so if you've been planning a trip to oahu and you've done any amount of research whatsoever you
have found a ton of websites talking about the top places to visit in oahu such as waikiki chinatown
culo ranch diamond head those videos cover all of that so why would i need to cover it as well
so today i'm actually going to cover 13 things to do in oahu that no one else is talking about
let's go ahead and dive in with number one powered hang gliding and i recommend you use paradise air
hang gliding they have one trip advisor's certificate of excellence every single year if you
want a unique flying perspective over the island of oahu this is the way to go not only do you see
all of the beauty and the gorgeous everything that is oahu it's open air and not only that they teach
you how to fly so you actually get an interactive hands-on experience of powered hang gliding now
this does require reservations there is no minimum age but there is a minimum weight of 80 pounds so
if you have children with you they need to be at least 80 pounds to fly so they are linked below
along with everything else i'm talking about if you'd like to go check them out number two is the
zip line with climb works kayana farms now there are a couple zip lining options in oahu this one i
highly recommend because it is a three hour guided tour and it has the longest zip lines from 500
feet all the way up to about a half a mile they also on this tour you get two repel sessions you
also cross over three sky bridges and then there are some secret experiences that they throw in
that they don't advertise so you have to go on the trip to find out what it is not only do you get
all those things but you also get an atv ride up to the top where you catch the first zip line this
is the number one zipline tour that i recommend all right number three is to enjoy the secret
island beach now this is through the kualua tours and what they do is they actually take you out
to a secret beach and once you're out there you get free access or included access i should say
to their stand-up paddle boards their kayaks their canoes you can bring snorkeling equipment and go
snorkeling you can bring lunch if you'd like or if you do the full day tour they will provide a box
lunch for you if you don't want to do the kayaking and paddle boards and all of that you can simply
just lay in a hammock and enjoy paradise all right moving on i want to start talking to you about
shave ice so if you've done any kind of research on hawaii you know shave ice is a thing so their
shave ice is not like a typical american snow cone that's more granular shave ice is fine like snow
and when they add certain ingredients to it it could be almost like ice cream in its consistency
it's amazing if you've never had it before i highly recommend trying shave ice in hawaii now
there are a lot of famous shave ice places like matsumotos and that one i've been to and it is
amazing and there's a reason why there's lines out and around the corner so if you're in north
shore i highly recommend hitting up matsumotos but if you want something a little different i
actually recommend house of pure aloha so uncle clay has had that location for 25 years and some
pretty freaking amazing shave ice to go along with it so make sure to plan some time to hit
up his shave ice shop all right speaking of food the next recommendation is to visit an authentic
tiki house for this one i recommend la mariana sailing club now this has been closed for kovid
but they are planning to reopen september 1st of 2021 it is in honolulu but more of a almost hidden
location right on the edge of the water it is a 50 styles tiki bar so very classic hawaiian movie
think elvis and all of his hawaiian movies that kind of tiki bar with mai tais and blue hawaiians
and hawaiian food it is just a fantastic place to go so if you really want that authentic tiki bar
experience make sure you hit up la mariana sailing club all right my next idea is to take a road trip
hawaiian style but in a luxury car so if you're going to drive around the island and i highly
recommend driving around the island especially up king kamehameha highway which is a 24 mile long
gorgeous drive on oahu where there's lots of little places where you can stop and explore
hikes and beaches and have some private dips in some of those beaches but why not do it in
a cool car do it in a jeep or a convertible camaro convertible mustang a corvette or even a porsche
it would make that road trip just that little bit more awesome when you're doing your drive around
oahu okay my next suggestion is the hole in the wall food tour from hawaii tours this is a
five hour food tour if you are staying in waikiki they pick you up from your hotel in waikiki in an
air-conditioned comfortable van and then they take you on the local experience and i don't just mean
hawaiian food traditional hawaiian food i mean the traditional food of all of the immigrants
to hawaii so all of the asian inspiration all of the different you know little hidden places
in chinatown the little hidden places in honolulu you get to actually experience behind the scenes
of the marketplaces the bakeries and taste some amazing food so if you're even a tiny bit foodie
this is a fantastic tour for you now the only caveat with that is if you are a
vegan vegetarian gluten-free or very strict dietary requirements this may or may not be a
tour for you because they will give you what they give you and it's not like you can say oh give me
mine with no meat please it's just it's part of the tour so if you are one of those dietary needs
either go and just know you're not going to eat everything or maybe pick a different food tour
if that's your thing all right my next one is to go to the byodo inn temple and you probably have
seen this one on a few of the other videos the reason i chose to include it here is because i
