Take a Hawaii Tour or Rent a Car in Hawaii?

July 8, 2010 by Lisa · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Big Island, Hawaii - general, Oahu, Vacation Planning 

My husband and I will be travelling to the big Island beginning Sept.26 for 1 week. We will then go to Oahu for 3 days before coming home.

1. Since we are renting a car on the big island, is it better to explore things on our own or would we do better with a tour? Note: we are traveling with 3 other couples and will be in 2 cars.

2. We are trying to take a day trip/tour to Maui. Is there some group that offers this that would include the air fare and tour of Maui? Since there are 8 in our party would there be a place we could call they may be willing to give us a group discount or perhaps a tour designed for us?

Only one couple in our party has been to Hawaii before so any advice is appreciated. I have been reading as much as I can from your website.

Hi. Well, you can go either way with the tour or the car, and in my opinion, it depends on if you are tour or car people. My family is definitely an ‘explore on your own family’. Other people prefer tours.

It won’t be hard to find your way around and find everything you want to do if that’s what you are worried about. Hawaii is easy, because you can always see the ocean or the mountain, so it’s easy to orient yourself.

If you find a tour that does exactly what you want exactly how you want it, and it looks way easier than doing it yourself, then the tour is good.

I have never run across a company that does day trips to Maui from the Big Island, but that doesn’t mean that someone doesn’t. Maybe see if these guys will help you out: aloha top ten .

Have fun! Lisa

Tags:

Best Place to Stay in Hawaii with a Young Child

July 7, 2010 by Lisa · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Big Island, Big Island Areas, Big Island Beaches, Big Island Hotels, Hawaii - general, Oahu, Vacation Planning 

Nice site.. my wife and I, along with our 2.5yr old daughter are considering a vacation to Hawaii sometime around Nov-Dec.

We’ve never been there before and would love if you had any advice on a great location to visit for ~1 week and one that is also children-friendly. We’d love to also try and stay on a reasonable budget while not sacrificing too much on quality of stay.

If you had only one time to visit Hawaii, given our constraints above, where would you stay?

…. Do you care what island you go to, and are you planning to rent a car? let me know and I’ll get back to you with some ideas. Lisa

Thanks for the reply. It will be our first time, so we don’t have a preference. Although I can honestly say I wouldn’t even know what island is best.

Here’s what I think we would like:

Beautiful beaches that would be safe enough to bring my daughter in
Not an immediate need for a car but we could always get one if needed
Relatively inexpensive; we could cook if the hotel had the amenities
Other cool activities that we could bring our daughter to and enjoy as a group

Ok, to be honest, my favorite place to stay with my son was always the Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island.

They’ve got a great kiddie pool.

The room rates are generally decent. You can check the hilton, or click through to travelnow on that page and see what you come up with.

The hilton on the big island is generally an island unto itslef, and you may not get out and see much else of hawaii - that’s my only caveat.

The hilton on Oahu is also quite nice.

Let me know what you are thinking - if that won’t work for you. BTW, have you seen my books? I do a section in each for best budget and best family hotels

Tags:

Cheap Hawaii Vacations

March 29, 2010 by admin-help · 1 Comment
Filed under: Big Island, Hawaii - general, Kauai, Maui, Oahu, Prices, Vacation Planning 

Aloha, if you are looking for cheap Hawaii Vacations, let me help you out. This is the online version of my ebook How to Save Thousands of Dollars on a Hawaii Vacation! Save Money on Hotels, Flights, Food, and Fun Things to Do.

Topics in this guide

Aloha!

Budget-Happy Times of the Year to Vacation in Hawaii

Airline fares fluctuate daily and accommodations prices go up and down, depending on many rooms are empty, but there are two times of the year you can count on saving money on your Hawaii vacation.

These are the travel seasons known as the “low season” and shoulder season.” For Hawaii these travel season are generally…

Low season: November to mid December and January to March Shoulder season: April to May and mid September to October. Peak season (when prices are highest): June to mid September and mid December to January.

As you may have noticed the Hawaii tourism seasons follow traditional school holidays. When the kids are out for summer vacation, spring break or winter holiday, airfare and hotel prices are at their highest.

So to get the best savings, take the children out of school and vacation during a low or shoulder season. They will learn a lot! If you’re not sure about that, take a look at all the cultural activities in my other ebooks, not to mention the science – marine biology at the aquariums and on the boat tours, volcano logy and lots more. If you’re on Oahu, take them to Bishop Museum!

Besides saving you hundreds, traveling during low and shoulder seasons makes it so much easier to book rooms and activities.

Save Hundreds on Airfare

Your biggest expense after lodging is likely to be airfare. Even when flying from the West Coast, most spend around $600 per person, round trip. A family of three could easily spend close to $2,000. From the East Coast, this family would likely spend around $3,000. This chapter shows how you can save over $1,000 just on airfare alone.

Flying during low season or shoulder season is one way to save hundreds on airfare. Here are some more cost cutting strategies…

Be Flexible with your Departure and Arrival Airport

If you are vacationing on one of the Hawaiian Islands other than Oahu, you will often save by booking a flight that takes you first to Honolulu International (HNL) where you’ll transfer to an inter-island flight. Most mainland flights go here first.

Generally you will save much more booking online. And a great deal of money can be saved if you are flexible with your departure airport. If you don’t find good fares from the airport nearest you, check a few others. Then compare the savings in driving to an airport that is farther away or flying from closer to home.

When comparing these costs, check out AirportParkingReservations.com. You can not only get good parking deals here, and you can also get Park/Sleep/Fly deals where you drive to an airport, park your car, get shuttled to a nearby hotel and then shuttled to the airport in time for your flight. This kind of service can save you money and headaches if you’re not flying from a nearby airport. If you just need a one way rental car to the airport, Expedia lets you do this.

The best fares are almost always found from Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco Airport (SFO), Portland (PDX), Seattle-Tacoma (SEA), San Diego (SAN) and Las Vegas (LAS). I’ve seen roundtrip fares this past year at my favorite discount sites (I’ll show you them in a sec) as low as $250 from some of these airports.

Booking at Budget-Happy Websites

So to book your fight, here’s what I would do. Hawaii’s own airline, which scores very high in customer satisfaction, flies from the West Coast, Las Vegas and Phoenix, Arizona. They often have good deals, so if flying from one of those locations, I’d check their rates: Hawaiian Air.

I would also search the discount sites and compare. I like to search the discount sites also and compare to find the best possible deals. My favorites are Expedia, Priceline, and Hotwire.

The more flexible you can be with your dates and times, the easier it will be to find good deals. Many mistakenly believe that the farther out you book, the better savings. Well, ok, this is true in most cases. But not with Priceline or Hotwire. With these two you can get fantastic last minute deals.

To get the deep discounts with Hotwire, you can choose a general time, but the specific time of the flights and the airline carrier won’t be revealed until after you book. This is also the case when bidding at Priceline, but I find the savings well worth it. At Hotwire you can save up to 40 percent. And at Priceline, using their bidding option, you can save around 50 percent.

Before bidding at Priceline, I look at the average fares for the general time period I want to travel and bid half of that. I also check at the bidding for travel forum to get an idea of accepted and declined bids. If you’re new to Priceline, be sure to read their “New to Priceline” page.

No matter where you are searching for airfare, remember that rates fluctuate from day to day, even from hour to hour. Fortunately, many of the booking sites have flexible search options so you can quickly skim through various fares in a general time frame.

Saving with Flyer Points

Another way to save money on airfare is to use a credit card that offers points for airfare. My husband and I used this strategy and it paid for my round trip ticket from Hawaii to the mainland. We chalked up points by using our credit card for things like our auto insurance and life insurance with the credit card, and then paying the whole thing off each month with a check to the credit card company. The key is paying off that monthly balance and using a credit card that has a good interest rate and low fees.

(Frequent Flyer programs are good money savers also, but if you don’t fly enough the points won’t help with your Hawaii vacation.)

For specific tips on saving money while flying from island to island, check out my free ebooklet, Hawaii Hopping for Fun! – Visiting more than one island in Hawaii the smart way. You can download it at http://www.hawaii-lisa.com/ or access it directly: http://www.hawaii-lisa.com/books/Island_Hopping.pdf

Get the Best Deals on Accommodations

**** Note, if you really want to save money on accommodations, consider camping. My friend Cindy has a lot of experience camping in tents and in Yurts on Oahu and thinks it’s the very best way to go: http://coconutroads.com/CampMalaekahana.html ******

——————-

Basically, I use the same booking sites for our family’s hotel rooms as I do for our airfare: Priceline, Hotwire, and Expedia. I also use Hotels.com

While you can find nice, 3-star budget hotels and sometimes even decent 2-star ones, why not use a discount site and get a 4-star for the same price? You’ll save hundreds while having an awesome vacation!

The discount sites often place the condos alongside the hotels, so for simplicity’s sake, I’ll just say “hotel.”

Bidding on Hotels

Like with airfare, when you bid on hotels at Priceline,you must be flexible. You can designate the rating level, but the exact hotel you will be buying if you win the auction will be a surprise until you are locked into purchasing it. It works about the same way at Hotwire for their deep discounts, except you’re not bidding. Before I use Priceline’s “Name your Price” or Hotwire’s “Deeper Discounts” I search for hotels I really like, check how they are rated there, and then input that star level when I bid (or purchase at Hotwire).

Also, before bidding at Priceline, I check the going rates for other hotels in the category I’m searching. Then I bid 50% of that. If the bid is rejected, I raise it $50.

I have personally bid and got a $55 room price at the Royal Kona Resort and $120 at the Waikoloa Marriott. My friend got $110 at the Waikoloa Hilton and $85 at the Hapuna Prince. (All of these hotels are on the Big Island.) These are truly mind-blowing deals when you look at the rack rates for these hotels. Even during low season in the recession, the lowest rate a the Waikoloa is $255 and most are over $300.

Finally, here are some good sites for vacation rentals and more condos:

VRBO Vacation Rentals by Owner What I especially appreciate about this site is I can search by the specific areas on an island, using their maps.

Home Away This one lists all kinds of properties – condos, vacation rentals, B&Bs, cottages, and so on. You can search by property type as well as criteria like budget and luxury, oceanfront, etc. Another thing I like here is that you can opt to have images show on your search returns (without needing to click through).

Hawaii’s Best Bed-and-Breakfasts now also offers listings of condos and vacation rentals.

Rental Car or Public Transportation?

There are two practical ways for vacationers to get around Oahu, Maui, Kauai or the Big Island: a rental car and public transportation. Oahu has excellent bikeways, but I wouldn’t advise limiting yourself to a bike for your entire vacation. And bicycling all over Maui, Kauai or the Big Island is just plain dangerous. So we’ll look at car rentals and the various public transportation services in this chapter.

Also if you or someone you’re traveling with has a disability, check out this resource guide, published by the State of Hawaii to help those with disabilities and health conditions to get around the islands. In some cases, their tips can save a great deal of expense.

http://www.hawaii.gov/health/dcab/docs/TravelHawaii.pdf

And for those in need of wheelchairs on Oahu, check out the free to rent, beach going, Landeez wheelchair at the Honolulu County site.

Renting a Car

This isn’t going to be a huge part of your vacation budget, but you can save around hundred bucks by shopping at these discount sites: Hotwire, Priceline (bid to save more, especially if close to your vacation dates) and Expedia.

I’ve consistently found the best rates at Hotwire (but do still compare). Searching on Dec. 17, 2009 for Jan 12, 2010 to Jan 19, 2010, I found: $13.95 daily or $142, weekly for a mid-size ($12.95 for a compact). Last month, searching less than two weeks out I found a compact for $8.95.

Public Transportation by Island

Unless you’re vacationing on Oahu, I recommend you get a rental car, but this section will outline the bus offerings on all four major islands.

Oahu Public Transportation

While you can find really good rates at the discount sites for rental cars, there are a couple other budget things to factor in when you rent a car: gas and parking. Waikiki must have the most expensive, difficult parking in the world.

When our entire family vacations there, we rent a car just because that’s what my husband likes to do. But when my son and I go alone, we take a shuttle to the hotel and use the bus and Waikiki trolley. And then sometimes I will rent a car for the day, just to go places that take too long to get to on the bus.

Oahu has a fantastic public transportation system, called of all things, The Bus. They’ve won several awards for America’s Best Transit System.

The Bus stops at practically every attraction on the island. I can’t think of any it doesn’t take you too except for the Pali lookout In Honolulu, a bus comes along around every 10 minutes, and outside Honolulu, they still stop regularly. I think the longest I waited was 30 minutes. So unless it’s the last bus of the day (for most routes, this is late at night), you needn’t worry about missing the bus.

You can tour the entire island for only a few dollars, or you could buy a monthly pass or a 4 day pass. A $25 four-day visitor’s pass ($10 for ages 6 to 17 and disabled, $5 for seniors).

So let’s say you have two adults and one 9-year old. That’s $120 for eight days. You can get a rental car for this amount, but when you add $10 + each day for parking, and gas at over $3 per gallon, The Bus is clearly going to save you some serious bucks. On the other hand, if there’s say four adults (none seniors), not so much.

My suggestion: add up the bus pass or fare prices for those you are traveling with and then compare to the best rental car rate you rate you fine, then estimate gas and parking (often around $10 per day at the hotels) and add.

In my opinion, The Bus works best for people staying in Waikiki or Honolulu since these are the central hubs - but a visitor staying practically anywhere on Oahu can take advantage of this. It also works well if nobody in your family likes to drive and all want to sit back and enjoy the scenery.

Now, a few logistics to consider. You cannot board with luggage. However, it’s really easy to catch a shuttle from the airport to your hotel – many hotels provide this at no charge. If they don’t, you will pay about $8 to $12 per person.

When you get to the airport, just pick up a courtesy phone at baggage claim for a shuttle or go out to the taxi flagger for a taxi. The Taxi will run you $30 to $40 to Waikiki.

If you’re going to utilize The Bus, check their site for a list of things you are allowed to bring on board – probably everything you’ll need to bring with you, unless you have a surfboard.

Waikiki Trolley This is a fun way to get around Waikiki but does cost more than The Bus. We like to ride it around at night, just for fun, but as far as buying a 4-day pass, I’d go with The Bus because it takes you all over the island and for less.

Maui Public Transportation

The Maui County funded bus system is way better than it used to be, but it’s still a far cry from Oahu’s bus. It’s commuter routes were created more with workers in mind than tourists, and to see if they go to places you want to go to and at the right times, you’ll need to download the schedule for each one separately. If you want to check them out, go to Maui County’s bus page.

The fares are good - from $1 each time you board to free, depending on the route. The commuter routes are in operation seven days a week and include: Haiku-Wailea, Makawao-Kapalua, Wailuku-Kapalua, Kihei-Kapalua and Wailuku-Kahului.

Big Island (Hawaii Island) Public Transportation

Because everything is so spread out on the Big Island, I really recommend you rent a car, unless you are going stay at a resort for the entire vacation and maybe take a day tour or two (but then the day tours are no way to save lots of money).

If you’re budget though is really tight, it is possible to see many of the island’s attractions via the bus, provided you plan extremely well. Unlike on Oahu, if you miss the bus here, chances are you are stuck.

In all fairness, the Hele On (means “to go” bus, Big Island’s County Mass Transit service, has come a long way. We now have more than one route! Actually there are 12 routes I think, and sometimes more than one bus per route.

Where can you get to on the Hele On? Many of the beaches, attractions, shopping centers and restaurants. You can even get to the Volcano National Park’s (but once dropped off at the Visitor Center, you’ll need to walk around the rest of the park, and it’s a big park.)

On a positive note the Hele On is free to use. You can check out the schedules, etc. at http://www.heleonbus.org/

If you are using the bus and are visiting Hilo Town and want to get around more efficiently within its urban area, check out the Shared Ride Taxi program at the bus page linked above. You can get door to door service for as little as $2. Not bad, considering the bus is free.

Bottom line though is unless you are really pinching pennies, I’d rent a car on all islands except Oahu.

