Island Hopping Question

[Cdn Gal]

Hi, I am busy starting to plan our August 2015 vacation in Hawaii and have a couple of questions about island hopping. First, one part of our group will have 2 weeks, and we will have 3-4 weeks. We would like to cover as much of Hawaii as possible. Where is the cheapest to fly into, and how have you island hopped? By ferry or by plane? Thanks!

 

[DeniseM]

There are no ferries, except from Maui to Molokai and Lanai. The main inter-island carrier is Hawaiian Air, and their hub is on Oahu. Inter-island flights run around $100, and should be booked in advance.

 

[csalter2]

Just Finished Doing This

I just finished doing this. I have been planning a month in Hawaii. The first week with my wife, one year old and my mother in-law. One week in Maui and the second week in Oahu. Then the second two weeks with a friend 3 nights on the Big Island, 3 nights on Maui, 3 nights on Kauai and 5 nights on Oahu.

We are taking Hawaiian Airlines. I kept seeing lots of reviews everywhere including here on TUG about delays particularly with go! airlines and Island Air did not have as many flights. Both were less expensive than Hawaiian but not significant enough for me to give them seriously consider them. Also, some of them do not fly to all of the islands. Plus, Hawaiian had non stop flights from one island to the next. Some of the others required stops in HNL before you connected to the island you wanted to go to. I did not want to to do that. From HNL to KOA to OGG to LIH to HNL will cost me $379 for each of us to inter-island hop.

I guess cruising could be fun but I like to keep my own time schedule. The flights are only about 30 minutes long and so I have planned it that we will have a good chunk of daytime to explore the islands so four days and 3 nights is really four days and 3 nights.

I will say that the good part for you is that you are planning early. That is a plus. The earlier you can plan the better. We were able to get low airfares for that time of year. I am coming from California and my friend from Atlanta. We booked our inter-isand flights at the same time and were able to get our seats together without a problem.

I decided to have us fly into HNL because I like to end there. If you start with HNL with the other islands being so much more tranquil, it could be a let down for city folk. The best rates usually seem to be into HNL too. So we will do the complete circle gamut of the islands as I showed above and start in HNL and fly out of HNL.

 

[tugg]

I just finished listening to a podcast on this subject by Aloha Bruce of Hawaii-Aloha.com. Not a bad listen. He covers a lot of different options. Here it is: http://www.hawaii-aloha.com/podcast/2013/05/10/my-picks-for-hawaii-vacation-island-combos/

 

[Pappy Mentos]

Our Experience

We made our trip to Hawaii this past July. We agree with those that say to book very far inadvance, especially if you are trading in with timeshares. Our trip was further complicated as we were using points for our flights. We flew in to the Big Island as our first timeshare trade was for the Wyndham Kona Hawaiian Resort, which was for a Sunday to Sunday unit. If you are flyiing from the East Coast, you may wish to look for direct flights or ones with short layaovers. We had a long layover in LA and ended up being awake for over 24 hours straight due to the airport arrival time, flight times, layover and the wait for a rental car. As to the last issue, while many here recommend using discount sites for the car rental, this may result in a long wait at the rental agency. We stood in line for over 1 hour at Thrifty as many used the same means to book their car. Next time, I would consider paying $50 extra to go with another rental company just to avoid the long wait(which we also encountered in Kauai).
We uses Hawaiian Airlines for the flight from the BI to Kauai. Again, book as far in advance as you can. We saw flight prices jump quite a bit in the months after we started planning. As our timeshare trade for Kauai was a unit that was Saturday to Saturday, we lost a day in Kauai, but that's a price you pay for using timeshares.
For the last leg of our trip, we used Hilton points for Hilton Hawaiian Village in Oahu, as there were not very many timeshares available for trades in Oahu. Using hotel points is a good way to extend your trip. We used GO Airlines for the flight into Oahu which had the cheapest tickets. Even though there is a thread bashing that airline on this board, we luckily had no problems. We would recommend taking a shuttle from the airport rather than renting a car as there is much to do in Oahu and you can rent a car later during your stay to visit Pearl Harbor and other sites.
All-in-all, the trips between the islands were pretty easy and flights seem to run throughout the day with the mid to late-morning flights filling up first. From what we saw, the least expensive flights into Hawaii are to Maui or Oahu, but there are good deals into the other islands as well. Keep checking the websites daily as the flight prices for these flight fluctuate, while the inter-island flights seem to just steadily climb after the flights open.

