Whether it's your first visit or your fifth traveling to Hawaii, there's always more new things to see, do and eat!  Let us plan your Hawaii getaway today!

The lively center of the Hawaiian Islands, Oahu is famous for Waikiki Beach, Pearl Harbor and the surfing mecca of the North Shore, but there is even more to explore. From festivals and events to celebrity-chef dining and shopping, discover the diverse, vibrant cultures that make this island so unique.

Get Salty In Oahu

. Downtown Honolulu, SALT at Our Kakaako is a city block packed with bars, restaurants and shops. The third Friday and Saturday of the month, home to Pa’akai Marketplace with native Hawaiian arts and crafts, stalls and performances.

. A sunrise ritual with salt water on your skin. A Ho’ala ceremony renews mind, body and spirit on the beach in front of the Moana Surfrider just before dawn on Wednesday mornings. Open to everyone and free. Traditional Hawaiian chants, a walk into the water in silence and immersion to embrace a mindful and cleansing start to the day.

. Hit a local ABC Store for a souvenir you can share and take home! Hawaiian sea salt to take home. Black lava, red clay and other colourful salts are perfect gifts. A great gift for holidays!

. Pick a Poke. One of the best eats in Hawaii, raw fish salad found everywhere from top restaurants to service stations and liquor stores.  TIP: a favourite Honolulu poke spot: Ono Seafood and Fresh Catch, fresh is best! So you think of Ahi (yellowfin tuna) when they think poke? Try salmon, shrimp, scallop and other seafood varieties!

HAWAII SECRETS: 6 SPOTS YOU’VE BEEN MISSING

THE ONE THING YOU WON’T FIND IN HAWAII

WHAT YOU’RE DOING WRONG IN HAWAII
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20 TOP THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT HAWAII

6 Secret Sites On Oahu

Joggers are out early. Streams of them are pounding up and down the footpath overlooking Waikiki Beach, make your way in pre-dawn twilight towards Diamond Head.  The air is cool, fresh breezes  and Diamond Head looms above you. We recommend a hike to the sensational lookouts over Honolulu!

​See longboarders riding waves, see the sun poke above the hills then it's coffee time in downtown Waikiki.

Palm trees, leis, beaches, aloha shirts, mai tais at sunset ... surfers on big waves.

Take a Hawaiian holiday, arrive at your beachside hotel, flop onto Waikiki’s sand, catch a wave, sip mai tais and watch a Pacific sunset through the palms. When you get a bit tired of the sand, we've got Hawaiian gems, no need to venture far! Here's six things to check out when you get too much sand in your shorts:

Hawaii by Bike: explore on two wheels: within 10km of Waikiki, do a sunrise ride to Diamond Head to the ex-volcano’s crater and hike to the rim for spectacular views.  Ride toward Kahala Beach, about 20km and treat yourself to a beer on the beach at Kahala Hotel and Resort.

Rather ride flat? Take the easy loop through Waikiki to Ala Moana Beach park and Magic Island lagoon, it's all bike tracks.

Ride inland through suburbs to Manoa Falls for an easy hiking trail through rainforest to the falls awaits.

Amazing Street Art:  it's a run-down industrial suburb just north of Waikiki, the opposite of Waikiki. Push through crowds on Kalakaua Ave, head a few blocks past Ala Moana shopping mall and you’ll come to several blocks of low- slung warehouses, car workshops and other semi-industrial businesses.  Wander, see walls filled with vibrant art – giant cartoon figures. It’s the PowWow movement, Kamea Hader is one of the driving forces, an assortment of artists, performers and musicians who have breathed life into the area – and the greater Hawaiian art scene.  Now an annual festival taking off around the globe, with events in mainland USA and Asia.  Set aside an hour or two to stroll around Kaka’ako’s streets to marvel at some of the work. An added benefit is the craft breweries, bars and eateries popping up in the area.

History on a String:  a few streets from PowWow is Kamaka Ukuleles, the Kamaka family hand-crafts the indigenous instrument. It's said George Harrison was a regular customer. Free factory tours most days. A team of craftsmen and women turn out about 100 nstruments a day.