Kauai Public Transportation

Unlike the other islands, there are many popular attractions on The Garden Isle that you cannot reach by bus, Waimea Canyon and the Na Pali trailhead for two. If you are going with a Na Pali boat tour, there might be a shuttle though. Kauai’s bus system is so small, I suggest you really do your homework on this and plan everything just right or rent a car. You can check out the routes at the Kauai County’s Transportation Agency.

And again the best deals for rental cars, in my opinion, are Hotwire, Priceline and Expedia, generally in that order.

Save Hundreds with Hawaii Vacation Packages

Now that we’ve looked at airfare, hotel and car rental deals…

While you can often get a better deal if you take the time to shop/bid for hotel, air and car separately, there are plenty of exceptions. So when you are on those discount sites, take a few more minutes to check out the vacation packages.

And of course, booking a package is more convenient – you can even include activities and dining, if you like the offerings. Personally, I prefer to leave my activity and dining options open rather than book them ahead of time. For this chapter, we’ll stick to the primary purpose of the ebooklet, which is to show you how you can save thousands on your Hawaii vacation.

Here is where I find the best deals on my vacation packages:

Note: For the best deals on vacation packages be as flexible as possible. For example, select “anytime” for flights and let them choose your car model and airline carrier.

Expedia is a vacation package leader on the Web. They are continually updating Hawaii packages, and when I can’t find a package with a hotel I want, I can almost always find it at Expedia just because they have so many! I always stop here first, check out the prices and then compare at the other sites. Another cool thing about Expedia – they are on the cutting edge of multiple destination vacations, and cutting edge is where it’s at for me.

So far, while Hawaiian Air offers multiple island packages, Expedia is the only major discount site I know of that lets you book more than one destination in a package. To date, you can include two islands.

Pleasant Holidays - They have several types of packages and lots of ways to customize (I like that!).

Hawaiian Air - As mentioned above, Hawaiian Air offers both mainland-Hawaii and inter-island “build your own package” deals. Unlike most airlines, Hawaiian Air also frequently has very competitive fares too.

Priceline – The best savings here are in the “Name your Price” option – bidding on hotels or airfare. You can’t bid on packages, but once in a while you still find a better package deal than elsewhere. Certainly worth checking.

Hotwire – As with Priceline, you’ll find the best deals closer rather than farther from your vacation dates. Still, this is a decent site for packages, and as you’ll see in my examples below can save you hundreds.

It may seem like a huge pain to do all this shopping around, but when you want to save thousands of dollars, you gotta make the effort. It’s well worth it believe me. Once it’s all booked, you get to enjoy Hawaii :-)

Vacation Package Finds

Just to give you some fresh examples, I searched today (Dec. 17 2009) for a hotel/air/car package. I entered the following criteria (just for example): Roundtrip from Los Angeles (LAX) to Honolulu (HNL). Two adults, one child. Departing Jan. 12 2010. Returning Jan. 19 2010. 4-star hotel. And to get better deals, I left flight times and car model open.

And these are some of the deals I found…

Oahu

Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort

Hawaiian Airlines was the winner here: $2760 for the family of three. Expedia wasn’t far behind at $2786. Priceline,which doesn’t include packages in their “Name Your Price” (bidding) was the loser: $3750.

Outrigger on the Beach

Expedia wins with a $2451 package. Priceline was the priciest at $2835.

Waikiki Marriott

Priceline delivered here: $2358! Hotwire loses this one at $2756. Remember, like Priceline, Hotwire’s best discounts normally aren’t found in packages. Their “deep discount” search works best not only closer to departure but only for hotels and flights, each separately.

Turtle Bay Resort (on the North Shore)

That said – surprise. Hotwire had the hands down best rate here: $2809! Expedia wasn’t far behind with a $2826 package. These were $100 less than Pleasant Holidays and hundreds less than Hawaiian Air and Priceline.

Maui - Wailea Beach Marriott Resort

Pleasant Holidays had a waaay better price: $3433 for the family of three package. Expedia and Hotwire: $4076 and $4147.

Kauai - Marriott Kauai Resort

Priceline had the best deal here at $3283. Pleasant Holiday’s price wasn’t quite as pleasant: $3716.

Big Island (Hawaii Island) – Hilton Waikoloa

Priceline offered a really mind blowing deal at $2583! That’s only $123 per night, including air and rental car for my all time favorite Hawaii hotel :-) The total vacation when you add food and activities would be thousands less than a typical Hawaii vacation. Pleasant Holidays bombed at $3726.

So this gives you an idea of the type of prices you can get from package deals that include along with air and car, an amazing luxury hotel/resort (in my opinion).

Still, while you’re on these sites, also look at the hotels, air and car individually. At Priceline use that forum I mentioned earlier to check winning bids. I add these up to see if a package can beat the grand total. You can search for other star ratings too; it just so happens that our family favorites are all 4-star so that was my search criteria.

Saving Money on Fun Things to Do in Hawaii

Hawaii has lots of things to do that don’t cost anything or that cost very little. Take the beaches for example. All have free access to the public (except Hanauma Bay’s nominal fee). It costs nothing to enjoy the beaches, people watch, body surf, swim, relax…

Many of the cultural activities like the festivals are also free. To save big time opt for the more authentic choices. For example, Bishop Museum on Oahu is awesome. My family and I could spend all day in there because it’s that interesting and fun. And the entry fees here are far less than say the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Oahu has the lowest cost activities. Just by vacationing on Oahu instead of one of the other islands, you can save lots.

And here is a list of activities and places to see that are free or low-cost:

Historical/Cultural Places & Events - Each island has lots of places where you can learn about events that have made Hawaii what it is today from heiau (ancient temples) and Iolani Palace to Pearl Harbor (USS Arizona and USS Missouri memorials). And there’s almost always some sort of festival or another in Hawaii. Events are listed at GoHawaii.com.

Outdoors Recreation – Swimming, surfing, hiking, snorkeling, kayaking, sunset cruises, dolphin and whale watching, strolling through botanical gardens and hiking can be done on all the islands.

On Oahu, watch the surfing championships on Oahu’s North Shore, take the kids to the Honolulu zoo and Waikiki Aquarium. On Kauai, hike the first (fairly easy) first two miles of the Na Pali Trail and/or checkout Waimea Canyon (Grand Canyon of the Pacific). On Maui, drive the Road to Hana. On the Big Island, visit Volcano National Park.

A&E - Hawaiian music and hula are easy to enjoy for free or the cost of a drink or two in places like Waikiki. On all of the islands, music and hula are performed at many of the parks, shopping centers and resorts’ public areas. If you’re into the visual arts, there are mesmerizing galleries and cool crafts shows on all the islands too.

The Hawaii Entertainment Book Activities Savings

One way I love to save money on activities is with the Hawaii Entertainment Book. If you decide to vacation on the Oahu or Maui, I recommend you get this because there are dozens of activities you can save money on with this coupon book. However, it’s not of too much use on Kauai or the Big Island generally. There are some coupons though. Check out my review where I list them. Using the book on Oahu or Maui for a week or two can save hundreds on activities.

The Go Oahu Card for Active Oahu Vacationers

I like the Go Oahu card available just for Oahu. I have bought it and used it. It is ONLY good for very active travelers though. The way I recommend you to use it is to get it for a portion of your vacation – like if your vacation is a 7 day vacation, get the 3 or 5 day card and do three or more activities on those days you use it, and do your relaxing (lounge around on the beach or snorkel or shop or hike) on days that you are not using it. Here’s my full review on it.

In my experience, it saves you money if you are doing 2-3 activities per day.

Take the Bite out of Hawaii’s Food Expenses

It’s really easy to save money on food in Hawaii if you don’t mind packing sandwiches for your outings and making use of a kitchenette for part of the vacation. Hawaii has a Safeway too, so you can make use of your Safeway card if you have one. Foodland is a good Hawaii based supermarket chain for saving money, and they will give you their discount card.

Some of Hawaii’s food cost 50% more than on the mainland, especially dairy (over $6 for a gallon of milk) and convenience foods like boxed cereals ($7 for a regular size box of Honey Nut Crunch). But the stores have sales on all of these items, and again, you can often save with your Safeway card, Foodland’s Makai card. You can also bring items like cereal and favorite snacks from home, and then use the empty luggage space on the way back for souvenirs.

Then to save money on dining out (you can’t go on vacation and prepare all of your own meals) I like to use the Hawaii Entertainment Book.

As mentioned in the “Activities” chapter, the coupon book works best for Oahu or Maui and can easily save you hundreds in food and activities.

On Oahu alone, there are at least $1000 worth of dining out savings! Pretty cool. See the available coupons here.

You can also save a lot also by eating local style. No poi required. Take the plate lunch for example. This is quite filling and normally costs about $7. Plate lunch wagons and take out restaurants offer many variations, but normally it includes a meat, such as teriyaki beef, one scoop of macaroni salad, and two scoops white rice. Many, like L&L Barbecue offers healthy substitutes, along with traditional fare.

Another way to eat more local style and save money is by shopping at the grower’s markets for island produce, cheeses and meats and fish. Hawaii has many grower’s markets. Kapiolani on Oahu is very popular and good. These are also great places to find souvenirs and gifts to bring home.

Save on Souvenirs

This is really easy if you shop like you would at home to save money. Walmart and Kmart have big souvenir sections, so if you go there and buy all your souvenirs you could save lots of money and time.

Then there are some of the Hawaii based venues where you can save on souvenirs. Hilo Hatties is one. They have really cute low-cost trinkets, plush toys and such. For clothing though, you’ll find Hawaiian wear at lower costs at the big box discount stores. Ross’ is also in Hawaii, and depending on the season, you can find lots of Hawaii tank tops and such here.

Oahu’s International Marketplace and Aloha Swap Meet still have good buys. And that’s about it. Really you can leave Hawaii with sacks full of fun and really nice souvenirs without spending the hundreds or thousands that the typical tourist family spends on shopping!

In Conclusion

Well, that’s a wrap. I think if you follow my tips, you and your family will save thousands on your Hawaii vacation. Remember to check my other free guides for more details on the individual islands. And have a fun vacation! Leave me a comment if you want to share any stories or ask any questions:

Aloha!

Tags:

First Time to Hawaii Vacations the Easy and Fun Way

March 22, 2010 by admin-help · 8 Comments
Filed under: Big Island, Hawaii - general, Kauai, Maui, Oahu, Vacation Planning 

So you are going to Hawaii for the first time! How exciting! You are going to have such a wonderful time. This is the online version of my ebook First Time Hawaii Vacations the Easy and Fun Way - How to Get to Hawaii, Where to Stay, and What to Do.

Topics in this guide

Aloha!

So you’re planning your first vacation to Hawaii…how exciting!
Before we get started, here are some Fast Facts about Hawaii.

  • Hawaii has two offiicial languages: English and Hawaiian, but English is primarily spoken. In casual conversation, Pidgin English is spoken among locals. The staff at hotels and most restaurants and activities all speak standard English to visitors (other than “aloha” and “mahalo.”)
  • Hawaii is our 50th state and is also known as “The Aloha State.”
  • The currency here is the U.S. dollar, major credit cards are accepted almost everywhere, and there are lots of ATMs. Many businesses also accept traveler’s checks. If you’re a U.S. citizen, you won’t need a passport to visit Hawaii.
  • The average year-round, daytime temperature throughout the islands is 75˚to 88˚ F, with the Leeward (west) side of each island being on the warmer end of this range. Hawaii has but two seasons: summer and winter. Summer is from May to October and winter is from November through April. The only difference between the two seasons – winter is just a few degrees cooler and has more rain. Temperatures in Hawaii rarely drop more than 5 degrees at night. Upland temperatures are cooler, and there’s even snow on some of Hawaii’s mountain peaks, like the Big Island’s Mauna Kea in winter.
  • The Hawaiian Islands are all volcanic in origin and Hawaii is the youngest and most remote island chain on Earth.
  • Broadband Internet service is available at many hotels and Internet cafes.
  • Dress is casual and summery. For resorts and upscale restaurants, wear dressy casual.
  • Beautiful beaches can be found on each island. All beaches are free to use (except for Hanauma Bay Marine Preserve on Oahu). Water temperature averages around 74˚but gets closer to 80° on the Leeward (west) sides during Hawaii’s summer months.
  • Hawaii’s winter is whale watching season on all islands.
  • The time zone is Hawaiian Standard (GMT-10 hours), which is two hours behind Pacific Standard Time. When dawn is breaking here at about 6 a.m., it’s already 8 a.m in California. During Daylight Savings Time, which Hawaii doesn’t have, the islands are three hours behind the West Coast. Hawaii is five hours behind Eastern Standard Time.
  • All of the islands have beautiful beaches, nice hotels, wonderful restaurants (American, island and ethnic cuisine), and fun activities including snorkeling over coral reefs, dolphin and whale watching, golf, shopping, cultural events, sunset sails and more.

If you haven’t yet decided which island you will visit, this ebooklet will help you choose. First we’ll talk about how to get to Hawaii, then where to stay once you get here, and finally what to do when you’re here.

How to Get to Hawaii

Since the Hawaiian Islands are located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean (2500 miles from Los Angeles) you will need to fly to get here – even if you take a Hawaiian cruise, you will be flying to Hawaii first.

Here are the international airports in Hawaii – these all serve direct flights from the mainland: Honolulu International Airport on Oahu; Kahului Airport on Maui, Lihue Airport on Kauai, and on the Big Island: Kona International Airport at Kehaole and Hilo International Airport (Hilo sometimes has and sometimes does not have direct flights).

Booking Flights and Packages

Chances are when you book your flight or vacation package you will be placed on a flight to Honolulu International where you will transfer to an inter-island flight. Most visitors to Hawaii enter through Honolulu. These reservations are taken care of for you when you book your flight to your destination island(s). All of the United States’ major domestic carriers and 16 international carriers fly to Oahu.

You will almost always find the best fares during the Hawaii tourism industry’s low season: when kids are traditionally in school. In 2009, these fares hovered around $350 from the West Coast and around $700 from the East Coast during low season. During the summer and around the major holidays, fares tend to double.

So to book your fight, here’s what I would do. Hawaii’s own airline, which scores very high in customer satisfaction, flies from the West Coast, Las Vegas and Phoenix, Arizona. They often have good deals, so if flying from one of those locations, I’d check their rates: Hawaiian Air. I would also search the discount sites and compare. My favorites are Expedia, Priceline and Hotwire. Pleasant Holidays often also has good deals.

Booking your airline seats online saves you money. And the more flexible you can be with your dates and times, the easier it will be to find good deals. With the exception of Hotwire, you’ll get the best price breaks at least 2 weeks out, and with Hotwire you’ll do best booking within 2
weeks or less.

Speaking of Hotwire, you can get their regular low rates while specifying your hotel, airline/flight time and car model, but to get the deep discounts, you need to go with general times on flights, star rating on hotels, size of car, etc. And then after you purchase, Hotwire can give you the specifics. This has to do with agreements they have with their vendors.

The same sort of thing applies to bidding at Priceline – Whether booking a flight, hotel or car, you will be given general information but not the exact carrier, hotel name or car make/model. Before I place my bid there, I check the going rates for other hotels, flights, cars in the category I’m searching. Then I bid 50% of that.

The Priceline website will have a ticker of recently accepted rates in the area you are searching for that is helpful. And the bidding for travel forum is a big help too because here, people can post their accepted and decline bids. So that gives you an idea of how much to bid. If you’ve never bid at Priceline, be sure to read their “New to Priceline” page.

Sometimes you may want to book interisland flights separately, especially if you’re island hopping and find better deals this way. You can check prices with the following airlines:

Hawaiian Air, Go! and Mokulele airlines are pretty much equal in price (mostly around $60 one way in 2009), but with any given airline, fares can fluctuate widely from day to day and with the time of day.

Island Air is another choice if you don’t mind turboprop planes. These fly lower, offering better views. They fly into most of the islands’ major airports.

Again, you’ll get the best rates by booking online and being flexible with dates and times.

