Sightseeing Tips (island), Honolulu

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This is also the home of the world's largest maze as officially recognized in the 1998 Guinness Book of World Records. The maze covers more than two acres with 1.7 miles of paths planted with 11,400 colorful Hawaiian plants.

The Dole Plantation is a renovated, working pineapple plantation that blends old and new. The Dole Plantation is dedicated to the perpetuation of the Hawaiian agricultural heritage. Visitors can learn how the Dole enterprise grew from a two-horse farm to the largest producer and marketer of pineapples in the world.

HOURS
Visitors Center/Plantation Garden Tour - 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily
Pineapple Express/Pineapple Garden Maze - 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily

COST
Visiting Dole Plantation is FREE, but if you want to do the following it will cost you.
Pineapple Express Adults - $7.75, Children - $5.75
Pineapple Garden Maze Adults - $6.00, Children - $4.00
Plantation Garden Tour Adults - $4.00, Children - $3.25

GETTING THERE
Here is the public transportation directions from the HNL airport to the plantation if you don't have a rental car.
-Bus - 19 - Waikiki-Airport-Hickam - Direction: Waikiki Beach & Hotels
-Depart Airport Upper Level (Interisland Terminal) 10 mins.
-Arrive Nimitz Hwy + Sand Island Access RD
-Bus - 52 - Wahiawa-Circle Island - Direction: Wahiawa Circle Isle. 14 mins to make transfer.
-Depart Kamehameha Hwy + Laumaka ST. 45 mins
-Arrive Kamehameha Hwy + Dole Plantation

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Great thing about Hawaii is the warm water year round to swim in. It is fabulous and worth coming to Hawaii for.Not many places really to jump in the water at two in the morning and not freeze because you have jumped into ice, or near ice water temperature.
cg MOST ANYTIME IS A GOOD TIME TO SEE HAWAII !!!

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Have you ever been in San Francisco? If yes, then walking down the streets of Honolulu, it will be a surprise for you hearing a familiar "ding, ding!" When you turn to look at the cable car, you do not see any. Yes. It is the famous Waikiki Trolley, which is a motorized version of the Frisco cable cars, a hybrid of the horse-drawn Honolulu streetcar and the cable car.
This open-air trolleys offer cool and breezy rides - not a bad idea considering Hawaii's pleasant weather.
Visitors and even the locals see the Waikiki Trolley as a means of convenient transportation to discover something more than just the typical tourist attractions and a lot of things you had never seen before.

There are five lines colored differently: You want shopping only, then jump on the pink or green or yellow Line to Hawaii's largest shopping center, these run every ten minutes in both directions.
The Honolulu City Red Line (history/museums) brings you to the most interesting historical places, take the blue colored Ocean Coast Line (scenic) and feel the cool breeze as you pass Diamond Head.
Are you hungry or thirsty, then the Yellow Line is yours, but note, seating is first-come, first-served.

The red line and blue line, however, run only once an hour. Not only that, the red line runs in only one direction, so you must travel around the whole route to get back to your hotel.
If you do not want to waste a lot of time standing and waiting for the next trolley, you should organize your trips by the timetable and never spend more time.

Tickets to ride are not cheap, you should pay $25 for a one-day pass, but with unlimited hop-on hop-off boarding, while leaving the driving to someone else. If you do not need a daily pass, you can buy $2 one way tickets.

Waikiki was introduced to the world when its first hotel, the Moana Surfrider, was built in turn-of the-century Victorian style in 1901. The four stories high Moana was Waikiki's tallest building at the time. Two more stories and wings on each side were added in 1918.
By taking a tour of the hotel or perusing the historical displays, you can see how the hotel has changed and how it hasn't. On the first floor you can see a billiard room, saloon, ladies' parlor, music room and library. The dining room extended to the water's edge.
The Moana has been designated one of the Historic Hotels of America, and its Banyan Wing (the central section dating to 1901) is on the National Register of Historic Places. Each year, about 3,000 people go on this Historical Tour.

Admission: Free
Open for tours: 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Reservations not necessary. You don't have to be a guest at the hotel.

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New York has The Waldorf, Honolulu has The Pink Palace, the legendary Waikiki Beach hotel known officially as The Royal Hawaiian Hotel.
The hotel opened in 1927 -- though its design and decor are a little bit muddled, with Hawaiian themes nowhere in evidence. The art deco architecture has a Spanish-Moorish influence because the silent films of Rudolph Valentino were all the rage at that time. There are also some California Mission touches - bell towers, cupolas.
A historical walking tour is offered to guests of the Royal every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 2 p.m. Display cases in the lobby exhibit such artifacts as a dress worn by one of the guests on opening night, china and silver service from that dinner, an original room key and a hotel bill from 1954 -- when a buffet meal could be had for $1.54. A lot of archival photos is displayed on the walls of the Beach Club Cafe, next to the pool.
Also another tour is offered which is a self-guided walk through the gardens by the help of a glossy brochure available at the concierge desk.
For more entertainment in the hotel, be sure to get a ticket - $80.00 per person - to the Royal Luau, held every Monday and Thursday evening on the adjacent Ocean Lawn.

Enter from Waikiki Beach and sip a cocktail or a beer - expensive yes – but it’s worth every cent. Travelling is about experiences that you will never forget – the Pink Palace will be one of those!

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CHRISTMAS TIME IS A MOMENT TO TAKE IN THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF PEOPLE BEING JOYFUL...HOPEFULLY!!!!!!!!!!!!
ANYWAY. .ALA MOANA SHOPPING CENTER IS A GREAT PLACE TO WATCH AND LISTEN AND ENJOY THE ENTERTAINMENT OF LOCALS AND PEOPLE FROM ELSE WHERE DO CHRISTMAS IN HAWAII..
IF YOU ARE HERE FOR CHRISTMAS .. .YOU ARE GOING ..ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE SOME CHILD LEFT IN YOU.... TO HAVE FUN FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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The Sanju Pagota was modeled after the Minami Hokke-ji Temple in Nara Japan built in (1571-1602). The Hawaiian replica is three tiered 1 1/2 scale replica and was built of Concrete and Steel. It was constructed in 1966 to venerate the followers of the Buddhist faith and celebrate the Japanese population on the Island.
This building is also architecturally important for using modern building materials in the traditional way of bracketing and building similar to the Byodo-in in Ahuimanu Hawaii.
The Sanju Pagota claims to be the largest pagoda ever built. I don’t know if that is true but it is very tall. At 80 feet (24 meters) from foundation to rooftop and 116 feet (35 meters) to the top of the copper spire it can easily be seen from the nearby Pali Highway.
With closer views you will find that the building is in somewhat poor shape. The cemetery caretakers have faced financial problems and have not been able to properly maintain the structure. It is still quite impressive though.

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The Kinkaku-ji, built in 1966 with the nearby Sanju Pagoda, is modeled after the famous Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion) on the grounds of the Rokuonji Temple in Kyoto. Built in (1335-1573)
It is three stories tall or 38 feet (11 meters) and was built using a steel frame and plaster finish. It also is adorned with a finial of a phoenix on its roof. This and the nearby pagoda are used to house cremation urns.
The building seems much less spectacular than its gold painted Japanese cousin since it is in poor shape. The caretakers of the cemetery have had financial problems and have not been able to maintain the building properly. Even in its weathered condition it is still a beautiful building.