Head to downtown Honolulu’s Chinatown every first Friday of the month and dive deep into Oahu’s vibrant art scene. At each “First Friday” you can interact with local artists and artisans sharing their work.
From paintings to powerful cultural exhibits, you’ll get to see a diverse sampling of Hawaii’s artists. Art galleries open their doors with exhibits, free entertainment, and light refreshments. There are numerous restaurants and bars open offering great food and live music. Discover a buzz of activity in the streets of Chinatown where people from all over Oahu come to see what’s new on the local art scene.
First Friday runs from 5pm to 9pm, so its a perfect way to wind up your day using a Go Oahu Card. See the First Friday website for all the latest on what’s happening at the next First Friday.
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Over 1300 Smart Destinations customers were interviewed by a third party research firm (KRC Research) last Summer. They were asked about their experience with the company’s Go Cards and Explorer Passes.
They found that 94% of the customers surveyed said they were either “satisfied” or “extremely satisfied.” And most of those customers said they were “extremely satisfied.”
The customers were also asked what they valued most about the product. Three answers were the most commonly given:
The quality and quantity of the attractions that accept the card for admission
The fact that it saved them money compared to having to buy separate tickets at each attraction
The fact they card was easy to use
In addition 91% of the customers said they would recommend a Go Card or Explorer Pass to someone else.
So if you are looking into buying a Go Oahu Card, it is nice to know that existing customers gave such positive reviews of the product. To see the Frugal Travel Guy’s review of the Go Oahu Card where you can read one customer’s experience using the card in detail, go here. Or for another point of view, please read Lisa Weber’s review of the Go Oahu Card and the Go Maui Card.
Planning a trip to
Oahu?
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Go Oahu Card.
This is a favorite in Hawaii and with former Hawaiian resident President Barack Obama. His picture eating this Hawaiian delicacy has been shown all over the world. Similar to Snow Cones found elsewhere, Hawaiian Shave Ice tends to be a bit finer in texture and often comes complete with a scope of ice cream over which are added condensed milk and favored ice shavings.
So where can you get real shave ice on Oahu? Listed below are arguably the three best places to sample this treat.
1-Matsumoto’s General Store: 60 years at the same location in Historic Haleiwa Town-66-087 Kamehameha Hwy, Haleiwa, Hawaii 96712
2-Island Snow Hawaii: Kailua Beach Center, 130 Kailua Road, Kailua, Hawaii 96734, this is where the President Obama was shot eating his shave ice treat.
3-Waiola Shave Ice: 2135 Waiola Ave, Honolulu Hawaii 96805 (corner of Paani and Waiola)
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Hey everyone, I’m beginning to upload videos all over the internet about the Go Card. You can find them on YouTube, Flickr, and other popular sites. We’re not going to make you scour the web, though. I’ll post them right here! Check out this video about the Makani Catamaran.The promotional footage they gave us included some cheesy background commercial that I also heard on the television in a commercial for acne treatment. No way was I going to use the same music, especially since we’re only posting these videos to the internet. If you liked the video, leave a comment, or check out other Go Card videos at our YouTube page.
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I admit it: when I heard about the 6th annual Waikiki Spam Jam, I pictured an angry mob of people complaining about the amount of junk in their email boxes. Au contraire, fellow travelers…
Spam Jam actually celebrates Hawaii’s love for that iconic canned meat product (Hawaii consumes almost seven million cans of Spam every year!). Last year’s festivities attracted over 20,000 people. This year’s event run 4 pm to 10 pm on Saturday, May 3. There’s a canned food drive, live entertainment, and a Mr./Ms. Spam Hawaii contest. Sounds like fun!
Planning a trip to
Oahu?
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Planning a trip can be stressful. Packing your luggage, planning out your itinerary, and picking a hotel are just a few of the challenges that await you. The last thing you want to do is arrive in Oahu and realize that you have no idea where you’re going.
That’s why we’ve put together this downloadable Oahu map to help you plan your trip. It includes map dots for all of the attractions that are included with the Go Oahu Card, and it prints on two letter-sized sheets of paper (or two sides of the page if you’d like to conserve paper). Enjoy!
Planning a trip to
Oahu?
Read about attractions, tours, discounts, and more with the
Go Oahu Card.
Japanese garden at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Oahu Photo uploaded by miszybabykiss
Even if you’ve already been to Oahu and think you know the island inside and out, then think again. This LA Times article reports that changes are afoot at many of the major hotels, shopping centers, and resorts on the island. Among these changes are additions to the Ala Moana Center and Hilton Hawaiian Village (pictured above) and renovations to the Royal Hawaiian, which reopens in mid-December.
What’s your favorite spot in Oahu? Leave a comment and let us know!
Planning a trip to
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Since Jack Johnson and his wife Kim founded the Kokua Hawaii Foundation in 2003, the Kokua Festival has become an annual fundraising event bringing some of the world’s top music talent to Honolulu’s Waikiki Shell. Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, Paula Fuga, Mason Jennings, and Go Jimmy will all be performing live on April 19 and 20.
If you’re a fan of eco-tourism, then you’ll definitely want to check it out, because all aspects of the festival were planned with environmentalism in mind. Their goal is to be a zero-waste, carbon-neutral event. To this end, fans are encouraged to BYO (reusable) water bottle and refill their water bottles at one of the water stations located in Kokua Village. The village will also feature local food items and booths from environmentally friendly companies like Patagonia, Simple Shoes, and Stonyfield Farm.
Kokua Festival is also partnering with Evolution Sage to offset the carbon emissions caused by those traveling to Oahu for the show. When you purchase tickets online, you’ll have hte option to contribute an additional $2 in carbon credits to fund renewable energy programs in Hawaii.
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This past Monday, Aloha Airlines touched down in Honolulu International Airport for the last time. The airline has been around since 1947 and filed for bankruptcy in mid-March. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, roughly 100 former Aloha Airlines employees greeted Flight 251 when it arrived from Maui at 10:32 pm. Over half of the passengers on board were also employees.
Planning a trip to
Oahu?
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The best way to experience a new place and culture is to listen to the amazing stories of the locals. In Hawaii, residents are extremely passionate about their homes, praising the land, the sea, and everything in between that makes them love living there. I stumbled upon a trove of wonderful accounts of the islands on GoHawaii.com called Stories of Hawaii.
Instead of simply text, the website features videos of everything from swimming with manta rays in Kona and surfing with the Waikiki Beach Boys to walking on one of the world’s most active volcanoes and the history of Pearl Harbor. The videos are narrated by friendly and engaging storytellers that’ll make you want to drop everything and head straight to Hawaii.
I hope you enjoy the stories as much as I did! Let us know if you’ve got a story of your own to tell, and if you do, be sure and submit it to their site.
Planning a trip to
Oahu?
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Japanese garden at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Oahu Photo uploaded by 
Underwater Fun Photo uploaded by