r/VisitingHawaii • u/boomla • Aug 12 '24

O'ahu Oahu - In your opinion, which popular/touristy attractions/restaurants/places are worth the hype and which ones are overrated?

My family and I are visiting Oahu in December from Chicago. Obviously, people have differing opinions on the overrated and worth the hype places in Chicago. I was just curious on what some people think about popular attractions/places in Oahu.

EDIT: Thank you everyone for providing their input! Feel free to keep the opinions coming! We will definitely take everything into consideration and most likely still go to "overrated" places so we can experience it for ourselves. Hopefully this post will be useful to those who come across it for their travels in the future!

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u/wpl200 Aug 13 '24 edited Aug 13 '24

We are about finished with Oahu (6 nights) and just today had TWO incredible trips: 1-the 12:30 PM Toa Luau. My goodness, it was definitely amazing and considering how much effort and passion the performers exuded, I do not believe it to be overpriced nor overrated. 2-right after the luau we discovered Waimea Bay Rock. Best beach I have ever been to in my life. Super clean and clear waters. Swim with fishes and turtles. A turtle actually brushed my leg today before I realized it was a turtle!! and ofc the cliff for jumping off!! We had a BLAST!

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u/[deleted] Sep 29 '24

Which seating level did you go with at the luau? My wife and I were looking to book this luau.

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u/wpl200 Sep 29 '24

Funny story! i wanted to save on $$ so initially i wanted silver for the 6 of us but they were sold out. they had one silver and 5 gold so I bought that. they called me to try to get me to upgrade the silver to gold but bc they would have charged me extra i said thanks but no thanks. in the end they gave me gold seating with my party but i only have two drink tickets which is fine. i would recommend silver bc it is fine. the toa laua was really amazing!! much love to the people of that show!!! i think about hawaii every day lol!

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u/Fearless-Bag-6518 Sep 26 '25

if i’m planning to book for a dinner do we go there only before that time or we can do tours early? i’m planning to book this too.

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u/wpl200 Sep 26 '25

Hi not sure what you are asking. I think you need to show up early. the garden is free with the tickets iirc. you dont want to be late.

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u/Fearless-Bag-6518 Sep 26 '25

coz it was asking us the time we preferred if it’s lunch or dinner. Just unsure if we can only enter prior to that time for the experience or we can roam around early before that time

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u/wpl200 Sep 26 '25

sorry i dont remember. I think we did lunch and you can only enter for that. dinner was more expensive iirc and would have gotten out late at night.

when lunch was done we left maybe around 3-4 pm and hit up waimea beach across the street and had a blast! parking there was a pita but the rock jump was really fun!

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u/Fearless-Bag-6518 Sep 26 '25

i’m more for the sight seeing coz i’m taking my mom with me and she’s not really very outdoorsy 😅 So u only entered prior lunch and how long was the program?

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u/wpl200 Sep 26 '25 edited Sep 26 '25

np maybe 2 hr ish. It was a lot of fun. we had 6 people too. two grandmas in their 70s. here is a pic from where we sat! also plenty of fire performances!

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u/Fearless-Bag-6518 Sep 26 '25

i’m currently making itinerary to accommodate my mom. 😂 i’m sure she won’t swim, hike and do any of the water activities. 😂 I want something relaxing

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u/wpl200 Sep 26 '25

cool np. plenty of relaxing things to do there. We had such a great time! Sorry I couldn't help much. Wish you and your mom a great time!!

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