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Getting around Oahu

amanven

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Heading to Honolulu soon for 5 days. Staying at Hilton Hawaiian Village (Lagoon Tower). Having second thoughts about whether the rental car I have booked is worth bothering to have.
Would I be better off keeping the car and dealing with the Honolulu traffic, resort parking fees and apparent shortage of parking in the city or could I manage just as well and for close to the same money with taxi's (to Pearl Harbor and within the city) and airport shuttles?
 
We spent 5 days on Oahu in March before heading to our timeshare on Kauai. We did not rent a car, mostly because of reading about the traffic congestion on Waikiki. We took The Bus to visit downtown Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, and found that it was convenient, inexpensive, and very easy. (You can catch any of the buses from Waikiki and your hotel/resort can supply you with a map showing the bus lines and their routes.) Also, there are tours that will take you to the Polynesian Cultural Center and around the island to see the beaches on the north shore. Finally, there are inexpensive shuttles which go to and from the airport from the hotels on Waikiki. I don't think a rental car is necessary or worth the hassle. Good luck and have a great time!
 
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We Spend 87 Days in Waikiki with a car

We spent 5 days on Oahu in March before heading to our timeshare on Kauai. We did not rent a car, mostly because of reading about the traffic congestion on Waikiki. We took The Bus to visit downtown Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, and found that it was convenient, inexpensive, and very easy. (You can catch any of the buses from Waikiki and your hotel/resort can supply you with a map showing the bus lines and their routes.) Also, there are tours that will take you to the Polynesian Cultural Center and around the island to see the beaches on the north shore. Finally, there are inexpensive shuttles which go to and from the airport from the hotels on Waikiki. I don't think a rental car is necessary or worth the hassle. Good luck and have a great time!

I totally concur with this response as far as not needing a car in Waikiki. We stay the entire winter in Waikiki without a car. We walk everyday sometimes to Kapiolani and sometimes as far a downtown. The mall and other shopping are short walks. If walking is not your thing, the BUS, Shuttles and Taxis can get you quickly to everything you want. While you can take the island circle bus, and we have done it a number of times, renting a car to circle the island lets you see stuff you wouldn't on the bus. However, I wouldn't do that on a 5 day vacation, there is just too much good stuff to do in Waikiki and Honolulu during a short vacation. Go back for a couple of weeks or months and see and enjoy more.
 
As an LA native, the idea of not having a car is often foreign. Having stayed where you will be, I think you could do very well without renting a car, at least not for the entire duration. The good news is in addition to the Hertz agency at HHV, here is an Alamo rental office, just around the corner from HHV so if you find you want to go off and make a day trip, you could just rent for the day you need it.

Agreed, you don't need a car for HHV.
 
We did a 2 day weekend rental to get to resort, go to places we needed to drive, and costco.
 
When we stayed there, we rented a car for just one day - a nice red convertible! - and drove around the island. Otherwise we were fine without it.

Deb
 
Another vote for not renting a car, except for a day. It's not worth it, considering the parking fee at HHV. The shopping trolley and The Bus are cheap and convenient.
 
When we stayed there, we rented a car for just one day - a nice red convertible! - and drove around the island. Otherwise we were fine without it.

Deb

We did the same! The rest of the time we used The Bus. We also had scooters for 24 hours.
 
As many have said, no need to rent a car for your whole stay. We usually like to rent one for a day to visit the east and north shores, and there are several car rental places in Waikiki. When we get to the airport, we get a taxi to Waikiki. The shuttles are cheaper, but they can make so many stops, it's not worth the extra time.
 
It really depends on what all you'll be doing and your own personal circumstances. If you'll be primarily in and around Waikiki, there's no need. Driving and parking there is inconvenient and public transportation is good. If you'll be elsewhere around the island, a rental car gets a little more appealing. If you have little kids in tow, the bus might not be all that convenient.

We'll be staying a week at HHV next year, and we'll definitely get a car. We have three kids and the youngest will be 2. We won't be spending much time in Waikiki. We'll be grocery shopping at Sams, Walmart and probably a grocery store. We'll be visiting Pearl Harbor, Ko Olina and the zoo. We'll hit Hanauma Bay and a variety of beaches on the north, east and west side of the island.
 
We rented a car in Wakiki for a week a few years back and used it every day to get out of Wakiki. Parking in Wakiki is tough or expensive. There is free parking on the south end of the beach at the park and on a few side streets.

From the airport to Wakiki can be a real slow bumper to bumper trip. Kind of stressfull after flying for 6 hours. Even more stressfull if you take a wrong turn.
 
Thank you everyone for your replies. We took the advise regarding not needing a car and cancelled our reservation. Going to rent one for a day or two mid week just to get out of town to the north shore but otherwise we haven't felt the need for one and my teenage kids are getting more exercise this way!
 
If it's not already in your plans, make sure to go to Hanauma Bay one morning to snorkel. (You can take the bus there or drive on one of the days you have the rental car.) It's our favorite thing to do on the island. On our first trip to Oahu, we didn't make it to Hanauma Bay until the last full day of our trip, and we wished we would have discovered it sooner. It was so fascinating that we would have done it several other times (as we have done on each trip since then). We've snorkeled dozens of other places since then and have never seen such incredible reefs and as colorful, varied and plentiful tropical fish.
 
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