Honolulu

The currency is the U.S. dollar, and cards and contactless payment work almost everywhere; the exceptions are places that take only cash, such as the Hanauma Bay parking lot. Hawaii has no sales tax but rather the GET (general excise tax), a general tax on business activity, charged to the business, which may pass it on to the customer: on Oʻahu, the maximum pass-through is 4.712% on the price. For lodging, the bill also adds state and county transient accommodations taxes, and it is worth asking before you book whether the hotel charges a daily fee on top of the advertised room rate. At a restaurant with table service, tipping is customary in the United States and comes on top: La Mer's menu, for example, states that prices do not include tax or gratuity and that parties of six or more pay a 20% service charge. Waikīkī hotels charged an average of US$278 a night in August 2026 and US$267 from January to August, according to the STR survey released by the state government. On food, the Oʻahu visitor spent an average of US$53 per person per day in 2025, of which US$36 in restaurants (preliminary DBEDT data). A counter-service plate lunch costs US$12.75 to US$16.95 at Rainbow Drive-In (October 2026), and, at La Mer, at the Halekulani hotel, the dinner menu is US$265 and the tasting menu US$340, before tax and gratuity. For attractions, Diamond Head charges US$5 per person, Hanauma Bay US$25, the Honolulu Museum of Art US$25, and the Pearl Harbor memorial is free, with a US$1 fee on the USS Arizona reservation. Many places charge less, or nothing, to people who live in Hawaii, the so-called kamaʻāina rate.

From HNL airport to downtown and Waikīkī

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) is about 5 km northwest of downtown and handled 22 million passengers in 2025. Since October 16, 2025, the Skyline metro station between terminals 1 and 2 connects the airport to the west of the island and to Middle Street, in Kalihi, but the metro does not yet reach downtown or Waikīkī: the section to downtown is scheduled for 2031. To get to Waikīkī, the options are TheBus, a taxi, a ride-hailing app or a rental car, picked up at the rental-car building next to terminal 2. By car, it is about 16 km to Waikīkī. The free Wiki Wiki Shuttle bus connects the terminals.

TheBus, Skyline and the HOLO card

TheBus and Skyline have a single fare. In cash, an adult bus fare costs US$3.25, with no transfers and exact change only. With the HOLO card, which costs US$2 and is sold at the machines in Skyline stations and at authorized retailers, the ride costs US$3 and works as a two-hour pass between bus and metro. The card stops charging when the day's spending reaches US$7.50, and there are 3-day (US$20) and 7-day (US$45) passes. The bus serves Waikīkī, downtown, Ala Moana and much of the island; check routes and schedules in the trip planner at thebus.org.

Car, traffic and parking

For Hanauma Bay, Makapuʻu, Kailua and the North Shore, a rental car gives you freedom with timing, and parking goes into the budget: US$10 per car at Diamond Head, US$7 at the Pearl Harbor memorial and the Pali lookout, US$3 in cash at Hanauma Bay. Honolulu traffic is heavy at rush hour, especially on the roads to the western suburbs, such as Kapolei, Pearl City and Waipahu. In Waikīkī and downtown, a car gets in the way more than it helps: the district is covered on foot, and the bus covers the rest.

For visitors, Honolulu's biggest risks come from the sea, the sun and the weather. In winter, North Shore waves can exceed 6 m and break over shallow reef; on extreme days, the state has closed all the beaches on the north coast by law. Swim at beaches with lifeguards, respect the flags and, if in doubt, stay on the sand. The ultraviolet index passes 12 in summer: sunscreen, a hat and water are necessary at Diamond Head and on the Makapuʻu trail, which have no shade. On trails in the rainy valleys, such as Mānoa, there is a risk of flash flooding, and swimming in fresh water is discouraged because of leptospirosis, transmitted by rat urine. The Pearl Harbor memorial asks that you keep your car locked and states that it is not responsible for theft; there and in the other attraction parking lots, don't leave a bag, documents or electronics in the car. Hurricane season runs from June to November; with an alert, follow the instructions of the weather service and civil defense, and check the state parks notices page (dlnr.hawaii.gov/dsp), which refunded the reservations for the days closed by the storms of 2026. In an emergency, call 911.

