Tips on Hawaii

[southnam]

Okay, hoping if all goes well to go to hawaii the week or two before the spreak break so late Feb/early March. Looking at about anywhere from 7-10 days there. I have never been there before. Will be going with 4 adults and 2 kids under 1 year old (9 and 11 month). Any advice? We're all on a budget but really want to take a trip to Hawaii. What's a enjoyable cost efficient way to see some sites and get some rest? I read about cruises once your there but are they pricey? Any tips and advise would be awesome. Anything from airfair, hotel to food etc... would be great

[SHaFTy]

Which island will you be going to?

SHaFTy

[southnam]

hahaha, not even sure of that as we're just planning... thinking of honolulu

[j27lee]

best money saving tip is to get a condo and cook as many meals as you can... eating out there is really expensive. A condo will run in the neighbourhood of 150+ /night but will be able to sleep 4 comfortably...

[EL820]

We went on a 10-day cruise with our 2 yrs old kid back in Sept. It was with NCL, so it was no 5 star fine dining or accommadation by any mean, but it was economical. We had a great time. We visited the islands of Kauai, Maui, Big Island, & O'ahu.

For the 3 of us (2 adults + 1 kid) the entire trip, all inclusive cost us ~ $5k. The airfaire & cruise was FREE for the kid, cuz he was still under 2 at the time.

[GordieHowl]

We Loved it there (My Wife just said I want to go back!) Oahu is a busy place with Waikiki,Honolulu,NorthShore and lots to see but the nice thing is no car is required as there is a great transit system you can travel pretty much the entire island for a dollar or 2. I think you could make this trip cheaper than Maui if don't mind a place 3 blocks from the Waikiki beach like ours was we loved the short 5 min walk to the beach. Maybe not best for kids as its a happening busy spot .
Maui is more laid back with lots of great beaches some quiet and some busier.There is some nightlife too, you really need a car here .
Molokia is a nice very quiet island to rest at with awesome quiet beaches .You need a rental car and should checkout Ownerdirect.com website to book a rental property , we had one right on a golf course, 4 star accomodations and reasonably priced with kitchen and screened porch. slept 4 , $150per/n

[coolspot]

I used to goto Hawaii quite often ... might even be going back in Feb/March as well.

If you're from the GTA, check flights out of Buffalo - sometimes they're MUCH cheaper.

If it's your first time in Hawaii, Oahu is the island to goto, lots to see. Big Island (Hawaii, Hawaii) is home to Volcano National Park which has active volcanoes you can see. However, Big Island doesn't have much else to do, so 2 - 4 days is probably enough. Maui, expensive, mostly retirement community Other islands are a bit too remote/rural for me.

[canabiz]

For people who already went to Hawaii, how much do you think is required for 2 adults? My wife should have enough Aeroplan points for the flight there so I will probably buy my own tickets.

Is $2K good enough for accomodation and sight-seeing activities there for 1 week? Maybe I will surprise her with something

southnam, please do post prices, I am sure a lot of us will be interested in going to that Lil Paradise on Earth someday.

[coolspot]

For people who already went to Hawaii, how much do you think is required for 2 adults? My wife should have enough Aeroplan points for the flight there so I will probably buy my own tickets.

Is $2K good enough for accomodation and sight-seeing activities there for 1 week? Maybe I will surprise her with something

southnam, please do post prices, I am sure a lot of us will be interested in going to that Lil Paradise on Earth someday.

Aeroplan you have to pay for taxes, and a flight to Hawaii, probably 300 - 500+ in taxes?

2K is a bit tight, flights costs 800 - 1100, cheaper if you fly out of Buffalo. Hotel is ~100 a night.

2500 is probably doable. If you're in Honolulu, the Polynesian Cultural Center is definately worth a visit - it'll set you back ~100.00 per person for a full day visit including the dinner, show, and transportation.

[GangStarr]

I used to goto Hawaii quite often ... might even be going back in Feb/March as well.

If you're from the GTA, check flights out of Buffalo - sometimes they're MUCH cheaper.

If it's your first time in Hawaii, Oahu is the island to goto, lots to see. Big Island (Hawaii, Hawaii) is home to Volcano National Park which has active volcanoes you can see. However, Big Island doesn't have much else to do, so 2 - 4 days is probably enough. Maui, expensive, mostly retirement community Other islands are a bit too remote/rural for me.

I have been looking at flights in early Feb to HNL and its about $10 cheaper to fly out a buffalo vs yyz with a connect in LAX

Current prices for early feb are about $600 round trip taxes in, not a bad trip considering the low greenback.

[tchai]

Both of us spent about $5.5 K including all the shopping we did. I picked up a GPS + iPhone. We spent about US$550 on excursions from our cruise, NCL.

I went to Hawaii for 9 days with my wife on 19 Nov 07. Spent 7 days on The Pride of Hawaii which is the biggest ship NCL cruise has. Food was amazing in the 12 restaurants. 9 of those restaurants were included in the ALL-INCLUSIVE, the rest were $20-$30 more per person per meal.

We were back on shore on 26 Nov 07 and stayed a night at a nice hotel call Ala Moana Hotel next to the biggest mall in Honolulu, O'Ahu.(aka Hawaii).


We flew out from Toronto->Chicago->Honolulu and Honolulu->Dallas->Toronto on the way back. The bad thing was there was no food from American Airlines. Flight tickets were CAD$830 per person after all taxes.


I think our trip can be done for about $1600 (cruise) + $1700 (flight) + $100 (food) + $100 (car rental and gas) = $3500.

BTW, I took the cab to Pearson Airport from Mississauga and back. That wasn't too bad as it was $40+$35 for the cab both ways.


Hope this info helps.

Oh, one last thing. I did notice flights from BUF->HNL for US$575 all taxes in on 12 Nov 07. But our trip was on 19 Nov 07. So I had to miss out on that.

We went on a 10-day cruise with our 2 yrs old kid back in Sept. It was with NCL, so it was no 5 star fine dining or accommadation by any mean, but it was economical. We had a great time. We visited the islands of Kauai, Maui, Big Island, & O'ahu.

For the 3 of us (2 adults + 1 kid) the entire trip, all inclusive cost us ~ $5k. The airfaire & cruise was FREE for the kid, cuz he was still under 2 at the time.

[coolspot]

I have been looking at flights in early Feb to HNL and its about $10 cheaper to fly out a buffalo vs yyz with a connect in LAX

Current prices for early feb are about $600 round trip taxes in, not a bad trip considering the low greenback.

600 is a great price for Hawaii. 2 years ago (August 2005), I flew out of Buffalo for 900. Flights from Toronto were 1300!

So ya, if it's only 600, fly from YYZ

[RedMosquito]

I went in Dec 06 to see Pearl Jam in concert, we flew out of Buffalo and it was about $525 USD round trip which was a great price. However, we had 3 connections on the way down and 2 on the way back, and total travel time was like 16-18 hours which turned out to be not so fun Next time I will pay more to get a more direct route.

We were in Hawaii (Oahu) for only 3 full days so basically we rented a car and got in as much sight seeing as we could on the island - I'd never been anywhere tropical before (besides Florida? hehe) so I thought it was amazing - will definitely go back again (maybe this time with the wife instead of my Pearl Jam concert tour buddy )