The Travel Sage
One Day In Oahu
Our stop in Oahu on our way to Australia was primarily to save money. The flight I found through Honolulu was so much cheaper than the flights directly to Australia that we were able to pay for 2 nights on Oahu, a rental car, and an extra night in Melbourne with the savings.
Since we really only had one day to explore the island, we had planned our route around Oahu ahead of time. However, I couldn’t help myself from stopping every time something looked interesting. One of my first unplanned stops was at Shark’s Cove (sharks are not common). It is a Cove protected by a reef and is popular for snorkeling. I guess it was low tide when we were there because the Cove was completely encircled by the rocks but I’ve since seen photos of the Cove being open to the ocean. It was cool to watch when a large wave crashed on the reef and spilled over the rocks, suddenly the flat Cove was wavy.
Our first planned stop was at Turtle Bay. It appeared to be an oceanfront resort but the parking lot was public and there were several easy hikes/walks to take. The scenery here was pretty but not as dramatic as some other parts of the island.
After a short walk we continued on our planned route with several scenic unplanned spots. Pounder’s Beach was one of the prettiest.
As I was driving I could see some really striking mountains behind me. I kept pulling over to get a better look but they don’t make it easy for you in Oahu. Someone needs to explain the concept of “scenic overlooks” to them. I started back tracking and got this photo but decided it wasn’t good enough.
I finally found a small parking area that led to a walk along an inlet.
Our next planned stop was for a walk along the Kawai Nui Hiking Trail in the town of Kailua. We picked this spot because it was supposed to be good for birding, but as it turned out, it also had beautiful views.
Our next stop was Waimanalo Beach which I had read was good for shelling. While there were no shells, it turned out to be the nicest beach we visited. If we had more days on Oahu, I would have liked to come back to this beach and spend the day relaxing.
What made this beach different was that it was uncrowded and far enough off the road that you couldn’t see or hear traffic. Most of the other beaches we saw were right on the main road. Some people were camping there under the trees.
We had planned to take a couple more walks but we ran out of time and energy. Our last stop was at a scenic overlook (overlooks were so rare we made sure to stop at every one we saw).
The map below shows the route we took in our whirlwind, one-day trip around Oahu. My overall impression of the island was that, although it had some beautiful scenery, there were just way too many people! I doubt I’ll go back there, but I hope to visit some of the less populated Hawaiian Islands.
2 thoughts on “One Day In Oahu”
Beautiful place, beautiful beaches especially Waimanalo, and beautiful birds – new ones for your life lists? But, as suspected, Kangaroo Island wins with Melbourne coming in 2nd!
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