Where to stay

Beaches top most visitors' lists of places to go during Honolulu vacations. Accommodations in the Hawaii Kai neighborhood of Eastern Honolulu are near Hanauma Bay State Park, which offers snorkeling over a protected reef in a pristine curved bay. Stay in Manoa to visit the eight sections of Waikiki Beach, including Duke Kahanamoku Beach and Prince Kuhio Beach. Hotels in Western Honolulu are slightly apart from the busy streets of Waikiki to shorten the trip to North Shore's best beaches, such as Ke Iki Beach and its glorious sunsets, Mother's Beach with calm waters, and Ehukai Beach Park with the famous Banzai Pipeline surfing spot.

Several hotels in Western Honolulu near Daniel K. Inouye International Airport are also close to spots for outdoor fun, including boating and canoeing at Ke'ehi Lagoon Beach Park and seeing the incredibly large monkeypod tree and other tropical plants at Moanalua Gardens. Eastern Honolulu accommodations in the Hawaii Kai neighborhood are near a great golf course and hiking at Makapu'u Point Lighthouse trail, part of the Kaiwi State Scenic Shoreline. Stay in the Manoa neighborhood near University of Hawaii at Manoa and explore Manoa Valley, with Manoa Falls a striking reward at the end of a rainforest hike. Enjoy ocean views while climbing the hills of Diamond Head State Monument.

Alongside Honolulu's beautiful beaches are reminders of the tragic bombing that propelled the U.S. into World War II. Hotels in Western Honolulu are near numerous sites commemorating events of the 1941 attack, including the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, which provides views of some of the remains of the sunken USS Arizona on the floor of the bay. For earlier Hawaiian history, book accommodations in Manoa and see Iolani Palace, built in 1882 as home of King Kalakaua and Queen Liliuokalani. On a different historical note, stay in Eastern Honolulu to visit the Spitting Cave of Portlock, noting how continuous wave action carves history in the stone of Oahu's shoreline.