Hellobee Boards

I think it depends on what you want to do.

Hanauma Bay, Diamond Head, visiting the North Shore and visiting Pearl Harbor all take separate days, though none of them take up the entire day so you can still go to the beach and relax. If you want to do a luau those typically start picking up late afternoon.

I think 5 days minimum, 6 is probably ideal. With kids, especially that 1.5 year old, one activity a day plus meals is plenty. At 7 days you start feeling like you want to get home.

Dole Plantation, Waikiki people watching, Pearl Harbor, the zoo, are all kid friendly. I'd go to the man made lagoons at Ko Olina for really kid friendly ocean splashing, although there's a stretch of Waikiki they call baby beach.

I think 5-6 days is sufficient. Oahu is not a very big island so getting to things shouldn't take too long, however, rush hour can be insane - avoid that time of day if you can. If you can get over the Pali Hwy to Kailua/Lanikai beaches the sand is very soft and less tourists. Also, the Dole Plantation on the way to Haleiwa - good ice cream .

I used to live on Oahu. I would say 7 days to really enjoy the island without feeling rushed. Keep in mind that one day on either side is going to be travel days. So really you will have just 5 full days on the island.

As many as you can, lol. I wouldn't go for less than 10 days, given that it would involve a cross country flight to begin the trip.

I want to go for a milestone birthday, counting down!

@dolphin: no less than 6 nights/7 days. Two of those will be partial travel days too so you're really only left with five full days. A couple days may be enough to hit the major tourist destinations, but don't you want a day or two just to relax doing nothing too? I feel like the Europeans know how to do it right - 2-4 week-long holidays!

If @dolphin: doesn't mind a slight threadjack, does anyone have recommendations for lodging on Oahu? I think we're going to go with my parents in the early spring sometime, and we'll want something with either 2 bedrooms or a 1-bedroom with 2 beds in the master so we can put DD to sleep earlier and the adults can stay up. I was considering splurging on Aulani, but surprisingly they only have 1-brs with a king in the master...you'd think Disney of all companies would realize that the kids' beds should be in the separate room. Anyway, DH and I have only been to Maui and my parents have never been to Hawaii, so I'd welcome suggestions from people who have been there!

@PurplePeony @youboots: after seeing the resort on Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I found a KILLER deal last year and we LOVED it! 6 nights in the highest level (panoramic) ocean front room, $500 resort credit, breakfast buffet for two daily ($29.99 per person per day value) and all taxes and resort fees included for $1850. The website went out of business shortly thereafter haha.
I would highly recommend the resort. Plus the north shore is my favorite part of Oahu, maybe even all of Hawaii. We spent our entire 7 days up there, with maybe half a day in Waikiki just so my husband (who had never been) could see what it was like. He's not a tropical vacation type of person but he always says it's the best vacation he's ever had.