3 days in Honolulu, Advice welcome

[SteveH]

We're booked for 4 nights in Honolulu, no Aulani for us this trip and then we're off to 6 night on Kauai. Our big day trip is for the USS Arizona, and maybe some other sights (advice?) either with or without a rental. For those that have spent time in the area, how was Uber/Lyft? Is a rental necessary if we stay in the Waikiki area?

I am looking to spend some time trying various Mai Tais - House without a Key, Skull & Crown Trading Company, Mai Tai Bar at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and if its' reopend then La Mariana Sailing Club and if time permits Monkeypod Kitchen.

 

[Inga]

My personal opinion, no tastes are the same, but those $20 US Mai Tais at the Royal Hawaiian were hard to beat!

 

[Inga]

Oh and Cuckoo Coconut was a blast, it’s a tiki bar

 

[SteveH]

Thanks Inga, I've been to the other two Royal Hawaiian and their Don't Mai Tai bar so figure I've got to try there too. Thanks for the recomendation on the Cuckoo Coconut too.

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

If you’re there on a Saturday, that’s a great day to do an early Diamond Head hike followed by a visit to the Diamond Head Farmers Market (technically the KCC Farmers Market). You can take the bus if you don’t have a car - quick ride from Waikiki, and Diamond Head entrance is across the street from the market.

the best (only? ) Malasadas are a bus ride up Kapahulu (at Leonard’s Bakery), and Waiola Shave Ice is right around the corner.

also up Kapahulu (walking distance from the beach) is Da Ono Hawaiian foods, for some true local food. They’re not as good as they used to be, but still the best in that area.

 

[SteveH]

@WAstateDVCDaddy thanks, from another WA Stater!

 

[cgattis]

@SteveH come back and give us a detailed mai tai showdown!! I’ve become a little overly into them myself since I bought a tiki drink book and was gifted another one. Plus my cousin owns a liquor store, so pretty easy access to all the rums.

I’ll do the same for all the ones I try on Maui!

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

@WAstateDVCDaddy thanks, from another WA Stater!

WA State - Represent!

If you want any specific info, feel free to PM me. I grew up in Honolulu, and (pre-pandemic) visit family every year, so I can provide local info. I’m not a big mai tai fan, so can’t help you there, but for other island info, happy to help.

 

[SteveH]

@SteveH come back and give us a detailed mai tai showdown!! I’ve become a little overly into them myself since I bought a tiki drink book and was gifted another one. Plus my cousin owns a liquor store, so pretty easy access to all the rums.

I’ll do the same for all the ones I try on Maui!

You might really enjoy Kevin Crossman's The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai he has some great info for the Big Island and Honolulu. On our stay on Maui I found the MonkeyPod and Fleetwoods on Front Street to be very good, the Tommy Bahamas was also solid. We stayed at the Royal Lahina and their Mai Tai was good but not great, we'd stayed at the Royal Kona days before and felt theirs was better - but my wife found some other drinks on the Lahina menu she prefered. Supply chain issues impacted some drinks, but that was Oct 2021 not sure how things are now. I didn't get to Dukes but heard their Mai Tai is very good. I've had fun building my home tiki bar and exploring the Mai Tai variances, still prefer a 1944 Mai Tai but Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai is good if made well.

WA State - Represent!

If you want any specific info, feel free to PM me. I grew up in Honolulu, and (pre-pandemic) visit family every year, so I can provide local info. I’m not a big mai tai fan, so can’t help you there, but for other island info, happy to help.

Thank you! We're digging in deep and fast figuring out what we want to do, the Mai Tais are the fun part for me but we want to get a good overview of things and decided if we'll want to spend more time here in the future. I haven't been to Honolulu since 1989 on my way back from South Korea. Since we are going have a very relaxed time in Kauai I want to do somethings we won't be able to do/see there.

 

[Truther3]

We're booked for 4 nights in Honolulu, no Aulani for us this trip and then we're off to 6 night on Kauai. Our big day trip is for the USS Arizona, and maybe some other sights (advice?) either with or without a rental. For those that have spent time in the area, how was Uber/Lyft? Is a rental necessary if we stay in the Waikiki area?

I am looking to spend some time trying various Mai Tais - House without a Key, Skull & Crown Trading Company, Mai Tai Bar at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and if its' reopend then La Mariana Sailing Club and if time permits Monkeypod Kitchen.

Monkey pod was one of favorites for food and rink. Check out the Turtle Bay Beach. Also check out Turo for car rentals, they have some good prices on single day rentals and can be cheaper then uber/lyft

 

[SteveH]

@Truther3 thanks for the tips!

 

[smkmo]

I second the Monkeypod vote - and Duke's is great too.

Uber/Lyft wasn't an issue when I was there in the summer - we took it everywhere.

For a fun excursion, check out OneOcean diving - you can snorkel with sharks. The staff is all marine biologists and they're top notch.

 

[SteveH]

@smkmo thank you, I'll check out OneOcean diving, we did the swim with the Manta Rays near Kona and loved it, well except for getting sick but still was amazing.

 

[smkmo]

It has the benefit of being right near Turtle Bay on the north shore so you can check that out too!

 

[cgattis]

You might really enjoy Kevin Crossman's The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai he has some great info for the Big Island and Honolulu.

Great blog!! Thanks for sharing!

Also, my two favorite drink books are Smugglers Cove by Martin Cate and Sippin’ Safari by Jeff “Beachbum” Berry. They are tiki history books, full of recipes AND pictures of some so-awful-it’s-fantastic decor and clothes! I stumbled on the Port au Prince one night when I was out of falernum and I really like it. Try oneif you haven’t

 

[SteveH]

@cgattis - Kevin is a great guy, knows his stuff but isn't all stuck up about it. The Port au Prince is a great drink I totally agree. If you use an iPhone the Total Tiki App is a great resource to use, right now 296 recipes and really good info on each item in the recipe as well as substitutes.

 

[GoBears79]

If you’re there on a Saturday, that’s a great day to do an early Diamond Head hike followed by a visit to the Diamond Head Farmers Market (technically the KCC Farmers Market). You can take the bus if you don’t have a car - quick ride from Waikiki, and Diamond Head entrance is across the street from the market. the best (only? ) Malasadas are a bus ride up Kapahulu (at Leonard’s Bakery), and Waiola Shave Ice is right around the corner. also up Kapahulu (walking distance from the beach) is Da Ono Hawaiian foods, for some true local food. They’re not as good as they used to be, but still the best in that area.

We do the exact same thing, if we are in town on a Saturday. If not, sometimes we do a quick Manoa Falls hike after Diamond Head and we are still back in time for breakfast at the hotel.

Monkey pod was one of favorites for food and rink. Check out the Turtle Bay Beach. Also check out Turo for car rentals, they have some good prices on single day rentals and can be cheaper then uber/lyft.

Turo is just great and we've used it twice now in Honolulu since rental cars got so pricey.

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

We do the exact same thing, if we are in town on a Saturday. If not, sometimes we do a quick Manoa Falls hike after Diamond Head and we are still back in time for breakfast at the hotel.

Next time you do the Manoa hike, look left as you pass the Safeway in the valley, and wave hello to my mom for me!