You can generally save more by shopping for your airfare separately from your hotel and car, but sometimes an air/hotel/car package deal is the better value. After you check airfares at discount sites like Expedia, Priceline and Hotwire, and at Hawaiian Air, (if applicable to your departure airport) click on their “vacation packages” tabs and compare.

Cruises

Hawaiian cruises don’t depart from the mainland. That would be just too much time at sea and with inclement weather. The main port for Hawaii’s cruise ships is located in Honolulu, so if you decide to take a cruise, you’ll be flying there. You can find these cruises by searching at the discount sites like Expedia, Priceline and Hotwire.

If you want to take a cruise, but you don’t want to spend your entire vacation cruising from island to island and taking day tours, you could start or end your vacation by staying at a hotel on Oahu or on the island that interests you most, which brings us to the next chapter…

Where to Stay in Hawaii

Hawaii has seven inhabited islands: Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii Island (more so known as the Big Island) are the major ones. Molokai and Lanai are small, very rural and mostly visited via Maui’s ferries. Tiny Ni’ihau off Kauai is privately owned and only a few tours (highly supervised) are allowed. We’ll be focusing on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island.

Which Island?

It can be hard to choose! To help you decide, here’s an overview of each island with its major highlights.

Oahu - The Gathering Place

Oahu, the most visited of the Hawaiian Islands, is home to the state capital and the well developed city of Honolulu with its Waikiki Beach. Pearl Harbor and Diamond Head are here too. So is the famous North Shore with the world championship surfing contests. Oahu has more easily accessible beaches than any of the other islands, and the multitude of attractions, cultural shows, nightclubs, events, activities and people makes Oahu a good bet if you want to do a lot and enjoy the high energy of crowds. If you want a quiet moment or scenic beauty, Oahu also has some nice beaches and waterfall hikes away from it all.

Maui – The Valley Isle

The second most popular island with visitors is well-known for its beautiful beaches, “Heavenly Hana Highway” and Lahaina Town. Maui’s beaches are one of the reasons this island is so often voted among or as the best in the world. Maui has more swimmer-friendly beaches than any of the other islands. Lahaina Harbor is most famous for its whale watching cruises. While the Humpbacks hang out around all of the Hawaiian Islands from December through April, they favor Maui and are easy to see here even from the highway with binoculars. Maui is also famous for its dormant and quite huge and scenic Haleakala Crater and the amazing sunrises up there, and it is second only to Oahu in arts & entertainment.

Kauai – The Garden Isle

The oldest of the inhabited islands, Kauai offers the most scenic wonders including the deeply sculpted, towering cliffs of the Na Pali Coast and the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific,” Waimea Canyon. Kauai’s scenery is featured in many movies and television shows – South Pacific, Blue Hawaii (Coco Palms scenes), Gilligan’s Island, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Lilo and Stich, and about 95 more. Kauai also has more white sand beaches than the other islands. The Garden Isle is the smallest of the four main Hawaiian Islands (only 550 square miles) and there is one main road, so to stay out of gridlock, you need to avoid before and after work traffic. Other than this, it is easy to get away from the crowds on beautiful Kauai. If you’re looking for mostly outdoors fun and a laid back atmosphere, Kauai just might be the perfect island for you.

Hawaii Island (Big Island) – Volcano Isle

Hawaii Island is larger than all of the other inhabited Hawaiian Islands put together, so to avoid confusion with its namesake, the state of Hawaii, it is called the Big Island. While each of the main Hawaiian Islands is quite diverse, the Big Island has 11 of the 13 world’s climate zones (it’s only missing the arctic and sahara).

The Big Island is best known for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park with its active Kilauea Volcano. When conditions are right you can see the lava from a land viewing site, and the rest of the time there’s almost always viewing by helicopter or boat. It is the youngest of the islands and the volcano continues to create new land. This is why the Big Island has so many black sand beaches. Other famous attractions include Mauna Kea, the world’s tallest mountain (counting from beneath the sea to its snow capped peak) with the largest telescopes in the world, a green sand beach, Kona’s world class deep sea fishing and the famous Kohala resorts.

Where on the Island?

Climate – Leeward & Windward

Each island has a Leeward and Windward side. In Hawaii, the prevailing winds blow east to west (trade winds), and the mountain ranges prevent the Leeward sides (that face west) from getting the full results of these winds. So the Leeward sides are sunny and dry, while the Windward sides get more rain, are lusher and a bit cooler. Along with the Leeward side, the southern ends of the islands are also sunny and dry. Conversely, the northern ends are greener and slightly cooler.

Main Areas for Hotels & Condos

Oahu - The best place to stay in my opinion is Waikiki. This could be that being from Hilo where that’s not a lot to do, I really appreciate the high energy and offerings of Waikiki. This is the major hotel area of Oahu also. The weather’s almost always perfect, and if you don’t plan on leaving Waikiki much, you don’t even need a car. If you more interested in the North Shore, there’s the Turtle Bay Resort and lots of nice condos and vacation rentals.

Maui – One of my favorite areas to stay on Maui is at Kaanapali, just a few minutes north of Lahaina. Here luxury hotels line a long stretch of golden sand beaches on Maui’s upper Leeward side. South of Lahaina, Kihei offers lots of choices in condos as well as pretty, white sand beaches. Kihei is also quite crowded. Some of the best bed and breakfasts are found in upcountry Maui, which is very picturesque with its rolling green hills, flower and produce farms and awesome views of the coast. Hana isn’t a place to go to for hotels, but it’s a beautiful drive.

Kauai – The Garden Isle has three major places to stay: Princeville, which is secluded on the lush and incredibly beautiful North Shore near the Na Pali; Poipu on the beach lined sunny and arid South Shore, close to Waimea Canyon; and the Coconut Coast on the Windward side with its coconut lined roads, golden sand beaches, and the popular Coconut Marketplace.

Big Island – The Kona and Kohala areas on the Leeward side are where you’ll find the most and best hotels. Kona has more budget hotels and condos than Kohala, and Kohala as the most awesome luxury resorts, including the Four Seasons and the Waikoloa Hilton. Both of these areas have mostly sunny days. Kohala is the driest area on the island and has the best beach on the island, Hapuna Beach. Kona beaches are small pockets of sand and rock, but Kona has the most things to do on the island. Hilo on the Windward side is closer to the volcano and has beautiful gardens, but it’s lacking in hotel choices (my favorites are listed in the Big Island guide).

Which Hotel

Once you’ve decided on the island you want to visit and what part of the island you’d like to stay on, you can search for accomodations in these areas. Types of accomodations you can easily find include hotels, resorts, condos, vacation rentals and B&Bs.

Here are some good sites for conducting vacation rental and condo searches:

VRBO Vacation Rentals by Owner What I especially appreciate about this site is I can search by the specific areas on an island, using their maps.

Home Away This one lists all kinds of properties – condos, vacation rentals, B&Bs, cottages, and so on. You can search by property type as well as criteria like budget and luxury, oceanfront, etc. Another thing I like here is that you can opt to have images show on your search returns (without needing to click through).

You’ll also find condos at the air/hotel/car discount sites like Expedia, Priceline and Hotwire. And you can find B&B’s as well as condos at Hotels.com.

Besides browsing the results at these sites, you can search by specific hotel or property if you know what to look for. For the best properites I have found in Hawaii and organized into categories, like “best for families,” “most romantic,” and so forth, check my ebooklet guide to the island you want to visit. If you haven’t done so yet, you can download them (these are free also) from my Hawaii Guide Books page.

Another way to search for hotel deals is to start with a hotel brand that sounds really good to you. And then check both the hotel chain’s site for deals and enter it into the search at the discount sites to compare.

My favorite hotels in Hawaii almost all happen to be part of chains. On the Big Island: it’s the Hilton Waikoloa. On Oahu: the Waikiki Hyatt, the Hilton Hawaiian Village and for family/budget: the Waikiki Banyan. On Maui, it’s the Wailea Marriott, and on Kauai, the Kauai Beach Resort and the Grand Hyatt.

Hawaii’s Most Popular Brand Name Hotels

Note:(Don’t pay rack rates – use this list to look for specials and when searching the discount sites):

Outrigger Hotels, This classic Hawaiian chain has both hotels and condos on Oahu and the Big Island, and it has condos on Maui and Kauai. Voted by Travel & Leisure magazine to be among the top family-friendly hotels in the United States. Budget to luxury.

Hilton Hotels and Resorts, grand and luxurious. The Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island with its Dolphin Quest program is my favorite hotel of all time. And there’s two on Oahu.

Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, The Hyatts are also quite grand – large pools, expansive beaches, and big price tags. There’s one on Oahu, one on Kauai, and one on Maui.

Seaside Hotels, These are all close to the ocean, and *very* inexpensive. Of course, you will give up some amenities, but if you are looking for cheap on Maui, Kauai and/or the Big Island, you’ve found it.

Aston Hotels, These range from budget to luxury and are on Oahu, Maui, Kauai on the Big Island. Be aware that some of the Astons in Waikiki are just barely still in Waikiki - but these are still only about four blocks from the beach, and can save you big money.

Marriott Hotels and Resorts, These are all luxury hotels. There are three on Oahu, two on Kauai, one on the Big Island, and one on Maui.

What to Do in Hawaii

No matter which island you visit, you can expect to find many interesting and fun things to do. Here are activities popular on all the islands, followed by activities specific to each island.

Historical Sites & Cultural Events

History - Hawaii is steeped in history and legend from when centuries ago the first Hawaiians landed their canoes at South Point on the Big Island, to Captain Cook’s discovery of the islands and later the formation of the Hawaiia Kingdom by King Kamemehameha, the missionary era, the overthrowing of the Hawaiian monarchy, Hawaii’s statehood and Pearl Harbor. Each island has historical sites and tours that give insight into the many events that make Hawaii what it is today from heiau (ancient temples) to Iolani Palace on Oahu.

Cultural Events - Traditionally the Hawaiian people love festivals and so does the state of Hawaii. The most popular and significant of these events are the state-side Aloha Festivals and the Big Island’s Merrie Monarch Hula Competition and Festival. You’ll find events listed by island at GoHawaii.com, the State’s official website.

More Fun - The following activities are popular on all four of the main islands: surfing, snorkeling, scuba diving, kayaking, golf, deep sea fishing, horseback riding, sunset cruises, dolphin and whale watching, cultural/historical tours, relaxing on a beach, going to luau and last but not least sight seeing. You’ll also find Hawaiian music everywhere (lots of free concerts), nightclubs, fantastic restaurants, craft festivals, great shops and lots more to do.

Most Awesome Things to Do on Each Island

Note: See the individual guides (again free at Lisa-Hawaii.com) for lots more recommendations – this is just to give you an introduction.

If you decide to vacation on the Oahu or Maui, I recommend you get the Hawaii Entertainment book. However, if you will just be on Kauai or the Big Island, it won’t be much good for you.

You also might be interested in the Go Oahu card if you are staying on Oahu.

Oahu – As mentioned previously, Oahu has tons to do! For starters there’s the Bishop Museum and Iolani Palace for those interested in Hawaiian culture and history. Also there’s Pearl Harbor (USS Arizona and USS Missouri memorials), the Polynesian Cultural Center, Wild Side Specialty Tours (swim with dolphins), learning to surf at Waikiki, watching the pros surf 20 foot waves on the North Shore, taking a sunset Waikiki sail, snorkeling at Hanauma Bay Marine Preserve, kayaking at Kailua Bay, hiking Diamond Head and strolling through gorgeous botanical gardens. And also just walking around Waikiki and taking the trolley at night is good fun!

Maui – Drive the Hana Highway and stop along the way to hike into waterfalls, taking the downhill bike ride from Haleakala (woohoo!). Better yet, take the downhill bike ride after catching the sunrise at the crater! More awesome things to do: stroll through historical Lahaina, attend the really fantastic Old Lahaina Luau, watch the whales, watch the kids play in the fantasy pool at the Grand Wailea Marriot, take a snorkel tour at Molokini Crater, take the short ferry ride to Molokai or Lanai… On Molokai, ride a mule to the Kalaupapa Peninsula. On Lanai, scuba dive n the cathedrals or four wheel up the Munro Trail. Back on Maui, explore the Iao Needle area and its Kepaniwai Park and Heritage Gardens. Save time for Maui’s beaches!

Kauai – Enjoy the spectacular scenery of the Na Pali from a boat, helicopter or hiking trail. Take a look at Waimea Canyon, the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific.” Play at Poipu Beach with the kids. Go snorkeling at Ke`e. Take the cheesy but fun and scenic Smith Family boat ride up the Wailuku river to the Fern Grotto, a natural amphitheater where the “Hawaiian Wedding Song” is performed. Dozens of movies have been filmed amidst Kauai’s stunning scenery, so the Hawaii Movie Tours are pretty popular. And if you’ve always wanted to learn how to stand up paddle (a combination of surfing and paddling) you can learn on the calm waters of the Wailuku River.

Big Island – Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is the number one Big Island attraction and one on my favorites list too. It’s got history, culture, a science museum, an active volcano and wonderful hiking. Outside the park, watch lava flow into the sea from the Kalapana viewing area or from a helicopter or boat. Go to a green sand beach. Check out the turtles at Punalu`u Black Sand Beach. In Hilo view lovely botanical gardens and drive up the Hamakua Coast, stopping at Akaka Falls State Park to view the 400-foot falls. Head on to Waimea and the sprawling Parker Ranch. In Kohala, enjoy two of the world’s most beautiful beaches: Hapuna and the Mauna Kea Beach, and check out the dolphins at the Waikoloa Hilton. In Kona, take a snorkeling cruise at Kealakekua Bay and have a world-class deep sea fishing adventure.

In Conclusion

Now that you have an overview of what to expect on your Hawaii vacation, remember to check my other free guides for more details on each island and specialty topics like “Saving Thousands on your Hawaii Vacation” and “Island Hopping.”
And have a fun vacation!

Aloha,

Lisa

Tags:

Hawaii; How to Get From One Island to Another

March 17, 2010 by admin-help · 4 Comments
Filed under: Big Island, Hawaii - general, Kauai, Maui, Molokai, Oahu, Prices, Vacation Planning 

Aloha!

So you’re planning a vacation to Hawaii that will take you to more than one island – good decision. I’m really excited for you!

island hopping cover If you already know exactly what islands you want to visit, this is the perfect guide for you because it provides the “How.” This is the online version of my ebook Hawaii Hopping for Fun! Visiting More than One Island in Hawaii the Smart Way

If you haven’t yet decided on your destination islands, you can learn more about each island and saving money on them by reading my free guides to Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island.

Topics in this guide

Brief info about each island: Oahu (Waikiki island) has the most things to do, Kauai is known for its amazing scenery and endless, pristine white sand beaches, Maui has the Hana Highway and the best whale watching, and the Big Island is most known for its active volcano and its Kohala resorts.

The two tiny islands of Molokai and Lanai are quiet, mostly rural and have their own treasures – Molokai is best known for its mule rides to Kalaupapa and Lanai for its excellent diving. These two islands are typically visited for day or overnight tours via boat excursions from nearby Maui.

All of the Hawaiian Islands have wonderful beaches and climate. Most visited in order: Oahu, Maui, Big Island, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai.

How to Visit the Other Hawaiian Islands Overview

There are many ways to visit more than one island:

  • Book each leg of your journey yourself: airline reservations from mainland from island to island, lodging, car rentals, and activities.
  • Book a hotel/air/car vacation package.
  • Book only air/car through a discount site, and reserve your accommodations with the hotel itself or a timeshare, etc.
  • Use one or more of the above methods and then a tour company for day or overnight island tours.
  • Use the services of a travel agency company to book everything from air to activities.
  • Stay on Oahu and spend part of your vacation on a 7-day Island to Island Cruise out of Honolulu.
  • Combine some of the above into a package that you create.

Lots of choices! To help you plan the best Hawaiian vacation ever, I’ve broken all this down into the following chapters.

