Hawaii Budget Advice

[Green Tea]

Sign up for beatofhawaii.com email list. They find unreal airfare deals that generally sell out quickly so you'd have to act fast. Most are from the west coast, but occasionally they have found them from Chicago, Texas and from DC.

 

[limace]

If you want to do things like snorkeling and quiet beach sitting, then Maui is definitely a better bet than Oahu-haven't been to Kaui so can't speak to that. We do a week or two in Maui with my folks every couple years and we are always thrilled to go back, but my one week on Oahu was enough for me. Snorkeling is better on Maui and the beaches are less crowded.

 

[taaren]

We, too, are headed to Hawaii from May 27-June 8. We are staying in HNL from Jun 1-8. We wanted to see lava so we were thinking we would go to the big island from May 27-June 1, but someone told me there was no lava flowing, so we should go somewhere else. We have 2 boys, ages 15 & 11.
Any suggestions?

Just because the lava isn't flowing now doesn't mean it won't be in May/June. Volcanic eruptions/flows are unpredictable.

That being said, the Big Island is very rural, and sometimes not the paradise that tourist expect because its the youngest island and well, there's black lava almost everywhere you look (that's not a resort). Maui and Kauai are much greener (though its lots of fields of sugar cane as you're driving around). Maui is a nice balance of civilization and nature, Kauai and the Big Island are both a little more "get away from it all", though nowhere near as quiet as Molokai and Lanai. More civilized also means more choices of places to eat, and the season you're going will be right after schools get out so beaches and attractions will be a little busier though not as busy as it gets by mid-June.
Anyhow, we have nice beaches, some say the nicest in the world, but I don't know if that's true. I don't work in the tourism industry, but have friends taht do, so have to plug the island I live on ... Here's a few pics from our weekly pizza-on-the-beach evenings when its deserted.

To the OP, hopefully you are staying at the Waikiki Marriott after all. It's gorgeous. Here's a pic from our stay last December of the balcony. The rooms are incredibly spacious, and its a very convenient location for lots of restaurants.

 

[amomofboys]

Should I pack beach towels or use hotels?
Should I bring snorkeling stuff or rent it there?

 

[ElenaRN]

Should I pack beach towels or use hotels?
Should I bring snorkeling stuff or rent it there?

I usually use hotel towels. Towels tend to be heavy and I save the weight in my bag for other stuff.

I don't have my own snorkel stuff, so we have rented. It's relatively cheap if I remember correctly. If I had my own though I would probably bring it.

 

[Cynt]

If you go to Oahu stay at Koolina. Unbelievable! We stayed there a week in 2010. Best vacation ever. We stayed in the condos. We had a 3 bdrm condo w/a lania. Absolutely amazing views. The koolina grounds are spotless n secure. We did much of what everyone else mentioned on the island. It was incredible. I was in a dilemna just like you. I decided Ohua because of the things available to do for the week. The resort sold me. I purchased my via VRBO. I figure next time I'll select another island.

You cant go wrong no matter whichisland you select. Hawaii isFabulous

 

[canadianjovigirl]

We are spending Christmas and New Years (2 weeks) in Hawaii and initially looked at Waikiki and then we moved on to Kauai and finally settled on Maui. We decided against Waikiki because i envision it to be like NYC along a beach and i wanted our first trip to Hawaii to be the Hawaii i envision in my head of all the greenery etc etc.

I am sure you will have a great time no matter where you decide to go.

 

[maggiew]

Since this thread got bumped back up to the top, I thought I would post an update.

We decided to stay in Oahu. DH says it won't be our only trip to Hawaii , so I figure we can see Kuaui or Maui another time!

We are doing 6 nights at the Marriott Waikiki, then moving over to the JW Ko Olina for 5 nights. We will head back and stay at the Courtyard Marriott Waikiki for the last night before our 6:30 am flight out of HNL!

I bought a 5 day Go Oahu card, so the 5 days we are in Waikiki will be jam packed with activities to make good use of the card. Then we will move to Ko Olina and chill!!

I hope to walk over and do the character breakfast at Aulani. But non-resort guests have to wait until the night before to make reservations to see if there is room. I'm crossing my fingers, but will be ok if it is full. My kids are teens and don't care about the characters. They are only doing it to humor me.

