barack obama hawaii tour

• Tours and Activities

Honolulu Barack Obama Historic Island Tour

Discover Barack Obama's Childhood in Honolulu on a Six Hour Guided Tour of His Favorite Spots

• • Explore Obama's Childhood Landmarks in Honolulu
• • Enjoy a 6 Hour Tour of Oahu's Significant Obama Sites
• • Visit The Most Iconic Spots of Former President Obama's Youth

Why We Love This Unique Experience

Embark on a captivating journey through the lush landscapes of Hawaii and uncover the rich history of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. This full-day tour offers a unique glimpse into the experiences that shaped his early life on the beautiful island of Oahu. Discover the places where he laughed, learned, and grew as a local, connecting the dots in his remarkable journey from island childhood to the White House.

The adventure spans approximately six hours, with exciting stops including the revered sites of his birth, childhood home, and the famous Punahou School where he graduated. Stroll through the iconic University of Hawaii at Manoa campus and enjoy breathtaking views from Puu Ualakaa State Park, which was a favorite spot of the former president. Relish a special treat at Island Snow Hawaii, his go-to location for shave ice, and take in the surf culture at Sandy Beach Park, where young Obama spent many memorable days. A delicious local lunch at Rainbow Drive-In near Diamond Head ensures a delightful break, making this tour not only an exploration of history but also a feast for the senses.

This tour is more than just a day of sightseeing; it’s a heartfelt experience perfect for sharing with family or friends. Whether a history enthusiast, a presidential fan, or simply someone who appreciates the beauty of Hawaii, this adventure makes for a thoughtful gift that will be cherished. Uncover the fascinating journey of Obama as you soak in the sun, surf, and scenery of his beloved home state, creating memories to last a lifetime.

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Experience overview:.

This is a fun tour to understand a little more about our 44th President's love of the island. We visit the hospital he was born, his childhood home, the private school he attended, places he worked, surfed, and frolicked as a young care-free local.

Not included:

• Fuel Charge $50

What to expect:

Duration: 6 hours

Puu Ualakaa State Park

2760 Round Top Drive, , Honolulu, 96822, Hawaii

Amazing view from above Honolulu. A favorite park of the former President .

University of Hawaii at Manoa Campus

2500 Campus Road, , Honolulu, 96822-2217, Hawaii

We stroll the grounds where Former President Obama's Mother, Ann Dunham attended, and was a graduate student. The former young President worked at a Baskin Robbins nearby.

Punahou Square Park

Punahou St, Honolulu, 96822, Hawaii

We begin our tour in the neighborhood where former President Barack Obama grew up here on Oahu. We visit the hospital he was born, his birthplace, elementary school, apartment home as a young boy, and Punahou School from which he graduated in 1979.

Island Snow Hawaii

600 Kailua Rd, Kailua, 96734-2865, Hawaii

Get some shave ice from his favorite spot in Kailua.

Sandy Beach Park

96825, Hawaii

Local surfing beach with crazy beach break shorepound! A favorite of young, local surfers. Former President Obama spent many days surfing here a young man.

Hanauma Bay

Hanauma Bay, Hawaii 96825, USA

We are going to pass by the popular snorkeling site where Former President Obama snorkeled while he was a young man.

Pass by without stopping

Diamond Head

Diamond Head, Honolulu, HI 96815, USA

We stop for a great local lunch at Rainbow Drive-In, and a view of Diamond Head nearby!

Halona Blowhole

Kalanian'ole Highway, , 96825, Hawaii

It is a 15 minute stop where travelers can see the famous blowhole near Sandy's surfing beach on the island of Oahu.

Makapuu Lighthouse

Waimanalo, Honolulu, 96795, Hawaii

Scenic overlook on south end of island. Former President Obama’s new O’ahu home is visible from this spot.

Koko Crater Arch Trail

Honolulu, 96825, Hawaii

Popular hiking trail. Former President Obama hiked this trail often as a young man, and can sometimes be seen hiking with secret service, when vacationing on O’ahu.

Waimanalo Beach

Waimanalo, 96795-1299, Hawaii

Drive by his current vacation home.

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Details & important info, additional experience details & important information.

Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller Service animals allowed Public transportation options are available nearby Suitable for all physical fitness levels Minimum per booking is 4 adults

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Changes to reservations for tickets can be made until 3 days prior to the date scheduled. Reservations may be re-scheduled by the operator of the activity due to reasons such as weather, minimum participation requirements, mechanical issues or other interruptions beyond their control.

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Kikos tours oahu.

Product SKU: US-17645-0001 Google Business Profile: Kikos Tours Oahu

Honolulu Barack Obama Legacy Island Tour

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Places On Oahu: Barack Obama’s Makiki Neighborhood

• Barack Obama's Makiki Neighborhood

After walking around the Makiki neighborhood that Barack Obama grew up at I couldn’t help, but be amazed how compact his life was at the time. Where he was born, lived, worked, and went to school at were all within 10 minutes walking distance of each other. You can see it for yourself on this recommended walking tour. Have you done this walking tour before? If so vote what you thought about it by clicking the stars below.

User Review

Basic information.

• Name: Punahou
• Where: Honolulu, HI
• Cost: Free to walk around
• Time: ~1 hour to complete
• More Information: ObamasNeighborhood.com

Walking Tour Map Obama’s Makiki Neighborhood

Many Americans know that former United States President Barack Obama was born and grew up in Hawaii.  However, what many people don’t know is where he exactly grew up at.  To learn a little more about the former US President I decided to do a self guided walking tour around the Makiki neighborhood of Honolulu where the former President lived as a young boy and teenager.  The easiest way to access this neighborhood is by taking the Punahou exit off of the H1 highway then drive south on Punahou Street and take the immediate left on to Beretania Street to find street parking.  Due to the lack of parking I recommend taking this walking tour on a Sunday where there is plenty of parking on the side of Beretania Street.

After parking on Beretania Street walk back towards the intersection with Punahou Street.  On this corner is where the Punahou Circle Apartment building is located:

This is where Obama lived for a time with his grandparents.  Obama’s grandma Madelyn Dunham  worked for the Bank of Hawaii and would go on to become the bank’s first female Vice President in 1970.  His grandfather Stanley Dunham worked at a furniture store.  Obama moved in with his grandparents at the age of 10 to go to school in Hawaii while his mom Ann Dunham lived in Indonesia with his stepfather Lolo Soetoro .  From the outside, the Punahou Circle Apartments appear to be one of the nicer apartments in Makiki which is known as a working class area of downtown Honolulu:

Across the street from this apartment is the beautiful Central Union Church :

The Central Union Church was founded after the 1886 Great Chinatown Fire destroyed the Seamen’s Bethel.  This caused the Bethel Union Church and the Fort Street Church to merge their congregations and become the Central Union Church.  The combining of the congregations caused some of the most influential families in Hawaii, the Dillingham , Judd, and Castle families, to be in one congregation.  The congregation built their church at the corner of Beretania and Richards Street across from Washington Place , the residence of the Governor of Hawaii.  This shows the influence the church had in Hawaii at the time.  By 1920 a larger church was needed thus the congregation bought land from the now widowed Mrs. Dillingham to build the church they call the “ Sanctuary Building ” in 1924.

Next to the Sanctuary Building is the Atherton Chapel which was built in 1949 as a smaller location to allow more intimate worship:

It is pretty amazing that in this little corner of Makiki some of the most powerful families in Oahu attended the Central Union Church and right across the street from them, the boy that would go on to become the most powerful person in the world, the President of the United States was growing up.  Continuing my tour of Makiki I walked south down Punahou Street to locate the Baskin Robbins the teenage Barack Obama worked at.  It was easy to find after I made a left on to King Street and a short distance later it was right in front of me:

From the Baskin Robbins I then turned around and retraced by steps back to the Punahou Circle Apartments.  Just a block north up Punahou St. from the Punahou Circle Apartments is the Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children:

The hospital is the first thing motorists see when they exit from the H-1 highway to Punahou Street to access the Makiki neighborhood.  This is where Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961.  The medical center is a very large building and at least from the outside looks quite nice:

Just think somewhere in the innards of this large hospital complex is where Barack Obama’s infamous birth certificate sits filed away  much to the chagrin of the conspiracy theorists.  From Kapiolani Medical Center I continued to walk north up Punahou St. and crossed over the busy H-1 highway:

