Oahu Travel Guide: Waikiki

When I think of a Hawaiian vacation I think of sun, beach, peaceful, relaxing. That is the complete opposite of Waikiki. Waikiki is a busy, crowded, noisy city. We stayed one night in Waikiki and honestly one was enough for me. I didn't sleep well for many reason's but a big one was the noise. Dogs barking, siren's going, I don't even know what else. I just heard noise all night long. Granted a ticking of a clock drives me nuts, so I might be more of a sensitive sleeper then most of you. Also, picking a hotel in Waikiki is hard. They're pretty expensive (as most hotels now a days I guess), and there are so many. We were looking for something nice looking, on the cheaper side, and walking distance to the beach. As close as we could get. We picked the Aqua Ohia Waikiki Hotel because it had everything we were looking for. Well it was a lot more dingy looking and sketchier then it appeared in the pictures. How do they do that? I honestly wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I would have rather paid a little more for a nicer hotel. But that's just me. Luckily we were only there for one night.

View from our hotel balcony

I had wanted to hike the Diamond Head Crater first thing in the morning so we could make it to the top to watch the sun rise, but because it was such a late, crappy night we didn't make it till a bit later. It is such a beautiful hike. Its fairly easy and not very long. Perfect for families, and the view from the top is amazing. There are some cool features like a tunnel, winding stairs, and a bunker at the top which was used by the military. I definitely recommend hiking it in the morning when its cooler. Doing this hike put me in a way better mood from our disastrous night, and it gave us beautiful views of Waikiki.

We also spent some time on Waikiki beach. Its pretty small and busy, but a perfect swimming beach for families. A lot of the beaches on the North shore are choppy with huge waves and aren't safe for swimming in the winter. Its also great for learning how to surf and there was a ton of activity on the water. It also came through for us on our last day. We went to a few beaches searching for some sun but only found cloud and wind which made it pretty cold. When we got to Waikiki the sun was out and there was only a little bit of wind. We got a couple more hours in before we had to leave.

They have the coolest looking trees

You can see Ryan in the water just over my shoulder

Cool clouds

 Waikiki is also the perfect place to get all your souvenir shopping in. They have ABC Stores on pretty much every corner which has pretty much everything you need. We bought most of our souvenirs from there on our last day.

If you're going to stay in Waikiki get a hotel close to the beach. Most things will be in walking distance and you can just leave your car parked at the hotel. If your visiting for the day like we did on one of our days its better to find a parking garage and then walk every where else. Driving is crazy, and its hard to find parking on the street. Like I said, Waikiki was just a pit stop for us. Most of our vacation was on the North Shore. Some people may love it, but I guess I'm just not a city girl.

I can't wait to tell you all about our North Shore experience so stay tuned. If you have some fun things to do in Waikiki please let me know. Maybe I just didn't get out and experience it the right way.