-Hawaii Travel Guide - Places To Stay On Oahu and More!

By: Nick Kuchar, Blue Nalu Photography

The island of Oahu is known as "The Gathering Place". The name is definitely fitting with it's dense population and amount of visitors each year (not to mention thousands of weddings)! If you are planning a destination wedding here, some tips below may help you out...(and if you in the market for a photojournalistic, fine art, wedding photographer, be sure to check out our site! :)

The city of Honolulu is the state's capital. Most of the island's hotels are located in Waikiki, which stretches along the famous beach of the same name. Here elegant places to stay such as the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and Sheraton Moana Surfrider (right on the beach !). For those in the military I would recommend the beachfront Hale Koa located right off of Kalakaua Ave.

In contrast to the hustle and bustle of downtown (which Rachel and I sometimes call New York City on the beach), Oahu's North Shore is rural, somewhat secluded and great for a quiet beach getaway. The main towns are Hale'iwa and Waialua. The north shore is a great place to look for a vacation rental. Sites like VRBO.com is an awesome research to find rentals on the beach. A three bedroom usually runs about $300 a day. The northeast tip of the island is home to the upscale Turtle Bay Resort. If you are in Haleiwa town be sure to get a shave ice! Matsumoto's is super popular, but Rachel and I like Aoki's shave ice the best.

If you are looking to stay somewhere even more remote, the hot and dry west side of Oahu may be a great option for you! The beaches are gorgeous and secluded, however sometimes hard to get to due to traffic on the Farrington Highway. The Ko'Olina resort is a beautiful resort located right on the beach. Further up the Farrington Highway in Makaha, is the Makaha Resort which has a golf course and is up in the Makaha Valley situated at the base of the Waianae mountain range. Yokohama bay is located at the Northwest tip at the end of the Farrington. This is a really quiet, nice beach to watch a great leeward side sunset. The west side is also home to a great surf shop called Hale Nalu.

The east side of O'ahu is home to Kailua & Lanikai and has a lot of vacation rental opportunities. Waimanalo is another good one. Exclusive, upscale estates are located around Diamond Head and Hawaii Kai

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