Things to Do in Honolulu: Tours, Tickets & Boat Trips

Ranked by traveller reviews: 1) the Salute to Pearl Harbor tour with the USS Arizona Memorial, 2) the Pearl Harbor and Battleship Missouri tour, 3) the Waikiki Trolley hop-on-hop-off, 4) the Mauka Warriors luau, 5) the Historic Honolulu trolley to Iolani Palace and Chinatown, 6) Hanauma Bay snorkelling, 7) the Diamond Head crater hike, 8) a Turtle Canyon snorkel or sunset sail off Waikiki, 9) a surf lesson on Waikiki Beach and 10) the Honolulu food tour through Chinatown, Kaka‘ako and Kaimuki.

Plan three days in the city. Day one: Pearl Harbor at opening time (the Arizona Memorial, then the Missouri or the Aviation Museum), lunch in Chinatown, Iolani Palace and the Capitol district, sunset at Ala Moana. Day two: Diamond Head at sunrise, breakfast in Kaimuki, Waikiki Beach and a surf lesson, the Kuhio Beach hula show and Duke’s at sunset. Day three: Hanauma Bay early or a Turtle Canyon sail, Kaka‘ako’s murals and breweries, a luau. Use the remaining days for the circle island, Kailua and the North Shore.

Waikiki Beach, the Kuhio Beach hula show and torch lighting, the Friday fireworks at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Ala Moana Beach Park and Magic Island, the USS Arizona Memorial with a $1 reservation, Iolani Palace’s grounds and the King Kamehameha statue, Punchbowl’s National Memorial Cemetery, Chinatown’s markets and First Friday, Kaka‘ako’s street art, Kapi‘olani Park and the Waikiki Shell lawn, the Manoa Falls trail (parking fee), the Tantalus lookout over the city lights, and the free hula, lei and ukulele lessons at the Royal Hawaiian Center. Diamond Head costs non-residents $5 plus parking.

The Grand Circle Island tour around Oahu (a full day, about $85–118); the North Shore — Haleiwa, Waimea Bay, Laniakea’s turtles and the Dole Plantation (one hour); Kailua and Lanikai beaches (30 minutes); Kualoa Ranch and the Byodo-In Temple on the windward side (45 minutes); the Polynesian Cultural Center in La‘ie (one hour); Hanauma Bay and the Makapu‘u lighthouse trail (25–35 minutes); and, by 40-minute flight, a day on Maui or the Big Island.

Sunset and live Hawaiian music at Duke’s or House Without a Key, the Friday fireworks and the Kuhio Beach hula show, a sunset or fireworks catamaran sail from Waikiki Beach, a luau, the Magical Mystery Show at the Hilton, Chinatown’s cocktail bars and First Friday art walk, Kaka‘ako’s breweries and SALT at Our Kaka‘ako, jazz at Blue Note Hawaii, the city lights from the Tantalus lookout, night SUP yoga in the Ala Wai and the Honolulu ghost tour.

Whale watching from Waikiki boats from December to April, Honolulu City Lights and the electric-light parade in December, the Honolulu Marathon on the second Sunday of December, the Sony Open golf in January and the Chinese New Year celebrations in Chinatown. It stays around 80°F with slightly more rain; Waikiki’s south-shore waters remain calm while the North Shore surf competitions run an hour away. Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head and Hanauma Bay are busiest around Christmas — book reservations early.

The Waikiki Aquarium and Honolulu Zoo at the edge of Kapi‘olani Park, the calm Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon and a family surf or outrigger-canoe lesson at Waikiki, Hanauma Bay’s shallow reef, a Turtle Canyon snorkel sail, the Battleship Missouri and the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, the Bishop Museum’s planetarium and lava demonstrations, the Hawaii Children’s Discovery Center, the Diamond Head hike (about 1.6 miles round trip), the Waikiki Trolley and a luau with fire dancing.

April to June and September to mid-December — warm, drier, calm seas and better prices than the peaks. Summer is hot and busy. December to March brings whales, a little more rain and the highest hotel rates around Christmas and New Year; book Pearl Harbor and Diamond Head reservations well ahead in any season.

Yes — the USS Arizona Memorial, where 1,102 sailors still lie, is the most visited site in Hawaii and one of the most moving in America, and the Battleship Missouri, the USS Bowfin submarine and the Aviation Museum make a full day. Arizona Memorial tickets are free but must be reserved online eight weeks or one day ahead and vanish in minutes; a guided tour from Waikiki ($55–149) includes reserved tickets, transport and the wider story.