arrive / Shop / Check-in and Relax
Aloha! Whether you’re flying Hawaiian Airlines or Air New Zealand you’ll land early in the morning (after hopefully getting a bit of shut-eye on the way over).
We picked up a rental car and made our first trip to the Ala Moana Centre – it’s the world’s largest open-air shopping centre and is in Honolulu, not far from the airport, and just back from famous Waikiki Beach. Here, we had lunch (I cannot recommend the Sunrise Shack & their smoothie bowls and salads enough. My boys however, would highly recommend the Chick-fil-A there!). It’s a good spot to go to the supermarket (I have to set a timer in Wholefoods so that I don’t just spend the day gawking at all the aisles), to pick up snacks and supplies (on the North Shore the selection at the supermarkets is a lot more limited – and pricier!).
Then, we strapped ourselves in for one of the most beautiful drives imaginable up to Lā‘ie on the North Shore. There’s a few choices for how to get there, but we took the coastal route through lush rainforest which covers the towering cliffs beside you, then winds down past postcard perfect palm tree lined beaches. It’s phenomenal.
We plonked ourselves by the Courtyard pool for the afternoon and then opted for an early dinner next door at the Polynesian Cultural Centre where there were several food trucks to choose from at the Hukilau Marketplace. We tried Mexican and Poke bowls – but our eldest son went for a New Zealand style food truck, which seemed a completely wrong thing to do, but he had what he described as the best cheeseburger of his life.
DAY TWO: Explore the North Shore Beaches
We visited in late January, so the waves further round the coast were wild. The surf report showed a competition day was scheduled, with surf at 25ft, so we jumped in the car and headed around to Pipeline. It’s about a half hour drive fromLā‘ie, depending on traffic.
In January, the surf is typically winding down – which means the traffic is also less chaotic and it’s easier to grab a carpark. Watching the pro surfers take on such gigantic waves is a spectacle you really shouldn’t miss.
We took a packed lunch and drove from beach to beach along to coast, stopping in at world famous beaches like Waimea Bay and Laniakea Beach (where you’ll have one of your best chances of spotting a turtle).
For sunset (we made sure we were in position at Sunset Beach – it’s one of the world’s most famous beaches for a good reason and definitely lives up to its name. You don’t want to miss seeing the sun go down here.
Eventually we made it down to Hale’iwa which is a thriving little town full of surf shops and eateries. It’s a great place to eat dinner – if you’re after great Mexican, head to SurfnSalsa, or Japanese, go straight to Banzai Sushi Bar. Or grab burgers at Seven Brothers. Honestly Seven Brothers is one of my faves – they have several different stores across O‘ahu and do great family meals. They’re famous for their burgers, but honestly I LOVED (so much I ate it four times during the trip) their salads – either the Polynesian Salad (grilled pineapple, coconut, crushed macadamia nuts, greens & a papaya seed dressing) with Ahi tuna added to it, or the Coconut Macadamia Nut Shrimp Salad. Perfection.
DAY THREE: Discover the Polynesian Cultural Center
You can’t stay at the Courtyard and not go to the Polynesian Cultural Centre it backs onto. The place is huge – it covers 42 acres.
To be honest, I was a bit ho-hum about going. All I knew was that it was big and contains a series of villages representing six island cultures: Hawai‘i, Fiji, Aotearoa, Samoa, Tahiti and Tonga. I’d read there would be performances, potentially a canoe ride and a lu’au.
When we got there though, I was stunned. The place is beautiful – there’s incredible attention to detail and it’s immaculate, it’s so perfectly looked after. The four of us started out on a tour where we broke up into small groups (there were 8 of us in our group) and our lovely guide set about taking us through the islands. In each island there were activities to partake in, performances to watch and arts and crafts to do and take home. The 10-year-old loved it. He got on stage in Tonga where there was a coconut opening demonstration (that was actually more like one of the funniest stand-up routines I’ve ever witnessed) and wound up sculling back coconut water as the crowd cheered. We learnt to weave little fish to take home, watched so many incredible performances and took a beautiful, tranquil canoe ride between islands. My husband took our toddler back to the room for an afternoon kip (we were definitely thankful we were so close by) but the 10-year-old refused to leave – we stayed until 9.30pm.
In the evening we stayed for the Luau which was the best I’ve ever been to – we were given gorgeous leis on arrival and virgin cocktails served in giant festive decorated pineapples. There was great entertainment, telling the history of Hawaii’s royal family – which also gave our two boys the chance to get on stage. And, the food was genuinely incredible – I went back for thirds, particularly the huli chicken!
