Reviews of other attractions on O'ahu
This page has a collection of shorter reviews for some the the things we did during our November 2012 trip to Hawaii:
- Aloha Tower
- Honolulu Zoo
- Waikiki Aquarium
Aloha Tower: We just went for the Tower and the view.
Visited November 18, 2012, reviewed November 24, 2012 See this review on Trip Advisor
My wife and I visited the Aloha Tower as part of our week on Oahu in mid November 2012. We went just to see the tower and had no interest in the marketplace at all. The tower itself is a moderately interesting structure. Access to the 10th floor observation deck is free, but you have to take an ancient elevator that is rather small. The views from the observation level are very good. We were there around midday, so the lighting was best for the views looking west and north. If you have some time, check it out, but I would not necessarily make a special trip to see the tower.
Honolulu Zoo: Very nice zoo; great way to spend a few hours.
Visited November 13, 2012; reviewed November 23, 2012 See this review on Trip Advisor
We arrived at the zoo just a few minutes after 10:00 on a mid November day. We walked from the Hilton Hawaiian Village which took about 35-40 minutes. This is not a huge zoo but it is very nice. Lots of birds and very nice enclosures for the big critters. The elephants and the African savannah were certainly highlights. The landscaping throughout the grounds was beautiful with many varieties of flowers, plants and trees. We walked everyone inch of trails in the zoo (well, all the trails that were open; there were a couple of areas of construction). It took us about 3 hours to cover the zoo, but we tend to take our time and also take a lot of photos. There were also several non-zoo birds that we saw (night heron and cattle egrets and several songbirds).
We got to watch some of the feedings and animal enrichment activities during our tour. First at the elephant enclosure, we watched a keeper put the big critters through their paces for treats of carrots and celery. We arrived at the savanna enclosure just as the keepers were completing the enrichment set-up for the zebras and giraffes. It was interesting to watch the animals waiting for the keepers to finish; the critters knew what was going on.
Waikiki Aquarium: Small facility with very nice displays.
Visited November 13, 2012; reviewed November 23, 2012 See this review on Trip Advisor
OK, this is not the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, but it is a nice facility. It is a small facility but with some lovely displays and amazing reef tanks. It took us less than 30 minutes to walk through and admire all the displays. While we took the audio tour devices, we sort of gave up on them rather quickly…we preferred just to look at the fish and read the placards. There was a lot of diversity in the tank displays. The reefs were the most colorful and had the greatest variety of fish and other sea life, but the jellyfish tank was also very cool. It does have good educational value
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