Treat the Arizona memorial as a cemetery

The USS Arizona is the tomb of 1,102 sailors and Marines. The park asks for silence, the phone only as a camera and appropriate clothing, with a shirt and shoes; on the boat and at the memorial, you may carry only water in a clear bottle.

Don't touch the coral or the animals

At Hanauma Bay, the law prohibits touching, stepping on or harming the coral and marine animals. The coral closest to the beach died in the 1980s, with crowds of up to 13,000 people a day; that is why visits are limited and begin with the mandatory video.

Choose sunscreen without oxybenzone and octinoxate

Sunscreens with those two filters, which damage coral, have been banned in Hawaii.

Count the tip separately

In the United States, a tip at the table is customary and is not included in the menu price. Check the bill: for larger groups, some restaurants already charge a service fee, such as La Mer, which adds 20% for six people or more.

Understand the kamaʻāina rate

Kamaʻāina, “child of the land,” is what Hawaii residents are called, and many hotels, restaurants and attractions give them a discount or free entry with a local ID. It is not an improper charge to the visitor: it is the place's policy, and it applies at Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay and the Honolulu Museum of Art.

View the heiau from outside

At Puʻu o Mahuka Heiau, the Hawaiian temple above Waimea Bay, the parks agency asks visitors to observe the site from outside the walls and not to enter, so as not to damage the walls and the stone paving.

Arriving at Diamond Head without a reservation

Anyone who doesn't live in Hawaii and arrives without a reservation is turned back at the gate, even on foot. Slots open 30 days ahead and sell out at the most popular times; and anyone who arrives more than 30 minutes after the start of the reserved slot may lose the spot.

Booking Hanauma Bay for a Monday or Tuesday

The bay is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, on Christmas and on New Year's Day. The reservation opens only two days ahead, at 7 a.m. Hawaii time: anyone planning the week needs to leave a day from Wednesday to Sunday free for it.

Counting on Skyline to reach Waikīkī

The metro has reached the airport since October 2025, but it ends at Middle Street, in Kalihi. Until the downtown section opens, scheduled for 2031, the way to Waikīkī is by bus, taxi, ride-hailing app or car.

Bringing a backpack to Pearl Harbor

Purses, backpacks, fanny packs and camera bags that hide their contents are not allowed into the visitor center or the memorial; clear plastic bags are. The paid bag storage is run by the Bowfin submarine museum next to the entrance. In the parking lot, lock the car and leave nothing in view: the park is not responsible for theft.

Treating the North Shore's winter sea like Waikīkī's

From November to March, the waves at Waimea and the Pipeline break hard over shallow reef, and the Pipeline has killed experienced surfers. In that season, the North Shore is for watching from the sand and respecting the flags and lifeguards.

Going to the palace on a Sunday or Monday

Visits to ʻIolani Palace take place Tuesday through Saturday. Fit the historic center into one of those days and book the visit.

Aloha

Hello and goodbye, in Hawaiian; the word also means love, affection and compassion

Mahalo

Thank you, in Hawaiian

ʻOno

Tasty, delicious; it is also the name of a fish, the wahoo

Mauka / makai

Toward the mountains / toward the sea: this is how many residents give directions

Kamaʻāina

A Hawaii resident; “kamaʻāina rate” is the discount for people with a local ID

Da kine

A Pidgin expression that stands in for any word that won't come to mind, such as “the thing” or “that one”

Between the harbor and the crater

Honolulu occupies a narrow strip of the southeast coast of Oʻahu, between the sea and the Koʻolau range, whose valleys (Nuʻuanu, Mānoa, Pālolo) run down to the city. Downtown grew up beside the harbor; to the east are Kakaʻako, Ala Moana and Waikīkī, which ends at the foot of Diamond Head. The crater, called Lēʻahi in Hawaiian, was formed in a single explosive eruption about 300,000 years ago and is part of the Honolulu volcanic series, the same one that created Punchbowl Crater and Hanauma Bay.

