Skyline - Riding the Honolulu Rail!

Our first time riding Skyline, the new Honolulu rail system! Tips and suggestions (especially handy with little kids), plus where to eat good stuff along the way ^_^

We rode the Skyline rail on Saturday!

The rail officially opened to the public in 2023, and I've been meaning to try it ever since. I never imagined we'd have an elevated rail system in Honolulu...but here it is ^_^

Only half of the full route is complete as of 2025. Full completion is planned for 2031. If all goes according to schedule, you can ride the rail from Kapolei to Ala Moana by 2031!

The rail is still shiny and new so it's a fun time to try it out. There were only a few other riders when we went Saturday morning. Many were families and locals curious to experience it for the first time.

I brought my toddler and parents for a fun morning. I got some good eating tips from Steph and Shann so it felt like a full adventure versus "just" a rail ride.

We started with breakfast at Shiro's Saimin Haven. Saimin for all! What a menu.

We ordered a big plate of fried noodles (a must!) and a large saimin with gau gee...I forgot to ask for the gau gee fried instead of boiled, but boiled turned out to be super tasty. Might continue to do that going forward!

We also ordered another saimin with Spam and wontons.

Hearty, happy, satisfying. A local favorite since 1969!

Shann suggested we go to Baldwin's Sweet Shop (I've never been!) for shave ice dessert. They're in the same strip mall so it's just a quick stroll from Shiro's.

That was the original plan but Baldwin's doesn't open till 11am and we finished saimin breakfast before then. We will go next time for sure!

From Shiro's it's a 5 minute drive to the Aloha Stadium rail stop. There's lots of open parking. You can find a free spot in front of the rail entrance area.

Rail tickets are $3 per ride. They take credit card, but do not give change if you pay with cash. Plan accordingly.

Do you have a Holo card? If you don't, then it's another $2 for the Holo card (which you can keep and continue to reload with funds for any public transport).

Kids under 5 are free when accompanied by a paying rider.

The rail comes every 10 minutes, super fast! And REALLY clean. Hopefully it stays clean for a long time.

We got on at the furthest east stop (Aloha Stadium) and originally planned to ride it all the way to west end (East Kapolei).

But then Steph texted me a cool idea the night before. She said if you exit at the University of Hawaii West Oahu stop, you can walk to Sage Creamery for ice cream! Such a good idea! But first, a few notes and tips:

• It's a short 6 minute walk from UH West Oahu stop to Sage Creamery, but it's really hot and sunny walk.
• You have to cross a busy highway because the exit at the UH West Oahu stop is only on one side.
• You'll need a hat for sure. Yes to sunscreen. Maybe also an umbrella.
• Bring water. That walk feels infinitely longer if you're carrying a backpack and toddler.

But it's sooooo worth it!

I've been wanting to try Sage Creamery for so long and it was just the right day. My dad had a root beer float with vanilla ice cream (made with vanilla from Laie Vanilla Company). He loved it!

I had a really good mint mojito iced coffee and...

...shared a double scoop of black sesame and mango sticky rice ^_^

There are about a dozen more things I want to try at Sage Creamery so we will be back soon for sure!

After a little break, we walked back to the rail to ride back to the Aloha Stadium stop. If you have kids, here's a fun idea...

...try to get the seat at the very front of the rail. There's a single center seat that's positioned so that it feels like you're "driving" the rail.

My son sat there (thanks to my dad!) and he had THE BEST time. He was soooo happy and excited. He was like wee woo wee woo the whole way and really thought he was driving the rail. Made my whole day ^_^

Looking forward to our next ride!