10 Instagrammable Spots in Oahu
The first few times I visited Oahu, I thought it was overrated. I later realized that was because I was mostly spending my time in Waikiki, but the island has so much more to offer beyond that. Once I ventured out, Oahu quickly became my favorite Hawaiian island! It’s filled with delicious food, gnarly hikes, warm clear water, and plenty of Instagrammable spots! I listed 10 spots to check out if you want to spruce up your Instagram.
1. Pali Notches
This has got to be the coolest hike I’ve done on the island! There’s a few notches that you can climb up and down with a rope. But beware, there’s steep drop offs on both sides so it’s not for the faint of heart and it’s also super windy up there (wifi is great up there surprisingly). If you aren’t scared though, it’s not too far of a hike to get to this spot from the parking lot and you definitely will not be disappointed!
2. Pali Puka
Pali Puka is right across from Pali Notches and is a slightly less scary hike because the drop offs aren’t as bad. There’s only a few parts where there a steep drop-offs but it’s only on one side instead of two, so slightly better. At the end you can climb down to this cave hole thing that beautifully frames the view.
3. Lanikai Pillbox
Lanikai pillbox is an easy hike that gets you amazing views of the baby blue Lanikai waters. Once you get to the pillbox you can hop up and get a photo that makes it look like you’re sitting high up in the air, but in reality you’re not that far from the ground. Since this is an easy hike, there’s usually a lot of people so it’s hard to find parking in the neighborhood. I would recommend taking an Uber to the hike.
4. Secret Island
If you’re looking for a runway that leads to unobstructed views of the Hawaiian ridges, Secret Island is your spot. I’m not sure if this spot is actually called Secret Island, but it’s the closest thing I could find on Google Maps. We basically looked at the map and found the closest parking lot to Secret Island and then walked through trees to get to a beach and all the way down the beach to walk through more trees to find this spot.
5. Kewalo Basin Park
Not sure what this random circle in the ocean is, but I thought it looked cool. It was deeper than expected so wasn’t comfortable for just sitting inside and hanging out. It’s located where Ala Moana Park meets Kewalo Basin Park and is where the homeless people hang out, so unfortunately there’s quite a bit of trash in the water here. It was still cool to see though.
6. Makapu’u Tide Pools
Makapu’u tide pools are not only perfect for Instagram photos, but they’re perfect to just swim and chill in with friends and get sprayed by ocean water. The hike down to the tide pools is not long, but is filled with loose rocks, so take your time and walk down carefully. Once you get in the tide pools, there’s moss and stuff so the rocks are a little slippery. There’s also tons of fishies and crabs and other living organisms you can look at it!
7. Kaneohe Sandbar
I don’t know why I put Kaneohe Sandbar so far down the list because it’s my second favorite spot on the island! You’re basically hanging out in the middle of the ocean with 360 deg views. To get to the sandbar, you’ll need a boat (I supposed you can kayak here too), so there wasn’t anyone else in the ocean with us. With some good snacks and good company, this is the spot to be.
8. Mermaid Caves
Mermaid caves is a great spot for cliff jumping. There’s plenty of holes to jump into the ocean from and it’s not too far of a jump. When the tides are low you can also walk down to the inside of the cave.
9. Maili Pillbox (a.k.a Pink Pillbox)
A lesser known pillbox hike compared to Lanikai pillbox, Maili pillbox takes you to pink pillboxes! It’s not too hard of a hike either and gives you nice views of the west side of Oahu.
10. Koko Head Stairs
If you’re thinking about hiking Stairway to Heaven, might as well try doing Koko Head stairs first. Koko Head has around 1000 steps (1/4 of Stairway to Heaven) and it is a workout! There’s a lot of people on this hike so I guess you can’t go too fast which is probably a good thing. It’s crazy how you’ll see locals just running up and down these steps for a workout!
