Was told not to rent a car because parking is too expensive on Oahu. Is this true?

[alohamom]

Here is a thought-I know you can cancel a car rental reservation up until the day before so maybe use the car rental that is included early in your stay and right now, like TODAY, make a cancellable car rental reservation for the remainder of your time. Then once you are there you can decide if you really want to keep the second reservation or cancel it. Just an idea...

 

[nkereina]

We did not pay for parking anywhere we went in Oahu, but we did not go to Waikiki. I suspect parking is more of a premium there. We went to the North Shore, Waimea Valley, Dole Plantation, Kailua, Kualoa Ranch... all of these places had free parking available. As a note, if you rent DVC points to stay, parking is free even for those on rented points. We were able to take advantage of this so the car was not as costly for us.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

While I did not stay at Aulani I did visit there and had lunch and had free parking with validation (though this is besides the point of the post). We absolutely could not have experience Oahu without a rental car. We stayed at a for rent by owner condo 11 or so miles north along the coast from Aulani. Since we were getting in late we decided to save just a bit of money (because a rental car cost only a few dollars more due to a deal to have it one more night) and stayed in Waikiki for that first night. They had parking underneath the building and it was $25 a night so we were happy that we only had to pay that once. The condo we stayed at did not have a fee to park so we lucked out there.

Traffic sucks completely admit that but we knew ahead of time what hours of the day would be busy and had to just roll with it when we needed to be in the thick of it (like our Pearl Harbor day). When we went to walk around Waikiki to explore we parked in a free lot but it was a bit of a walking distance from the main shopping part of Waikiki. We did quite a bit of relaxing in our condo as it was right on the beach but we also went around in the rental car. One day we took a driving tour of the island which I really enjoyed. That drive allowed us to get some really good pictures from look-out points (we also did look out points for Honolulu/Diamond Head the first morning we were there) and other cool pictures. A rental car was essential for that and we loved that we could just do our own thing in our own rental car.

Honolulu/Diamond Head Look Out point example:

 

[fairytalelover]

We checked the prices for the excursions from aulani and just a couple of excursions would be the full price for three of us with a Go Oahu card. It's only $500 for alll three of us for a

 

[ggc]

Been going to the islands since '73 and a bunch after.
Think of it this way:
You're traveling thousands of miles and spending thousands of dollar$$ and you're WORRIED about a few buck$$ on a rental car and parking!! WTHey!!
The car gives YOU control of what, when and where. I don't care to be part of a herd. The resort, in this case wants you on $$ite, hint, hint.
GET THE CAR AND GO..... Sure gas is higher, but you're on an ISLAND not a cross country trip. Do not take the rental fuel option, if you want to $ave $ome dollar$, just fill up before you return the car. A full tank or less is all you will need for your stay.
MCM looks like a view from the Punchbowl, it's been awhile.
ALOHA

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

MCM looks like a view from the Punchbowl, it's been awhile.

Man you're good .

It was in the Punchbowl area-ish though not actually inside Punchbowl. It was from a road that winds up the mountain/large hill (don't really know what to call it perse ) area right by it. We then took the main road back down it. The main road back down feeds right into the Punchbowl area. Here's an aerial view. The arrows are from where the picture was taken but I don't remember exactly what spot hence the multiple arrows lol.



There is the Tantalus Look out and the Diamond Head look out right by each other (just south of the lowest arrow) but that particular picture I took I don't believe was from the actual official look out points. I know my husband and I just stopped on the side of the road in the shoulder area multiple times to get pictures as well as the official look out points. I know I said in my first post about the Honolulu/Diamond Head look out point but I meant that more in a general way because looking more at my photos like I just mentioned I don't believe the picture I posted was from the official look out point though I'm sure the photos sorta get the same view in a way anyways.

 

[ggc]

Took a few of the same pics many years ago. At that time they may have been Kodak picture spots. You just don't forget that awesome sight.
My dear friends have never been to Hawaii, so for ours and their 45th we are planning a trip to the islands.
A cruise and some island hopping will be in order. I have never done the cruise, but our friends are on a boat more often than not.
Anyway Hy's and Moma's are a must. Kimo's on Front St is also a definite.

 

[frank808]

The Go Oahu Car includes over 30 plus attractions for only $500 for the three of us for 4 days (the Costco special price) and here is the list of attractions it includes:
http://www.smartdestinations.com/oa...s/_d_Hio-p1.html?pass=Hio_Prod_Go&allInc=true

If you want to do things with the go card you are going to need a vehicle for the 4 days.
Price the cost of the vehicle for 4 days from the on site car rental alamo. Then price what it would be renting from the airport with parking for the whole time you are there. Choose whichever is cheaper for your needs.
To avoid traffic donot be on h1 from the hours of 6am to 8am and from 3pm to 6 pm. That should help with not sitting in traffic.

 

[frank808]

What about other options like renting mopeds?

Renting a moped and riding it from to aulani is not recommended. You will have to avoid the main highway H1. Also it would be scary to ride it on the road going to and from aulani (farrington highway). Mopeds are ok to use and sightsee if you are staying in waikiki.

 

[scrappydew]

We had one day's free rental, then rented a car at Aulani for two other days. Just returned the car each time, so we didn't have the parking fee. It was perfect for us - we pretty much saw the whole island. We did our things on the weekend, and the traffic wasn't near as bad.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Took a few of the same pics many years ago. At that time they may have been Kodak picture spots. You just don't forget that awesome sight.
My dear friends have never been to Hawaii, so for ours and their 45th we are planning a trip to the islands.
A cruise and some island hopping will be in order. I have never done the cruise, but our friends are on a boat more often than not.
Anyway Hy's and Moma's are a must. Kimo's on Front St is also a definite.

I had never been to Hawaii before this past September but my husband and I are itching to go back. He's thinking he might want to do a cruise that takes you from island to island. I would love to get back there in the next few years but we'll just have to see.

 

[scrappydew]

I had never been to Hawaii before this past September but my husband and I are itching to go back. He's thinking he might want to do a cruise that takes you from island to island. I would love to get back there in the next few years but we'll just have to see.

We were there in June, and I keep telling my husband I want to move there. I figure by the time we retire, I'll have worn him down.

 

[gonzalj1]

The way we look at it is that being on our own schedule is worth the money. With a car, we can go where we want, when we want. That freedom to us is priceless.

That being said, we are DVC members so the parking fee at Aulani was not an issue. But as for parking around the island I don't remember paying for parking anywhere.

 

[Julylady]

We have stayed at Aulani twice. On our first stay we stayed in the DVC portion of the hotel using points so we did not need to pay for parking. We rented a car for the entire visit and spent most days touring around the island. On our 2nd stay we decided to spend most of our time enjoying the resort. We stayed in the hotel portion of Aulani with a package that included transportation to/from the airport and a free car rental for one day. We used that day early in our trip spending the day traveling the north shore and beyond. On our way back we stopped at Target and Costco for provisions. Our plan was to do another 1-day rental later in the trip, but we cancelled that reservation and just stayed at Aulani. With this plan you avoid the parking fees at the resort.