As I walked up Punahou St. I passed the First Church-Christ Scientists :

It seemed like an odd name for a church, but after some Internet research I found the church was founded in 1879 in Boston.  Apparently one of the main faiths of the Church-Christ Scientists is in healing through Christian Science treatments.  Something else I found of interest is that the church publishes the Pulitzer Prize winning publication the Christian Science Monitor  known for quality journalism.  Just a block away from the First Church-Christ Scientists is the Punahou School :

The Punahou School was founded in 1841 and is one of the most elite private schools in all of Hawaii:

Barack Obama attended Punahou from 5th-12th grade between 1971-1979:

Going to Punahou is not cheap.  I know someone who graduated from Punahou back in 2006 and it cost $16,000 a year.  I hear it is approaching $25,000 a year due to the fame it received from President Obama.  It was easy to tell where the money was going because its grounds and athletic facilities looked fantastic:

After checking out the Punahou School I then walked about a block over to where his mom once lived. Obama’s mom returned to Hawaii after separating from Soetoro in 1973.  At the time she was attending the University of Hawaii and studying anthropology.  She lived in a modest apartment with Obama’s 3-year old half-sister Maya Soetoro at 1839 Poki Street until 1975 when she returned to Indonesia to do field work:

Obama’s sister Maya later returned to Hawaii and graduated from Punahou School as well in 1988.  To this day she still lives in Hawaii and works as a professor at the University of Hawaii.

After walking around the Makiki neighborhood that Barack Obama grew up at I couldn’t help, but be amazed how compact his life was at the time.  Where he was born, lived, worked, and went to school at were all within 10 minutes walking distance of each other. I also found it interesting how every day Obama walked to school he passed a church the city’s elite worshipped at and the hospital he was born at.  He then passed another church filled with faith healers who happened to publish a well respected internationally recognized newspaper before getting to a school that is an elite institution attended by mostly the rich kids of Honolulu.  But that is just a microcosm of Hawaii that seems to have a little bit of everything in it and yet everyone for the most part get along and move on with their lives or in the case of Barack Obama go on to become the President of the United States.

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About The Author

I am a avid hiker with a love for travel and the outdoors. I currently call the Evergreen State of Washington my home.

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Obama in Hawaii / Pete Souza, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Obama's Early Childhood in Honolulu

June 16, 2022

Shaka Guide

Listen to audio sample:

Former president Barack Obama grew up on King St in Honolulu. This very street is where Obama attended school, at Washington Middle. It’s said he learned to play basketball on their very courts!   

Past the school, there is a 13-story apartment building called Punahou Circle. Wanna guess who used to live there? If you said Obama, you’d be right! In fact, would you believe that the Baskin Robbins down the road is where Obama’s first job was? Guess he really did have humble beginnings. 

Further down the road is Punahou College Prep School. Punahou was founded in 1841, making it not just one of Hawaii’s first missionary schools, but also one of the oldest schools west of the Mississippi! 

The land the school sits on was donated by the Hawaiian royal family. In 1851, the students themselves actually helped construct one of the halls that’s still in use today. Cool thing is, they built the structures using coral harvested from the ocean, as well as lava rocks from Manoa valley!

Nowadays, Punahou is a private school that’s known for teaching Hawaii’s elite. The school has a lot of notable alumni, including - you guessed it - Barack Obama, who actually attended the school on a scholarship.

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Making of a president: Obama’s Hawaii a popular addition to Oahu tourist routes

Visitors to Hawaii can see beaches, drive-ins, schools and more that were Barack Obama's hangouts as a boy.

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HALEIWA, Hawaii — If you’ve vacationed in Hawaii, you know the come-hither scent of flowers, the trade winds cooling the peaks and the warmth of the southern ocean.

Now imagine growing up here, where Barack Obama was born, exposed from the first to a culture where the impossible has evolved: a multiracial society, tolerant of differences and busily pursuing the delights and challenges of daily life.

For voters still wondering what has influenced the president, look toward the 50th state. The “ah-ha!” clues to the man have been right here all along, waiting to be mined.