Remember when planning your island hopping that it takes time to pack, unpack, and wait at airports (the flights themselves are pretty short – most around 30 minutes). I don’t like to recommend more than one island for every 5 to 7 days in Hawaii, because that is too much packing and being at airports for my taste within that time period.

I do outline some options in this guide for those who can’t/don’t want to spend this long on a given island. Either way…The bottom line is if you make your priority having plenty time to relax and enjoy your vacation (rather than checking off a “things to see and do list” as fast as you can), you can make this your best Hawaii vacation ever!

I frequently do the research and the math, and normally, on a Hawaii vacation you save money when booking a package that includes your flight, car, and hotel compared to booking each of these separately.

But sometimes for various reasons it works out better to book separately. You may want to customize more. Some own a timeshare on one island or want to stay at places that the packages don’t include. Or you could just end up finding better deals through specials offered by the hotels, airline (most likely Hawaiian), etc.

So we’ll start by looking at the individual booking options and then move on
to tours and packages.

Booking Your Flight, Hotel and Car Independently

Booking your Flight – General Information

Which Airports are Best?

Oahu - Easy. There’s one major airport: Honolulu International HNL.

Maui - For flying directly from the mainland, there’s one choice: Kahului (OGG). You can also island hop to Kahului. This is located in Central Maui and is just a few minutes from the beginning of the Hana Highway. It’s about an hour Lahaina and Kaanapali. Kapalua (JHM) is located near Lahaina and Kaanapali, is closer to Kihei and serves inter-island flights. If you’re planning on visiting various areas of Maui, go with the best airfare prices, otherwise take into account time and gas.

Big Island - Whether just island hopping here or flying direct from the mainland you have two choices: Kona Keahole International Airport (KOA) and Hilo International (ITO). If the Volcano National Park is the epicenter of your Big Island visit, know that Hilo’s much closer (about 45 minutes opposed to 2 1/2 hours from KOA).

Airfare Prices

Generally, you’ll get the best fares for times when the kids are in school: from the West Coast around $350 and East Coast around $700. Prices almost double in the summer and around the major holidays: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and spring break.

With the exception of Hotwire, you’ll get the best price breaks at least 2 weeks out, and with Hotwire you’ll do best booking within 2 weeks or less.

You’ll almost never save buying directly from the airlines, except for Hawaiian Air. They serve several West Coast airports, as well as Phoenix Arizona and Las Vegas. They also have inter-island services and often have special deals.

If you’re staying on Oahu for part of your vacation, you will usually save by making this the destination for your mainland flight, although increasingly there are very good fares to be found to and from Maui. Flying direct to the Big Island and Kauai often costs the same as if you flew to Oahu and then took an inter-island flight.

Booking Your Island Hopping Flights

When you book your own inter-island flights, you can choose from major airlines, Hawaiian Air and Go!, as well as Mokulele (now a partner of Go!) and airlines with smaller planes.

Hawaiian Air and Go! airlines are pretty much equal in prices. Their fares have been running around $60 one way when you book online. Hawaiian Air has a more user friendly site (I think), and they do consistently earn high marks for their customer service. My general opinion about these two is to book with whichever one is most convenient for you.

Keep in mind that fares can fluctuate widely with the time of day. For example, searching Hawaiian Air for Dec. 3, 2009, Honolulu to Hilo, I found $58 one way fares for early morning, late morning and some afternoon and evening, while a few of the other flights in the afternoon, evening and around 8 a.m. were $104 one way. Big difference there! Seats generally cost less during the times of day that local commuters are least likely to travel.

Inter-island fares don’t go up as much around holidays as mainland fares – unless you’re traveling on the holiday or the day before or after. For example, searching for fares on Dec. 21, 2009 for Honolulu to Kahului, Maui at Go! Airlines, I found several $64 ones, but fares for Dec. 24, 2009, except for two in the evening were $84 to $220. Note, when using Go! In order to get varying times and their fares, you need to check “flexible dates.”

Mokulele which entered a partnership with Go! in October provides a more user-friendly site. Here you can search by date and get varying hours, like at Hawaiian. Checking fares for the same day and flight from Honolulu to Maui on Mokulele, fares varied from $58 to $79, and morning flights were still available (searching on Nov. 20) for December 24 at $58.

When you’re island hopping you don’t necessarily need a round-trip ticket, and none of these three airlines require that for these one-way prices.

Island Air has a fleet of 37-seat turboprop planes. I flew with them to Molokai and the plane was *small* and the views are awesome because they fly lower than the jets used by Go!, Hawaiian and Mokulele. Island Air has an outstanding reputation for reliability and safety, and their fares are comparable. The only drawbacks I see are that they don’t fly into Hilo and they don’t have as many flights.

Checking fares from Honolulu to Kona for Dec. 21, 2009 (the same day I checked for Hawaiian Air above), the search returned a 1 p.m. flight for $64, which is about where their regular fares generally start and is the same as some of those for the Dec. 21 HNL to Hilo Hawaiian Air flight. That was the only flight with empty seats. Island Air compared well to the others for holidays, with a morning and afternoon Christmas Eve day flight, each at $64. Like its competitors, Island Air offers specials from time to time.

When booking your flights with any of these airlines, you will save by booking online.

Booking Your Mainland – Hawaii Flight

If you’re flying from the West Coast you will often find the best deals with Hawaiian Air. I just checked and found some December $259 roundtrip fares for LAX – HNL. Since they fly inter-island too, you could book all your flights with them if the price and times are right.

I like to search the discount sites also and compare to find the best possible deals. My favorites are Expedia, Priceline, and Hotwire. This year, I’ve seen fares as low as $250 – roundtrip. Remember the best deals at Hotwire are found within a couple weeks of departure, just the opposite of the other sites. My free island guides go into a lot more detail on mainland flights.

Booking Your Rental Cars

Again I like to search at Expedia, Priceline, and Hotwire.

When I bid on rental cars (or anything) at Priceline I usually start at about 50% of the normal low rates for that time of year. That could mean bidding at $8 to $15 per day.

Sometimes you’ll find a good deal with the actual car rental company because they often run specials. All of the major car rentals are in Hawaii and can quickly be found online.

Booking Your Hotel

Booking Your Hotels through Discount Sites

Shopping for travel reservations through Expedia, Priceline, and Hotwire is a fantastic way to save money on hotels! I detail this in my free island guides and include in these the best deals I found for specific hotels and condos.

Hotel Chains

Usually a chain’s hotels will be pretty consistent in their offerings, and you will only need to deal with one company for all your island accommodations.

You can often find good deals when the hotels are most hurting for visitors. Here are a few to get you started:

Outrigger Hotels, This classic Hawaiian chain has both hotels and condos on Oahu and the Big Island, and it has condos on Maui and Kauai. Check for specials like “4th night free.”

Hilton Hotels and Resorts, grand and luxurious. The Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island is my favorite hotel of all time. And there’s two have two on Oahu.

Seaside Hotels, These are all close to the ocean, and *very* inexpensive. Of course, you will give up some amenities, but if you are looking for cheap on Maui, Kauai and/or the Big Island, you’ve found it.

Aston Hotels, These range from budget to luxury and are on Oahu, Maui, Kauai on the Big Island. Be aware that some of the Astons in Waikiki are just barely still in Waikiki - but these are still only about 4 blocks from the beach, and can save you big money.

Note that many of the Hawaii hotels offer room/car and even room/car/flight packages, but do compare to see if the deal is really a good one.

Island Hopping Fun By Boat

Inter-Island Cruising

Honolulu is the main port for Hawaii cruises. A popular and lower cost one is the 7-day “Pride of Aloha” offered by Norwegian Cruise Line. Check the discount booking sites too. The lowest fares I found today were in January: about $600 for inside cabins and $700 for ocean view. I found these prices at the NCL site, Hotwire and Expedia. Bidding on Priceline, you might even do better.

While taking a cruise doesn’t follow my “no less than 5 days per island” preference, the advantage here is that you’re not packing and unpacking and waiting at airports with each new island you visit. You stay in the same room and go on day trip tours. The drawback may be (considering on your preferences) that you spend more time at sea than on the islands. Too see more of the islands, I recommend spending the rest of your vacation on a favorite island or two – even more convenient if Oahu is one of them!

Tip - If you’re not into the tour/activity add-ons offered by the cruise, check out one of tour companies listed later or tour coordinators like Shore Trips.

Maui Cruises

Because Maui is so close to its sister islands of Molokai and Lanai (all one county too), you can easily find one-day and overnight cruises. Many of these are specialized: snorkeling, scuba diving, whale watching and fishing are all very popular. You can find these by searching online, but they are too small to be offered through the large discount sites.

From Maui – Molokai and Lanai Ferries

Lahaina Cruises has ferries to Molokai, Monday through Saturday. It’s about 90 minutes to Molokai on their Maui Princess, a 100-ft yacht, and depending on which cruise you take you’ll arrive around 7 or 9 a.m. The ships back to Maui depart at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., so you’ll have an entire day on Molokai. You only have to check in about 15 minutes ahead of time. So what do you do when you get off the boat? Well Lahaina Cruises offers rental car packages, but these are pretty spendy at $207 for driver, $90 each additional adult and $45 for each child, and they also offer guided tours ($207 per adult and $144 per child).

Otherwise, one way it’s about $52 per adult and $26.20 per child.

If you want to save money, you could book a car yourself (or four-wheel)and if you wanted to stay overnight, a hotel, and then plan your own activities (maybe one of those famous Molokai mule rides). The Molokai Visitors Association site can help with all this.

The Maui – Lanai ferry operates seven days a week with five departure times from Lahaina Harbor, and it takes about 45 minutes. Rates are one way $30 per adult and $20 per child. They also offer a variety of packages. Lanai is most popular with scuba divers and hunters. For more information about Lanai and possible day adventures, here’s their official visitors site.

And here’s my portal page to my Molokai and Lanai reviews and articles.

Best Tours for Island Hoppers

While I do recommend staying at least 5 days on each island you visit, if you really want to make more island hops than this allows, there are day-tour providers that will book your flight, pick you up at the airport, whisk you off for the tour and get you back on time for your return flight. Many also offer the same service only for overnight tours in which they also book your hotel. Generally, you will spend more this way then booking your own flight and activities with smaller businesses.

For example, Polynesian Adventures is offering a one-day Big Island Volcano tour on the Big Island for $252 per adult. If you booked your own inter-island flight, you’d spend about $130 air fare, and about $30 for a one-day rental car (without the weekly rate discount), plus gas, but you’d not be paying extra for each person in the car. I found one for $25 at Expedia when checking for a return time late enough to allow for after dark lava viewing.

So in this case the tour prices don’t really justify themselves, not if you’re just looking for lower cost. However, sometimes you do find good deals with these tour companies. I’ve often seen activities such as luau for less than at the venue. And if you want to relax and let the tour guide take care of everything (and the departure time works for you – some leave reeealy early as in pre-dawn), this may be the way to go for those short island hops.

The following tour companies can arrange your tour/activities, air, car (if you’re staying longer and want to do some of your own exploring) and hotel if you’re staying overnight.

  • Roberts Hawaii, One of the biggest and oldest tour companies in the islands offering day tours and overnighters to Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island. Check out their “island hopping” tours, like the Hana one (not everyone wants to drive that road!).
  • Polynesian Adventure Tours, Another large tour company, offering two different tours on each of the outer islands, plus options from each of the outer islands to another island. Check their “One Day Fly Away Tours’ and their “Overnighter Packagers.

Best Island-Hopping Package Deals

As with individually booked hotels, air and car rentals, it pays to be flexible. If for example, the search has an option under times of day for “anytime,” selecting this can make a huge difference in prices you see.

Hawaiian Air has inter-island “build your own package” deals. After clicking on “vacation packages” scroll down to the bottom of the form where it has an “options” link. Just to check current deals and offer you an example, I built one for two persons that included 7 nights in Waikiki and 5 in Kona on the Big Island. The search returned the Hilton Hawaiian Village for Waikiki and my favorite hotel, the Waikoloa Hilton, for Kona (It’s on the Kohala Coast just above Kona).

The total was $2167 per person (including tax). There are links under the hotel room rate charts to click for alternative hotels. So I tried the newly renovated, 3-star Waikiki Aqua Wave and kept the Waikoloa on the Big Island. This brought my grand total down to $1798 per person (taxes included) for the 2 week island hopping vacation, including all air fare, hotels and rental cars. They also offer activities to add if you wish, such as a volcano helicopter tour for $211, but I found a special at the Blue Hawaiian site for $183 (They’ve been featured in National Geographic and have an excellent safety record).

Be sure to select “multiple destinations” for these island-hopping packages and after you add your last destination click to add “return flight” information, inserting your mainland airport so that it makes it a round trip.

Panda searching with the same dates, general locations and the two adults as at Hawaiian, I was offered a $1784 package; however the hotels were both 2-star only and one of the two was in Hilo, about a 2-hour drive from the Kona airport.

So, underneath each hotel, there’s a link to view alternatives. While it reads “view others in Hilo” it did return several for Kona. I upgraded to the 3 1/2 star Outrigger Keahou Beach Resort in Kona and to the Outrigger’s Ohana Waikiki West on Oahu. Grand total: $2079 per person (taxes included), so almost $300 more than the Hawaiian package and no Waikoloa Hilton or any 4-star hotels offered this time for that matter . Do compare though because prices change with dates your checking.

Pleasant Holidays – On the good side, they have lots of customizing options. For example, next to each hotel there are alternative hotels and the savings or increased spending for each one is listed and you can click through to detailed descriptions. This all makes comparing and customizing your package easier. A major drawback though is they don’t have an “anytime” search option, and if a flight time isn’t available, they don’t give alternatives.

You have to guess, changing your search each time. The site was very slow and kept crashing my Firefox. After several attempts, I lost patience.

Expedia – So far, this is the only major discount site I know of that lets you book more than one destination in a package. They allow two. For the best deals, select “anytime” for flights. This isn’t the default. So comparing to what I found with Hawaiian Air and Panda packages, Expedia gave me a 3-star hotel in Waikiki and the 4-star Waikoloa Hilton on the Big Island Expedia with air and cars for the grand total: $3870 per person (taxes included). So, you’re paying more for the good hotels and you’re getting the good hotels.

Tags:

The Complete Oahu Vacation Guide

February 11, 2010 by Lisa · 3 Comments
Filed under: Hawaii - general, Most Popular Questions, Oahu, Oahu Activities, Vacation Planning 

Plan Your Best Vacation to Oahu Ever - Where to Stay and What to Do On Oahu

This is the Complete Oahu Vacation Guide, which is just about everything I know about Oahu that I think a first time oahu visitor wants to know at one time. This is the online version of my ebook, Plan Your Best Vacation to Oahu Ever, so if you’d rather read this in ebook form or be able to download it to your computer, you can right-click on the ebook link and save it.

Topics in this guide

Aloha!
So you’re planning a vacation to Oahu – congratulations! You are going to have SUCH FUN! First, you‟ll be flying in to Honolulu Airport (HNL). You may not need a rental car because the public and activity transportation is so good (and because parking fees are sometimes pretty high).

This is all my opinion, based on my preferences and resources. I hope my opinions help point you in the direction you most want to take based on your preferences and resources.

My Favorites on Oahu

Honestly, I like Waikiki the best. Probably because I live in Hilo (which is slow and quiet with not too much to do) so I like to visit the high energy with tons to do area of Waikiki. We always stay in Waikiki, we love Waikiki Beach, and we like to walk around downtown and ride the trolley around at night.

My favorite hotel: We generally stay in a different hotel every time we go but if I had to pick an absolute favorite, maybe it would be the Hilton Hawaiian Village (typical best price: $171 on expedia).

Rental Car or not.
My husband likes to get a car because that’s how he is, but if just my son and I go, we don’t. We take a shuttle from the airport to the hotel ($11 per person) and avoid the parking fees and headache.

Activities Outside of Waikiki:

If we want to do something outside of Waikiki, we consider the bus, a shuttle, or renting a car for the day in Waikiki. Don’t worry, this will all be incredibly easy to figure out once you get here. People will be falling over themselves to get you to take their shuttle or rent their car.

