Waikiki is a great holiday destination. It has just about everything you need for a good time all within a few short blocks of your hotel and if that’s not enough to put a smile on your face, the beach is a short stroll from just about anywhere in Waikiki.

Whoever said ‘You can’t have your cake and eat it too ‘ obviously had never visited Waikiki.

Waikiki is a small area of Honolulu that is focused on a small strip of beach and a few blocks of hotels, shops and restaurants. It is an interesting blend of South Pacific Island and USA city life.

When people heard we were jetting all the way to Hawaii for a 5-day holiday, the main response was “ what a long way to go, why not go to Fiji or Australia “

I have to agree that flying for 9 1/2 hours over the Pacific Ocean is a long flight but Hawaii is worth the effort and with Waikiki being the one stop holiday shop, it makes the perfect place to stay.

Package deals are readily available with flight / accommodation packages ranging from budget to luxury .In the low season which coincides nicely with the New Zealand winter months, these deals are even more enticing.

Fiji and other South Pacific destinations look nice and all but none of them have the city life that Waikiki offers. Living in a rural area also means that when I go on holiday the city is way more appealing than an over water bungalow and a private beach, I already have access to empty beaches and solitude.

Impressions ~

Firstly the weather,we were there in early May and as soon as we left the plane I felt the warmth of the night air, not oppressive and hot but a balmy tropical feel which was made even sweeter by the fact that the winter chill was setting in at home, especially noticeable in the evening.

In fact the weather was great even though it was somewhat changeable. Occasionally showers would pass over but it was always warm and it wouldn’t be long before it cleared back to blue sky and hot sunshine.

The days ranged from warm to hot and the sea temperature was absolutely perfect for cooling off on the real hot days. I am used to the cold NZ waters where you are hot until your big toe touches the icy water, it takes about 10 minutes to get yourself fully wet but once in, it is hard to get out.
Not here, you just walk straight in and dive under the gentle waves, bliss.

Waikiki Beach was everything I expected, in fact it looked exactly like all the postcard shots I have seen over the years, beachfront hotels, palm trees, surfers and Diamond Head in the distance.
The one thing that did surprise me was the lack of people, even though there was a good sized crowd on the beach it wasn’t what I had been prepared for. I was expecting wall to wall crowds so it was a pleasant surprise.
There were rental kiosks here and there where you could hire all sorts of beach toys, surfboards, boogie boards, kayaks, snorkel gear or just a beach chair and umbrella if you felt like lazing on the beach for the day.

The beach provides safe swimming right the way along with lifeguard stations here and there to keep an eye on things. The surfers and boogie boarders seemed confined to certain areas of the beach but they were always out in the distance on the breaking waves, not getting in amongst the swimmers.

You had to be aware of the uneven surface when swimming, the sea floor was sandy in places but with broken coral through the sand and was quite rocky in places. The sea floor seemed to drop off quite sharply as well so most swimmers seemed to play around in the shallows.

Don’t worry about your things while swimming, everyone just seemed to leave there possessions in a bundle on the beach and head to the water, Mr H needed a bit of coaxing to leave his cameras in my bag, along with our wallets (yikes) but they were safe and sound.

The beach was a great place to head to at the end of the day, strolling along in front of the hotels was fun and you could stop and listen to the live music, each hotel had it’s own band and if you enjoyed the songs you could either head in buy a drink and sit at the tables or you could just sit on the beach and listen while the sun set.

Entertainment was provided every evening by the statue of Duke Kahanamoku, this seemed to be the middle of Waikiki beach and was a paved area with shade trees and picnic tables. Every evening around 6:30 they had the Torch Lighting Ceremony and a Hula Show. I was always too late to see the torches being lit but I read that runners dressed in traditional clothing ran along Kalakaua Avenue lighting the fires on the torches. I did see the Hula Show and enjoyed the entertainment, it lasted about an hour and we were entertained by local Hawaiian music, hula and legends.

