Hey all, I'll be travelling to Hawaii with my girlfriend come April. We'll be spending 5 days in Oahu and 5 days in Maui. We are both very adventurous and we'll be renting a car as well to get around. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

When you’re on Oahu, rent your car through Lucky Owl. “Beach cruisers” are older model cars, less pricey, and no worries if you get them sandy.
We stayed in a great airbnb that was within a 10 minute walk of Haleiwa town. Look up Garcia Ohana. Definitely recommend.

North shore is a must! If you can afford to stay at turtle bay resort. Shark cove up there for snorkelling (across from there is a great stop for food trucks). The light house walk is long and if you do it bring lots of water. Best poke —- foodland I worked on Oahu so I was there every few months and most of my recommendations are the ones I was recommended by locals

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Snorkel at Molokini crater off Maui

For Oahu.... Diamond head - awesome view, Hanauma Bay - great snorkeling and beautiful beach, Polynesian Cultural centre - very informative and great shows, the luau was awesome too

On Maui, Paia is such a cute little town. There is a good breakfast spot called Colleen’s in Haiku (same area as Paia) where you feel like a local, eating breakfast with the surfers. You can also check out Ioa Valley, a park that has amazing mountains, freshwater streams that you can play in and hike around for free.

hey Michelle, what other spots would you recommend in Maui?

The Maui Brewery is good if you have an afternoon to spare. It rained the day we went so that was a bonus! We did the sunrise at Haleakala which was an amazing experience - bring warm clothes if you go - it hovers around 0 up there..

A MUST in Maui: Road to Hana!

Turtle Bay is a must. So is Diamond Head and the lighthouse trail on the east side of the island.
Unpopular opinion but I did not enjoy any of the food except for the Udon place in Waikiki and the shrimp trucks on the north shore.

Spent two weeks there w gf, 1 week in Kailua and 1 week on North shore. Each time rented a small house through vrbo for $100/night. Kailua has lots of great hikes close by(Koko crater, lanikai pillbox, Stairway to heaven..if your feeling risky), downtown Kailua is really neat, great farmers market and is not touristy at all, kayak to Mokolua islands was fun, Kailua Lanikai and Waimanalo beaches are a must. On north shore, food trucks, snorkeling in sharks cove, turtle bay resort for drinks while watching sunset, waimea bay rock jumping.

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Just came back from Oahu this week! It was amazing! "Turtle beach" to see the turtles in north shore. Was super disappointed in Giovanni's shrimp truck - over poked shrimp, terrible service, lots of flies around, and not too flavourful. I felt it has now just become a tourist stop. North Shore Shrimps was so much better!
If you plan on picking up souvenirs, they are cheapest at Polynesian cultural centre.
Kailua farmer's market for sure but it is only open on Thursday evenings. KCC farmer's market by diamond head was great too but only on Saturday mornings.
We went for surf lessons with sea & board surf Hawaii. Instructors were awesome.
We got the Go Oahu Card from Costco that included a lot of admission and rentals.

I heard that you can get tour deals at Costco. Is that true?

Ann the Go Oahu Card included tour packages, so for $239 per person, you can take advantage of the tours they include, like an 8-hour Oahu tour and it'll cover a little bit of everything for you. There is also a Pearl City day trip, and all of that is included. You can see what is included if you check out the Costco website.

Look up the Windward Coast drive. You can start your drive to the North Shore from a few different places but it’s basically a counter clockwise drive around the island. We had already been to hanauma Bay Area, so we drove this route which my cousin, who is a local, recommended ( H1 >>> H3 >>> exit 11 to 830 >>> all the way to 83). The drive up and through the mountain, then overlooking the North Shore was breathtaking. Some stops to note are Polynesian Cultural Center, La’ie Point, Giovanni Shrimp Truck, Chinaman’s Hat, Sunset Beach, Matsumotos Shaved Ice, Dole Plantation for the Dole Whip dessert...to name a few

For eats in Waikiki...Cinnamons for brekky, Shirokiya Japan Village at Ala Moana mall for nicely priced Japanese food and $1 beers, Michael Mina’s The Street Social House at International Market...and many other food spots there. Gahh...I want to go back. Now.

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Haiku stairs or stairway to heaven. You need to ask to locals how to get there and the hidden path before 5 am ( ask your hotel guide how to find it. Google maps takes you there but you would not be able to find it if you dont know where the hidden path is) we went during the day ti figure it out but people was not happy and they knew why we were there.

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Rent yourself a convertible! and drive the Road to Hana on Maui...

Hanauma Bay and Lanikai Beach in Oahu (also a great hiking path in Lanikai that has some amazing views!)

I was just there in December...I second all of the places everyone has suggested...and agree with the Giovanni shrimp truck and massive amount of flies. It wasn't worth it to me. But if in Kailua...hit up Boots and Kimos for Macadamia nut pancakes!!!! They're amazing. The place is only open til 3pm. We got take out and went over to the beach in Kailua...beautiful. there's also a tasty shaved ice place right on the way to the beach called Island Snow...I actually liked it better than matsumoto's.

Pick up the blue books! They’re super helpful for insider tips. We found some amazing super quiet beaches and hidden little gems using them https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/author/ref=mw_dp_a_ap?_encoding=UTF8&author=Andrew%20Doughty&searchAlias=books&asin=B001JS9A2G

Nilkani Gohil