 

[daventrina]

The flights are only about 30 minutes long and so I have planned it that we will have a good chunk of daytime to explore the islands so four days and 3 nights is really four days and 3 nights.

It may seem that way... BUT ...
After checking-out, driving to the airport, dropping off the car, dropping off luggage,going through security, waiting, boarding, flying the 30 min flight, landing, picking up the luggage, getting the car, driving to resort/hotel, checking in (many times you can't have the room till late afternoon any they may or may not have a place to stash your stuff till the room is ready), going to the store, getting stuff ...

Now it's dinner time and the day is gone

We have managed with practice to be able to make almost half of a day of of a travel day but not much better than that...
YMMV

We would recommend taking a shuttle from the airport rather than renting a car as there is much to do in Oahu and you can rent a car later during your stay to visit Pearl Harbor and other sites.

We used our car every day ... but we're not stay at the resort lay on the beach folks.
There is the bus, but their rules are kinda restrictive on what they let you take on the bus.

We like to throw our dive/snorkel gear in the car, lunch and snacks in the ice chest, pick an area to explore and head out.
If one was very organized, on Oahu, you could do that in 3 days, take the bus to Pearl on another and get by without the car for 4 days, but the 3 day rate may be much like the 7 day rate.

We'll give you .. that at night, we never left Waikiki ... some nights didn't make it past pūpūs for dinner...

 

[csalter2]

It may seem that way... BUT ...
After checking-out, driving to the airport, dropping off the car, dropping off luggage,going through security, waiting, boarding, flying the 30 min flight, landing, picking up the luggage, getting the car, driving to resort/hotel, checking in (many times you can't have the room till late afternoon any they may or may not have a place to stash your stuff till the room is ready), going to the store, getting stuff ...

Now it's dinner time and the day is gone

We have managed with practice to be able to make almost half of a day of of a travel day but not much better than that...

I believe you are correct that one could lose a half day, but that is if you are an inexperienced island hopper. I don't lose a half hour. You can travel lightly so that you can avoid the luggage check in, if you are a frequent car rental person the car will be ready and I don't worry about checking in right away. We start our exploring right off the plane and keep the luggage in the car. In addition, get a morning flight. It works out fine and I have done this with a baby.

 

[daventrina]

New Math?

I don't lose a half hour.

Don't know how you do the math... but
15 minutes min load car and check-out
30 minutes min Kona to airport
15 minutes min drop car
60 minutes min arrival prior to flight
30 minute flight
15 minutes min pickup car
45 minutes min Airport to Ka`anapali
-----------
Half a day.
Not sure how you do it in 30 minutes

BTW: Make a habit of leaving valuables in you car and you'll loose them
(I can tell you a story of how our friend almost lost her purse while they were standing right there)

 

[csalter2]

Don't you know about the new math?

Don't know how you do the math... but
15 minutes min load car and check-out
30 minutes min Kona to airport
15 minutes min drop car
60 minutes min arrival prior to flight
30 minute flight
15 minutes min pickup car
45 minutes min Airport to Ka`anapali
-----------
Half a day.
Not sure how you do it in 30 minutes

BTW: Make a habit of leaving valuables in you car and you'll loose them
(I can tell you a story of how our friend almost lost her purse while they were standing right there)

I meant I don't lose half a DAY. I am usually having an early lunch at my next destination.