Epic Rum Tasting: The Manulele distillery sits on an old sugarcane plantation at Kunia, a few kilometres out of Honolulu on the way to North Shore. A 34 variety indigenous sugarcane sweet stop! Ko - used only for rum. From “grass to glass as quickly as possible” Each type of cane is harvested/prepared for distilling separately. Some aged in kegs, some in barrels. The results range from vodka-like white rum to deeper-hued barrel varieties. 

Go Bananas For Food: Mud Hen Water prides itself on a menu featuring local seafood and ingredients. Try the baked banana with curry butter, roasted peanuts, bacon and coconut. Wash it all down with a Maui Brewing Bikini Blonde lager. Kaimuki Superette next door, try the South Shore He’e roll – poached octopus, celery seed and tarragon aioli on a buttered bun with a side salad. Satisfy your sweet tooth with malasada from Waikiki institution Leonards – sugary puffs of joy.  In Chinatown, downtown Honolulu, find The Pig and The Lady, serving Vietnamese cuisine with a twist. Add a memorable bathroom: a shrine to the Kurt Russell film Big Trouble in Little China! For a cocktail sample an All In The Reflexes (Kohana rum agricole, coconut, lime, chilli pepper and basil). In central Waikiki, The Lanai at the Hyatt Centric serves up sublime kampachi sashimi with a ponzu and truffle oil dressing, or Hawaiian tuna and avocado poke. Are you getting hungry yet?

Stand Up For Yourself! Take a novice surfers lesson with the crew at Big Wave Dave’s, a Waikiki institution.There's a quick demo behind the store then hit the beach with your longboards. Realise nobody knows you in Hawaii, so who cares?

Farm To Table Oahu Tours

Ask us about Farm to Forest Tours!  Tour farms, prepare your own farm-to-table dining, venture up to mountain ridges exploring exciting trails and scenic views of Palehua and the coast line. Tours and easy trails for all ages.

Our Farm to Forest tour and many other tours for our Waikiki travelers includes a visit to the market, lunch, sightseeing and exploring the island of Oahu!

Why Come To HAWAII

1. OBSESSION WITH SPAM
Spam pizza, spam sushi, spam kebabs, spam and eggs, spam stir fry, spam steaks ... you get the drift. Nicknamed the Hawaiian steak, Hawaiians consume more Spam than any other state in America — seven million cans a year. It’s even found on island McDonald’s and Burger King menus. April come for Spam Jam in Waikiki.
Spam musubi is the local staple - teriyaki -fried Spam served on nori-wrapped rice.

2. THERE ARE NO SEAGULLS
There are no seagulls. The habitat of the Hawaiian islands is not for scavengers. Gulls are found along coast/shallow inland waters where there is food, not open ocean.

3. IT HAS GOOD COFFEE
Try Honolulu Coffee Experience Centre, watch the coffee-making process in action while you wait. It’s closer to the Ala Moana Centre than the Waikiki hotels but it’s worth the walk. Go ahead, order that flat white in Hawaii!

4. IT’S THE BEST PART OF THE USA
You’re in the USA, but it doesn’t really feel like it. An American accent, USD and chain American stores but a tropical paradise nothing like mainland America.

5. YOU WILL SEE RAINBOWS EVERYDAY
Honolulu is the rainbow capital of the world thanks to its combination of mountains and tropical weather. Brief periods of rain in the mountains turn into an explosion of colour when the sun creeps through making rainbows an almost daily occurrence.

6. YOU WILL BECOME OBSESSED WITH POKE
Poke (pronounced poh-keh) is the hamburger of Hawaii. This raw fish salad is delicious. Fresh fish, usually ahi tuna or yellowfin tuna, is chopped up and seasoned with spicy ahi or shoyu ahi (soy sauce) and served over a hot bowl of rice.
There are many variations on the dish, but this is the classic recipe. Take it upon yourself to find the best poke of the islands.

7. HAWAIIAN FOOD IS AWESOME
Forget the tourist traps, when it comes to eating out in Hawaii there’s some seriously good bites, you just need to know where to go. Traditional Hawaiian food includes dishes such as kalua pork, chicken long rice, squid luau, poi, laulau, and lomi lomi salmon. Here are three local favourites on Oahu.