Top Oahu Day Trips - page 11

What a fantastic way to experience Oahu if you have limited time but want to see as much as possible. The tour operator Papa P picked us up promptly at 0555 hours from Hilton Hawaiian village. We had a total of 21 in our group. The first stop was Pearl harbor museum and USS Arizona memorial. What a somber sight but necessary to remember our history so we learn and teach our future generations. Next trip was to grab lunch at shrimp da bomb on the way to Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC). The food was average at best and very expensive but we were hungry so anything would have been sufficient. The PCC was a fantastic experience which incorporated not only Hawaiian culture but Aotearoa, Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga. This was reminiscent of Disney World with restaurants of the world all together. Each section had its own styles from the specific representative culture, with not only traditional shows like dancing, music and fire but hands on immersive experiences. The Dole Pineapple plantation could have been better as it was just the shop for us. We didn't have time for the train ride through the pineapple farms or the maze. Along the way, Papa P planned numerous short stops to popular touristic destinations like Kualoa Ranch where many movie scenes were filmed on location including Jurassic Park. Other brief stops included but not limited to the Banzai Pipeline, Sharks Cove and Turtle Bay for photo ops. Along the journey, we stopped at some roadside food and shopping places for coffee, fruits, jewelry and knicknacks. Papa P also narrated the trip which was quite interesting in learning the historical aspects of where we passed on the way. All in all, a great excursion and Papa P should get be praised for his interest in our personal experience.

My partner and I did the UTV tour and it was one of the highlights of our trip to Oahu. It absolutely exceeded all our expectations. You don’t have to be a Jurassic Park fanatic to enjoy this tour. The views you see during the tour are amazing, and driving the UTVs was so much fun. Our two UTV tour guides were fantastic. They gave us the background history of the Kualoa Ranch and Hawaii, and they pointed out the dozens of different movie, tv and music video sets used on the expansive ranch. They also took multiple pictures of us so we weren’t just taking selfies. This was a well organized, fun, scenic and overall fantastic tour.

The tour was a good time. Anna was a great guide. Despite the rain we saw some great views and had some good food. Their was a few changes to the tour, no snorkeling cuz of the rain, so more time in town and at Dole. We appreciated the surprise stop at Nanding's Bakery for a Spanish roll while picking up last minute guests. And now we got Mauna Loa chocolate macadamia nuts instead of a pineapple, which I appreciate LOL 🤣. Was a great way to start our honeymoon and get a sense of the island and figure out place we want to go. Well worth it, and I hope you get Anna.