Obama’s background is an open book, writ large on the pages of Hawaii. Hawaiian islanders are colorblind from the cradle. The blend of races and cultures here, at work, at play, in school and in every neighborhood has been a fact since westerners arrived to mix with Hawaiians, and the Japanese and Chinese came to work in the sugar-cane fields.

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Not that there aren’t problems. Caucasians applying for work are often passed over in favor of local residents. Chinese-Hawaiians tend to stick together. Look twice at a newly-arrived Samoan and he or she may give you the “stink eye.”

But my lasting memories are of people unhurried enough to stop and explain why this or that restaurant serves the best huli huli chicken. Of passers-by who sketch a map to show you the quickest route to Haleiwa. Or of folks who face problems with equanimity and solve them without drama. Michelle Obama said it best: “You can’t really understand Barack,” she told an interviewer, “unless you understand Hawaii.” If you’ve been there, you know what she means.

Before the last presidential campaign, travelers spent their time at the beach, rarely touring Honolulu’s inland neighborhoods. Since the election, however, a half-dozen tour companies have added an “Obama Tour,” focusing on places connected to the president. The homes where his mother and grandparents lived; Kapiolani Hospital, where he was born in 1961 (see his birth certificate at www.obamasneighborhood.com ); the corner market where he stopped on the way home from school; the park where he and his friends shot hoops; and Punahou, his high school.

On the same website, see a photo of Obama’s kindergarten class. Lined up and smiling are five white children, seven mixed-race children, 12 full or mixed-origin Asian children, Obama, and three Japanese-American teachers. For these kids, the world looked international before they could read.

Think of their class picnic, the buffet table laden with parents’ contributions: spaghetti, pizza, teriyaki chicken, plate lunches, potato salad, spam musubi (American Japanese), chow mein, malasadas (Portuguese) and hulihuli chicken (Hawaiian).

The parents and children would have been, at a minimum, all or part Portuguese, Spanish, mixed-European, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Samoan and native Hawaiian. Was pidgin (the Hawaiian-English slang) a common denominator? I wish I knew.

“Do you think people are as colorblind as they seem?” I asked Darlene Morikawa, formerly with the State Tourism Office.

“Just about everyone here has inherited what I call potluck,” she said. “We’re proud of our individual heritage, but we’re Hawaiian first and foremost. That’s where we get our identity, our sense of who we are. I happened to catch Oprah when her guests, African Americans mostly, were talking about how it mattered if you were more brown, or less brown, or almost white. It really surprised me. I didn’t know that people on the mainland thought about color like that.”

My advice? After you’ve taken the tour, poke around on your own. Explore the island — in the spirit of research, of course. Leave the hotel pool and head to the world’s largest ocean. Float on the swells. Embrace the waves.

Rent a car and drive the island. Pass up the submarine rides, booze cruises and national-franchise hamburger joints. Instead eat at cafes patronized by kama’ainas (local Hawaiians). Try that most revered Hawaiian fast-food, the plate lunch. A treat when an expert makes it (and a dog otherwise), it’s a basic food group. Obama likes the Rainbow Drive-In, whose website proclaims, “For 45 years, Rainbow Drive-In has served the most ono grindz (pidgin for delicious food) to Hawaii and the World.”

I prefer the barbecue chicken plate lunch, with macaroni salad and rice. The Ifuku family, owners of Rainbow, at 3308 Kanaina Ave., supports local scholarships and school supplies, something to think as you open your wallet. See their menu at www.rainbowdrivein.com .

My favorite lunch item is saimin, served at Zippy’s, one of Obama’s hangouts. Chicken broth soup, they add saimin noodles, char sui pork, wontons, eggs, green onions and bok choy. I’m told that on special occasions Obama eats at Alan Wong’s, famous for Hawaiian regional food, at 1857 King St.

If you’re staying in a Waikiki Beach hotel, walk southeast toward Diamond Head, to Kapiolani Park and beach. Local families picnic on the sand, swim in the waves and sun on this stretch of shoreline. The grassy side, named for Queen Kapiolani, is Hawaii’s oldest public park, founded in 1875. The grounds include the Waikiki Shell (site of free evening concerts), zoo, tennis courts, soccer fields and enough space to fly a kite. Bring a beach towel, a picnic basket and dine to music. Obama picnicked here with his grandparents and more recently, with his own children — and the Secret Service.