So, basically our hotel is totally paid for with Marriott points. I also got 2 plane tickets with miles. So I only had to buy 2 other airline tickets.


I will report back when I return!


Maggie

 

[robinb]

It sounds like you have a great vacation planned! We spent 10 days in Oahu last August at the Hilton and the Royal Hawaiian (both on hotel points!). I would recommend that you walk up the beach to the Monana Surfrider and have a drink in their courtyard. It has a gigantic banyan tree and is so relaxing! It is one the of the very first hotels that was built on Waikiki Beach. They also have a tour of the hotel if you like historical buildings. The Mai Tai bar at the Royal Hawaiian (aka "Pink Palace") is also very nice with the BEST mai tais. If you time it with the Royal Hawaiian luau you can watch the show from the side. This photo shows the pink umbrellas at the bar on the left and the luau is on the grass to the right:

Since you are going in the summer, the North Shore of Oahu is great for snorkeling. The big waves are in the winter. My DH and DD learned how to scuba dive there. We also snorkeled at Hanauma Bay.

One last thing if you enjoy art ... I LOVED visiting Doris Duke's Shangri La Center for Islamic Arts: http://www.shangrilahawaii.org/ . I toured the house while my DH & DD took their scuba lessons. You need to start your tour at the Honolulu Museum of Art and they will bus you to the property. I took a city bus to the museum since my DH had our car.

 

[Waseller77]

Since this thread got bumped back up to the top, I thought I would post an update.

We decided to stay in Oahu. DH says it won't be our only trip to Hawaii , so I figure we can see Kuaui or Maui another time!

We are doing 6 nights at the Marriott Waikiki, then moving over to the JW Ko Olina for 5 nights. We will head back and stay at the Courtyard Marriott Waikiki for the last night before our 6:30 am flight out of HNL!

I bought a 5 day Go Oahu card, so the 5 days we are in Waikiki will be jam packed with activities to make good use of the card. Then we will move to Ko Olina and chill!!

I hope to walk over and do the character breakfast at Aulani. But non-resort guests have to wait until the night before to make reservations to see if there is room. I'm crossing my fingers, but will be ok if it is full. My kids are teens and don't care about the characters. They are only doing it to humor me.

So, basically our hotel is totally paid for with Marriott points. I also got 2 plane tickets with miles. So I only had to buy 2 other airline tickets.


I will report back when I return!


Maggie

maggieW - Thanks for posting an update!

We are going to Hawaii next year. Currently we are planning 5 days in Maui and then 4 days at Aulani. Should we add a day to our Aulani stay? I see a lot of people plan a total of 10 days and since we are coming from Maine, I'd like to feel like we had enough time there!

 

[Cynt]

Thanks for posting an update. You are going to love JW Ko Olina. Plus there are a ton of things to do at the Ko Olina resort area/vacinity.

 

[JB2K]

So I started to look at Oahu. I had kind of half-convinced myself that Oahu would be fine too. We could still beach, snorkel, hike. There are a couple water falls too. Plus the turtles, Pearl Harbor, Dole Plantation, Polynesian cultural center. However, I just read a thread that said something like, "Whatever you do, don't make your once in a lifetime Hawaii trip be on Oahu." So now I am really confused.

As I have often said, the words "Hawaii" and "budget" usually share very little in common.

However, coming from someone who lived on Oahu for 6 years, you'll be able to find more than enough to keep you entertained during your stay in the islands.

I suspect that negative comment concerning Oahu is coming from someone who was looking for the proverbial "little grass shack", as opposed to skyscrapers, malls, etc. No doubt about it, Oahu (home to Honolulu, the state's largest city and state capital, which has about 950,000 residents) is very much "urbanized", but presents itself in a way that puts tem in a league of their own.

As for less expensive airfare, it should be noted that Honolulu International Airport is a major U.S. airport (and one of the largest in the Western Pacific), while most other airports in the islands are considerably smaller.

Regardless of your choice, have fun!

 

[JB2K]

For those giving props to Ko Olina, remember, Disney liked it so much, they built their newest resort (Aulani), there!