Mauka and makai

In the city, directions are given in relation to the mountains and the sea: mauka means inland, toward the mountains, and makai, toward the sea. The system makes sense in a city squeezed between the two. Waikīkī is almost entirely artificial: the Ala Wai canal drained the swamps in the 1920s, breakwaters divided the beach into eight stretches and, between the 1920s and the 1970s, sand arrived from elsewhere, including California.

Dry on one side, rain on the other

The range holds back the rain carried by the trade winds, which is why Honolulu is dry for the tropics: 417 mm of rain a year at the airport, according to NOAA's 1991–2020 normals, against about 1,390 mm in Pūpūkea, on the North Shore. Average highs run from 26.9 °C in January to 31.6 °C in August, and the sea temperature stays between about 24 °C and 27 °C. The inland valleys, such as Mānoa, get rain almost every day.

The Hawaiian renaissance

The Hawaiian language and arts nearly disappeared after the republic banned teaching in Hawaiian in public schools in 1896. The movement of the 1970s reversed that course: the Hōkūleʻa's voyage to Tahiti in 1976 proved traditional navigation, the Pūnana Leo immersion preschools opened in 1984, and Hawaiian returned to public schools in 1987. Today it is an official language of the state alongside English, even though UNESCO classifies it as critically endangered. In the city it appears in street names, on signs and at Kawaiahaʻo Church, which uses Hawaiian in part of its services.

Hula, ʻukulele and the aloha shirt

Hula is divided into two major families: kahiko, the ancient dance accompanied by chant and percussion, and ʻauana, which took in the guitar, the ʻukulele and the double bass in the 19th century. The ʻukulele, by the way, is of Portuguese origin and became popular in Hawaii. Honolulu hosts the King Kamehameha Hula Competition, which brings together groups from several countries, and the aloha shirt is accepted work attire in the city, where the custom of “Aloha Friday,” the Friday of casual dress, began.

Surfing and sports

The surfing of the Hawaiian kings spread around the world from the beaches of Waikīkī, with Duke Kahanamoku, a five-time Olympic swimming medalist between 1912 and 1924. The city has no professional team, because of the distance from the mainland, and the sports that draw crowds are University of Hawaii athletics and high school football. The Honolulu Marathon, created in 1973, is open to anyone, with no lottery, qualifying time or time limit.

A city of many origins

More than half of residents have Asian ancestry, mostly Japanese, Filipino and Chinese, and 8.4% are Native Hawaiian or from other Pacific Islands (2020 Census). Hawaiian Pidgin, an English-based creole formed among the plantation groups, is spoken by about 600,000 people as a first language in the state and was recognized as a language by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2015. The shaka gesture, with the thumb and little finger extended, is the state's official greeting.

Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen (1898), Liliʻuokalani

The autobiography of Hawaii's last queen, written after her imprisonment in ʻIolani Palace, recounts her childhood at court, her rise to the throne and the overthrow of 1893 in the voice of the one who was deposed. Read before visiting the palace, it gives meaning to the room where she was held.

Hawaii (1959), James A. Michener

A historical novel published the year Hawaii became a state, in episodes that run from the formation of the islands and the arrival of the Polynesians to the American missionaries and the Chinese and Japanese plantation immigrants. The Polynesian part leans more on legend than on archaeology, but the book explains where Honolulu's mix comes from.

From Here to Eternity (1953), Fred Zinnemann

A film about American soldiers on Oʻahu in the months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, shot partly at the Schofield Barracks. It won eight Oscars and shows the military island that the Pearl Harbor memorial recalls.

The Descendants (2011), Alexander Payne

A Honolulu lawyer, sole trustee of 25,000 acres of family land on Kauaʻi, decides their fate while dealing with a family crisis. Filmed largely in Honolulu, it shows the neighborhood city, away from the hotels, and the question of land that runs through Hawaii's history.