OAHU ISLAND NANNY-LEVEL GUIDE

🏨 SLEEP – WHERE TO PARK YOUR HEAD Surf Addict → Waikiki Beach Marriott: literally on the break, board rental 20 m left, dawn-patrol channel less crowded than Queens. Photo Addict → Waikiki Westin (Moana wing): 1901 colonial façade + banyan tree = instant 100k likes, golden hour elevator mirror for OOTD flex. Privacy Addict → Kahala Resort (Jennie-Approved): 15 min Uber, private lagoon, dolphins photobomb your breakfast. Price ≈ Waikiki but zero tourist cannonball noise. 🐬 🏖️ BEACH – SAND BY PERSONALITY Waikiki Beach: – Westin side = human soup, selfie-stick forest. – Marriott side = 30 % fewer heads, long-board rollers, no reef = skip snorkel, perfect first-time pop-up. Lanikai Beach: powder-white + ultramarine jelly-water. Sunrise = cotton-candy sky; go 06:30 for empty hammock shot. Reef dead = fish ghost-town, but who cares when the palette is Pantone 324 U. Kailua Beach: 8 min walk from Lanikai, reef starts 40 m out—bring leftover croissant, instant fish flash-mob. 🐠🥐 Kahala Private Sand: gate guard asks “guest or dining?”—say “dolphin encounter” and glide in. Count maybe 12 humans at noon. 📿 🤿 PLAY – PRE-BOOK OR CRY Dolphin Watch – Indigo Ocean Hawaii 🐬 06:30 lobby pick-up, small raft, guaranteed spinners or you re-ride free. Friend did it twice = stamp of approval. Hanauma Bay Snorkel 🦖 Reserve 48 h ahead on recreation.hawaii.gov; slots vanish in 90 seconds. Gate opens 06:45, arrive 06:30 or queue like iPhone launch day. Surf School – Moku Surfing 🏄‍♀️ 10 min Uber, 2 h lesson $100 incl. board. My BFF stood up wave —proof it’s rookie-proof. Parasail – Hawaii Parasail 🪂 800 ft line, dunk option, whole thing 8 min sky-time but adrenaline week-long. Go 08:00 to skip boat traffic. Skydive – Skydive Hawaii ⛱️ 12k ft, 60 s free-fall, views of entire south-shore reef. Even acrophobics exit smiling—earth looks fake from up there. Kualoa Ranch 🦕 Jurassic Park set; ATV most cinematic. Book direct—reseller = +20 % and tears. Do the 3 h “Hollywood” tour; raptor fence pic = mandatory. 💝 SHOPPING – TAX 4 % = CART GO BRRR ABC Store = Hawaii’s 7-Eleven on vacation. Every 50 m; rotation of Hello Kitty in different aloha shirts—collect all 6. Shell necklace $1 = cheaper than shipping from Temu. 🐚 Luxury Row (Waikiki Shopping Plaza) – Chanel, Tiffany, HW. Stock bigger than mainland, SA hoards hard-to-find pieces for Asian clientele—ask nicely. VAT-style savings ~5-7 %. Tip: pay with UnionPay/Alipay for instant coupon pop-ups; I saved extra $42 on a Speedy. 💳 🍜 EAT – STUFF YOUR FACE Marukame Udon – Curry beef udon, tempura bits on the side, $9 bowl, line moves faster than K-pop comeback. 🍜 Island Vintage Coffee – acai bowl thick enough to stand spoon, mac-nut latte = liquid dessert. 🥥☕ Maguro Spot – poke bowls to-go, spicy ahi + avocado, under $12, zero queues at 15:30. 🍣 Blue Water Shrimp – garlic-butter shrimp plate, rice ocean, eat on curb like local. 🦐 Kona Coffee – any roadside truck, medium roast, buy 2 bags because you’ll mainline it at home. ☕️ Nana’s Green Tea – ube soft-serve + hojicha float, IG color bomb, tastes like Okinawan beach day. 🍠🍦 🚗 GETTING AROUND Waikiki is walkable; everything above 15 min radius. TheBus $3 exact change, but UberPool cheaper if 2 pax. Scooter rentals $25/day—park by Hilton lagoon for sunset, feel 17 again. 🛴 🌅 SAMPLE 7-DAY FLOW Day 1 – Land, ABC haul, sunset Hilton lagoon Day 2 – Dawn surf lesson, Marukame lunch, chill Marriott pool Day 3 – Hanauma Bay 06:45, Maguro Spot, parasail 16:00 Day 4 – Kualoa Ranch AM, Lanikai sunset, Island Vintage dinner Day 5 – Dolphin cruise, Kahala Resort beach day, luxury shopping Day 6 – Skydive AM, Kailua snorkel + feed fish, Blue Water shrimp Day 7 – Nana’s latte, last-minute souvenirs, airport Kona coffee chug Pack SPF 50, leave work Slack on mute, and let O‘ahu delete your 班味 (work smell) one coconut at a time. #US #Hawaii #Honolulu