Cab fare/time from Aulani to Diamondhead as well as to Dole Plantation?

[sydneymorganmom]

We are staying at Aulani the first week of August (4 adults). We are undecided about the duration of renting a car because we plan to be at the resort or already have transportation for excursions. We will rent a car to go to North Shore, but I am wondering if we should keep it an extra day or two. We want to go to Diamondhead and the Dole Plantation but I wonder how much time and money it takes to just do a cab for those things as opposed to paying for the rental car for additional days? From what I have read, there is so much to do at Aulani we may not venture out much!

 

[85glht]

We went to Aulani twice.... Both times we rented a car for the whole duration of our stay. We rented from rental companies that were near the airport. Had to take a shuttle to the rental company location. It isn't very far from the airport. It is a little inconvenient but in my opinion worth it to have transportation freedom on the island.

Our plans were to do touristy stuff in the morning and then go back to the resort for the rest of the day to enjoy the amenities. This worked out really well.

Not sure on a cab ride cost to the areas you asked for. Sorry.

 

[sydneymorganmom]

We went to Aulani twice.... Both times we rented a car for the whole duration of our stay. We rented from rental companies that were near the airport. Had to take a shuttle to the rental company location. It isn't very far from the airport. It is a little inconvenient but in my opinion worth it to have transportation freedom on the island.

Our plans were to do touristy stuff in the morning and then go back to the resort for the rest of the day to enjoy the amenities. This worked out really well.

Not sure on a cab ride cost to the areas you asked for. Sorry.

Any reason you didn't rent from Aulani? More expensive I suppose?

 

[Drusilla99]

With no traffic, it's going to take about 45-60 minutes to get to diamond head from Aulani. Dole plantation is about 20-30 minutes on your way to north shore. It was $22 to get to diamond head from a hotel on Wakiki, I can't imagine what it would cost from Aulani

 

[cmph]

That would be an incredibly expensive cab ride to Waikiki. Dole is half the driving distance (probably much less than half the normal time b/c traffic isn't as bad in that direction); however, I don't recall seeing any taxis there waiting for pick-ups when we were there a little over a week ago. It's not really in the middle of a busy urban area likely to have taxis, so you may not be able to easily call one for the return trip. If I were you, I would incorporate Dole into your north shore day, b/c you will literally drive past it on your way up. If you really don't want to rent again for Waikiki, I think there were shopping and sightseeing excursions you could book that included transportation.

 

[85glht]

Any reason you didn't rent from Aulani? More expensive I suppose?

Never even considered renting from Aulani..... I would imagine it is more expensive... At least with your own car, you are in control of your precious time on the island.

 

[cmph]

At least with your own car, you are in control of your precious time on the island.

This was pretty much our reasoning - we liked the freedom of having the car the entire time. If you are DVC, it's a no-brainer b/c parking is free. If you aren't, you'll want to price out the cost of shuttles to/from the airport, one-day (or two-day) rental, parking for a day or two - and see if it's actually not that much worse to have a car for the entire week. Cost per day of car rental is much lower for a weekly rental than for a day or 2. We just payed about $300 for 8 days (small SUV). Definitely a better deal than two-way airport shuttles for 4 people plus a day or two of rental when you consider the freedom; we just had to justify paying for parking b/c we're not DVC.

Next time we won't go all over the island, and I will probably do the one-day rental with a pick-up from the airport and drop-off at Aulani. Use it for groceries, etc right away, and whatever one off-site thing we want to do the next morning before returning it. We had an Alamo rental anyway, which is what Aulani has on-site. I wouldn't do that if you've never been to Oahu, but if you've been already and done a lot - you'll probably be less motivated to leave the resort.

 

[nkereina]

I don't think renting a car from Aulani is much more expensive necessarily, but they do have limited availability and I've heard the daily rentals can run out depending on when you're there. We opted to rent a car from the airport for the duration of our stay simply because we need to get to and from the airport, and driving ourselves from Aulani meant we could make a grocery stop as well.

Another thing to consider in addition to the cost of the car is the cost of parking at Aulani. Unless you're staying on DVC points, I believe its $37 a day to park a car there. If you need to rent a car for more than one day, it may behoove you to treat them separately - for instance, rent on Tuesday morning for North Shore and return that night. Then rent Thursday morning for Diamond Head and return that night. Avoids parking.

Also, the Dole Plantation is on the way to North Shore. We plan to stop there on our way to the North Shore and from my understanding, it's very easy to do and doesn't take much time. Diamond Head would be in the opposite direction. If any of your organized tours take you to the Waikiki area, perhaps your tour operator would let you stay there afterwards rather than ride back, and then you'd only have to taxi to Aulani once instead of both ways which would be expensive.

 

[crystal1313]

I rented a car through Alamo at Aulani for one day of our trip. We are going to pearl Harbor and didn't want to do a tour/excursion for that. We paid extra for the insurance ($30) and got a midsize size car (same price as the standard) and paid $76 for the day. We do not have DVC and I do not want to pay for parking. We plan to hit up Pearl Harbor, the flea market and maybe go to Target/Safeway if we need more food. And since it will be just my parents and I going to PH, we might stop anywhere we see that looks neat! =) I didn't think that was too bad of a price for the day, considering we added on the insurance. Cheaper than the tours!

