Day exploring Waikiki

CalifLynn

Mouseketeer
Joined
Sep 13, 2016
We want to venture into Waikiki one day during our stay. Would it be better to on a weekday or a Saturday? We also want to go to Pearl Harbor on a separate day and was thinking we would go there on Saturday and Waikiki during the week, is this a good plan? advise please.
 
Either should be fine. The weekday will be slightly less crowded at Pearl Harbor and you will stand a better chance of getting a ticket to the Arizona memorial as they only hand out 1300 tickets a day. Waikiki is so large that the crowds are normally spread out anyway vs. being at Pearl Harbor where people are concentrated in one area.
If you decide to go to PH on a weekday, I suggest going on a Wednesday if you would like to visit the nearby Aloha Stadium Marketplace (Swap meet) which is a cool place to visit and close to PH.
 
We preferred to visit Waikiki and Pearl Harbor on the weekend as there is less commuter traffic. Our last trip, we designated our weekends to going to Waikiki and touring the other side of the island. Also, weekends at Aulani tend to be a lot busier.

The Swap Meet was surprisingly fun. Wasn't intending to go but so glad that we did.

Enjoy your stay!
 
Weekend is a MUCH better time to visit Waikiki. The traffic going into that area in the morning and the traffic leaving that area in the afternoon is crazy during the weekdays. So, unless you are planning on sitting in traffic for at least 1 hour, don't go during the weekdays. You can avoid this traffic by leaving Aulani after 12pm, and not returning to Aulani until after 8pm. But if you are heading into Waikiki between 7am and 10am, it will be very, very full of traffic. I've sat in two hours of traffic before, trying to get from Waikiki to Aulani in late afternoon, it's not fun!

Also, as stated above, Aulani is much more crowded on the weekends, as many locals get rooms and enjoy the facilities.

And finally, I really enjoyed the Swap Meet once my husband finally talked me into going to it. I think it took until my 5th trip to finally go, now I try to include it every time we visit. Great prices for all the souvenirs you see in the stores in Waikiki.
 


We did a tour to Pearl Harbor from our Waikiki hotel on a Saturday. We thought the crowds at Pearl Harbor were manageable, but the traffic getting back into Waikiki was nuts. Took us over an hour from Pearl Harbor. So, I'd go with Waikiki during the week and PH on a Saturday. You could also probably do both on the same day - for us, Waikiki was mostly walking in and out of stores and getting drinks/dinner.

I saw a PP mention the swap meet. That's right near Pearl Harbor and would be open on a Saturday. Our tour took us there as well and we didn't care much for it. Lots of the same souvenirs you will see in ABC Stores and in nearly every Waikiki shop. Even the booths at the swap meet carried a lot of the same items. It's a good stop if you need to stock up on cheap and quirky souvenirs for people back home, but that was about it for us. If it's a sunny/warm day, it would also be very hot since there's not much shade. Luckily it was overcast when we went.
 
We did waikiki on a weekday and we didn't seem to see much of a problem with the traffic/busyness--it was still a very enjoyable day

We did the aulani excursion to pearl harbor because we only rented a car for 2 days and gave us another activity day---if you're not renting a car for the whole week-it's nice and you don't have worry about timing/getting tickets/driving

If you are driving and parking into waikiki--any of the hotels will valet your car for you and it's cheaper than any parking garage
When in waikiki make sure to stop at leonards the famous donut place! Sooo good!
The swap meet is a must and like others said it's right by pearl harbor--get a fresh coconut there--they put a straw right in and it's the best!
 
We preferred to visit Waikiki and Pearl Harbor on the weekend as there is less commuter traffic. Our last trip, we designated our weekends to going to Waikiki and touring the other side of the island. Also, weekends at Aulani tend to be a lot busier.

The Swap Meet was surprisingly fun. Wasn't intending to go but so glad that we did.

Enjoy your stay!
Agree!
 


If you drive the freeways between 1000-1400 and after 2000, traffic won't be a problem on any day. Waikiki is just as crowded on the weekdays and on the weekends, but, of course, that scene is what make's it great.
 

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