Top Things to do in Oahu
The 9 Best Nature & Wildlife Areas in Oahu, Hawaii (HI)
The Hawaiian island of Oahu is a surfer’s paradise, with swelling waves that can reach epic heights. No wonder, then, that it’s the site of one of the world’s premier competitions, the Triple Crown of Surfing. If hanging ten isn’t your thing, you can still enjoy the beautiful beaches – particularly famous Waikiki Beach in Honolulu. Art connoisseurs will appreciate the annual Hale'iwa Arts Festival, a celebration of local crafts, painting, jewelry, sculpture, dance, and music.
Restaurants in Oahu
1. Kualoa Ranch
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 20 reviews
Kualoa Private Nature Reserve, also known as Hawaii's "Jurassic Valley", is a privately owned 4000 acre paradise that offers numerous ways to see one of the most beautiful valleys remaining on O'ahu. Kualoa may look very familiar to you as over 70 movies and TV shows have been filmed at Kualoa since the 1950's, from Elvis, to 50 First Dates, Jumanji,Godzilla, Jurassic World, Jurassic Park, LOST, Hawaii Five-0 and the recent Kong Skull Island. Kualoa has a Jurassic Valley Zipline, Electric Bike Tours, ATV Tours, Horseback Tours, Jurassic Jungle Expeditions, Ocean Voyage Tours and the always popular Hollywood Movie Site Tours. There is a new Food Tour as well as a Premier Movie Site Tour. With a free kids animal exhibit, a ranch museum, a sculpture garden, and a mini-theatre showing a film on the history of Kualoa, you can bring the family by to relax and pet some of the 120 beautiful horses. A restaurant and Gift Shop are also on property. If you're visiting O'ahu you MUST visit Kualoa
Reviewed By Koalas2027 - North Canton, United States
Kualoa Ranch is an absolutely gorgeous place, with amazing tours, amazing tours guides, and amazing sites! My family is a big Walt Disney World fan, and the Movie Sites Tour (we didn't do the premium one) had a lot in common with some of the rides there. It had the humor of Jungle Cruise, and the animals of Kilimanjaro Safaris. Shout out to our fantastic tour guide Stephanie, who had an amazing sense of humor and made the tour one of the best parts of our trip.
2. Hawaii Nature Center
3. Kahana Bay Beach Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 56 reviews
A jungle-style park with many streams.
Reviewed By diannew392 - Sugar Land, United States
As we were driving along the coast from Waikiki to the North Shore, we came across an almost empty beach park. So we stopped for an hour to enjoy the white sands and palm trees. Several kite board riders use this beach to head out to deeper waters. Wave action was enough to enjoy the water without being knocked down. Plenty of free parking and trees for shade.
4. Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 16,879 reviews
A perfect snorkeling spot.
Reviewed By shezau - Safety Beach, Australia
This place takes your breath away with its beauty , what a stunning beach , perfect for snorkelling as there is many reefs there , also lots of people, its a great tourist attraction , and would definately go there again , had an amazing day at Hanauma Bay .
5. Malaekahana State Recreation Area
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 46 reviews
Reviewed By 817wilmab
The beach is literally golden. It is a long beach, no lifeguard with limited use (it would seem). This side of the island has more waves, so to speak. A great place to learn to surf. Boogie boarding along the shore line was great. Parasailing is available nearby. The days we were here featured at least a dozen people from sun up to sundown surfing. The breeze coming off of the ocean makes it a great place to fly a kite. It is a great place to spend a few hours, the whole day or spend the night utilizing Malaekahana Beach Campground located on the same beach. This is what we did. The water, beach, waves, limited use and feeling of seclusion really made it a great place to spend the day.
6. James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 13 reviews
Designed to help endangered species.
Reviewed By brat000 - Renton, United States
0900 hrs on Saturday mornings you can show-up for a bird walk. Chris was our guide: knowledgeable, thoughtful, kind, friendly & passionate about birds. After the tour he took extra time with one of our group who is 92 and spry, but doesn't do hilly hikes any longer. Chris made several suggestions for birding locations she can navigate easily when we move to Honolulu for reminder of our vacation.
7. Kawai Nui Marsh
8. Sea Life Park Hawaii
Overall Ratings
3.5 based on 1,477 reviews
Aloha, Sea Life Park is open with limited capacity special Dolphin Encounter programs daily except Wednesday & Thursday! Reservations are required! The award winning KaMoana Luau is also open on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. We will be announcing the opening hours for the entire Park soon, stay-tuned. Voted Hawaii's Best Attraction in 2020!
Reviewed By foodiesandwine
Fantastic day, we did the full Monty to swim with the dolphins, it was so informative and fun, these beautiful sea animals are well respected, looked after and you can tell they love what they do! The rest of the park is great for wee kids and the only negative we had was don’t bother standing in line for an ice cream ( took 40 mins) and the two ladies serving are rude, non interested in customer service and spent more time loading up plastic spoons while we watched and waited for around 4 mins till she served us.
9. Pu’u Kalena
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1 reviews
