Another JCCH fair today 04/13/24. Great vendors with a variety of wares and goods…read more Crafters, bakers, taiko drum groups, food trucks and more. Prices vary according to vendors. Antiques are sold here as well. The JCCH shop has great items old and new. Today the Boy's Day dolls are half off! Everyone I came into contact with today was courteous, friendly and full of Aloha. Picked up a few items and lunch of course.

We attended an event here and it was very nice. The event room was cool and comfortable. They…read moreprovided iced water for us.

Historical building with beautiful architecture and a spacious garden. It was closed today so we…read moreweren't able to enter. This is the Royal palace for King Kamehameha and other royals until 1893. This is an easy walk from the piers if you are on a cruise. The Monkey Pod trees are huge and spacious. The grounds are well kept.

Palace Fact: The U.S. has exactly one official royal palace and it's Iolani Palace!…read more Cue me and my impeccable timing. We popped by ʻIolani Palace on a Saturday, fully unaware that they close at 4:00 PM. And yes, we just missed them. Pain. Tragedy. A royal-level fumble. We had wandered over after visiting the statue of King Kamehameha I across the street, so at least the vibe was still immaculate. Even from the outside, the palace is stunning, grand, elegant, and carrying that quiet weight of history that makes you instinctively lower your voice a little. Shoutout to Nadine C. for dropping the knowledge that this is the only royal palace in the United States. Let that sink in. Not a mansion. Not a "former estate." A palace palace. A little context moment because it makes standing there hit different: This was the royal residence of Hawaiian monarchs starting with Kamehameha III in 1845, and later home to Queen Liliʻuokalani, who was ultimately overthrown and even imprisoned here in 1893. It's also the second palace built on this site, which somehow makes it feel even more layered, like history stacked on history. Today, it's a designated National Historic Landmark and honestly? I'm a little mad at myself for not planning better because I know the inside tour is going to be incredible. Guess I'll just have to come back and do it properly. Next time, we check the website and respect the hours. Lesson learned.

This is an absolutely hidden gem. Out your guide was phenomenal, as he explained each location we…read moresaw in such great detail and to where the story was told. Many tours are just names and facts, but this was totally different. Being able to walk from location to location was very insightful. The check in staff was incredibly polite. What a great way to break up vacation with local history and also to another part of the island.

A nice museum that provides insight into the history of Hawaii and people who helped it become what…read moreit is today. Museum is free but you need to pay an entrance fee to tour the grounds outside. Very peaceful and a nice escape from the hustle and bustle outside

1000% worth the visit. This museum was recommended to me by the front desk staff at one of the…read morehotels I stayed at, and they were absolutely right. What a fantastic place to learn about Hawaiian history, culture, art, ecosystems, and so much more. A few takeaways from my visit: - Tickets are usually cheaper through Groupon. - This is a very family-friendly museum, please keep that in mind if you prefer super quiet museums - Great activity for rainy days, even though there are also plenty of outdoor areas to explore. - Don't rush your visit, there are so many exhibitions, and it's the kind of museum where you'll want to stop and read every display. Definitely one of my favorite cultural spots I visited in Honolulu. Very thankful for this place

We came here for a few hours. Several different buildings with several different things to learn…read moreabout. Unfortunately, we didnt have enough time to visit the whole museum. We started with the history. It was interesting to learn about the history of the island and the kings and how things were back then. It was sad to learn that most of them died very young. There were lots of pictures and artifacts. The artwork was beautiful, We also went into the building blocks building. I think geared mostly towards younger children and folks that like Legos of course. We would have love to check out the rest, and will hopefully get to someday soon. The grounds were beautiful and the people that worked their were friendly and helpful.

Black History Film Festival Paint Me a Road Out of Here…read moreThis heartbreaking and humorous documentary uncovers the whitewashed history of Faith Ringgold's masterpiece For the Women's House and follows its 50-year journey from Rikers Island to the Brooklyn Museum. This is a museum see. Your heart will open wide and you see your opportunity to make a difference by caring, giving, and sharing. February 12, 2026 at Honolulu Museum of Art in Doris Duke Theatre. Rochelle L. & Leonard E. Mc Gee were guest of Sandra Simms. Shalom

This was a great place to visit, away from all the tourist attractions in Waikiki. HoMA is larger…read morethan I would have expected, and there is a great variety of art here--Asian and European art. You probably could spend all day here if you took the time. We did take a rideshare here, so I can't really comment on the parking. Admission was pretty reasonable. If you are a Hawaii resident, you'll get a discount on admission. Of note, I was wearing a lei and they asked me to take it off (they gave me a paper bag to hold onto it). Staff were friendly about it though. We even got to learn a little bit about art in Hawaii, and what I really loved learning was the decorative brick that they use. After that, I started noticing them outdoors, as well as in some local restaurants. There are a couple of courtyards that are just beautiful and peaceful if you get a chance to sit around and take it all in. They have a restaurant, gift shop, as well as a coffee cart. Overall, I would highly recommend visiting!

Must visit spot if you're visiting Kaneohe. It's about 15-20 min drive from the botanical garden…read more You have to enter the Memorial Park to get to this temple. It's a smaller replica of the actual temple from Japan. We ordered tickets online for $10/person and $6 for parking. They don't check your tickets when you enter which we thought was very strange lol. It's very beautiful and peaceful with the mountain and smoky cloud in the background. They have a couple benches for you to sit. You can enter the temple but it's actually pretty small. They have artists and vendors under the temple too. I loved seeing all the koi fish and mini pagoda up hill. There's also a large bell that you can ring for funsies.

