There is so much more to Oahu than Honolulu. The best way to see this is by car. When I set out to Hawaii I knew I did not want to pay for a rental for the entire trip. Everything I wanted to see in Honolulu I could walk or use public transportation to get to. Honestly, you can go anywhere on the island by public transportation including many of these stops on my North Shore Loop trip. Though public transportation to see the entire island would cost you your time.
I choose to do a day rental so I could do my entire drive in one day. I used the Hui Car Share company. Which was great, I did not have to worry about parking costs by having a long term rental. Which can be costly in the Waikiki area. This ride share allowed me to rent the car for 12 hours, however you can rent the vehicle for whatever length you need it for. There is an hourly rate dependent on car chosen(prices increase with size of car), once you exceed a specific rental hour you pay a flat daily rate. Hui Car Share includes unlimited milage, insurance coverage (see website for specifics), no surcharge for those under 25 years old and gas!
To learn more: https://www.drivehui.com
With the car rental settled I set out for my North Shore Loop. I would say the route I chose was not the best for timing. I did counter clockwise drive to the North Shore, with one lane roads, construction and general traffic I was on a time crunch by the end of the day.
Stop One: Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve
For this stop I only stopped to view the sights. I was intending on going to Koko Head, however, my GPS brought me to this beauty.
To visit the bay reservations are a must for this stop. You can stop to take pictures but you will you have to have a timed reservation to go on the beach. There is a limited number of reservations a day and the cost is $25. The city and county of Honolulu has done a lot of work to keep the beauty of this area up.
It is definitely somewhere I want to snorkel in the future after seeing the views from above. The preservation of the reefs is a priority for the island.
To learn more about this stop: https://hanaumabaystatepark.com/hanauma-bay-history/
Stop Two: Lanikai Pillbox Trail
The second scenic stop I made was to the Lanikai Pillbox trail. I spoke about this trail in my hike of Hawaii post. The time I reached this spot it was already after 10 am.
If hiking is your thing, I strongly suggest you take the time for this trail. Knowing that my next three stops had a time restraint on them due closing times I cut this hike short. It is on my top of my to do for my next trip to Oahu.
This stop and hike showcase the beauty of the the windward side of the island.
Stop Three: Byodo-Inn Temple
Next on the trip was the Byodo-Inn Temple. This is not an active Buddhist Temple, it is modeled after the the Byodo-Inn Temple in Uji, Japan. The temple is located in the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park. This one of the main stops I wanted to see on my drive.
The sights surrounding the Temple are beautiful as it sits at the bottom of the Ko'olau Mountains. Inside the temple is just as beautiful, be prepared to take your shoes off to enter! There is a $5 fee (credit card only) to enter the grounds around the Temple, however, when I went they only looked at my card and didn't charge it.
For more information about this stop I suggest looking at their website:
Stop Four: Dole Plantation
I did the last two stops out of order due to timing. It was almost 3pm when I finally got to the North Shore Area. The Dole Plantation closes at 5:30 daily. This was the one stop I wanted to make on my first trip to Oahu.
I am a huge fan of dole whips. Being able to have a Dole Soft Serve at the Dole Plantation was on my bucket list of Hawaii must do. I recommend you try it! Getting the dole whip along with a lunch was the first thing I did upon arriving .
For this trip I was only able to ride the train. After waiting in line for an hour and half for the train, I wish they would have told people after a certain time they would make you take the last train at 5PM. Not knowing this I missed to oppportunity to tour the gardens due to standing in line. There is no entrance cost to the plantation. The garden and train tours are an additional cost.
Stop Five Matsumoto Shave Ice
After finishing up at the Dole Plantation I had less than 30 minutes to get back up to the North Shore to get my fix of Shave Ice. When searching for places to visit on Oahu, this shave ice place kept popping up. I can say I was not disappointed. I choose to get the shave ice over ice cream, and it was great. I arrived 10 minutes before closing so the line was pretty short, I did not have much time to view the menu before making my decision.
Pictured is my shave ice and ice cream. I went with my favorite green apple flavor with vanilla ice cream. It had a great balance of sour and sweet. The ice cream made the melted part extra creamy. The best part though this a popular spot, the prices were not ridiculously priced. I paid extra for the ice cream but it came to less than $7!
All of these spots can be accessed using public transportation. I would encourage renting a car to save time. You can do all the stops in one day rather than having to break it up due to public transportation taking time.