To finish up we watched the HĀ: Breath of Life Show in the stunning open-air stage. The 90-minute show is of a Broadway level, with music, dance, special effects and some spectacular fire knives sequences that had us gasping. The story itself – centering on Mana and his beloved Lani – is full of tragedy and triumph (which might at times go totally over some kids’ heads, but might leave other youngsters a bit spooked at times – this was our experience with our toddler!).
DAY FOUR: Go Snorkelling at a World Famous Spot / Take in Waikiki
Okay, today’s plan requires a bit of preplanning and work. Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve is one of the most popular tourist destinations on O‘ahu, with good reason. It’s stunning, and one of the most family friendly spots imaginable to go snorkelling.
Set in East Honolulu (about 45 mins drive from Lā‘ie), Hanauma Bay is situated in what was once a violent volcano. The Hanauma Crater was formed in one such explosion and over time, the wall of the crater was slowly eroded away, creating a small opening to the sea and the perfect, sheltered little bay that exists today. And, thanks to the rich soils and underbelly of the crater, plus the safety the cove provides, it’s absolutely teeming with fish.
It’s the perfect place for a beginner or kids to try out snorkelling. It’s just a little difficult to get in! To look after the reserve only a limited number of people are allowed to enter each day. Tickets are $25 each for adults (kids are free) and they go on sale via their website two days previously at 7am. There are a small number of tickets with entry slot times available every 30mins (although once you’re in, you can stay as long as you like – until closing!). Tickets sell out fast, within minutes – the first day I tried, I missed out, but thankfully on the second I managed to get four!
After a morning at the reserve, we headed to Honolulu for a late lunch – Redfish at the Wayfinder Hotel is great for families and do a mean poke bowl!
We spent the afternoon/evening in the hotel pool, before heading to the famous Kahuku Food Trucks. We actually ended up visiting these trucks almost daily and can highly highly recommend Papi’s Tacos (honestly, I hadn’t heard of this truck in all the research I did but their shrimp taco is the best I’ve ever tasted), Zephanie’s Pizza (our kids both rate this the world’s best) and Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck (it’s the most famous one in the area and their garlic shrimp is seriously good).
DAY FIVE: Go on an adventure at Kualoa Ranch
After a morning swim at the beach across the road from The Courtyard, we headed out on a short drive to one of O‘ahu’s most famous spots. Around 20 mins drive away, you need to check out Kualoa Ranch – home to some of the most breath-taking scenery, which has played host to a huge number of film, TV and music video sets over the years, including Jurassic Park, Godzilla and Lost.
We settled for the 90 minute Movie Sites & Ranch Tour (our littlest was two, so that ruled out some of the more adventurous tours!), which took us on an old converted school bus throughout the expansive ranch, past incredible natural scenery, sets from films and TV shows we recognised, plus two stops along the way to get out and explore. If you’re going on the tour, my insider tip would be to sit on the driver’s side for more of the movie-based stuff and the other for more of the natural breath-taking scenery.
After another afternoon swim, we headed 30 mins away to the Dole Plantation. Yes, home to the world famous pineapples! I don’t really know what I was expecting here, but it really delivered. It’s great for families, with a cute pineapple train doing the rounds – lots to see and do… and eat, including the Dole Whip, a delicious icy pineapple treat you have to try!
Then, it’s home for a swim at the beach or pool again to cool off!
DAY SIX: Check-out, Spot a Turtle / Head Home
Check out is at 11am at the Courtyard, which means you’ve got plenty of time to have breakfast, pack up your things and say farewell.
We had an evening flight, so after we checked out we headed to Honolulu to cram in one last, worthwhile adventure: a cruise aboard a glass bottom boat. We went with one of the original tour companies: Hawaii Glass Bottom Boats and took a one hour tour out from Waikiki.
It was the perfect little end to our holiday, setting out into the harbour aboard the Haleiwa Queen and looking back at Waikiki and Diamond Head. Our captain and tour guides were terrific, giving us a history tour, plus pointing out different species of fish (while giving the kids handfuls of fish food to attract more). The highlight was definitely crossing paths with a large green sea turtle and giving her a great big wave as we bid farewell to Hawai‘i. Although, we’re sure we’ll be back – and hopefully soon.
Alice was a guest of The Courtyard by Marriott North Shore and Hawai‘i Tourism NZ
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