Oahu Attractions

Tucked into the Valley of the Temples at the foot of the Koʻolau cliffs, Byodo-In is a scale replica of the nearly 1,000-year-old Byodo-in temple in Uji, Japan — dedicated in 1968 to mark 100 years since the first Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaiʻi. *

Ring the peace bell, wander the gardens, and look for the black swans and peacocks that roam the grounds. It's non-denominational, open to everyone, and deliberately quiet — the calmest hour you'll spend on the windward side.

Five miles out of downtown, the Pali Highway climbs to the gap in the Koʻolau cliffs — and the lookout sits on top of the pass, 1,168 feet up, staring straight down the windward coast: Kāneʻohe, Kailua, and the whole green wall of the Koʻolaus. The trade winds funnel through the gap so hard you can lean into them. *

It's a ten-minute stop that belongs in every windward day: drive up from Honolulu, take the lookout, then drop down the other side into Kailua or Kāneʻohe. Bring a layer — it's cooler up here, and the wind is not a metaphor.

Four thousand acres of valley, pasture, and jungle between the Ko'olau cliffs and Kaneohe Bay - Kualoa is the working ranch that Hollywood rents when a movie needs the Jurassic look. Jurassic Park and Jurassic World, Jumanji, Kong: Skull Island, and Godzilla all filmed in this valley, and the movie sites tour is the ranch's signature run. *

Beyond the movies: horseback rides, ATV Raptor tours, a zipline through the canopy, e-bike rides, and a catamaran out to the ranch's private beach and ancient fishpond. Book ahead - the popular tours sell out days in advance - and pair it with the Chinaman's Hat viewpoint across the road at Kualoa Regional Park.

An ancient lava tube runs from the ocean into the cliff below this roadside lookout, and when the surf is up, the pressure fires the seawater 30 feet into the air. The Halona Blowhole is a five-minute stop with a stadium view - no ticket, no hike, just pull in and watch the ocean breathe.

The cove tucked beside it, Halona Beach Cove, is famous in its own right - the beach from the 1953 film From Here to Eternity. Stay behind the rails at the blowhole: the rocks are wave-swept and people have been lost here reaching for a closer look. The lookout view is the whole show, and it's a good one.

A few blocks from the harbor, Honolulu's Chinatown is one of the oldest in the United States - a working neighborhood of open-air markets, lei shops strung with orchids, noodle houses, and herbalists, wrapped in century-old brick. It grew up around the harbor trade in the late 1800s and rebuilt itself after the fires of 1886 and 1900 tried to erase it. *

Come in the morning for the markets at their loudest and freshest - the Oahu Market has anchored the corner since 1904 - pick up a lei on Maunakea Street, and stay for lunch. If you're here on the first Friday of the month, the galleries and bars of the arts district side stay open late.

The largest open-air shopping center in the United States sits in Honolulu, at the west end of Waikiki.

Its Centerstage hosts a free daily hula show, which this site covers over on the Waikiki page: Ala Moana Center — Centerstage Hula.