 

[tbssenterprises]

We were just at The Marriott Ko Olina and rented a car for the entire time. Well worth it. We drove all over the island. (we saved Pearl Harbor for the end when were staying in Waikiki). Anyway, on the drive home from Diamond Head (and also Hunama Bay), there was a car accident on H1, and we sat in traffic for three hours. I can't imagine what it would be like in a taxi with that meter running. Ugh. I highly suggest renting a car.

 

[happymommy]

I also would suggest having a car the whole time. We also stay at the Marriott Ko Olina, usually for two weeks (next trip will be 4 weeks for me though with DD, DH and DS will come the last two of our weeks).

I can't imagine not having a car. We shop at Costco, Target, Walmart, eat lunch out in Kapolei and like to have the freedom (I also will need to get my nails done, and have used a place right in Kapolei twice before that does a nice job since I have gel polish).

Target & the other stores carry lots of items you can't get on the mainland, so it's just part of the fun.

 

[sydneymorganmom]

Thanks everyone! I'm trying to convince DH that we can't guarantee a car at Aulani!

 

[cmph]

Thanks everyone! I'm trying to convince DH that we can't guarantee a car at Aulani!

There are no guarantees if you just walk up same-day without a reservation, but you can make a reservation in advance with Alamo like crystal1313 did. I just don't think there are as many options as you'd get at the airport, which obviously has a ton of cars, but that should guarantee you a car.

FYI - I tried to use the Alamo web-site to price it out in advance, and it would not work for me with Aulani as the pick-up/drop-off. I don't know if my browser was being weird or something, or if they want you to call rather than book online.

 

[Silver Queen]

We stayed at Aulani for a week in April and rented a car at the airport for the whole week. We were very glad we did. We went to Pearl Harbor, the Swap Zmeet, Waikiki, Diamond Head, the Dole Plantation, and the north shore. We were very glad we had the car. We stopped at Safeway on the way to Aulani. As far as the Zdole Plantation is concerned, we stopped there on the way to the north shore. Glad we stopped, but really nothing special, pretty much a pineapple gift/souvenir store. Definitely not worth a taxi ride.

 

[crystal1313]

There are no guarantees if you just walk up same-day without a reservation, but you can make a reservation in advance with Alamo like crystal1313 did. I just don't think there are as many options as you'd get at the airport, which obviously has a ton of cars, but that should guarantee you a car.

FYI - I tried to use the Alamo web-site to price it out in advance, and it would not work for me with Aulani as the pick-up/drop-off. I don't know if my browser was being weird or something, or if they want you to call rather than book online.

Yes! We originally wanted to rent a minivan because all 6 of us were going to go to PH. DH and my 2 boys were going to check out the Missouri, and my parents and I the Arizona. But, silly me decided to wait until we secured our Arizona tickets online before renting the minivan. When I tried to rent a van, they were sold out! (I also checked the rental car company at the Marriott as well) Only option was a full size SUV which was WAY more money than we wanted to spend, or renting two compact cars. We were going to go with two compact cars, but then our kids basically told us they didn't want to go to PH. So DH, who has already been to PH, graciously said he would stay at Aulani with the boys. So in the end, it all worked out. =)

 

[OKWJan]

How are you getting to Aulani from the airport and back? By the time you factor in a shuttle, and the price for renting a car from the airport is usually not bad at all. We were there for 6 days in May. We rented from Dollar and it was around $165, which was not bad at all. We are DVC members though, so we did not have to pay for parking; that would make a difference. There are so many beautiful places to go to and explore on the island, and a car gives you the freedom to do that. If you go to Pearl Harbor on a swap meet day at Aloha Stadium, be sure to stop there for your souvenirs and coffee. GREAT prices on the same merchandise as everywhere else. Like others have said, the Dole Plantation is right on the way to the North Shore, and the town of Halliewa is there too, with lots of shops, food truck, and restaurants. We love Halliewa Joes. There are way too many food trucks, restaurants, and bakeries to try not to have a car

For me, paying for the parking might be decision maker...maybe.

 

[sydneymorganmom]

How are you getting to Aulani from the airport and back? By the time you factor in a shuttle, and the price for renting a car from the airport is usually not bad at all. We were there for 6 days in May. We rented from Dollar and it was around $165, which was not bad at all. We are DVC members though, so we did not have to pay for parking; that would make a difference. There are so many beautiful places to go to and explore on the island, and a car gives you the freedom to do that. If you go to Pearl Harbor on a swap meet day at Aloha Stadium, be sure to stop there for your souvenirs and coffee. GREAT prices on the same merchandise as everywhere else. Like others have said, the Dole Plantation is right on the way to the North Shore, and the town of Halliewa is there too, with lots of shops, food truck, and restaurants. We love Halliewa Joes. There are way too many food trucks, restaurants, and bakeries to try not to have a car

For me, paying for the parking might be decision maker...maybe.

We are DVC members, so parking is not the issue. We are taking a limo to/from as an anniversary splurge so it's a matter how to get the car now. We will have to talk about it!