Availability of transportation: In the busy season (when we’re not in a recession ) availability might be an issue, but not usually. I wouldn’t worry about it.

Staying outside of Waikiki:

If I wasn’t going to stay in Waikiki, I would stay on the North Shore (turtle bay resort – best price I’ve found: $218 at Priceline) or maybe in a vacation rental on or near Lanikai Beach (Kailua area).

West Side? I’m not a big fan of the West side, probably because there are minimal tradewinds and I just get too hot, but there are some wonderfully inexpensive beachfront, long-term rentals out that way (Makaha Beach Cabanas, Hawaiian Princess).

Best Weather on Oahu

Oahu is an island full of great weather – you really can’t go wrong, winter or summer. Waikiki is great weather; the best you really need. The West Side has the least rain and the most sun, but it is far from everything. The East side has a bit cooler weather and not TOO much rain, especially close to the ocean.

Best Hotels in Oahu

These are the best hotels in all of Oahu, in my opinion. Generally, in Oahu you will find small pools with minimal extras at the hotels, because the great swimming beaches and extras are so easily available scattered around the island. Expect *not* to spend your whole vacation at the hotel.

If you consistently find higher prices than what I have found, maybe prices are up due to season high season or some other reason. If you find lower, don’t question it, just book it!

Best Overall, Beach-Locations, and Luxury Hotels On Oahu

This is my opinion - the prices given are the best price that I could find based on a search of Priceline, Expedia, hotels.com, and the hotel website for the same time period. Prices could change, I just wanted to give you an idea of what the hotel rooms cost for each hotel.

You can click through to expedia for a review, or download my book for a very short blurb on each hotel.

Best Family Hotels on Oahu

Best Budget-Priced Hotels On Oahu

Many of these hotels don’t list with expedia and priceline. If you call them directly for reservations, be sure to ask: “do you have any discounts that could bring my rate down?‟ You could get a yes and a better rate off the bat.

I also highly recommend bidding on priceline. Most of these smaller operations do not sell rooms to priceline, and so if you are bidding on Priceline you will normally get something like the Waikiki Prince Hotel, which is a nice hotel. I have seen bids accepted for $75 there.

You’ll have the most luck with getting low bids accepted on priceline when the hotels are hurting for visitors, but try anytime. You could really get some good deals. When the hotels are hurting for visitors, I would even bid $95 or so on 4 star hotels. According to the Bidding for travel, the 4 star Hawaii Prince Marina has accepted bids at $75 in September of 2009 (last minute bids).

Best Romantic Hotels and Hotels for Weddings On Oahu

Bidding on Hawaii Travel at Priceline and Hotwire

Bidding on Priceline and hotwire is a great way to save money on hotels and sometimes even flights to Hawaii. I have personally bid and gotten $55 at the Royal Kona Resort, and $120 at the Waikoloa Marriott. My friend got $110 at the Waikoloa Hilton, and $85 at the Hapuna Prince. I know someone who bid and received a roundtrip flight from San Francisco to Honolulu for $250. These are good deals!

Oh, and don’t forget car rentals. You can get great deals on car rentals by bidding. The only issue with bidding for hotels is that you won’t know what hotel you get until you are locked in to paying for it. You just specify a certain star level or class of hotel. The only issue with bidding for flights is that you won‟t be able to specify an exact time, but they do tell you it will be sometime between x morning hour and x evening hour, so not too bad.

So How Should I Bid on Hawaii Travel?

Hotels: I like to decide on a hotel I like, then find out what its star level is. Then on Priceline, I go directly to naming my own price, and during the process priceline will tell you what the average price is for that star level. I then bid half of that. The priceline website will have a ticker of recently accepted rates in the area you are searching for that is helpful.

An awesome resource is the bidding for travel forum. If you scroll down on the home page you’ll see three Hawaii forums, based on which islands you are planning to visit. People bid, and then come here and post their accepted and rejected rates. I have heard that the posted “median retail prices‟ at priceline are sometimes inaccurate. I don’t worry about this in Hawaii because I am so familiar with what the hotels cost here.

You, however, may want to check prices on the website of a few hotels that are the same star level as you want. You can then try to bid 50% of that. Rental Cars – $15 a day is a good place to start, and check the recent winning bids on Priceline.

Flights – I like to bid 50% of whatever the going rate is and then bid up in $50 increments if that is refused.

Most Fun, Must-Do, Activities and Things to Do on Oahu

This is my list of the most exciting and fun things to do on Oahu in my opinion.

Wild Side Specialty Tours – small group, eco-minded, really cool, wild-dolphin swims. One of the most awesome things you‟ll ever do.

  • Atlantis Submarines tour. Good fun for kids and adults, very interesting, not scary. We had dolphins circle us when I went. That was really cool.
  • Learn to surf on Waikiki Beach, just show up and look for signs
  • Bodysurf at any beach with some wave action
  • Dolphin Quest at the Kahala Resort is good fun
  • The Arizona memorial is interesting to some, but my family enjoys the USS Bowfin Submarine museum and the Mighty Mo more.
  • Sea Life Park is cool if you have kids or are interested
  • The Polynesian Cultural Center is well-done with plenty of interesting shows and exhibits
  • The Bishop Museum is interesting to people who have an interest in Hawaiian culture and history
  • Charter Boat Fishing
  • Glider rides, sky-diving, or hang-gliding if you‟re brave
  • Helicopter or airplane tours of the island
  • Hiking Diamond Head, Manoa Falls, or Kapena Falls
  • Kayak Kailua Bay
  • Stand-up Paddleboarding, the newest craze around the world and in Hawaii. Easy, and good fun, but you may be sore the next day. If balancing is hard or if you have a wiggly child on the front, just paddle on your knees. Easiest for beginners with flat water and no wind. Go in the morning.
  • Sunset Sails in Waikiki. Just walk up to the boat on the beach and ask about it. Amazing sunsets every night and in your face
  • Whale Watching December to May – Whale watching is actually better on the other islands for some reason, but if you do manage to find a boat you like and see some whales it‟s an awesome experience
  • Hanauma Bay is cool for many – snorkeling with TONS of fish in a protected cove, and on 2nd and 4th Saturdays you can do it at night. Cool.

Inexpensive or Free Activities on Oahu

  • If you have kids, the Waikiki aquarium is worth a look and fairly inexpensive.
  • A Hanauma Bay snorkeling trip – this is the only beach in Hawaii you’ll have to pay to visit, but it’s not expensive at all
  • Rent snorkel gear, a paddle board, surfboard, boogie board, or kayak
  • Body surf at any beach with mild wave action, except Sandy’s, or anything with big waves. You want to enjoy your vacation, not see what the inside of Hawaii’s hospitals look like.
  • Hike anywhere. The hiking is really good and sometimes quite easy on Oahu, with great rewards (think waterfalls)
  • Honestly, Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park is a fun day at a decent price. My family likes it.
  • In the winter, head out to the north shore to watch the big wave action. You‟ve never seen anything like it.
  • Dole Pineapple maze – a hedge maze in the Guinness Book of World Records. It‟s cool and only $5.
  • Chinatown – authentic! And interesting
  • Hawaii‟s Plantation Village
  • Sea life park admission is relatively inexpensive if you don‟t do anything extra
  • Waimea Valley Audobon Center – used to be adventure park but now it‟s more of a garden. If there’s a lifeguard you can swim in the pool under the waterfall at the end of the park.
  • Beach-hopping - Just drive, walk, or take the bus until you find a beach and hang out. It’s really that easy on Oahu.
  • Catch the free torch lighting hula show every other evening in Waikiki. Just ask your hotel staff. It’s a great show.
  • I like to walk through the lobbys of the grander hotels on Waikiki beach to see what’s going on there. They don’t mind. No one questions you, but if someone ever did, you could just say you are scoping out the hotel for your next trip.
  • The Marriott Waikiki Beach has a mini-version of the Halona blowhole that goes off in their lobby every once in a while. Some places have cultural demonstrations, live music, or hula shows.

Best Ways I like to Save Money on Oahu

Bidding for travel
I like bidding at priceline for hotels and rental cars and airfare. This can save a lot of money right away

Hawaii Entertainment Book

Entertainment.com sells coupons books for dozens of locations across the country. The Hawaii book is pretty good if there are two of you, especially for fine dining deals. The Buy One Get One free Entrees are phenomenal.

There are also activity and casual dining coupons, national coupons (like free upgrade or free day car rentals, six flags coupons, and hotwire coupons) and supposed hotel savings. In my experience, the hotel savings are not any better than what you can find on the internet, and so I don’t recommend them. If you have a different experience I’d love to hear about it.

The book is typically best for Oahu, second best for Maui, and marginal for the Big Island and Kauai. I can’t recommend it for Kauai or the Big Island, really. Sigh. Wouldn’t it be nice if that changed in the near future. Check to see if the book works for your trip.

Go Oahu Card
The Go Oahu Card is a discount card that you pay a one-time fee for and then you can do whatever activities covered under the card at any time. I really like it for a certain class of vacationer: The type that consistently gets out and GOES to activity after activity. If you plan on lounging on the beach most of the day, this is not for you.

I also really like this for a gift to honeymooners or vacationers. What a great gift! (and I like the entertainment book as a gift too). Check to see if the card works for you.

Best Oahu Beaches and Must-See Beaches on Oahu

Don’t hit all of these unless you are really into beaches. Just pick a few and take your time.

** Note: In Hawaii, all beaches are public. Anywhere that there is water, there must be public access to the shoreline. If you are in a residential neighborhood and want to check out the beach, just look for the blue signs that say “shoreline access” and follow the path, even if it’s directly between two houses. Sometimes, though, residential beaches do not have restrooms or showers.

Don’t worry about directions too much. Oahu is a small island and you can see the ocean from almost everywhere. If you can see the ocean, you can find your way.

Waikiki Beach - This is where all the action is. Instant surfing lessons, paddle an outrigger canoe, walk up to a catamaran and be riding it over the open ocean an hour later … Waikiki Beach is an awesome whirlwind of activity and people with consistently awesome weather and mellow surf.

There’s a protected area for babies to play, plus wide spots and perfectly sandy spots. It’s like a giant, beautifully clean bathtub that you are sharing with the world. I love Waikiki Beach. A must-see beach.

Ala Moana Beach - This is a locals beach, and it’s very close to Waikiki Beach. It fringes Ala Moana Park, which is a great place to walk or picnic. It’s well protected and wonderful for kids.

Kahala Beach - A pretty beach in a very rich, residential area. Shallow reef with good snorkeling in some areas.

Hanauma Bay - The value here isn’t so much in the beach as it is in the snorkeling. The fish are everywhere, and they don’t run from people too much. They are used to us.

Kailua Beach - Awesome beach with tons to do. Rent kayaks right at the park and head out to the offshore islands.

Lanikai Beach - One of my favorite beaches ever. Really what a Hawaiian beach that is not a cove should look like. Lazy, gorgeous, relaxation beach.

Laie or Hukilau Beach - Really cool beach with one awesome off-shore island. Mostly calm and swimmable.

Sunset Beach - In the summer (may – September) this is an awesome, fun beach to play at. In the winter, the waves will scare you out of the water, but drop your jaw when they are rocking. It’s fun either way.

Sharks cove - An amazing snorkeling cove in the summer. In the winter the waves get too big.

Waimea Bay Beach Park - Awesome, awesome beach. Beautiful and fun. Turtles like it, people like it, definitely check it out for swimming in the summer. In the winter, you want to check it out but for the WAVES. Waimea Bay is where some of the biggest and wildest surfing waves in the WORLD are.

The south side and the west side have some very nice beaches that I have not mentioned (Ko Olina Lagoons, Makaha Beach Park, Papaoneone Beach …) but I am not going to go into them. If you are staying out there, you‟ll find them. If you are not staying out there, in my opinion it‟s not worth a trip because the beaches in the areas where you will be already are just as good. The only difference on the west side will be less people for the most part.

Oahu Areas, Weather, and Seasons

Waikiki/Honolulu Overview

Waikiki is where most people who visit Oahu stay. It is essentially the beachfront area of the large city Honolulu. It is incredibly safe for a large city. In fact, all of Hawaii is very safe. There are some thefts from cars, but person on person crime is very rare. There are over 80 hotels in Waikiki alone. The beach is packed every day – but it’s a good and fun kind of packed; lots to do and lots of happy people running around doing it.

The water is clear and refreshing (72 degrees year round) and the beach is clean. I like Waikiki. Some people will shun it because of the rampant commercialization and the skyscrapers and the buildings packed on top of each other, but as long as you know this is what it will be like, you can still enjoy Waikiki. The beach is phenomenal and makes up for all of that, plus the “country” of Oahu is a short ride away by car or bus. Good deal. Waikiki Hotels will offer the best deals in all of Hawaii and Waikiki activities such as surfing lessons and sunset or dinner cruises will also offer the most competitive prices in the islands.

Waikiki Weather and Waves

Average Temperature in Summer (May – September): High: 87 to 89 degrees F Low: 72 degrees F
Average Temperature in Winter (October –April) High: 80 to 84 Low: 68 to 70
Avg Rainfall per month in Summer ½ inch Avg Rainfall per month in winter 2 inches Waves in Winter Generally small waves in winter – still usually big enough for a beginner to learn to surf, but almost never so big your babies can’t play on the shore.

Waves in SummerHawaii gets South Swells in the summer, which means that occasionally, the waves will be so big on Waikiki Beach that you won’t feel comfortable being in the water unless you are an expert swimmer. There is an area in the center called Kuhio beach or Baby beach where there is a wall blocking the waves, so people can still get in the water. I wouldn’t try first-ever surfing lessons during a south swell though.

The Rest of Oahu Overview

Outside of Waikiki and Honolulu, you can find one Hotel on the North Shore, the Turtle Bay Hilton, and a few hotels on the West Side of the island like Makaha Bay Towers and Ko Olina Resort. All of these hotels are at least a half hour drive from Honolulu and the airport. There are also countless vacation rentals and bed and breakfasts scattered around the island.

Ewa Beach area

Location: South side on the other side of Pearl Harbor from Waikiki

Weather: Hot and sunny all the time, even at night this area will be slow to cool down Rain: very little – 20 inches or less a year

Waves: occasional big waves in the summer Beach: Ewa beach is long and pretty, with houses lining it. This is a residential area, and some of the beach leads to clear water, some is full of coral, rocks, and seaweed. We still swim in it but this may not be what you are looking for. Activities: Nothing really except hanging out on the beach. You‟ll have to go elsewhere for boats and attractions.

Hotels: None. There are plenty of vacation rentals.

West Side of Oahu This is Ko Olina, Nankuli, Waianae, and Makaha.

Safety Issue?
You may have heard that Makaha and Waianae are not safe areas. Well, it’s true that they are considered a poorer areas but that image of being not safe is outdated. Don’t leave valuables in your car and you’ll be fine out here.

Weather:
Hot and sunny all the time, even at night this area will be slow to cool down Rain: very little – 20 inches or less a year Beach: There are many awesome beaches in this area.

Activities: The Ko Olina Hotel has some ocean activities, and Wild Side Specialty Tours: operates a wild dolphin swim in the area too.

Hotels: Ko Olina Resort , Hawaiian Princess, Makaha Beach Cabanas, and Makaha Valley Towers. You‟ll also find vacation rentals. Some of the places in Makaha offer great long term rental opportunities.

East Side of Oahu

This is Waimanalo, Kailua, Lanikai, Kaneohe, Kaaawa, Waimea, and Laie, although Laie is practically on the North Shore.

Weather:
A bit cooler than the South and west sides thanks to constant onshore winds. Rain: A bit more rain, than other areas too, but not too much if you are on or near the beach. Between 30 and 60 inches a year.

Beach: Tons and tons of blow-your-mind-awesome beaches.

