We will be spending one day in Waikiki next Jan. I want to make the best of it and not do the the typical tourist things. I want to see a bit of natural Hawaii. Any suggestions please for off the beaten track visit.

Two suggestions: rent a car and head out on your own. The roads are excellent, you can't get lost, and you can cover much of the island in a day.

Or: you didn't mention which line you are cruising on but we did a tour with Princess called "Natural Highlights of Oahu", or something to that effect. It covered a lot of beautiful areas you don't usually hear about. I'm sure all lines offer something similar.

Have a great trip.

One time during a land trip, I did a wonderful ecotour of Oahu, where we visited many seldom seen interior sites, waterfalls, etc. It was muddy and we did a bit of climbing, but it was wonderful. If your ship offers any tour like that, I would highly recommend it. Otherwise, if you google "ecotours of oahu" you will find some good stuff, but you would have to find out if they pick you up at the cruiseport and if the time works out.

There are some tours going to the north side of the island, through the pineapple fields, and as f-mattox stated, renting a car is a great option. I would highly suggest visiting Pearl Harbor and the punch bowl. These are tourist excursions, but are well worth visiting. Hanama Bay is great for snorkeling and relaxing. I'm not sure if you can still get around the point and over to the toilet bowl, but that was a blast. Best wishes and have a great cruise!

Thankyou so much everyone. I have some great ideas now and what to do. We will be on Aurora doing a world cruise. I want to make the best of Hawaii with the little time we have there. Thanks again cruisers.

rent a car and do you own thing, get out of the city and enjoy the view and have a picnic
also if you like to shop there is a shop meet in the stadium across from Pearl Harbour it is absolutely fantastic I think it is sundays or saturdays don't buy one thing until you get there

Thank you so much Deswords. I will remember your advice. This port is fairly early on in our cruise so I will certainly check out the shopping!! Can't wait.

Hello,

Rent a car when you are in Honolulu,Oahu. You can drive all around Honolulu and the rest of Oahu on excellent roads, stopping to see Pearl Harbor (the general area from the outside as you probably will not have enough time to go on the tour of the Arizona Memorial). See also the Pali Lookout, drive through Wakikki, see Oahu's north shore and especially Waimea Beach (one of the most famous surfing beaches in the world), BYU Hawaii, and hike up Diamond Head.

Oahu really isn't very big so you can easily do allof the island within the alloted time...shopping is at Hilo Hattie's.

Hope that this helps.

Fred

Thank you so much Fruby for all your information. It all sounds wonderful and I will keep your advice to hand.

there is a great publication available on all the islands and online at 101thingstodo.com
this will be a big help as each person as different tastes...some things we did that were fun were: tourist stuff...took a bus tour of island it was very informative, had many stops and since i didnt have to drive i got to sightsee also....went to pearl harbor, very somber...went to hanauma bay (best beach to learn to snorkel) for off the track stuff try to find prison beach, its where they film the tv series lost...go to north shore and watch the pipeline surfers...and our favorite local flavor beach is lanakai, its not crowded like waikiki and is only a 30 minute ride from there..it doesnt have a lot of facilities so pack your lunch and drinks or stop on the way and get some...park by the community ballfield and walk to beach access, its awesome. If thats not your cup of tea i'm sure you can find something to suit you in the 101thingstodo info.
enjoy!!

We take the bus. Honolulu has one of the best bus systems in the world. For $2USD you can take a complete circle tour of the island. You can stop along the way as many times as you like and get a transfer to get back on. You can stop at the Dole Pineapple Plantation, Waikiki, Chintown, Polyneisan cultural center, everywhere in fact on the island. It is way fun and you meet all the locals. We met some locals and got along so well they invited us to their house for lunch and we became close friends.

We found some excellent options on Hawaii Cruise Excursion

What would I do without this forum. Thank you so much everyone for all this great info. I am spoiled for choice now in Hawaii. I can't wait to get there.

Hey Avril...you went from Carnival Pride a month ago....to a WORLD CRUISE!!! And a few others thrown in...WOW how did you find this one! Have a great time!!!! Still wish I was back in Cabo though!!!

Michele

My Mom went to Hawaii several times. She discovered a great book called Hidden Hawaii that gave lots of information about doing the things that tourists overlook. If you are planning to rent a car, try to get a copy of this book.

I lived on the windward side back in the sixty's. If the ship leaves late enough, be sure to be at Jamison's on Sunset Beach for cocktails - right at sunset, everyone gets quiet and watches for the "green flash"! If you're lucky and the conditions are right, you'll see it.

...and before all you jokers jump in - no, it doesn't have anything to do with how many cocktails you've had to see it!

We found this cruise as we wanted to se friends in Australia and New Zealand. This was the only ship we could find that went all the places we wanted to go. Can't wait. Jan 7th is sailing day. We are also looking for a cruise to buenos Airies as we want to visit Iguazo Falls. Hopefully it will work out. Thanks for your reply.

quote:

Originally posted by MicheleT:
Hey Avril...you went from Carnival Pride a month ago....to a WORLD CRUISE!!! And a few others thrown in...WOW how did you find this one! Have a great time!!!! Still wish I was back in Cabo though!!!

Michele