 

[danceintherain]

maggieW - Thanks for posting an update!

We are going to Hawaii next year. Currently we are planning 5 days in Maui and then 4 days at Aulani. Should we add a day to our Aulani stay? I see a lot of people plan a total of 10 days and since we are coming from Maine, I'd like to feel like we had enough time there!

The biggest issue you'll run into is the jet lag. I imagine this is why people stay longer in Hawaii than they do on other vacations within the US. The general rule of thumb is that it takes your body one day per hour of time difference to adjust to the change. I've found this to be fairly true. If you're traveling with all adults you may be able to force yourself over faster, but it's still frustrating.

The other factor is the cost of travel. I've been scouting Hawaii airfare for a while, because we're probably moving there in a few months (I say probably, because it's the military) and I want people to be able to visit us while we're there. I've been shocked to see that traveling to Hawaii is around as expensive as to Europe, depending on where you come from. Since it does cost so much to get there, you might as well stay for as long as possible.

I would rather err on the side of too much time than not enough.

OP - Thanks for making me aware that they don't allow early character meal booking for non-hotel guests. I'm hoping to be able to take my son for his 2nd birthday.

 

[dtauer]

Since this thread got bumped back up to the top, I thought I would post an update.

We decided to stay in Oahu. DH says it won't be our only trip to Hawaii , so I figure we can see Kuaui or Maui another time!

We are doing 6 nights at the Marriott Waikiki, then moving over to the JW Ko Olina for 5 nights. We will head back and stay at the Courtyard Marriott Waikiki for the last night before our 6:30 am flight out of HNL!

I bought a 5 day Go Oahu card, so the 5 days we are in Waikiki will be jam packed with activities to make good use of the card. Then we will move to Ko Olina and chill!!

I hope to walk over and do the character breakfast at Aulani. But non-resort guests have to wait until the night before to make reservations to see if there is room. I'm crossing my fingers, but will be ok if it is full. My kids are teens and don't care about the characters. They are only doing it to humor me.

So, basically our hotel is totally paid for with Marriott points. I also got 2 plane tickets with miles. So I only had to buy 2 other airline tickets.


I will report back when I return!


Maggie

There is no doubt that there is a huge difference in the "personality" of the islands. With teens, I absolutely agree that Oahu should be part of your vacation.

Is Honolulu/Waikiki Beach touristy, overbuilt, and crowded? Absolutely, but that's what we love about it. For our teens there was plenty of hustle and bustle to keep them interested, but you could drive 15 minutes and be in the rainforest or on a mountain hike. Developed, but still close to nature.

Over on the DVC Resorts board I posted a list of around 8 things we found to do on Oahu for little to no cost in a thread titled "Will my teens be bored at Aulani?". Take a look there for some low cost ideas that we enjoyed. Add that to the tourist attractions such as Pearl Harbor, Polynesian Cultural Center, Kuloua Ranch and surfing lessons and hopefully your teens will enjoy Oahu just as much as ours did.

When it's just my wife and I we'll visit the other islands as they are beautiful as well. However, for my teens Oahu is great and we're going back for another 10 days in August. For relaxation, Maui or Kauai are great, but from what I've heard most every thing "closes" when the sun goes down. In Honolulu, the second half of the day just gets started when the sun goes down. Great for teens, bad for relaxing.

 

[Lisa71]

We live in CA and have a timeshare in Kapaa. My Aunt and late uncle had one where we own, so we bought there too. I have been to Maui (twice), Oahu (once) and Kauai (three times). I love Kauai and Maui far more than Oahu as it is very built up. That being said..it is built up on paradise, so it is still wonderful. Kauai is very low key, laid back and more relaxing to us. We also like being in a low key location like Kapaa, even though Poipu is so beautiful, and Hanalei area so interesting. Read a few guide books, but doing any Hawaii vacation is fun. Aloha!

 

[shortbun]

Waikiki would be the deal-breaker for me. Reminded me of South Beach. Very crowded, very city.

For the Kauai choices, I'd pick the Lihue or Poipu locations over Kapaa.

