Not something to do for a day. The area is more of a surfing area and going to the beach is what you do. If you pick a day with big waves you won't get to swim and maybe not surf. If there's rain you won't get to hike. If it's nice you'll find it hard to park! We spent three weeks so had a great time. We liked the laid back lifestyle and my sons like to surf. There are some excursions but not like in Waikiki or Honolulu. You have access to some nice hikes, too. Definitely not an area where you decide you want to stroll through town, shop, enjoy a nice dinner, etc. We ate at food trucks (and they were really good and no more expensive than buying groceries.) We were home after sunset. If you stay around Haleiwa there are a lot more opportunities as it's a nice little town. Be warned the traffic is bad and it's packed with tourists. Guidelines we received were to go out btwn 11 - 2. The area is a small 2 lane road and people get off around 2 and start heading back to the area from work. There is good public transportation there which surprised me. If you're into laid back lifestyle, like to be up with the sun and home by nightfall, dress very, very casual, not the place for you. Oh and I found locals to be very nice!

Unfortunately most people when mentioning Hawaii think of Waikiki, shopping malls and clubs around it. That's the southern shore, heavily commercialized one and famous. For real Hawaii do rent a car and explore the island. Head east and then north. North Hawaii is almost pure nature, with pristine beaches, amazing natural beauties without high rises,... I'd point out Sunset beach, Turtle beach, Waimea bay and Haleiwa,.... We went two full days there, it's less than an hour drive from Honolulu. Many food trucks for great and reasonably priced food, cute small restaurants, bars....

My wife and I along with another couple recently visited Honolulu on a cruise vacation. While there, we rented a car and drove up the coast to the North shore. There were numerous wonderful stops along the way with terrific views of the beaches and ocean. We stopped at a few of the food trucks and had a great day. We experienced a lot of traffic and many obnoxious motor bikes in the North Shore, which took away from the beauty of the trip. However, this was a great experience.

Spent 3 nights on the North Shore. That's enough, in our opinion. It's much quieter here than in Honolulu. Beautiful beaches, delicious food trucks and lots of turtles on the beaches. With only 3 to 4 days on O'ahu, a day trip is enough.