Buy parking and admission tickets online. Seniors are $8, great price! Non-Seniors are $10…read more Great place to spend an hour. Very tranquil and if you're high strung, it's a good place to take a breath before reality kicks in and you're back to your highly-wired self. Arrive early to grab a parking space. Restrooms are portable potties.

So much here for kids to discover. The cost is now $15 or $12 for kama'aina. & military (under 1 is…read morefree). The hours are very limited (closed Mondays, 9am - 1pm Tues - Fri, 10am -3 pm Sat/Sun. Closed on major holidays. It's always crowded but even my upper elementary kids stay entertained. There's a small Cafe when you enter that sells kid friendly affordable foods like pizza, grilled cheese, hot dogs. There's also a reuse section by entrance selling used clothes, toys, books, baby & kids items that's cheaper than thrift stores! There's Rainforest Adventures room that has a cool hands on water works area. And a large toddler area. Upon entering there's a music play room. Fantastic You has interactive areas about how the body works like heart and teeth health. There's another large play area for toddlers in that area with sailboats & science style games. There's community and job sections like a diner, grocery store, fire station, auto shop, post office, police station, pet clinic. A jungle bridge, theater rooms & puppet play. There's a large fairy tale like reading room. Upstairs has a makeshift Hawaiian Airlines plane where kids can be pilots, passengers, or flight attendants. My kids spent a long time playing the different roles and seemed to be popular with all the kids there. The huge cargo shipz let the kids be captains and cargo crew with hard hats and pulley system. They can direct a sea movie and watch themselves on screen. At the very top floor is Your Rainbow World which has cultural play exhibits that are very Asian inspired but so much to do,, learn and play. The Discovery Center is a very immersive & fun place for kids. Drawback is limited hours & crowded weekends (bc only toddlers are available during week hours). But they also put on events, allow parties & school field trips. If you go alot, its worth it to buy the membership bc prices and up being half off. Overall, a great place for kids to have fun, have cheap eats if hungry & rummage thru the resale items!

If you have kids ages 5 and below, they would def love this place…read more The price is $15 per person so we paid $45 for the 3 of us. It is pretty pricey for what you get. The parking is spacious. The play areas were kept tidy and quite clean. We saw staff continuously put toys back and wipe down the area. Some of the exhibits looked very old and outdated. There are multiple floors so make sure you goto the 3rd floor also. There's a cool Asian exhibit displaying different cultures like Vietnamese, Korean, etc.

I love coming to Kānewai, its definitely a great view in suburbia. There's a normal class that's…read morethere every semester for loi kalo. Great for all ages and they always accommodate as well. Every first Saturday they have a community work day that starts I believe at 8am until about 12pm-ish. To schedule a tour you have to contact them, I always see them having different groups. Its a very spiritual place and should be highly respected when entering this āina. If you can and you're around the town area, I highly recommend experiencing and participating in aloha and mālama āina!

Visited doing some volunteer work with my son's soccer club. Great cultural experience with a lot…read moreof hands on work. The staff were great and super friendly provided an awesome history lesson while we worked. Not only was the experience top notch the food and snacks delicious and Top Chef quality and was not expected so it topped the day off filling our stomachs with ono food!

Amazing show, so fun, great talent. Emcee, dancers, band and fire dancers…read more Ambiance is outside but on a rooftop. So if the weather does not cooperate, it could be dicey. We didn't get a few drops but not too bad. Food was ok, salads, sides were very good. The meats not so much. The only thing was really good was the barbecue pork. The kalua pork was dry and tasteless. The fish was inedible and so dry. No seasonings on the kalua pork. Desserts were ok, a pineapple cake, coconut pannacotta and mini Malasaga donuts. Mai tais were good, not a lot of liquor but good. You come for the show and was the best. See my pics.

My brother secured reservations for our family at the Hilton's Friday Fireworks Luau on the Great…read moreLawn ($249 each). Since my family was already staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, my husband and I trekked it over to their part of Waikiki. We had Golden Circle seating which was not VIP but we had 3 drink tickets each along with a welcome drink upon entering. We were seated with an okay view of the stage. It was warm and it was nice to be dining al fresco. They had live music and we were called up to the buffet table-by-table. The food was so-so but we found things to eat. There was Kahlua pork, roasted chicken, fish, salad, bread, etc. For the drink tickets, it's easier to go up to the bartender and order rather than wait for a server. Drinks that were available to us included: soft drinks, POG, beer, wine, and premixed cocktails. Needless to say, we did not use up our tickets but my husband tried and he even tried giving a few away. While dining, they started the show on the stage. The talented performers put on a great show and even my dad got in on the fun. Once the performance ended and the dining concluded, we were directed towards the lagoon where we would have a great view of the fireworks. The staff was on top of clearing plates and helping guests. The fireworks show lasted about 10 minutes or so but it was a lovely way to spend an evening with family.

So this might be the last year for the 2026 Sony Open. I was stationed at hole 7 , a par 3 to…read moresignal out of view balls to the camera. There was rubbish in the native area. There was a big bin of building material and a pile of dirt. Not very scenic. The course was not manicured well. Not like other PGA courses. The portable restrooms kept running out of toilet paper. The portable restrooms by the food village ran out of water. Eeew. Appalling!!!

Beautiful beachfront restaurant with stunning views and amazing food. The service is fast, and the…read morestaff are wonderful. After eating, I walked down to the shore and dipped my feet in the water, such a relaxing way to end the meal. Definitely coming back again!