Activities:
Lots of stuff to do: hike, windsurf, kayak, shop, sightsee, snorkel, lounge on the beach, and tons more. Hotels: None. Many phenomenal vacation rentals. I like Waimanalo area, Kailua, and Lanikai area – especially Lanikai for the beach.

North Shore of Oahu

This is Waimea, Kahuku, and Haleiwa. Small, laid-back, surfing towns.

Weather: Hot and sunny Rain: Between 20 and 40 inches a year.

Waves: Waves big enough to shake the ground in the winter months. People come from every country just to look at these waves. No waves in the summer months.

Beach: Great beaches and snorkeling coves. Swim in the summer, come just to look in the winter, unless you are an expert surfer.

Activities: Lots of stuff to do: hike, shark dive, gliding, kayak, shop, sightsee, snorkel, jet ski, lounge on the beach, and tons more.

Hotels: Only the Turtle Bay Hilton. Lots of right-on the-beach vacation rentals.

Summary

So that’s it, have a wonderful, wonderful vacation. Hawaii is a great place and you really can’t go wrong here. Leave me a comment if you want to share any stories or ask any questions.

Tags:

Molokai Tours and Times from Oahu (Father Damien)

February 1, 2010 by Lisa · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Hawaii - general, Molokai, Oahu, Vacation Planning 

Hi. My husband and I will be on Oahu through February and want to go to Molokai. Will we have to go via Maui, or can we fly direct from Oahu? We have plenty of time but need to know how long a visit to St Damien’s church and site will take.

Hi - you should be able to fly direct from Oahu, but your plane may be quite small :)

By visiting father Damien’s church - do you mean going down to Kaluapapa where he did all his work? That’s an all day thing because you have to take a mule down, unless you take the air tour.

You can also take your own plane right from Oahu if you want to spend that kind of money.

Tags:

Hawaii Honeymoon Booking Questions

January 26, 2010 by Lisa · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Oahu, Oahu Activities, Prices, Vacation Planning 

Hi Lisa: Wanted to get your input on some things.

We are planning our honeymoon and would like to stay in Oahu for 7 nights. We are looking at July 26 - Aug 2. I understand that flying on a workday is cheaper, than the weekends. It is so hard to find the best package and know which one to trust. There are so many sites to choose from, but it worries me to use one of these 3rd party on line websites, such as “Priceline, Orbitz, Travelocity, etc” .

I have personally used expedia, priceline, travelocity, and orbitz and they are all reputable businesses that provide valid services. really :)

I found yet another website that took me to “Great Hawaiian Vacations”. They are a travel agent who will help you choose your best package. Are they trustworthy?

I have not personally used great hawaii vacations, but it looks they are members of the better business bureau. I also found this post at tripadvisor where many people like them

Do any of these 3rd party websites get any commission if you use there services/website?

Yes, anybody who does booking for you will get some sort of a commission.

We are wanting to stay on the beach in Waikiki. I found that the “Outrigger Reef on the Beach” has the options we want. Do you recommend that hotel? If I go through a 3rd party to make the reservations, how would I communicate to the hotel that it is our honeymoon and what kind of special deals can we expect?

Yes, I recommend the Outrigger Reef on the Beach- I like all the Outriggers and this one is a nice one.

The booking party may be able to input notes that it is your honeymoon, if not you can let them know when you get there. You will not get any special deals probably, unless you specifically book a honeymoon deal and that is normally through the hotel itself. You may get a bottle of wine or champagne though.

When talking to an agent from “Great Hawaiian Vacations”, he mentioned that instead of renting a car from the airport and paying that price everyday + a $25 parking fee at the hotel, he recommends just renting on a daily basis. We can usually go through the hotel to rent a car and not have to pay that parking fee. What do you recommend?

This is a valid idea, especially if you won’t need the car everyday. If it’s important to you, you could actually do the math, confirm with the hotel that their parking fee is $25, then add up the car rental fee, then see how much it would be to just rent it per day.

There are certain activities that we would like to do while we are there. Do you recommend that we reserve ahead of time or wait until we arrive?

Activities consisting of:
snorkeling
go to a dinner luau (the one that has flame dancers). What is the best to go to?
rent a Harley Davidson for one day.
take a Pearl Harbor tour.

You are going during the busy season, so I would recommend prebooking your harley davidson rental and your luau. They are all good in Oahu but I recommend the paradise cove luau. There’s nothing to book for snorkeling unless you take a boat tour, for which case I would recommend prebooking, and for pearl harbor you are not able to prebook - you have to do it onsite.

When should we book our vacation/honeymoon to get the best price?

Well, I would ask the great hawaii vacation guys what they think, but generally, if you aren’t going to book last minute then you will want to book as early as possible. 2 months out is smart if you can do it.

Congratulations, and have a wonderful time!

Tags:

Punaluu on Oahu, Windy? Nice Place?

January 19, 2010 by Lisa · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Oahu, Vacation Planning 

Hi, Lisa. I have found your site very helpful. My husband and I have some questions, and I hope you can offer some help.

We are planning a trip to Oahu the end of June, beginning of July for 7 days to celebrate our 20th anniversary. We are trying to decide on which area of the island will suit us best for lodging. This is our first trip to Hawaii, so we are fairly clueless about the various areas of Oahu.

We plan for this trip to primarily be a laidback, romantic trip rather than a very active one, so we are thinking the North Shore area would suit our needs better. We are not shoppers, but we do plan to spend a day or 2 in the Honolulu/Waikiki area at Pearl Harbor, the zoo, the aquarium and Diamond Head. Other activities we are interested in are the Polynesian Cultural Center, Dole plantation, and hiking around some waterfalls. We are looking at a condo - Pat’s on Punalu’u - and are wondering if this would be a good location for us. We like that it is directly beachfront, so that we can spend some time on a quiet, peaceful beach, maybe do a little snorkeling, and also see the beach from the lanai/condo. We have read some reviews of this location that mention that this is a windy location. Is Punalu’u a terribly windy area, and is it noticeably more windy than other locations? Would you think that this location is a good place to base ourselves in consideration of the activities we are plannning and interests we have, or do you have a different suggestion? Also, if you have any input about Pat’s (or anything else) that would be welcome as well.

There may be some confusion here about the name Punaluu. There is a Punaluu Beach on the Big Island that is on a south shore and frequently can get very windy. I wonder if some of what you read was about this place. Pat’s at Punaluu is in a town called Punaluu on Oahu, which is on the North-East side of the island. This side of the island will get tradewinds and more weather than the west and some the south sides of Oahu, but I wouldn’t be worried about the wind. You might run into some weather, but most likely it will be sunny and beautiful and the tradewinds will just cool you down :)

I can recommend Pat’s and I don’t think it’s too far from what you want to do. Just try to avoid going into the Honolulu area during morning commute and out of Honolulu during evening commute - try a late morning drive in and stay in Honolulu for dinner and you should be good.

Tags:

Best Price on Luaus on Oahu

December 10, 2009 by Lisa · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Oahu, Oahu Activities, Prices 

I am planning a trip to Oahu this January but I am on a budget. The cost of luau’s are pretty steep on this island. Are there any economical luaus and where can I get any specials or discounts?

well, you have a few options - there’s something called an entertainment book that has a lot of coupons for Oahu.

in the 2010 edition (coupons good now) there is a coupon for 25% off Germaines Luau and Paradise Cove Luau for four adults.

There are also luaus at the Polynesian Cultural Center, if you were planning to go there anyway you could just purchase a ticket that includes a luau.

There are also coupon books available at the airport andyour hotel that may offer discounts, although probably not as much as 25% off.
Have a great time! Lisa

Tags:

Where to Rent Camping Equipment In Hawaii; Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Kauai, or Big Island

November 19, 2009 by Lisa · 3 Comments
Filed under: Big Island, Camping, Kauai, Maui, Molokai, Oahu, Vacation Planning 
Na Pali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii
Image by Jeff Kubina via Flickr

I am coming to Hawaii in Feb 2010 and would like to do some camping. Can you tell me if there are places on Molokai, Maui or the Big Island that rent camping equipment?

Sorry, but there really is no where to rent camping equipment on any of the islands. You’ll need to bring it or buy it when you get here - on Maui or the Big Island - molokai and Kauai will have the least buying options. Oahu will have the most buying options.

You may be able to rent camping stoves or larger things of that nature, but you will be limited on where you can use such a thing. No one rents tents or sleeping bags that I know of.

New rental places and stores do open up all the time though, so if anyone knows of anything or has a rental company website, please leave a comment. :) thanks!

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags:

8 Free Hawaii Guide Books

September 22, 2009 by Lisa · 20 Comments
Filed under: Big Island, Hawaii - general, Kauai, Maui, Oahu, Vacation Planning 

I have written a Hawaii Guide Book as a gift to you! Actually, I’ve written 8 Hawaii guide books and they are all free to help you plan your trips. There’s one for each major island and then 4 special topics.

Available Now

Plan Your Best Vacation to Oahu Ever - Where to Stay and What to Do On Oahu

Plan Your Best Vacation to Oahu Ever - Where to Stay and What to Do On Oahu

Download the Oahu book here - right click the link and download the book to your computer, or read it at the online version, The Complete Oahu Vacation Guide. They are a little different but not too much.

This guide book describes Oahu areas, what hotels are best for budget trips, romantic trips, best overall beach locations, and best family hotels. I also talk about the best beaches I like and my favorite activities. Or, see the online version here The Complete Oahu Vacation Guide

Plan your Best Vacation to Kauai Ever! Where to Stay and What to Do in Kauai

Plan your Best Vacation to Kauai Ever! Where to Stay and What to Do in Kauai

Download the Kauai book here - right click the link and download the book to your computer.

This guide book outlines all my favorite things about Kauai, plus what hotels are best for budget trips, romantic trips, best overall beach locations, and best family hotels. Or see the online version here,The Complete Kauai Vacation Guide

Plan Your Best Vacation to Maui Ever! Where to Stay and What to Do on Maui

Plan Your Best Vacation to Maui Ever! Where to Stay and What to Do on Maui

Download the Maui book here - right click the link and download the book to your computer.

This guide book outlines all my favorite things about Maui, plus what hotels are best for budget trips, romantic trips, best overall beach locations, and best family hotels. Or see the online version here: The Complete Maui Vacation Guide

Plan your Best Vacation to the Big Island of Hawaii Ever - Where to Stay and What to Do on the Big Island

Plan your Best Vacation to the Big Island of Hawaii Ever - Where to Stay and What to Do on the Big Island

Download the Big Island book here - right click the link and download the book to your computer.

This guide book outlines all my favorite things about the Big Island, plus my favorite family, beach-front, and budget hotels. Or, see the online version here: The Complete Big Island Vacation Guide

Hawaii Hopping for Fun! Visiting More than One Island in Hawaii the Smart Way

Hawaii Hopping for Fun! Visiting More than One Island in Hawaii the Smart Way

Get the Hawaii Hopping For Fun; Visiting More than One Island In Hawaii The Smart Way Book here to discover all the ways there are to get around between the Hawaii Islands. Inter-Island Hawaii Travel explained in depth! Or see the online version How to Get from One Hawaii Island to Another

First Time Hawaii Vacations the Easy and Fun Way; How to Get to Hawaii, Where to Stay, and What to Do

First Time Hawaii Vacations the Easy and Fun Way; How to Get to Hawaii, Where to Stay, and What to Do

Get the First Time Hawaii Vacations Ebook Here Right click and choose save target as. So, if you’ve never been to Hawaii before, get out your pen and take notes. This book will give you a basic overview of Hawaii, and tell you the popular and best places to stay and what to do on each island, where to fly into, and where to look for packages. Get an idea of what sounds good to you and then follow it up. Or see the online version First Time to Hawaii Guide

How to Save Thousands of Dollars on a Hawaii Vacation! Saving Money on Hotels, Flights, Food, and Fun things to Do.

How to Save Thousands of Dollars on a Hawaii Vacation! Saving Money on Hotels, Flights, Food, and Fun things to Do.

Save Thousands on a Hawaii Vacation! right click and choose save target as. Dozens of strategies and website recommendations to save you money. Spend less on the flight and have more for the fun stuff!
Or, see the online version here Cheap Hawaii Vacation Guide

How to Get Married in Hawaii On a Dime! Simple, fun, and low-cost Hawaii Weddings

How to Get Married in Hawaii On a Dime! Simple, fun, and low-cost Hawaii Weddings

How to Get Married in Hawaii on a Dime - I recount my experiences with getting married in Hawaii and coordinating a wedding in Hawaii, plus I talk about what you need to get married in Hawaii, and cool places to do it. Congratulations, by the way! Or, see the online version here: Cheap Hawaii Wedding Guide

Tags:

Value of Hawaii All Inclusive - All Included Vacation Packages

December 4, 2008 by Lisa · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Hawaii - general, Most Popular Questions, Oahu, Oahu Activities, Prices, Vacation Planning 

I’m in the process of planning my honeymoon and would love to visit Hawaii. I read some of the articles on your site and you seem to have a lot of knowledge about Hawaii. There’s a deal that I found on the internet, but my fiancé and I are unsure whether it IS really a good deal, like they claim. I copied and pasted it below. I would really appreciate it if you give me your feedback as to whether we should go ahead and book w/ them, or if we should book everything separately? (i.e. flight, hotel, activities, food, etc. to be separate) In other words, is the quoted price really worth it? Also, how much money should we plan to spend on top of this quoted price? (that is, for additional activities, food, etc.) We are trying to make it as affordable as possible. Thanks a lot!

**** Note. I was asked to remove the copied and pasted all inclusive waikiki vacation itinerary and I did. The itinerary included 1 to 2 activities per day, plus some meals, airfare and hotel, shuttle, transportation, tips, and trolley for a day.

So, I took your email and got the VALUE of what you are being offered as this: $1418.5 per person low-end, $1868.5 high end. Now, this is not a figure that can really be locked down, because I am figuring my values based on a low-moderate of what prices I know are available. For example, I did not determine the price of the Breakfast Buffet, but since I know breakfast buffets can be had in Waikiki for as little as $6 and as much as $30+ I decided on a low-moderate value of $12. The meal you may be booking could cost significantly more.

You also could go to Subway and get a breakfast Burrito and drink a bottle of water you got from the supermarket for $.60 and pay about $4 for breakfast .. it’s all relative.

That being said - here’s how I arrived at my figure:

I looked on Expedia fare tracker, and although most flights cost $900+ when you want to fly, there was one to be booked for $450.

Outrigger Waikiki West has an Internet Special at $89 per night. add taxes and fees and take this up to $105 or so. They also have higher priced rooms so I averaged $700 and $1050 and divided by 2 (per person) for 437.5 per person for 7 nights.

Lei greeting one person - $20
food plus tips: $200
activities: $300
airport shuttle each way plus tip $11

So, in terms of absolute money, I don’t think you are getting the best deal you could get. However, to have everything done for you and someone else worry about all the details and barely even have to bring a wallet? That may be worth it to you. Some people who work for themselves know the value of their time - and someone whose value per hour is $60+ or so would definitely find value in this trip.

Tags: , , , , ,

Hawaii Rv Rental; Oahu RV or Camper Van Rental;

October 23, 2008 by Lisa · 1 Comment
Filed under: Camping, Hawaii - general, Oahu, Oahu Activities, Oahu Rentals, Vacation Planning 

Hi Lisa - Thanks for your website info! My question is that I am planning a trip to Hawaii for me and my son, who turns 16 in March. He’s a keen surfer/bodyboarder/golfer and we are both active types. I am wondering if it is poss to rent an rv or campervan on oahu from the airport and then explore the island like that, rather than book into a hotel. Or, is it better to stay in one place and hire a car etc. He particularly wants to spend time around Pipeline.

Well, the problem with Oahu, and Hawaii in general as it pertains to RV’s, is that there are no hookups. No one rents RVs because there is nowhere really to park and hook one up. A Camper van would work, but you would need advice on where you are allowed, or will get by with parking for the night. Contact these people: http://www.oahucampingvans.com/ and see what they say. Have a great time! Lisa

p.s. Here’s another Oahu camper rental site, Hawaii Campers and as you can see by the comment below, they will help you with permits AND pick you up from the airport!

