My toddler and I spent our second day in Honolulu with Discover Hawaii Tours, on their Polynesian Cultural Center and Circle Island Tour. We only had three days in Hawaii and I wanted to see and do as much as we possibly could in that time. I really would have liked to spend more time at every single place we stopped, but we just didn’t have time on this trip. Now we have a lot of reasons to go back. We saw Pearl Harbor, the Dole Plantation, the North Shore, the Byodo-In Temple, a tropical farm, scenic overlooks and many film locations, in addition to spending a few hours at the Polynesian Cultural Center, all in one day.

Here are a few of the highlights from our Oahu tour:

The Dole Plantation

I would have loved to take Jack on the Pineapple Express train and to see the world’s largest maze, but all we had time to do was get some pineapple whipped ice cream. Yum!

We drove through the pineapple fields on our way to the North Shore and Greg, our native tour guide, told us that this year is the last year Hawaii will be producing and exporting pineapples, so we were lucky to see what might be the last pineapple crops in those fields.

Sunset Beach

Look familiar? I know I have seen tons of iconic beach pictures from this exact beach. I would love to go back at sunset someday to see how Sunset Beach earned its name. It’s definitely not a beach for swimming though; there were signs everywhere warning of the dangerous conditions.

On the way to Sunset Beach, we passed Turtle Beach, where tons of sea turtles commune every afternoon. On Oahu, every turtle is tracked and even has a name. They rope off Turtle Beach when the turtles arrive to keep them safe, but I’m sure you could still get a good view. If you come across a turtle in the wild, Greg says not to touch it, because we can pass our germs along and many turtles get sick and die this way. He said he used to ride the turtles before they knew the germs were passed along. No fair.

We passed quite a few other excellent surfing beaches, including Waimea Bay and the Banzai Pipeline and saw tons of gorgeous scenery. But what struck me the most about the North Shore was how quant it is. There are no humongous luxury resorts or McMansions, just some nice little neighborhoods with rules against building them. There are still multimillion-dollar homes to be sure, but the price definitely reflects the location more than the house itself.

Polynesian Cultural Center

This large open-air attraction features various “villages” showcasing different Polynesian islands, including Somoa, New Zealand, Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji and more. Each island “village” is staffed mainly with BYU Hawaii students, who are originally from the islands portrayed and who benefit from scholarships funded by the money the park brings in. Most of the islands have a performance showcasing their culture, as well as some hands-on activities and demonstrations.

The Polynesian Cultural Center gave us a little taste of each of these islands and now I just HAVE to visit them all. Soon. Especially Samoa, whose show we enjoyed the most. I enjoyed hearing about how the men in Samoa not only do the hunting and fishing; they also do the cooking and the cleanup after. That’s why they are called “the happy people.” The men there have learned that when the women are happy, everybody’s happy. Jack enjoyed the square “ball” woven for him out of some kind of plant and watching the Samoans shimmy up the palm trees. That was his favorite part and he immediately said, “Wanna do it! Wanna climb up!” So I helped him “climb” up the trees, just like them.

We also had a BBQ buffet lunch here, included in our tour, and took a canoe ride through the park’s tropical lagoon. The grand finale was a show on canoes, showcasing the unique music and dance of each island culture.

Byodo-In Temple

This photogenic Buddhist temple in the middle of the lush Hawaiian landscape was a nice final stop. We were pretty worn out after such a busy day, so it was nice to stroll around in this stunningly beautiful yet very relaxing place. Jack enjoyed the koi ponds, ducks and black swans. All the little paths were perfect for a toddler to wander.

We were totally wiped out by the time we returned to our hotel, but it was worth it. We got to see a lot of the island in just one day.

(Editorial note: we paid full price for the tour; this is my honest, unbiased opinion, as always.)

Related posts:

1. Honolulu, Hawaii Day 1 – Waikiki Beach