Oahu in a nutshell (for a friend)

Day 1:

Drove all along the SE shore, Na Hoku II sunset cruise

Day 2:

Dole Plantation, North Shore, PCC

Day 3:

Kuhio Beach (love!), Pearl Harbour, flew to Kaua'i

SE Shore

Beautiful scenery!  If you're crunched for time, skip it, but maybe go as far Diamond Head and Hanauma Bay.

Na Hoku II Sunset Cruise

That night we took the Na Hoku II sunset cruise and it is a MUST!  You will NOT be disappointed!  Their Mai Tais are awesome!!!!!  (Literally, the best I've had).  No food is served, and bring a jacket since it may get a little cooler.

Dole Plantation

It was overall kinda cheesy, but the Dole Whip was good.  I hate to say the train ride was kinda kiddish, but we still enjoyed it.  Would've been fun to spend more time here and along the entire north shore, but we were stupid and planned a day at the PCC that day too.

North Shore

Waimea Bay was really cool, an we spent a good 30 minutes there (which was a lot, since we were pressed for time)

DO eat the coconut shrimp in Kahuku (it's a ways up there).  The place isn't much to write home about, but their coconut shrimp is.

PCC

The PCC was really cool too, although I wasn't overly "wow"d by the Luau - and they don't serve alcohol at that one, so if you're wanting to drink up, don't go.  Also, the food is a little different, and you absolutely should NOT try poi - ewww!!

YOU CAN get a Pearl Harbour AND PCC tour ticket that may or may not include the Dole Plantation too (I can't remember), but you'd have a bus pick you up at your hotel in the morning, and then the bus would take you everywhere from there.  If you're wanting to kick back and not worry about driving, this'd be the route to go, I think.  It's expensive, but it does include the $90 PCC fee, so you have to consider that too.

If you do the PCC, it will take you most of a day (well, starting around 2pm when they open, I think) if you want to actually see everything.  The show at night is really good, though!!

Kuhio Beach

It was right across from our hotel, and it's really touristy, but a nice place to just lay out.

Pearl Harbor / Arizona Memorial

It wasn't as awesome as I made it out to be in my mind, but well worth the trip.  It's about a 20 minute drive from Waikiki Beach.  There is a ferry to the Arizona Memorial that you sign up for when you get there.  The Arizona Memorial was pretty cool and a little sobering.  We didn't end up touring the Bowfin or the other ship because of M's leg, but we'd been on a submarine before (BIL is in the navy), so we didn't feel like we missed out much.
GO EARLY - we were fortunate to have the handicap sign for the car, but if not for that, we never would have found a parking spot when we went around 2pm.

EATING

We ate at the following:

- Hula Grill (recommend - on Waikiki Beach - great place for after the sunset cruise)
- Kahuku Grill (recommend - if you go up to the north shore)
- PCC Luau (alright, but there are better places - if you go to the PCC, do the luau and night show)
- Duke's (recommend - on Waikiki Beach)