Oahu family itinerary: 5 days for a first trip
A 5-day Oahu itinerary with kids, one side of the island a day and two or three stops at most: Waikiki's wading pond and a picnic in Kapiolani Park; the knee-deep shallows at Kualoa on the windward side; the Waimea Valley waterfall, shave ice and sea turtles on the North Shore; the Bishop Museum planetarium, coco puffs and the Friday fireworks; and a last beach day at Bellows, Kailua and Magic Island.
Start on a Tuesday, so day 4 lands on the Friday fireworks and day 5 on a weekend, when Bellows opens to the public. You'll want a car. Check the Bellows closures on the Honolulu parks site, and expect limited parking at Laniakea while the highway work there is on hold. It's one of the sample trips inside the Wanderjoy app, so you can open this plan on your iPhone with code HAWA6 and change anything.
The whole plan on one map
One color per day. Pick a day to see just its route.
Day by day
Day 1Kūhiō Beach Park · Kapiʻolani Regional Park
Kūhiō Beach Wading Pond9:00 AM
Kapiʻolani Park Banyan Picnic4:30 PM
Pick up plates on Monsarrat Avenue and eat here rather than fighting for a restaurant table with tired kids.
Day 2Kualoa Regional Park · Kāneʻohe
Kualoa Regional Park Shallows9:30 AM
Waiāhole Poi Factory Stop12:30 PM
A roadside kitchen serving kālua pig and lau lau plates with fresh poi, plus the warm kūlolo that kids actually finish.
Heʻeia State Park Lookout3:00 PM
It takes fifteen minutes to walk, which is exactly the right length for the third stop of a day with children.
Day 3Haleʻiwa · Laniākea Beach
Waimea Valley Waterfall Walk9:00 AM
A paved three-quarter-mile path through botanical gardens ends at a waterfall with lifeguards and loaner life vests for swimming.
Matsumoto Shave Ice12:30 PM
Laniākea Turtle Viewing Stop2:30 PM
Green sea turtles haul out on this small beach most afternoons, and volunteers ask everyone to stay 10 feet back.
Day 4Bernice St · Honolulu · Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon
Bishop Museum Planetarium Show10:00 AM
Liliha Bakery Coco Puffs2:00 PM
Chocolate cream puffs topped with Chantilly frosting, from a Honolulu bakery that opened in 1950.
Hilton Lagoon Friday Fireworks7:30 PM
Sit on the grass at the lagoon or on Fort DeRussy Beach about 30 minutes early; the show itself is short, so late arrivals miss it.
Day 5Bellows Field Beach Park · Kailua · Ala Moana Regional Park
Bellows Field Beach Weekend Access9:30 AM
Ironwoods run right to the beach for shade and there are lifeguards, but the shorebreak is stronger than it looks — keep small kids at the waterline.
Island Snow Kailua1:00 PM
A surf shop with a shave ice counter in one corner, a short drive from Bellows and known for President Obama's visits.
Magic Island Keiki Lagoon4:30 PM
It is ten minutes from the airport road, which makes it the right last swim before a red-eye — rinse off at the outdoor showers and go.
Plan your own Oahu family trip
Different dates or a different pace? Wanderjoy drafts a plan around yours.
Get this trip on a map in the app
Install Wanderjoy and import trip code HAWA6: this exact plan opens in the app, ready to change.
On a computer? Open the trip page for a QR code to scan with your iPhone.
Questions
- How do I open this Oahu family plan in Wanderjoy?
- Install Wanderjoy, then import trip code HAWA6. The same 5-day plan opens in the app with every stop on the map, and you can change it from there.
- Can I change the plan?
- Yes. Add, edit or reorder stops, switch days around, and keep trip notes next to the plan.
- Can Wanderjoy make a different Oahu family plan for me?
- Yes. Give Wanderjoy your dates and how you like to travel, and it drafts a day-by-day Oahu family itinerary on a map for you.
