A Complete Guide To Visitors Guide To Oahu
Every year millions of visitors from Japan, mainland USA and beyond land at Honolulu International Airport ready to begin their vacation in paradise. Soon after landing, most visitors hop in a cab or bus sent from the hotel and begin the journey past downtown Honolulu and on to their reservation at a Waikiki hotel. It won’t take long to discover why Waikiki is so popular when you see all the busy streets and marvel at the history contained here. It is so exciting to be in Waikiki that most visitors never escape its non-existent borders. About 6 million visitors never get to see the sights, which the locals find unforgettable all lying with in 2 square miles of Waikiki.
If you would prefer to see Oahu through the eyes of it’s local population then you need to continue reading this article.
Magic Island Beach Park – Located just opposite to the Ala Moana Shopping Center, this is a very popular attraction lying west of Waikiki. Although it is called a park, it does in fact, contain three beeches, a substantial (3 miles) jogging path, plus tennis courts and many other attractions. A walk around the park will expose the center of Hawaiian culture - people with large extended families gather around hibachis, spending the day together with a good food and plenty of sun. The beaches are significantly less crowded, so for a great day, grab a barbecue and head down to the beach at Magic Island!
The Contemporary Museum - This beautiful museum is not very large by museum standards and is situated high up on a ridge that offers spectacular vistas - it can be found on Makiki Heights drive. The exquisite exhibits in this somewhat small museum keep changing in the 5 galleries and when you have finished viewing these, you could go outdoors for a walk in to the sculpture gardens. This is the place where you appreciate the museum most because the garden stretches for about 3.
Leong’s Cafe - Many visitors look to a lu’au for more than entertainment especially when they are after some great Hawaiian food. Leong’s Cafe (along North king Street) can offer this type of experience and is a fantastic place to go if you want to experience the true taste of Hawaiian food. Some of the dishes, which keep the customers coming back, include kalua pig, lu’au stew, lomi lomi and more and as incredible as it may sound, this place is visited both by locals as well as tourists, for over 50 years.
Champion Malasadas - Hawaii has a local dish called Malasadas which have become so entrenched in the everyday lives of Hawaiins that they renamed Fat Tuesday and called it Malasadas Day. The location details, where this venerated and most popular bakery is Champion Malasadas, 1926 South Beretania Street. These are essentially very light donuts without any hole in the middle, with or without fillings, Portuguese in origin, and are worth every mile that you walk to get it.
Honolulu Chinatown – Walk through the lanes of Chinatown and you start thinking where am I, and what era am I in? Whether you are looking for dim sum, fresh produce, handmade leis, or the new hip lounge, you are sure to find it in Chinatown. Most American stores do not carry the produce that is sold here so that is a treat in itself but this a great place to visit for few hours or even a whole day. While you could always take a guided walking tour of the place the wisest thing to do is to go for a walk by yourself, walking leisurely and only stopping to see something, which tickles your areas of interest.
If you are interested in seeing Oahu through a locals eyes, be sure to spend some time outside of Waikiki. Explore all or some of the points of interest as mentioned above and you would know why Hawaii is called a paradise on earth.