To swim with the locals, head to Kailua Beach County Park, on Oahu’s southeast shore. Here’s where the Obamas and friends have vacationed together, in two rented, adjoining houses. Some streets have public parking, but do observe “kapu” (taboo) signs, usually posted on private driveways. Even Hawaiian tolerance has limits. Stop at Sandy Beach to see where Obama still bodysurfs, but don’t get into the water yourself. Famous for treacherous undertows, Sandy chews up novices.

For a luau you’ll never forget, pass up the overcrowded event your hotel organizes weekly, and look instead for a church or charity-sponsored event. These parties are unhurried, visitors are welcome and you’ll get a chance to talk to real Hawaiians. Which is just what it’s all about.

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President Barack Obama tours Midway Atoll in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Pacific Ocean.

Exclusive: Obama Says Hawaii—and Mom—Shaped Love of Nature

In an interview on Midway Atoll, he says his mother’s influence and memories of Hawaii help inspire focus on marine life and climate change.

MIDWAY ATOLL — President Barack Obama strolled across this small scratch of sand in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on Thursday and looked out over the largest protected area on the planet, a stretch of shimmering water twice the size of Texas that he'd just set aside for the ages .

Yet even here, halfway between his childhood homes in Honolulu and Jakarta, with green-tinged clouds reflecting the aqua sea and an endangered Hawaiian monk seal lolling above the tide behind him, the president could not escape the clock.

"I'm 55," Obama said during an exclusive conversation about the environment with National Geographic. "I'll be leaving the presidency and beginning a new phase. My oldest daughter just graduated from high school. This is a time when you start thinking about what you are leaving behind."

The view from Air Force One, with President Obama aboard, over a nearby island as the airplane approaches Midway Atoll.

Obama was on the atoll to tour Midway's 1,100-acre Sand Island and view the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, a pristine expanse of coral reefs and seamounts that he expanded by executive order last week, home to millions of seabirds, endangered turtles, monk seals, and more than 7,000 species. It was a day in which Obama sought to spotlight his environmental legacy, and see during a snorkeling trip off Midway some of the species he has protected. ( Read about the newly discovered fish that will be named for Obama .)

During the interview, Obama bounced across the ages. He spoke of his mother and of the nights when she shook him awake to gaze at a brilliant sky, as well as the days when she dragged him through marbled museum corridors to stare at skeletons. He highlighted his concerns about the future of the oceans and the planet, and outlined what he hopes will be one of his proudest accomplishments as president.

He said that as president one of his essential roles may be to be a sort of living lens on nature’s beauty and vulnerability, one that can peer out into the open ocean and, with the media watching, let the world view environmental challenges as he does.

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"It's not enough to just talk about policy in the abstract," Obama said, as invasive beetles flitted across his path. "People have to see it and feel it and be able to understand what it is that we're fighting for, and why this is so important."

In the closing months of his time in the White House, Obama has been on an aggressive push to emphasize the importance of science and the environment. Much of his focus on such issues might not have happened if he weren’t so enamored of scientists, a love he said he got in part from his mother, the late Ann Dunham.

"You know my mom was somebody who loved—and I'm not pandering here—she loved National Geographic," the president said, sweating beneath Sand Island's sweltering sun. "She was an anthropologist and she didn't just love the social sciences, she loved physics and astronomy. She's the kind of person who would wake me up to see a full moon if it was particularly spectacular. She took me around to natural history museums. So I give her a lot of credit for, not only appreciating the amazing wonder of our planet and the oceans and skies, but also a deep-rooted belief of the power of the human mind and science and rationality to figure stuff out."

Scientists say it's hard to overstate the significance of waters such as those in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. The coral reefs there are some of the planet's healthiest, serving as nurseries for species that extend far beyond the monument's boundaries, and helping to generate life throughout a great swath of the Pacific.

Sea turtles sit on Turtle Beach during President Obama's tour on Midway Atoll.

An official from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service holds a white tern.