I agree 100%. I would spend(at the most) two nights on Oahu and not on Waikiki Beach. I'd split the other 8 nights between Maui and Hawaii or Maui and Kaui.
Make sure you are aware of what the weather trend is on Kaui; some parts of that island can be very rainy-as in, no sun. Hawaii-the Big Island-has the most unusual landscape and, imho, the coolest history. Maui has the best beaches and surf. If you're talking next month, you should call Marriott and see if they have ANY points space, anywhere at all.

 

[beansmom]

we are going to Hawaii for my first time in October. We chose Maui--we will spend a few nites in Lahaina then go down to Hana for the rest of our trip. We don't really care for resorts, restaurants, night life. We prefer to seek out more natural settings and think we will be very happy in Hana.

 

[ekatiel]

We went this past October, stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village for 8 nights, and had a WONDERFUL time!!!
Must Dos:
In Honolulu, hike to Manoa Falls-- this was my favorite hike of our whole trip. The hike to the falls is amazing-- rain forest all around you. And the falls themselves are beautiful. We liked this hike better than Waimea Falls b/c it was more natural. You do get to swim in Waimea falls, though, so if you have time, do both!
Snorkel at Hanuama Bay-- the best snorkeling we've ever done!
Head to the Northshore-- Shark's cove is supposed to be another great palce to snorkel-- we were there at the beginning of "big wave" season, so we watched the surfers on the pipeline instead. See the turtles at turtle beach. Eat from the Shrimp trucks-- we went to Giovanni's--MMMMM!
Spend a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center-- be sure to spring for the night time show, Ha, Breath of Life! The show was GREAT! We did the luau here, too-- it was just OK.
We also loved the Bishop museum! My kids were completely enthralled with the demonstration where they make lava!

Cheap(er) Eats-- Food on Oahu can be super expensive-- a hot dog (not the combo meal, just the hot dog!) was $10 at our resort .. Before our visit, I spent a lot of time on Trip Advisor figuring out where we were going to eat. Here are some of the best:

For real Hawaiian food in Honolulu head to Helena's Hawaiian Food (be careful, it's only open Tuesday through Friday!). http://helenashawaiianfood.com/index.html Yumm-EEE!

Shorebird (try the sunset dinner special $16.95 for a steak and their great salad bar-- you must be seated between 4 and 5 pm to get this deal) http://shorebirdwaikiki.com/ This is a fun place because you grill your own meat !

Hot Pot Heaven-- This is a hole in the wall place not too far from Waikiki. It is in a strip center, and there were only locals there when we went. They were very nice to us. We'd never been to a place like this before, but there is a hot pot on your table. You choose a broth type, and then you go to a case full of veggies and noodles and choose out which ones you want. You also tell them what kid of meat you want. They pour the veggies and noodles into the broth for you, and then you meat comes out sliced super thin, like deli meat, but it's still raw. You take it with your chopsticks and swish it around in the hot broth for a few seconds, and it cooks. You also eat the broth with the noodles and veggies. It was a really yummy meal, and our family (we have two young kids) got out of there for $25. Unheard of in Honolulu! Here's the trip advisor link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60982-d2230520-Reviews-Hot_Pot_Heaven-Honolulu_Oahu_Hawaii.html

Papa Ole's: We ate here just before we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center-- if you're traveling from Honolulu to the PCC this is about 5 minutes before you get to the PCC. Great Hawaiian Plate lunch type food. it was perfect b/c the PCC opens right at lunch time. So, we ate here just before the PCC and avoided having to buy lunch at theme-park food prices! Here's the trip advisor link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60648-d843955-Reviews-Papa_Ole_s_Kitchen-Hauula_Oahu_Hawaii.html

Things we could have done without:
Dole Plantation-- It was pretty much a tourist trap. You won't believe all the people who tell you this (b/c we didn't!), so you'll have to go and see for yourself, but just don't plan to make a day of it (you'll really only need about 30min-1hr), and don't travel that way just to see the Plantation. Make it a stop on your way to something else.

Have a great trip! Our family already wants to go back!! --Katie

 

[maggiew]

Thanks for the food recommendations. I am going to put them in my trip binder!

Maggie