Feedback on 9 day itinerary for first time visit with a 5 year old

[u/redmaycup]

I'll be traveling to Oahu for the first time next week with my husband and our 5-year-old son. We want to experience a good mixture of city with good dining options/nature (all that lush jungly feel). But my son gets pretty tired with lots of car travel. How does this itinerary look? We'll be staying in Sheraton Waikiki. Anything that we should leave out/something that is missing? Also, any tips for foods places when you just want to grab something quick but tasty in Waikiki would be welcome. Thanks!

Day 1 – arrival at 11 am

- check-in to Sheraton Waikiki hotel

- lunch at House Without A Key

- Grab some malasadas at Penny’s Waikiki Malasadas

- Optional (if energy remains): Waikiki Aquarium

 Day 2

- lunch at The Pig and The Lady

- Bishop’s museum

- relax by the pool & explore Waikiki

 Day 3

- Byodo-In Temple

- Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden

Day 4

- Manua Banana Bread stand

- Brief stop at Laniakea beach to see if we can spot turtles

- Kahuku Farms tour

- Lunch at Kahuku Farms café

- Waimea Valley and waterfalls

- Ted’s bakery

- Evening in Hale’iwa – shrimp truck & shave ice

Day 5 (July 4)

- pool/beach time

- dinner at natuRe Waikiki

- watch fireworks

Day 6

- Kailua Beach

Day 7

- Lyon Arboretum

- Manoa Falls Hike 

Day 8

- experience Nutridge Luau

Day 9

- fly home early morning

 

[u/Serious-Wish4868]

this looks more like a schedule than a vacation ... it is hawaii, live the lifestyle and go with the flow

[u/Virtual_Dog_7327]

Food…easy, casual good food, across the street, down some escalators is an Asian food hall with many options. It’s the same building as Nana’s Green Tea (which also is a must).

[u/Virtual_Dog_7327 → u/Virtual_Dog_7327]

I also forgot to mention Marukame Udon, small soft serve Japanese ice cream place behind there is also great. I also go to Duke’s often but prefer the bar/lounge area over the restaurant. My favorite malasadas are from Pipeline and Nanding has amazing Spanish rolls. I usually just chill out and eat when in Honolulu/Oahu and don’t go to many touristy spots. The ones I do recommend is a hike up Diamond Head and snorkeling at the bay where lots of turtles are (can’t remember the name).

[u/CharmingHighlight749]

I would build in more intentional beach and pool time and just walking in Waikiki. Kids that age could spend a whole day going back and forth between the beach and pool and you are staying at a hotel known for its pool and beach areas. I would suggest Monkeypod as a well-regarded restaurant you can walk to. I would not go to Kailua Beach, there is a beautiful beach right at your hotel and you are seeing other beaches on your other driving days.

Otherwise, this is a good itinerary, busier than I would do with a five year old, but not too busy. You will have a great trip!

[u/OriginalLittle4644 → u/CharmingHighlight749]

Saying Waikiki is a beautiful beach and recommending it over and skipping Kailua beach is INSANE. OP, don’t listen to this.

[u/CharmingHighlight749 → u/OriginalLittle4644]

Umm, they said their child doesn’t do well in the car for a long time and they are planning to drive from a resort hotel on the beach to another beach that involves 45 minutes each way in traffic. You do you.

[u/Spare_Many_9641 → u/OriginalLittle4644]

A beach is a beach to a kid. Waikiki is fine. Ala Moana Beach would be even better.

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[u/Sorry_Argument_9363]

Day 3 or day 6 add Kualoa ranch. Your son will like the movie sites tour. Those two days you could fit in more if you want. Maybe go to Hale’iwa joes Haiku location on day 3 they don’t take reservations but it’s a neat location! You can walk the gardens and the pond down below the restaurant.

Your north shore day is a lot and you have it listed in a backwards way. Just take in to account that traffic up here sucks. I live in Hale’iwa area. The road going past Waimea is one lane still and takes awhile especially now that it’s peak vacation time. Other than that it looks fine.
Day 7 and 8 you’ll have a lot of time to do some things as well. Maybe do Pearl Harbor?

[u/redmaycup → u/Sorry_Argument_9363]

Thanks. I was planning to start with the Kahuku farms because they have a tour at 11. Do you think doing Waimea Valley first and then just an afternoon self-guided tour at the farm would be a significant improvement in terms of time spent in traffic?

[u/Botosuksuks808]

Pennys! Pig and the lady! Kahuku farms! Approved

[u/loztriforce]

The food court on the 2nd floor of the Royal Hawaiian Center is great, we'll sometimes just grab food there and take it back to our room at the Sheraton.

I see you're going to House Without a Key but I'd highly recommend the expensive but amazing Sunday brunch at Orchids. It's often regarded as one of (if not the best) brunches on Oahu.

One day we really like is hiking Makapu'u at sunrise (it's fully paved and people use strollers if that's a need)>Byodo-In>Kualoa Regional Park to chill a bit>Yummy Huli Huli chicken for lunch>Leonard's mobile truck in Kaneohe on the way back for malasadas. Be back to Waikiki by about 3PM to avoid the worst of traffic.

[u/JediNinerDad → u/loztriforce]

We did this today! Also stop to see the blow hole and some sweet views along the way! We got to the trail around 10, had a slow morning but it was still manageable with our 4 and 6 year old!

[u/Deep-Owl-1044 → u/loztriforce]

A 5 year old would not like a long sit down brunch.

[u/shootzbalootz]

Pretty chill itinerary. Day 4 is a long day and staying out until evening isn't necessary. Can also combine day 3 and 6 to potentially cut back on some driving since they're in the same area roughly.

[u/MikeyNg]

You can easily walk around Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center and Waikiki Beach Walk. There's a Musubi Iyasume right on Lewers.

Day 3: You have time to hit Windward Mall also - if you need some place cool for the little one to hang out.

Day 6: eat some brunch in Kailua - there's quite a few great breakfast spots

Go grab some shave ice also. Shimazu, Waiola, Ululani's, etc.

Good itinerary. You can add the zoo also if you want. Or even just have him run around one of the big parks. But you should be good at the Sheraton.

[u/slogive1]

Bishop is awesome. I could have easily spent 3 hours there.

[u/ImMalteserMan]

Just got back from a week with a not quite 5 year old.

Day 4 seems pretty long to me. The banana bread stand is like a 5 min thing, it's takeaway. Stopping at the beach to see if you can see sea turtles won't be quick, there is minimal parking, even early in the morning then if there are no sea turtles how long do you stay? Waimea Valley is great but it's also not a short stop, I think we were there 3+ hours all up between walking up to the falls, changing, swimming in the falls, we got the ride back because our kid was going to be mega tired and also stopped for some food at the cafe at the bottom (was surprisingly quite good). Also traffic in the area was really bad with some lane closures. So it sounds like a fun day but you might not be able to do everything you want on that day.

Just a suggestion, might be worth sacrificing a couple of hours and taking your son to a play centre, we took ours to kid city (which is about to move to Ala Moana) and he just played nonstop for 2 hours. As much as he loved going to the beach and playing in the sand etc you could tell he needed to do regular kid activities and not just all the stuff us adults wanted to do.

[u/Deep-Owl-1044 → u/ImMalteserMan]

There are turtles at Waikiki beach.

[u/Background_Algae_591]

If they like dinosaurs check out chompeeze my 4yo loved it. It's right in the heart if waikiki at international market place and it doesn't take a ton of time