But that's just one of several dozen protected areas Obama has established using the Antiquities Act, which include Stonewall, a small Greenwich Village park that recognizes the birth of the gay rights movement; Nevada's 704,000-acre Basin and Range Monument , which the president highlighted Wednesday on a swing through Lake Tahoe; and the expansion of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to 490,000 square miles, six times its previous size.

All this action hasn't been without controversy. Fishing groups have objected to Obama’s expansion of marine monuments near Hawaii, worried that they might lose access to some stocks of tuna and swordfish. Last week, Obama designated a huge swath of Maine’s North Woods for federal protection, a move that was opposed by some residents who feared it could limit public access to some areas.

Obama has also been speaking out about his other actions, such as ratcheting up fuel economy standards on new vehicles, including trucks, vans, and buses, and driving United States carbon emissions to their lowest level in years.

In November of 2014 Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that they would each take steps to dramatically curb emissions from fossil fuels that cause climate change. Then, last December, in Paris, 195 nations agreed that they would seek to limit warming increases to " well below 2 degrees Celsius " and would strive to bring rising temperatures down even further.

Obama heads today to Asia for the G-20 summit, where the two biggest polluting nations, the United States and China, are expected to ratify the hard-fought international climate accord the president helped bring about last year in Paris after two decades of failure.

Asked what he hopes will some day be considered his greatest success, Obama mentioned one thing.

President Barack Obama visits the Battle of Midway Navy Memorial during a tour of Midway Atoll in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Pacific Ocean.

"I'll tell you, if 25 years from now we look back and we can say that as a consequence of the Paris agreement and the investments we made in clean energy and research and development we found new power sources, and we've been able to halt the warming of the planet ... that'll have to rank right up there," he said.

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A calmness born in hawaii.

For a president who understands the power of symbolism, Midway offered no shortage.

The child of the islands who once described these waters as "the trembling blue plane of the Pacific" suggested his own seemingly preternatural calm is, in part, rooted in growing up so familiar with water.

"People always ask, why do I stay calm in the midst of a lot of crazy stuff going on," he said. "Well, I always tell folks part of it's being born in Hawaii and knowing what it's like to jump into the ocean and understanding what it means when you see a sea turtle in the face of a wave."

In a spot made famous as a turning point in history , where U.S. forces beat back the Japanese and helped to shift the tide of World War II, Obama also tried to highlight the epic scale of the battle he said must continue to be waged against the fossil fuel emissions that are heating the globe.

President Barack Obama visited Midway Atoll to highlight the climate change threat.

From the moment he arrived in Hawaii on Wednesday, it seemed that Obama’s mission of environmental legacy was destined to be laced with a heavy dose of sentiment.

As he ended remarks Wednesday evening at the World Conservation Congress on Oahu's Waikiki, the president grew reflective, pointing out that "a lot of my life started about a mile radius around here."

His parents had met a few hundred yards from where he was speaking, he said. He was born and went to school about a mile away. His grandparents lived most of their lives just a short distance from that spot.

"Since Malia was born, since my oldest child was born, I've brought them here every Christmas for the last 18 years now," he said. "And I want to make sure that when they're bringing their children here, or their grandchildren here, that they're able to appreciate the wonders and the beauty of this island, and of the Pacific, and every island. So I know you have the same feeling, and that's why we have to unite to move forward. We have to row as one."

On Thursday, Obama conceded there's a possibility that progress on the environment could slide off course but said that he aims to do what he can to make sure world leaders work together, even if he and Congress don't.

"I'm a congenital optimist, and I really believe that it is well within our power to make sure that we leave this place better rather than worse," he said. "But it requires some thought, it takes some organization and some work."

He attributed this confidence to history. Some rivers in the Midwest were badly polluted in the 1960s, a problem symbolized by the fire in Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River in 1969. Urban smog was so thick in California when he was a college student there during late 1970s and early 1980s that it was too unhealthy for him to jog. Yet today people swim in those rivers, Obama said, and "although obviously L.A.'s not Midway Atoll, smog has been significantly reduced in the middle of one of the most crowded cities in the world."

"What that shows," he said, "is that with some modest effort we can not only halt the degradation of nature, but we can actually reverse a lot of it."

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