Tags: , , , , , ,

Cheapest Budget Way to Travel Between Hawaii Islands - Interisland Hopping, Flights, and Ferries

September 12, 2008 by Lisa · 2 Comments
Filed under: Big Island, Hawaii - general, Kauai, Maui, Most Popular Questions, Oahu, Prices, Vacation Planning 

What are the cheapest ways to island hop from Oahu? I heard of a hydrofoil boat that takes you to the other islands. Do you know about this and what the cost is? Thanks

I think the boat you have heard of is the Superferry, and it seems rates are about $49 one way now - compared with $69 one way which is the lowest you’ll occasionally find at Hawaiian Airlines and Go Airlines, it is indeed the cheapest. However, it only goes to Maui and back right now. It won’t come to the Big Island till sometime in 2009 and Kauai is having a legal battle about it right now - so who knows when it will go there.

Sometimes prices are higher, and sometimes they are lower. During high travel seasons things sell out quickly and what you can get goes at a premium, so maybe $104 each way is the best you’ll get at the airlines. Sometimes the airlines get into pricing wars for various reasons and their prices drop drastically. When Go! first entered the scene prices were dropping as low as $19 one way, but then one airline went bankrupt and all those deals disappeared.

The superferry hasn’t been around long enough for me to draw any conclusions about what it will or won’t do, but their prices have mostly held steady since they started.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Oahu Itinerary - What Things We’re Going To Do On Oahu, Hawaii

August 29, 2008 by Lisa · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Hawaii - general, Oahu, Oahu Activities, Vacation Planning 

Listed below are my itineraries for my Hawaiian Vacation for four adults. Can you tell me what you think? should I change, add or modify anything to my itineraries?

Flight departure to Honolulu, Hawaii

  • Morning: (0730hrs) USS Arizona Memorial Park/Museum (Take Ala Moana Blvd. /Nimitz Highway or (H-1) West to begin. While on H-1; look for the USS Arizona/Stadium exit, #15A)
  • Visit: the USS Bowfin Museum ($8), USS Missouri ($16), USS Oklahoma (Free), and Pacific Memorial Museum ($14)
  • Afternoon: Visit: the National Cemetery of the Pacific at Punch Bowl (2177 Puowaina Drive 1-808-532-3720-Free)
  • Drive to Punchbowl Crater (Site Seeing/picture taking)
  • Visit: the Iolani Palace (364 South King Street $12)
  • Visit: the King Kamehameha Statue (957 Punchbowl Street)
  • Visit: Aloha Tower and go to the observation deck (1 Aloha Drive)
  • Evening: at the Aloha Tower Marketplace and dine in one of many in restaurants in area

    • Saturday

  • Morning: Breakfast at Duke’s Waikiki (2335 Kalakaua Ave at the Outrigger Waikiki)
  • Full day at leisure
  • Relax at Waikiki Beach and take a picture with the Duke Kahanamoku Statue (Next to the Moana Surfer Hotel)
  • Late Afternoon (If time permits): Take Highway 61 (The Pali Highway)
  • Visit: The Nuuanu Pali State Wayside (for some pictures)
  • Visit: The Town of Kailua and the beaches of Kailua and Lanikai
  • Visit: Pinky’s Pupu Bar and Grill (970 Kalaheo Ave, Kailua) for a quick bite or snack
  • Evening: Dine at the MAC 24-7 (Hilton Waikiki Prince 2500 Kuhio Avenue) or any restaurant in Kailua or in Waikiki

    • Sunday

  • Morning: Visit Diamond Head State Monument ($5 per Car), Diamond Head Light House, Diamond Head Beach
  • Visit: Makapuu Lighthouse lookout point
  • Visit South Shore beaches: Hanauma Bay State Underwater Park, Sandy Beach (8800 Kalaniana’ole Highway), Moana Beach Park (1201 Ala Moana Boulevard)
  • Visit: Hike to the Manoa Falls
  • Visit: Halona Blow Hole (along the Kalanianaole Highway) and Hike to Halona Rocks
  • Drive around Round Top and Tantalus Drive on Mount Tantalus (GPS Pu’u Ualakaa State Park for directions to Mt Tantalus)
  • Visit: Pu’u Ualakaa State Park (Movie: Blue Hawaii with Elvis Presley was filmed here)-Park closes at 6PM
  • Afternoon: Take to North Shore (take H1 to H2 to drive along the center of Island)
  • Visit: The Town of Haleiwa
  • Lunch: at Cafe Haleiwa (66-460 Kamehamaha Highway) or at any of the numerous restaurants in town
  • Beaches to Visit: while at Haleiwa: Waimea Beach Park, Waimea Bay, Banzai Beach (where the famous Banzai Pipeline is), Ehukai Beach, Sunset Beach
  • Visit: Matsumotos Shave Ice (66-087 Kamehameha Hwy, Haleiwa) for a brief snack of famous shaved ice.
  • Evening: Drive back to Waikiki for some relaxation or shopping and dine in one of the many restaurants in Waikiki

    • —

    Boy, you are a trip planner after my husband’s heart :) Me, I just show up and look around to see what looks fun. lol. So, my first impulse is that you have a LOT planned - but I understand - you want to see it all. Anyway, regarding Oahu, everything looks good to me. One thing is I would do Manoa falls before you head out to Hanauma Bay, maybe even before Diamond head - it’s more above Honolulu than to the East like the rest of that stuff. Plus, Manoa falls is a HIKE. It’s just a mile but most of it is sloped up. You’ll want water and maybe a change of clothes or at least a towel to dry off with. Also, Kailua and Lanikai beaches are so awesomely beautiful you might want to plan a swim there.

    Tags: , , ,

    Complete Oahu Vacation Planning Made Easy - Oahu Revealed Review

    July 25, 2008 by Lisa · Leave a Comment
    Filed under: Hawaii Revealed Guides, Oahu, Oahu Activities, Vacation Planning 

    The book Oahu Revealed The Ulimate Guide to Honolulu, Waikiki, and Beyond is, in my opinion, one of the best guides online or off to the island of Oahu. I like all the Hawaii Revealed books a lot. This was the last one to come out and I eagerly anticipated it - it was worth the wait. Here’s a quote from the book to give you an idea of where the authors are coming from:

    Oahu: land of myths. We’re not talking about ancient Hawaiian myths. We’re talking about the myths that exist about the island, both from visitors and those that live on neighbor islands (including us before we moved here to do this book). The biggest myth is that Oahu is Waikiki and Waikiki is Oahu. NOTHING could be further from the truth. Oahu has all the wonder, adventure, and discovery that a person could ever ask for - and far more.

    We’ve had to deviate from our usual way of doing things for this Oahu book. Put simply, this island is so vast, so dense and so full of choices that its impossible to be fully comprehensive. If we were you’d never be able to lift this book. So instead, we’ve chosen to show you those things that we think make Oahu special. …

    The most incredible thing about the book, as with all the books, is the hotel review section where they include aerial pictures of every hotel they review - so you can see exactly where your hotel or building is in relation to the ocean or the mountain or something you might not want to be so close to!

    The book is filled with pretty and interesting pictures that really point you in the direction of what YOU might find the most interesting. There is so much to do on Oahu that you aren’t going to get to do it all, so a bit of planning can go a long way.

    Of course the book covers Waikiki and Honolulu sights, then it moves on to East Oahu and talks about the coastal route to Kailua, Kailua, and Kaneohe, then it goes on to North Shore sights and talks about what’s best to see and o in Kualoa, Hakan Bay, Laie, Kahuku, turtle bay, Waimea Bay, Haleiwa, and the off road areas of the north shore. Then on to Waianae and Central Oahu - as in Wahiawa, Mt Kaala, Pearl Harbor, Ewa Beach, Kalaeloa and Barbers Point, Waianae and Makaha.

    Under attractions, it covers the Polynesian Cultural Center, Hawaiian Waters, Waikiki Aquarium, Honolulu Zoo, Iolani Palace, Punchbowl, Hawaii Maritime Center, Chinatown, Hawaii’s Plantation Village, Bishop Museum, Sea Life Park, Military History, Garden Tours, and Doris Duke’s Shangri La.

    It covers beaches too - talking about how to get to them, what they are like, what activities can be done there, how clean and crowded they are. Beaches covered are: Yokohama Bay-Keawa’ula, Makua Beach-Kaena Point State Park, Ohiki-lolo Beach, Keaau Beach, Makaha Beach, Papaoneone Beach, Mauna Lahilahi Beach, Pokai Beach, Maili Beach, Ulehawa Beach, Nanakulu Beach, Electric Beach, Ko Olina Lagoons, Nimitz Beach, Oneula beach, Ewa beach, Keehi Beach Park, Sand Island, Kakaako, Ala Moana, Magic Island, Waikiki, Kaluahole - Makalei, Diamond Head Beach and Kuilei Cliffs, Kaalawai Beach, kahala Beach, Waialae Beach, Wailupe Beach,Kawaikui Beach, Maunalua Bay, Hanauma Bay, Halona Cove, Sandy Beach, Makapuu Beach, Kaupo Beach, Kaiona Beach, Waimanalo Beach and Bay, Bellows Beach, Lanikau, Kailua, Kualoa Beach Park, Kualoa Sugar Mill Beach, Kaaawa Beach, Swanzy Beach, Makaua, Kahana, Punaluu, Makao, Hauula, Kokololio, Laie Beach - Pounders, Laniloa, Hikilau, Goat Island, Malaekahana, Kahuku, Kuilima, Turtle Bay, Kawela Bay, Waialee Beach, Sunset Beach, Ehukai Beach, Pupukea Beach park - Sharks Cove - Three Tables - Waimea Bay, Chun’s reef, Turtle Beach, Haleiwa Beach, Mokuleaiea Beach, and Hidden Beach.

    Whew, that’s a lot of beaches on one island.

    After that, the book goes on to review or talk about just about every activity available and how to do it. This book is really complete. Buy it - you won’t be sorry.

    Tags:

    Oahu Day Trip - One or Two Days on Oahu

    May 1, 2008 by Lisa · Leave a Comment
    Filed under: Big Island, Oahu, Oahu Activities, Vacation Planning 

    I am planning to be in Kona, Hawaii from May 17 to May 24 and would like to take in some
    of the sights on Ohau such as Pearl harbor and the Cultural Center. Any ideas on the best
    way to do this? I know each of these are at least a day in themselves. Maybe 2 trips or
    an overnight stay to catch both? What might you suggest?

    I would do an overnight stay in Oahu - otherwise you eat up too much of your day on the airplane, getting the car, etc. Plus that way you get to enjoy Oahu a bit - it really is very pretty. Have a great time!

    Tags:

    Inexpensive or Cheap Luaus in Honolulu - Waikiki - Oahu

    March 11, 2008 by Lisa · Leave a Comment
    Filed under: Oahu, Oahu Activities, Prices, Vacation Planning 
    Hi we are a family of 4 2 adults and 2 children under 10, we are going to hawaii next week. I need information about not so expensive luaus in Honolulu, all I have seen are very expensive!

    Hi, what are you wanting the luau for? Is it just for the hula show? because there is usually a free Hula show on Waikiki Beach - ask your hotel for details. If you absolutely want to do a luau, then wait till you get to Honolulu and pick up the free coupon books at the airport or in any bin that line the streets of Honolulu and leaf through them. You will get a sense of what the cheapest one is that you can find that you want to go to. Also, if you were planning to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center they have a luau that may help you offset the cost a bit. The cheapest price I see is $69 at Germaines - is that what you are seeing? You can probably find it a bit cheaper if you look in the coupon books once you get there.

    The Entertainment Book sometimes money off tickets at the Polynesian Cultural Center or similar entertainment.

    Good luck!

    Tags:

    Suggested Hawaii Itinerary - Plan my Trip for Me!

    January 24, 2008 by Lisa · 4 Comments
    Filed under: Big Island, Big Island Activities, Hawaii - general, Kauai, Maui, Maui Activities, Most Popular Questions, Oahu, Oahu Activities 

    If you had to recommend a two week itinerary in Hawaii, what would you recommend and why (13 full days)? Don’t give me some cop out answer like “every island has something to offer for each person”. We were thinking of visiting 2-3 islands. Which islands should I visit and for how many days.

    Ok, 13 full days - never been to Hawaii before - I would do Oahu for 4 to 5 days. On Oahu I would visit Waikiki beach, because it really is the beach that started it all even if it is completely packed with people and commercialized these days.. I would visit Pearl Harbor and maybe hike to some waterfalls. I would consider Hanauma Bay. I would check out Kailua and Lanikai beaches and the North Shore. For the rest of the trip *I* would decide which out of the following was my favorite must-see and choose my island(s) around that:

    an active volcano (big island)
    black sand beaches (big island)
    the Na Pali Coast (Kauai)
    tons of waterfalls (Kauai or Maui)
    zip line (maui and kauai)
    downhill bike adventure (maui)
    ferries to smaller islands (maui)
    rivers (kauai)
    hana and the road to hana (maui)
    mauna kea (big island)
    green sand beach (big island)
    waimea canyon (kauai)
    sport fishing (all islands, but big island - kona side is considered best)
    waipio valley (big island)

    Anything else you would want to do in Hawaii could be done on any island - so figure out what appeals to you and focus your activities around that. That is the most specific advice I will offer. :) I hope you have a wonderful time! Lisa

    …. BIG TRIP for us all. Most of us do not like tons of crowds for a long time. average crowds are fine. we have planned 11 days or more. Quoted 4,500 for all inclusive flight hopper to 3 islands. Does this allow you to see the greatest of hawaii by moving about?

    Three islands is a personal choice - if you guys want to move around that much, great! Of course staying in one place is good too. The only island I sometimes really advise people to not stay on for a long time is Oahu - sometimes visitors get disenchanted with the amount of traffic and people there. Lisa

    Latest on planning is … talked to an agent that suggested a cruise to the three islands instead of flights. After thinking about it, we think it sounds easier than packing and unpacking. We would fly to Honolulu and get on a cruise ship that moves about three different islands. At least there are stay overs for more than one day.

    We have been on cruises… the frustrating part for us has been we find a place we really like however, we can’t stay any longer than the time they allow. :

    If you had say 11 days to see hawaii, knowing this could be your 1st and last trip, what would YOU do? Teens will need activity. Parents and grandma like activities such as hiking, snorkeling, ATV rides, beaches, FOOD of course. Any suggestions??

    I have a really hard time when people ask ne what would YOU do becaue I have been here for so long and have seen so much and I can’t seem to get myself back to a place of being a fresh newbie to Hawaii. :)

    The cool thing about a cruise is all the people are right there when you get off the boat trying to talk you into their activity - but the not so cool thing is you are stuck in this one geographical area for this finite period of time.

    I won’t say - do the cruise or don’t do the cruise. I’m sure it could be awesome, and I’m sure it could be awful :)

    Tags:

    What’s Up With Hawaii’s Wet Side and Dry Side Weather?

    January 9, 2008 by Lisa · Leave a Comment
    Filed under: Big Island, Hawaii - general, Kauai, Maui, Molokai, Most Popular Questions, Oahu 

    Also I read that there is a dry side and wet side. That sounds real weird but is it that different on the sides of the island, and why?

    ]

    There is a dry side and a wet side of every island - generally east and north shores tend to be wet while south and west tend to be dry. It has to do with the way the wind comes in off the ocean (trade winds, usually comes in from the east). The clouds blow in, get pushed up the mountains that are in the center of every island, and dump all their rain before getting light enough to head to the other side of the island - something like that. If you are really interested read more here at wikipedia.

    Generally the more popular destination spots like Waikiki, Kailua-Kona, Poipu, and Kaanapali get very little rain because they are on the dry sides. Puako on the Big Island can get 7 inches or less rain a YEAR - that’s like desert. Great for vacationers cuz they are not looking for rain usually :) Compare that with Hilo (where I live) where it seems like sometimes we can get 7 inches in a day and still not cancel soccer practice. lol.