Kalakaua Avenue was the main street of Waikiki and we spent the first day and night exploring the shops here, there are plenty of shopping plazas, shopping centres, boutique shops, and the ever present ABC stores. The ABC Stores were a chain of convenience stores selling just about anything you can think of, cosmetics, sun lotions, groceries, souvenirs, snack foods, clothing, postcards, cameras and film and more.

On our first night (Monday) we came across a free concert at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Centre. This was fun and we stopped by a few times to enjoy the entertainment.

We checked out the International Market for a while, lots and lots of stalls and shops selling similar products … get your Ukulele, shell necklaces, dancing hula dolls and endless aloha shirts and sarongs here, sort of thing.
We went to the food court and had a cheap chicken and rice type deal for about $4, it was filling and cheap but a bit low on flavour.

Most nights though we headed out the hotel door and around the corner onto Lewer’s Street. My favourite place for a snack or meal became the Waikiki Broiler and Longboard Bar which was at the corner of Lewer’s and Kalia. This outdoor bar/restaurant served moderately priced, tasty meals with good service, smiles and a nice setting. The alfresco dining was enclosed from the street by a rail fence with lots of lush greenery growing over it, the tables had thatched umbrellas giving it that tropical feel and a musician was entertaining the crowds with quiet Hawaiian songs.

Another favorite place to stop was the Lewers Lanai and Loft. At the upstairs bar we discovered a small jazz club, as it was close to out hotel we often stopped here for a nightcap and some jazz.

There were quite a few different clubs, bars, restaurant, fast food outlets and convenience shops on Lewers Street, along with the many hotels shopping and lounge bar options.

We did end up dining at both Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock Cafe the Hurricane put a smile on my face at the Hard Rock and made the walk back to the hotel in the cooling light rain very pleasant. They also gave me the Hurricane glass to take home as a souvenir.
Planet Hollywood was on the corner of Lewers and Kalakaua, we hadn’t intended to eat there and thought we were just going in to look at the knick knacks, the smell of food became to much to take though so I ordered Buffalo Wings and Meatballs. I ended up drinking lots of beer with the wings, ~ phew they were hot ! We shared the wings between us but still; I couldn’t get through my meatballs. The servings here were huge and as we had no microwave at the hotel I declined the offer of a doggy bag.


I didn’t make it to any of the shopping malls out of Waikiki , now that I am home I wish I had but at the time it wasn’t a priority.

We hired a car for 3 days as we wanted to get out and explore more of Oahu, if you intend to stay in Waikiki you wont need a car and with a good trolley and bus system, you can get anywhere on Oahu for a few dollars. We only wanted the car to give us the freedom of choice to go where and when we chose, not having to be limited to a bus timetable.

The Honolulu freeways got a bit backed up at peak times but it was easy to navigate the one-way roading system in Waikiki and driving was a breeze.

Saving a few bucks

I noticed lots of coupons offering discounted rentals ~ after we had signed up for our car, of course, ain’t that always the way!

If you are looking for a better deal, check out the free attractions booklets available everywhere. If you spend a bit of time looking through them you are sure to find something useful from discounted rentals to a few bucks off at restaurants and tours. Don’t do what I did and wait till you get home to look through them properly.

Last but not least ~ the airport.

Not many Waikiki hotels provide free airport shuttles so you have to find your own way from the airport and back. As it was late Sunday night when we arrived we wanted to get straight to our hotel so we opted for a taxi. The shuttle bus would have been cheaper but we had no idea how long it would take to get to our hotel so decided not to bother.
The cab cost $28 with tip so it wasn’t overly expensive.

We took a Stretch Limo on the return journey as we kept coming across coupons advertising limos to the airport for $22 so we just had to do it. It was a fun ride and with the tip, it was a viable alternative to the standard cab.

Eventually we got the boarding call for our midnight flight home so bid a fond farewell to lovely Honolulu.


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We landed back in Auckland, NZ at 6.30am on a brisk Sunday morning and faced the long drive home to the farm.
It was cold and dark when we pulled up to the house at about 7pm that evening, we were tired, more like exhausted, but we had a great holiday and I recommend Waikiki to one and all.










Recommended: Yes

Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime