Greg Gillespie asked:

If you are planning a vacation to Oahu, we recommend that you spend some time on the other islands such as Maui, Kauai and the Big Island (Hawaii). Sure there are plenty of fun things to do in Honululu but the real Hawaii is to be found out there beyond the concrete and neon lights.

The Hawaiian island of Oahu is the third largest of the island chain that make up the Hawaiian Islands. Even though, it is actually the most densely populated of all the islands. Almost seventy five percent of the state’s 1.2 million residents live on Oahu, which is home to the the city of Honolulu and the world famous Waikiki beach.

For example a Maui day tour will include a tour to the top of the 10,000 foot summit of Haleakala, Iao Valley State Park, some time for shopping in Lahaina town. You can organize to have a tour round trip from your Waikiki hotel, including airfare and guided tour. Time can be allocated for a no-host lunch and the tours tend to operate on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday’s only.

If you would like a tour to the Big Island, including a hotel pick-up in Waikiki, which includes the round-trip airfare to Kona, and a circle island tour in an air conditioned minibus, then this can be arranged as well. The tour includes stops at the “City of Refuge”, Punaluu with it’s black sand beach, Rainbow Falls and the Volcanoes National Park. The tour covers a diverse range of climates on the Big Island and you also get a sense of it’s size and historical importance. Even though the tour includes the Volcanoes you are not likely to see active “red hot lava”.

Another great thing to do is take a helicopter tour, which combine the stunning ocean vistas, the lush emerald valleys, waterfalls as well as the vistas of the historic city of Honolulu and Pearl Harbor. If you can afford the upgrade, it is very worthwhile to get a helicopter tour that offers first class, (front seat) upgrades. With the sweeping expanse unrolling right before you, the front seat offers an experience that makes the helicopter flight one to remember forever. My wife and I took one in the Colorado Rockies on our honeymoon and there is no other experience quite like it.

Whale watching is another fantastic day tour activity that can provide some spectacular scenery. If you want to get a little more up close to the oceans many inhabitants, you can organize a “swim with the dolphins” outing. These tours are on the west side of Oahu and are in generally still, calm waters where spinner dolphins gather in large pods. The tours include all snorkeling equipment and offer a side of Hawaii that should be encountered, as the underwater world is a world all of it’s own.

Well there are literally dozens of things to do in Hawaii that I have not mentioned, such as dinner cruises, evening shows, the Sea Life Park, and all these things can be accessed with the help of a rental car and a spirit of adventure.