Still a good idea to go to Hawaii by month's end?

[pillage2001]

Since it's hurricane season over there. Am not really familiar with the weather system around this side of the world but am contemplating of doing a 4 day trip there by month's end. A good idea? Need some input here.

 

[Exterous]

Since it's hurricane season over there. Am not really familiar with the weather system around this side of the world but am contemplating of doing a 4 day trip there by month's end. A good idea? Need some input here.

I might wait a few days to see what the result of this hurricane will be. Otherwise this is the first one to hit them in something like 22 years so I think the chances are small it would happen again

 

[pillage2001]

Hey Exterous,

I saw your thread on your trip. Good write up. Do you have a more comprehensive itinerary that you cooked up for Oahu? Do we need to engage a tour guide for Pearl Harbor?

Am constantly refreshing the pages on Expedia to see if the flights are still avail.

 

[eng2d2]

I wouldnt worry about the hurricane season. Book the flight when you want to go or if you are concern check the almanac and book your flight.

 

[Exterous]

Hey Exterous,

I saw your thread on your trip. Good write up. Do you have a more comprehensive itinerary that you cooked up for Oahu? Do we need to engage a tour guide for Pearl Harbor?

Am constantly refreshing the pages on Expedia to see if the flights are still avail.

You definitely don't need a guide for Pearl Harbor. They have at least 2000 tickets available for the public each day but they are given out on a first come first serve basis. We got to the counter at 6am and there were already a few people in line for the 7 am ticket booth opening. By 7am the line was quite long. So you don't need a tour guide but going on a tour will likely mean you don't have to wait in line for tickets. It wasn't a big deal for us. We just brought breakfast and ate it while we waited. You may feel differently.

We did have a more defined itinerary but we threw it out with all the other print outs when we got back. I can do most of it from memory so I'll post that a bit later (headed out to dinner now that the wife is finally ready...)

 

[pillage2001]

You definitely don't need a guide for Pearl Harbor. They have at least 2000 tickets available for the public each day but they are given out on a first come first serve basis. We got to the counter at 6am and there were already a few people in line for the 7 am ticket booth opening. By 7am the line was quite long. So you don't need a tour guide but going on a tour will likely mean you don't have to wait in line for tickets. It wasn't a big deal for us. We just brought breakfast and ate it while we waited. You may feel differently.

We did have a more defined itinerary but we threw it out with all the other print outs when we got back. I can do most of it from memory so I'll post that a bit later (headed out to dinner now that the wife is finally ready...)

Is there just one counter?? Or various booth?

Thanks in advance for the post later.

 

[MongGrel]

Should be ok unless the second one hits it directly.

I was there in the early 80s and Hurricane Ewa came through, unless something silly happens and the second one stays big and hit's em head on I doubt much will be affected.

I lived there 4 years and never did the Pearl Harbor thing even.

But have fun

Renting a car and just driving up to North Shore, or just south of Honolulu to Hanamea Bay below Diamond Head I'd recommend, but it's been a long time since I've been.

 

[Ken g6]

Are you sure you don't want to wait and see what [thread=2392986]Nvidia comes out with in October[/thread]?

Oh, wait, this isn't Video Cards & Graphics, is it?

 

[Exterous]

Is there just one counter?? Or various booth?

Thanks in advance for the post later.

One counter with two people working the counter but the tickets are free so the line moved pretty quickly as no one had to pay, get a receipt etc

-First day we got to Oahu around 2pm got our rental car checked into the hotel and got dinner. Then we walked along Waikiki beach for a while. Its nice to say we've been there but there is really no other reason to go unless you are stuck at a nearby hotel. (crowded, dirty). The beaches to the north are much better. If you do go to Waikiki beach the beach conditions seem to change pretty quickly if you end up moving to a new area. If a section has a lot of rocks at a shallow depth just move down a bit and the conditions will change

-Following day we got in line to get Pearl Harbor tickets for the first tour starting at 7:30am. Spent a lot of time here because we also went over to the USS Missouri. Separate tickets for this are $25 ea. and the shuttle leaves from the Arizona Memorial. A bit pricey but they have a lot of the ship open and give a free 20 minutes tour of a few of the key areas. You might want to bring your own food or get a snack from the gift shops though as a hotdog with no drink or side was $6 and the prices just go up from there

After that we went to the Aloha stadium around a mile away to do some shopping. There are a lot of food stands here too although we did not get any.

Then we got dinner and did a sunset Mai Tai cruise which was nice. Waves were a bit high which disagreed with two other tourists but we were fine. Sit in the back of the boat if you don't want some spray from the waves.

-Last full day we did a drive around the island starting at Diamond Head up to the North shore and then back. We basically followed this tour which we thought did a great job:
http://www.thelandrumwife.com/2013/01/getting-to-know-hawaii-diy-oahu-driving.html

We didn't stop at every place (usually the ones she said weren't a big draw) and some places we were only there for 5 min or so. Others we spent more time at - usually the beaches for a quick swim and then drying off in the sun.

She was definitely right about getting to Hanauma Bay Overlook early. We got there at around 9:30 and the lot was full. We could have turned around and walked about 1 mile from the nearest Scenic Point but did not choose to do so

This took the entire day. We did stop at the Dole Plantation but found it overly commercialized and a bit expensive so we headed back to Haleiwa to look at the shops, get some appetizers and drinks and then watched the Sunset on Sunset beach.

-The last day we had to be at the airport at 1pm so we went to the Aquarium . Some nice exhibits but would only be a quick stop if you don't listen to the free audio tour. After we were done we went to the park and pouted about having to leave soon.