just want to emphasize how amazing it really is it feels when you come here that you are escaping to
japan to old kyoto japan and the reason is this is a buddhist temple that was built in 1968
as a marking of the 100th anniversary of the japanese immigrants now it is a replica a small
scale replica of a 950 year old temple from ujji japan and it is beautiful
the grounds are amazing it is very tranquil is very quiet so if you're looking for something
very relaxing and peaceful on your trip after you've done all of your zip lines and power
hang gliding this is an excellent excellent place to go and while you're on this side of the island
if you keep driving north towards north shore there's also a small little macadamia nut farm
that you absolutely have to stop by and try their coffee and macadamia nuts and again i am going
to link all of these below for you all right back to high adventure my next idea is to go
shark diving and i don't mean shark scuba diving like i did on my maui video and if you are heading
to maui instead and you want to see some things to do in maui take a look at this video here but in
oahu they actually have the kind where you go in a cage and so the sharks can come quite close to
you but you're safe and protected in the cage you don't have to scuba dive you can have snorkels and
so you don't have to have any swimming experience it is just an opportunity to experience just once
in a lifetime thing it is incredible and not only the sharks but if you go in the winter you have an
opportunity to see whales and if you're underwater in that cage you can hear the whale song
there's not many people that can say that they have that opportunity it is just absolutely
blow your mind just an amazing thing to do and if you go in the summer you might not see the whales
but you will see lots of pods of dolphins it is just really cool all right my next idea comes to
us from airbnb experiences so if you've seen any of my videos you know i recommend airbnb
experiences quite often if you aren't familiar with them they are a part of airbnb that locals
will offer certain services tours experiences to the public so where airbnb is is personal people
renting out their houses airbnb experiences are local people giving certain experiences
and no matter what destination you go to always be sure to check out airbnb experiences to find
local perspectives in the destinations you're going to but i found three on oahu that i
particularly think are worth you checking out and the first one is to have a cooking class
now this one isn't a hawaiian style cooking class in the hawaiian's home and what you do is you come
and she talks to you about the food culture and history teaches you to cook four dishes although
she has other packages available as well and then once you've cooked and tasted and experienced
everything you sit down as higher group where you can share a meal together share stories
have a drink and just really experience hawaiian cuisine and dining and meet a local and get their
perspective on the island i highly recommend doing things like this at the beginning of your trip
because when you're meeting a local you might get inspiration for other things to do and see that
you might not have ever heard about so always plan these type of things at the beginning pick their
brain for things that you should see and do while you're on oahu meet the locals and and just have
an incredible incredible experience the next one is to fire dance with a master now this one also
is an airbnb experience and there is a fire dance master who will teach you some of the fire dance
and as you can see you actually get very deeply involved in it and participate in it and i haven't
done it before but in reading the reviews people who do this say is one of the most fun experiences
they've had on oahu so it is highly recommended be sure to check out fire dancing my next one is to
stand up paddleboard that in and of itself is fun in waikiki is amazing because it's that crystal
clear water and usually pretty smooth where they go so in and of itself it's fun but this one
is to paddle stand up paddle board with rescue dogs and this is another airbnb experience they
if you don't know how to paddleboard or stand up paddleboard they will teach you and if you already
know then that's fine too but they teach you how to stand up paddleboard and then you head out with
your own little friend sitting along with you the rescue dogs go along with you on the tour so it
takes paddle boarding and kicks it up a notch and if you love dogs you really really can't miss this
opportunity all right the final one i want to talk to you about is a nighttime snorkel on the reefs
of north shore this one again airbnb experience and what you do is you head out at night
your guide will talk to you about the ecosystems and things that you're going to experience
and then he gives you the snorkel equipment and you get to snorkel with underwater lights
and he takes pictures the entire time so you will always have lots and lots of photos of the things
that you see and experience on your nighttime dive now this one is incredible because most people if
they even if they snorkel all the time or scuba dive all the time they normally don't get to see
things that are available in the night time so this again is one of those once in a lifetime
experiences where you get to see the other side of life on oahu at night so if you found this
helpful at all if you could give us a thumbs up that'd be greatly appreciated and if we can help
you with your vacation please be sure to check out our website below and other than that these
videos here should be able to help you with any future vacation planning that you're doing
and other than that we will see you on the next video thanks so much for stopping by take care bye