Exploring Honolulu And Its Surroundings

I’ve already gone over some of the great sights you can see in Honolulu without having to spend much money. There’s so much to see and do in Honolulu that I thought I’d dedicate another post to give you some ideas if you’re making your way to Hawaii. This time we’ll concentrate more on Honolulu’s downtown area but as well a real gem that’s a bit outside the city.

This was the nicest area of Chinatown I could find...

Honolulu’s downtown area (or CBD for the Aussies) is fairly small and a little off the main tourist path but it does offer quite a few sights that are worth checking out. First and foremost I’d like to warn you about the Chinatown area. Normally a chinatown area doubles as a tourist area but Honolulu’s is a dump. If you look around you’ll see plenty of warnings about the area and they’re quite correct. I’ve made my way to the area both in daytime and nighttime and both times I found a very large concentration of homeless. At night it’s worse as the sidewalks were full of people sleeping. There’s really nothing to see here except some discount shops but the quality of the products are dismal.

Iolani Palace

One of the must see activities, Iolani Palace, lies in the east end of the downtown area. Here you can either take a guided tour (only available certain days) or take a self guided audio tour. Here you will learn all about Hawaii’s monarchy and its history. At the time I didn’t think I was going to enjoy it that much but it ended up being one of my favorite sights in the city. The audio tour lasts about an hour to and hour and a half and you’re free to explore all the rooms of the palace. In the same area you’ll find the State Capitol building which has interesting architecture but from the looks of it doesn’t offer tours. Also across from the palace there’s the statue of King Kamehameha I which is quite nicely detailed.

A map of the maze - pretty elaborate!

Lastly I wanna cover another of my favorite sites which was the Dole Pineapple Plantation. To get there is a bit of an adventure by public transit but it’s doable. From Waikiki take any bus going to the Ala Moana Centre and from there get to the bus stop on Ala Moana Blvd and grab the 52 to Wahiawa Heights which is the last stop. From there grab the 55 North Shore Kaneohe and the plantation is the 5th stop right in front of it. The journey takes 2 hours so this makes for a good day trip. The plantation itself is free, but all the activities cost quite little. We spent maybe $20 on activities there. There’s the big Dole shop, the Pineapple Express, a garden, as well as the world’s largest hedge maze. We only did the Pineapple Express and the hedge made. The Pineapple Express is a short 20 min train ride through the plantation while listening to the history behind Dole and Hawaii. It’s all right but nothing to really write home about. The maze was quite fun and where you can put your map reading skills to the test. There are 8 stations in the maze which you need to find and get the stencil on your maze ticket. There’s a time stamp booth at the maze entrance where you can track your start and finish time. Ours was 1hr 10min. Be sure to wear a hat and bring lots of sunscreen and water. I had forgotten my hat and regretted it while I was there as the was barely any shade in the maze.

Don't forget to get a cone of Dole Whip - Fresh  pineapple ice cream!

As you can see, there are plenty of things to do in Honolulu and its surroundings. There’s plenty of reasons to get out of Waikiki and explore the surrounding areas. As mentioned before, so long as you keep away from Chinatown you should be all right. So get out there and explore the amazing island of Oahu!