Places we ate and liked:
Chiba-ken - good, reasonably priced sushi
Wailana Coffee House - traditional breakfast options at a reasonable price
Rainbow drive inn - Very good food. Ended up eating here twice because Kari Krab was closed for some reason. Mahi Mahi, Chicken, BBQ and Loco Moco were all great
Luibueno's Mexican Seafood - just got two appetizers and drinks. The Calamari was very good as was the San Juan style fish tacos. Went during happy hour so the two appetizers, chips and salsa and two drinks was $15
Fumis Shrimp Truck - good but I think any of the shrimp trucks on the north shore would be just as good

Places we ate but didn't like:
Cheeseburger Waikiki - great chips but I ended up getting sick from here.

If you have a Costco card they were always the cheapest for gas and have a spot about 3 miles from the airport for filling up your car. They were also the cheapest for car rentals that I found. We ended up paying $45 total for our 72 hour car rental. This was a couple of months out so I don't know what their prices are closer to travel dates but you can cancel with no penalty if you find something cheaper elsewhere

Hope that helps and let me know if you have any other questions!

 

[pillage2001]

Exterous....thanks of the writeup again. I think that's alot of info for a 4d3n trip. Will almost certainly follow your plan but which hotel did you stay in Oahu? I won't be renting a car there. Just wondering if transportation would be a problem.

 

[pillage2001]

Are you sure you don't want to wait and see what [thread=2392986]Nvidia comes out with in October[/thread]?

Oh, wait, this isn't Video Cards & Graphics, is it?

LOL....yes...this isn't the graphics section.........

 

[pillage2001]

Should be ok unless the second one hits it directly.

I was there in the early 80s and Hurricane Ewa came through, unless something silly happens and the second one stays big and hit's em head on I doubt much will be affected.

I lived there 4 years and never did the Pearl Harbor thing even.

But have fun

Renting a car and just driving up to North Shore, or just south of Honolulu to Hanamea Bay below Diamond Head I'd recommend, but it's been a long time since I've been.

Won't be renting a car but would there be like open top buses that drive people around?

 

[Exterous]

Exterous....thanks of the writeup again.

You're welcome - Glad to help!

Will almost certainly follow your plan but which hotel did you stay in Oahu? I won't be renting a car there. Just wondering if transportation would be a problem.

The Hilton Doubletree. Ended up being decently located for what we wanted to do but we picked it because we were using points to cover the cost of the hotel stay. Its basically a 'Hotel row' type of area so there are plenty of options to choose from. We were able to walk to Waikiki beach easily (0.7mi IIRC) and had some decently priced restaraunts nearby. It seemed to me the closer to the beach the restaurant was the more expensive food

I know they have a couple of 'hop on hop off' style of buses and a pretty extensive city bus (covers the entire island IIRC) but I couldn't tell you how convenient it is as we didn't use it while we were there

 

[Paladin]

The weather in August is usually amazing in Hawaii. Tropical storms hitting the islands are very rare, Hurricanes extremely rare (decades). Leaving for Maui on Sunday for 10 nights, we hit the islands every year. You'll be fine.

 

[evident]

Won't be renting a car but would there be like open top buses that drive people around?

I know alot of people rag on Oahu, but I personally love it. If you like snorkeling, do yourself a favor and go up to the north shore and go to shark's cove and three tables beach, both across the street from the foodland supermarket. the tropical gardens near waimea bay are great too if you're into that stuff, and there's a waterfall there as well so it's pretty cool. can't go wrong with eating at one of the shrimp trucks at the north shore either. most of them are locally farm raised shrimp from kahuku.

I just spent a 4 day 3 night vacation in oahu with my parents (!). I took them to pearl harbor, waikiki, did a cheap and corny tour of a macadamia nut farm a little bit past kaneohe, went to kailua, and hiked to kaena point.


I would certainly get a car unless all you do is plan on staying in waikiki. there are tons of great things to see and do around oahu! yes its not as secluded or "exotic" as maui or kauai but if you know what you're doing it's a blast.

I know they have a couple of 'hop on hop off' style of buses and a pretty extensive city bus (covers the entire island IIRC) but I couldn't tell you how convenient it is as we didn't use it while we were there

"the bus" is pretty reliable but once you start going places outside of the city, depending on where you go it's better off to just rent a car imo. i used it the first time i went to oahu when i was a cheap college student 10 years ago. you can probably get by with using the bus to get around the city and renting a car for the days you want to explore other parts of the island

 

[pillage2001]

I might just rent a car on my last day there as I would get a 11pm flight out of the island.

I know that we don't have to pay anything for pearl harbor but is this tour worth it??

https://www.pearlharboroahu.com/tour2a.htm#/tour2a.htm

Exterous....

Noted on the Hotel. Am just gonna go cheap since I am going alone.

Evident....

I am not looking to jump into the water as I can't swim and water phobic. But seems like the north shore is a must do thing there as well. Will put a note on it. 4d3n sounds about right now.

 

[evident]

I am not looking to jump into the water as I can't swim and water phobic. But seems like the north shore is a must do thing there as well. Will put a note on it. 4d3n sounds about right now.

do some hikes then, go to manoa falls, right in honolulu by the university. it's through a jungle and you get to a cool waterfall at the end. koko crater is fun to do in the early morning but it's just a pure workout. will be able to get a great view of hawaii kai neighborhood at the top. kaena point is kind of an easy flat hike along a dirt road, but there are cool beaches along the way and you will definitely see a monk seal or two... or you can just chill at any of the bars facing the beach in waikiki and have some great drinks