The island is crowded as all hell, but there's a lot of great stuff sprinkled around. The east side of the island is the most country...still crowded, but it's what you'd expect Hawaii to look/feel like. My favorite mountain hikes were Crouching Lion, Kuli'ou'ou Ridge, and Three Peaks. It's illegal, but not impossible to hike the Stairway to Heaven as well. The best beaches were on the North Shore. The beaches to the north west towards Kaena Point are mostly empty all the time. The hike to Kaena Point itself is also quite pretty, but very flat and lacks shade. It leads to a wildlife sanctuary and some old military structures, including an abandoned tunnel the army was using and tried to close up with dynamite after WWII. Lots of cool shit like that to explore.
Check out the Polynesian Cultural Center if you want Hawaiian Culture...some places also have fairly regular scheduled Luaus. Don't visit Waianae if you're white, the locals there like breaking shit. Hit up Maui Mike's in Wahiawa if you want some good ass fucking chicken. Hit up any Shrimp Truck if you want some good ass fucking shrimp. Haleiwa was my favorite tourist trap if you're into that...Waikiki beach is good for drinking and fucking off but way too crowded. There's so much more, but that's what I remember the most from my time there, m8. Travel safe.
