Six of us will be staying in a 3 BR condo at Hanalei Bay Resort and to minimize expenses, will probably prepare a few simple meals, breakfast, lunch, maybe an occasional dinner.
Can anyone give me an idea about food prices and things they wished they brought from home? I live on Crystal Light, one of my kids lives on peanut butter and the other on tuna fish. Is it worth it to bring a few basic spices and condiments? Also, we are going to be gone for 17 days which means laundry. Any thoughts on sticking a bottle of Tide in the suitcase? Thanks, Dawn

Did exactly that at HBR last summer but only a week. There is a laundry on the grounds. Princeville has the best grocery store on that end of the island. What are you thinking living on Crystal light more like crystal poison. There is some mark up for shipping but I have seen it exaggerated on the site. I remember Ben and Jerrys being 50cents more than here in NYC. I love shopping out of grocery stores in Hawaii. It can be expensive, I am not phased too much because I live in Manhattan and I really don't see that much of a difference. FRUIT AND SEAFORD ARE SPECTACULAR ON KAUAI. I had the reddest freshest Tuna last year. THEY HAVE THE SPICES YOU NEED AND MORE. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BORNEO YOU KNOW. Kids will enjoy the island juices. I would try Chicken lau lau in the poultry section. Poi, Haupia, ahi poki also worth a try. Last year the butcher went into the back and made me fresh lomi lomi. I am not going to tell you what all this is because I want to pull you away from that darn crystal light. EXPLORE for your palate. Don't pack too much that can be a hassle in itself. YOU ARE IN FOR A GREAT TREAT AT HBR! SHANGRALA locations

Thanks for the reply. I look at it this way, the more crystal light I drink the more Hawaiian calories I can consume!

Funny... go to mixedplate.com for recipe that you can cook easy and are Hawaiian. The haupia comes in easy to mix packets (50-75cents). I would also buy the mixes for Khalbi BBQ (Korean and YUMMY) a marinade for beef the grown ups will love. That is of course if the recipe you find at mixed plate it too daunting for a vacation. I am actually experimenting now so that I can cook for my guests this summer. A fun get ready for trip exercise. What I remember not finding at reasonable prices, Brocoli. But I love lau lau so that is my green of Choice although it takes like an hour to steam (chicken lau lau frozen 3-6minutes (CHEAP CHEAP). Enjoy I wish I had seventeen only 12 for me this summer. Sounds like you are spending your time and money well already.

Just returned yesterday from Kauai. There is a food market in Princeville, about 10 minutes rom Hanalei.
However, in Kapaa, there is a Safeway which may have better prices. Also, even though it is Paradise, there is a Wal-Mart in Luhui.
If you go out to dinner, expect that most entrees will cost around $20.
In Hanalei, I highly recommend Bubba burger's, especially with kids.

Dawn,
Your local Walmart's travel-size section (travel size toothpaste, soap, etc.) may have the detergent in tablets which are lightweight to carry. I saw Wisk's at our local Target store.

Cathy

I would agree with Phillip- Safeway in Kapaa has better prices and selection. Example, gallon of milk at Princeville $6, Kapaa, $4.5 If you don't feel like driving south, there is another smaller grocery store in Hanalei in the strip center across the street from Bubba's. Boxes of pasta were about $2.10 a box. We packed a few brownie mixes, muffin mixes, etc that made good snacks. I wish we had brought more spices because prices were outrageous!! Around $9.00 for a little McCormac jar of oregano! Forgeddaboudit! Laundry detergent seemed about the same. Actually, Dreft was cheaper than the reg. kind and it's the opposite on the mainland.

That grocery in Hanalei has a very poor selection of fresh stuff as is just far smaller than Princeville. I would only go there for the small stuff. Interesting about the milk I will make that the small stuff. Wondering is the Store in Kapaa similiar to Hanalei or Princeville in terms of Variety and size. I bought the best fish and fruit at princeville and just found tremendous variety there just last August

I would fill a suitcase of the things you and your kids (I see you're outnumbered by them) really enjoy and eat a lot of...remove the crystal lite (I happen to love their iced tea) from the tubes, of course, to save space. Yeah, bring that huge jar of peanut butter, cans of tuna, instant oatmeal + another giant box of their favorite cereal, those expensive snacks kids love, a pound or so of trail mix, your own spices, etc. You'll have to buy quite a bit anyway for your family of 6 and 17 days, so save what and where you can.
THEN, you have an empty suitcase to bring back those souvenirs in.

I love the suggestions, particularly the tablets of laundry detergent. I will remove the liquid Tide from my suitcase. <G> I bought tuna, cereal, peanut butter, jam, mayo, salad dressing, crackers, pringles and spices for 88 cents each. Yup, even oregano. Except for the tide, everything else is light enough not to be a problem.

Don't pack everything. That is such a waste of time and luggage space. Prices are not that crazy. If you must come in like this remember plastic bags to reduce spills. A lot of spills happen on planes from this kind of thing.

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Honestly, I don't know why some people even bother to take vacations.

Hi Dawn,

I stayed in Hanalei a year ago--and did bring some food stuff with me. There were 5 of us sharing a condo and since we love to cook, we brought some fun spices, also some granola bars for breakfast and snacks.

Food is not that expensive and you can get anything you need. But who wants to spend all your time in Hanalei at the grocery store?

Stay Home, Do you even bother to pack a suitcase or do you shop for your clothes when you get there?