    Tags:

    I Know Nothing about Hawaii and Want to Plan a Vacation - Tell Me Everything

    January 8, 2008 by Lisa · Leave a Comment
    Filed under: Big Island, Hawaii - general, Kauai, Maui, Molokai, Most Popular Questions, Oahu, Prices, Vacation Planning 

    Our family is considering taking a vacation in Hawaii. Maybe in the next year or so. Being pretty clueless when it comes to Hawaii, what would you suggest? It would be for 6 adult and 1 child. Is one place cheaper to fly into than another? What about hotels and such?

    Many people start with Oahu on their first trip, and it is generally the easiest to fly into and cheapest because it is the most popular - of course being the most popular it has really gotten developed and a lot of people complain there are more buildings than trees, but it’s still a beautiful island and has fantastic, easy-to-get-to beaches (that you’ll be sharing with a million other people :) ) but that’s ok, they are big. You might want to look into Oahu and see if it’s what you want.

    Don’t think about hotels till you decide on an island - do you have rewards with anybody like Hilton or Marriott? That might also be a good way to decide where you want to go - you could find the hotel that would get you the best deal and then see what you think of the island it’s on.

    my husband and l had some interest some day of traveling to hawaii, he has been reading the lonely planet book about and sounds very beautiful. just wondering if you had any suggestions for me not sure what time of year we would go, but we were thinking of three weeks. we do know someone that lives in kihei - how would we go about setting up an itinerary, where would we start and where would we end? is it best to stay in b&b’s any suggestions for hotels, renting vehicles, what would you suggest to budget yourself per day, any suggestions would be great

    Wow, this is a huge question and I’m just not sure I can do it justice - it’s huge and broad and usually I do best with very specific questions, but I’ll try to point you in the right direction here:

    1. Decide what island you will visit - if you know someone in Kihei and want to go to that island then start looking into Maui.
    2. Decide what area - if, for your first trip, you stick to the very touristy areas you will be ’safe’ meaning you will find great beaches and great weather typically - so on Maui that would be Wailea, Lahaina/Kaanapali, and Kihei.
    3. Decide what hotel you will stay at - alternatively, this could be your second item on your list, because if you prefer say, Hilton hotels because you like them or have rewards with them and there is only one Hilton on the island, well then what area choice is pretty much made for you. easy :)
    4. As for should you stay in a hotel, vacation rental, condo, or bed and breadkfast — this is all personal preference. Do YOU prefer hotels or bed and breakfasts. Do you want to eat out every meal or cook your own food? Do you want to have your vacation in a place that feels like home or do you prefer a hotel where everything is done and provided for you? see what I’m getting at here? Me, I like condos because you can save money and eat healthier stuff but I like hotels because you can forget about all that cooking and cleaning cr– and concentrate on playing. I like vacation rentals because you are hanging out by yourself away from all the other visitors but I like hotels because there are lots of other people around ;)
    5. As for budgeting yourself per day - well, what is your budget? Do you have $10,000+ to spend on this trip, or only $4500? This will make a big difference. There are books that will show you how to make the most of a budget - Frommer’s Hawaii on $80 a Day is one of them. I don’t know how relevant it is to today since it was written in 2005, but it will get you started I think.
    6. As for what to do - you could out your daily itinerary before you go down to the very last activity (this is what my husband does) by doing a google search for Maui activities (if that’s the island you’ll be staying on) and seeing what comes up or you could just fly to Maui and see what looks fun to you (this is what I do)

    I hope this helps get you started, write me again if you have more questions. Aloha, Lisa

    Tags:

    Nature Hikes on Oahu and Kauai for a Short Vacation

    October 5, 2007 by Lisa · Leave a Comment
    Filed under: Kauai Activities, Oahu Activities, Plants and Animals 

    We will be going to Kauai for 2 days and Oahu for 5 days beginning 10/13. We’d like to focus on flora–the beautiful flowers, mountains, etc. What would you recommend as the best use of limited time? We have considered a hike through Manoa Valley. We’re not adventurous hikers, but can handle a couple miles of walking. Appreciate any insights you have.

    Hi! Manoa Valley is a nice place to hike. Have you seen this page on the Manoa Falls hike? There is also the Oahu Hiking Trails main page that will give you more information than you can handle on available hiking trails, along with what to expect, plus how easy and long they are.

    As for limited time, I would look on the afore-mentioned page for all the hikes that are near where you will be staying. You can waste a lot of time on Oahu sitting in traffic but if you stay in one area most of that can be alleviated. Other than that, I don’t have any major recommendations.

    As for Kauai, you don’t have a lot of time there. I like Waimea Canyon - a really unique place, especially in Hawaii. there’s nowhere else like it in the islands as far as I know. It’s beautiful.

    Tags:

    Where Should We Stay On Oahu - Hawaii? Best Vacation Rental to Stay In On Oahu?

    September 19, 2007 by Lisa · 4 Comments
    Filed under: Hawaii - general, Oahu, Oahu Rentals, Vacation Planning 

    We’re coming over late november this year( 2 couples for the 1st time) & not quite sure what part of Oahu to stay at ( Looking at Condos or house rentals). We are surfers (Longboarders) but the girls will want to spend some time sight-seeing, shopping etc. Bearing in mind the time of year, where would you suggest to stay that would be close to beaches - not too far from shops. We’re not fussed with huge crowds. Looking forward to your response. Kind regards.

    Hi! Well, the waves on Oahu are big on the North Shore in November - are you looking for BIG waves? There is only one hotel-condoon the North shore - that’s the Turtle Bay Resort. Other than that, there are hundreds of house rentals - in some really nice areas.

    … however, the shops are mostly in Waikiki, which is on the south shore. the island is not big - if you stay out of traffic you can go from one to the other in an hour or less. Traffic is bad commuters hours INTO Honolulu in the morning and out of honolulu in the afternoon. You could stay at the halfway point of Kailua maybe .. but I think you would be happier either on the North Shore or in Waikiki.

    Hi Lisa. I am currently looking at home rentals for the week on Oahu. I have found homes at Waimanalo, Haleiwa and Makaha that looked good but I have no clue what might be best for our family. What is the best side of the island to stay on? We have 2 children, age 17 & 12. My daughter will be interested in soaking up the sun and my son will be interested in boogie boarding, swimming, etc. My husband and I are interested in a relaxing and seeing the sights! I know we can easily drive to any location we want to see but where would be the best location to STAY?

    answer
    In your situation, I would stay in Waimanalo. You’ll be right in the middle of the other two places, close to everything, and both of your kids will be happy. Plus, Waimanalo is really a great beach. You can’t really go wrong outside of Waikiki, but Waimanalo is probably the most right out of the three you mentioned. Have a great time! Lisa

    Tags:

    How to Best See the Volcano from Oahu

    August 30, 2007 by Lisa · Leave a Comment
    Filed under: Big Island, Big Island Activities, Hawaii - general, Hawaii Volcanoes, Oahu 

    answer
    Thanks :) The volcano is on the Big Island, so the first thing you will need to do is get a flight to the big island - or you could look around for a tour company that would do an island tour for you, like this one.

    However, you are correct that right now the best viewing is from the air. You might just want to catch an inter-island flight to the Hilo airport and just walk over to the helicopter and small plane departures and take one of them, like Hilo Wings.

    If you do take a helicopter or small plane tour, here’s some pics of what you may see: my friend was up just last week and took these pictures.

    Now, as for the park being closed - everything is currently open except for some pretty advanced hiking trails near the current flow. The closures only lasted for a short time after the earthquakes around mid-June. There’s lot’s of interesting stuff to see and a huge crater that is easy to get to, but the flowing lava is only visible from the air right now. Check the absolute latest information with the National Park or my volcano blog.

    Have fun! Lisa

    question
    First, what a great website! I find the information very interesting. My wife and I are planning a trip to Oahu next week and wanted to include a tour of the Volcanoes National Park. With all the current activity going on and based on their website, it appears that a good portion of the park is closed. We were really hoping to see some neat things, including lava, etc. With these developments, does it make more sense to tour from the air instead of the ground? If we still elected to tour from the ground, what is still open that would be worth seeing?

    Tags:

    Hawaii Travel Companions

    July 15, 2007 by Lisa · 2 Comments
    Filed under: Big Island, Hawaii - general, Kauai, Maui, Molokai, Oahu 

    Ok, I posted a question here from a young woman looking to stay in Hawaii for a few months - I got some great advice for her in comments, but now people keep e-mailing me wanting me to give her their e-mail address or get hers because they want to go with her or are thinking the same thing as her - so here is your OWN page to look for companions to go to Hawaii with.

    I will not be able to remove e-mail addresses in the future, so only post it if you don’t mind it up here for everyone to see forever. Please, be safe - I am not responsible in any way if you meet up with someone dangerous or give them your personal information. If you are under 18, you are not allowed to post comments here.

    Here’s the first post - taken from a comment I didn’t post on the other page - it was intendended for the original question asker.

    My name is Mat and im 24 from Ontario and I am also travelling to Hawaii at that same time. I am also looking for the same opportunity so if you want to figure out maybe a plan together or are looking for someone to travel with email me back. matscully@hotmail.com
    Cheers

    Tags:

    Best Molokai Day Trip from Maui or Oahu

    February 26, 2007 by Lisa · 3 Comments
    Filed under: 808Talk Answers, Hawaii - general, Maui Activities, Molokai, Oahu Activities 

    Brian of Alexandria, Virginia asks

    What is the best way to visit Molokai Island as a day trip? I will be in Oahu for a week, then touring Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island as part of a cruise. I am especially interested in the history of the island, including its role as the location of the colony for those with Hanson’s disease (leprosy).

    Would it be best to do this as a day trip from Maui?

    Hi Brian,

    It may be best and easiest to schedule your trip as a day trip from Maui, but I am concerned that you will find it hard to coincide your shore leave times from the cruise ship and the tour times so we’ll look into options from Oahu and from Maui.

    Pacific Wings and Molokai Air Shuttle (808-567-6847) and Island Air offer flights from Oahu (Honolulu) to Molokai.

    Molokai Outdoors looks to be an outfit that will set up all your flights or transportation from Oahu or Maui and get you started on a tour or with a rental - whichever you want.

    The so-called ‘leper colony’ is located on the Kalaupapa peninsula and hard to get to, plus you must either take a tour or be invited by a resident - you can’t just wander wround the area. Here are some options:

    Molokai Mule Ride
    A ride down the mountain on a mule plus tour.

    Molokai Ferry offers ferry-car packages, guided day tour excursions, and a hike and tour, all from Maui.

    Tags:

    Maui and the Big Island Day Tours from Oahu

    January 27, 2007 by Lisa · Leave a Comment
    Filed under: 808Talk Answers, Big Island, Big Island Activities, Hawaii - general, Maui, Maui Activities, Oahu Activities 

    I have seen that I can get cheap inter-island flights via “I flygo Airlines”. I will be staying in Oahu and want to visit a few islands for a day each.

    I want to know if I visit Maui, or another island, how easy is it to get from the airport to a day tour. Is there somewhere that I can book a day tour that will pick us up from Maui airport and take us on the island ‘tour’.

    I am mainly interested in Maui and the best island to see volcanos (which island would that be?)

    Thanks, Vicki (Australia)

    Hi Vicki,

    The active volcano is on the Big Island, so it appears you would most like to visit Maui and the Big Island and you would like to use Go! airlines to defray some of the cost of this.

    Several companies offer big and small bus and shuttle tours on these islands. If you are going to see a specific attraction, such as Kilauea Volcano, you will probably be able to find a company that will also shuttle you to and from the airport or just pick you up there if you book your own flight. If, however, you are going to do a “circle island tour” or just a general sightseeing tour, you may find it easiest to book your airfare through the tour company, and they may or may not (most likely not) use Go! airlines. I, by the way, have flown on all three inter-island carriers and Go! is my definite favorite at this time for the great prices and the short lines.

    So, here’s some places to look for tour booking for island and volcano tours on Maui and the Big Island:

    I hope you find one or two that you like Vicki! Have a great time! Come back and tell us how it went - I’d love to hear which ones you did and how you liked them. Aloha, Lisa

    See also: Hawaii Island Hopping

    Tags:

    Should I Rent a Surfboard in Hawaii or Bring my Own?

    January 14, 2007 by Lisa · Leave a Comment
    Filed under: 808Talk Answers, Big Island Activities, Kauai Activities, Maui Activities, Oahu Activities, Prices 

    Vicki from Australia asks

    My friend is visiting Oahu in March. Would it be cheap enough for him to hire surfboards there or would it be better to bring his own?

    Hi Vicky,

    Well, before we explore prices and availability of surfboard rentals in Hawaii, let’s talk about whether it’s even a good idea to bring your own surfboard to Hawaii for use on your vacation. The How to Pack Your Shortboard for an Airplane Trip article at eHow.com reveals that surfboard noses are commonly broken in baggage holds and that airlines can charge big bucks for handling surfboards - so that’s a pretty big strike against bringing your own surfboard.

    At Hawaii Surf Board Rentals.com on Oahu they state they offer free, island-wide delivery and pickup of quality surfboards for between $50 and $90 for the first two days and $10 each additional day. (Prices may change, check the website).

    Also, anyone who wants to just try surfing in the Waikiki area can walk onto Waikiki Beach and rent a surfboard for about $20 for an hour or two. Just look for the rental booths and the racks and racks of surfboards. There are several spots along the beach.

    So, Vicky, it appears to me that renting a surfboard once he gets here is your friend’s best option. I hope he has fun!

    More rental websites:

    Maui Fun Tours on Maui

    Hanalei Surf Company on Kauai

    Kona Boys on the Big Island

    … Neal wrote and suggested this - thanks Neal!

    I would like to make a suggestion to let visitors know that they can also buy a surfboard when visiting Oahu. While many may prefer to rent, there are other surfers who can buy a cheap used surfboard here and then take it home as surfboards back home cost way more than they do here. Hawaii, being the home of surfing also boasts a wide array surfboard shapes and types and lower end prices. Aloha, Neal

    Tags:

    Dolphin Swim Programs in Hawaii, Oahu and Kauai and the Big Island

    October 11, 2006 by Lisa · 3 Comments
    Filed under: Dolphins, Oahu, Plants and Animals 

    Years ago I was able to swim with dolphins (in a rescue program?) in a closed lagoon at a posh resort on the Big Island, for $50 if I remember correctly. Now my wife is interested but we are not headed that way. Heading to Oahu and Kauai end of November. Do you know of any other program like that?

    On the Big Island, you probably did the Dolphin Quest at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. These days, it’s more like $200 though :). I don’t believe there is any such program on Kauai, but on Oahu, you have the Dolphin Quest at the Kahala Hotel and Resort and the Sea Life Park has a dolphin swim program too. I can’t say which would be ‘better’ but I know in the past if the dolphin gives the OK you could hold onto their fin and get a ride at Sea Life Park, which is something the Dolphin Quest does not do.

    Tags:

    Oahu Wedding Locations

    October 9, 2006 by Lisa · 1 Comment
    Filed under: Oahu 

    My fiance and I are looking to have our wedding in Oahu in June or July of 2007.  Can you tell me any locations that are really beautiful ?  I have done A LOT of research but would like another opinion. My fiance lived there for 11 years (military kid), but that was 15 years ago and I am sure so much has changed!

    Well, what hotel are you staying at?  Most hotels have a gorgeous garden or building set aside for weddings.  As a matter of fact, a hotel garden is probably the ONLY place near the ocean where there will be flowers.  Waialae beach park also seems to be a popular place for weddings.  I think you can have weddings at Waimea Falls and Waimea Bay, and Sunset Beach is really pretty too - really a ‘typical’ hawaiian beach.  Congratulations! Lisa

    Thanks for the info! We are staying at the Hole Koa (miltary family) and we really don’t want to have it there?

    Oh but the Hale Koa is gorgeous! That would be a nice place. Here, here’s some nice wedding pics at various locations that might help you out a bit.

    Tags: