southcali

Hello all,

First off I would like to say thank you for all the advice I have received from this website and you fellow fodorites for the years gone by. Whenever I needed to know what is hot or not in certain areas I travel this is a my go-to spot for recommendations.

So I got a great deal from AAA the other week where my girlfriend and I are flying to Honolulu-waikiki and staying at the castle rock ocean resort for 4 days for $780 total. Pretty sweet deal right? I know the castle rock isnt the best but we arent there for the hotel with the small amount of time we have. Key factors for us are: What are the free/cheap things to do? What are the must do attractions in the area. We do have $$$ so if places/attractions cost $ thats fine but I wanted to reach out to you all before we get anything in concrete. What we would like to accomplish is hiking, snorkeling, swimming under and/or jumping from a waterfall, eating where the locals eat, not what where the tourists go (even tho my girl says we should do the a polnesian luau so that poses the question of which one is the best and which one would more cater to her vegetarian side). Im rambling on here so Ill let you guys and gals take over and please enlighten me on what we should do with our short stay in Honolulu. Thank you for you the help!

Kailani

Here is a website that I use for the Big Island, and the link is to the section for Honolulu.

"Honolulu on the Cheap"
http://honoluluonthecheap.com/

I'm pretty sure I got the link here on Fodor's, and they have listings that I haven't seen other places that were really fun and interesting.

Here's another link I use for calendar events: Alternative Hawaii http://www.alternative-hawaii.com/odec.htm

dusty56438

Are you sure you got the hotel name right?

There is a Castle Ocean Resort Hotel.

I've never heard of any Castle Rock Ocean Resort.

Lots of info:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...trip-to-hi.cfm

rpowell

Free: Waikiki hula show on the beach by Duke K. statue, check for schedule
Waikiki sunsets!
USS Arizona
Walk around Chinatown
Pali Highway and overlook

Must do: Take an outrigger ride, around $8 for 3 waves
Hanauma Bay snorkeling (go as early as possible to avoid crowds)

If you enjoy history: Bishop Museum

Hike : Diamond Head for an awesome view of Honolulu/Waikiki

Day trip: Check out the windward side/ Kailua Beach

suze

I'm also questioning the name of that hotel, as Dusty said are you sure it isn't Castle Ocean Resort? Have you already confirmed and paid for this reservation? Because no that's really not all that great of a price for that particular hotel. There's many nicer hotels for under $100/night in Waikiki.

Waikiki is pretty touristic, so to "eat where the locals eat" is no easy task. Look for the plate-lunch places, Korean BBQs, fast-food, Rainbow Drive-In, Food Pantry grocery stores, etc. For places locals frequent you need to get out into neighborhoods and away from Waikiki more.

There's lots of free stuff around. Pick up the newspaper and various free tourist publications you'll see on every sidewalk, Oahu Gold, 101 Things to Do, etc. There's often free hula demonstrations down on the beach, free music in the park, sometimes movies on the beach at night, farmers market on Saturday morning w/ food and entertainment, etc.

suze

opps i'm sorry... in rereading i guess that price includes your airfare? that $780 is per person for flight & hotel? depending where you are flying from maybe that's not so bad then.

i was just there last week and only paid $300 for a plane ticket (from seattle) and $67/night for a nice enough hotel is why i wondered about the price.

suze

here's some favorite cheap meals:

ME Korean BBQ, 151 Uluniu Ave. at the Royal Grove hotel. Breakfasts 4.25. BBQ chicken dinners $8.50. Great place, eat on the patio or take to-go.

ShoreBird $12.95 breakfast buffet was nice and i thought worth the price one time because of their lovely ocean view. Three kinds of pastries, white bread, papaya, pineapple, scrambled eggs, french toast, portugese sausage, corned beef hash, poached white fish, fried rice, ham, turkey, juice, coffee, tea.

Seaside Bar & Grill, 2256 Kuhio, 2 pancake, 2 bacon, 2 scrambled egg special $3.75. Daily ommelet special $6.95. This is a down-home bar with old-time atmosphere, nice contrast from all the upscale new stuff going on.

Blue Water Shimp Co. at the International Market food court or from their truck further out Kuhio. ~$12.95 for shrimp scampi or mac nut crusted opaka-paka with green salad, small piece corn on the cob, sauteed vegetables, 2 scoops rice.

International Market place on Thursday 'farmers market' from 4 to 8 pm. So there's a few independent temporary food booths different from the regular shops. Several families doing homemade plate-lunch from a booth, a couple bakeries represented, etc.

International Market stage is another place to keep on your radar for free music shows. I saw a steelpan duo there one Sunday evening.

dusty56438

Just looked it up.

Ocean Resort Hotel Waikiki

or

Castle Ocean Resort Hotel Waikiki

suze

You can easily figure out how to hike DiamondHead and snorkel at Hanuama Bay from central Waikiki for two activities.

Take your own beach towels or grass mats and head to anywhere along Waikiki beach, later on buy lunch at an ABC Store (or eat from one of the snack stands) makes for a fun and inexpensive day. The areas at either end - Fort de Russy park or Kapiolani park are especially nice for that (there's grassy areas, tables, restrooms, outdoor showers).

The Zoo and the Aquarium as low cost admissions.

southcali

Yes you are right it was castle ocean resort. My bad. I figured this is a pretty good deal considering the cheapest flight out to hawaii from LA is $450 roundtrip per person not including hotel. So at this price I couldnt pass it up ($780 airfare+hotel for 2 people)THANK YOU! This is a heap of info and anymore is appreciated. What do you all think about transportation in the area. Would it be more cost effective for us to rent a car for one of the days to see things like the waterfalls or rainforests or are there buses we can jump on and off of. Also any ideas on the waterfalls/swimming holes in the rainforest area. This is on the top of my list if I can accomplish it.

dusty56438

You ought to rent a car the entire 4 days. You can see the island much better with a car.

By the time you pay for airport transportation, cabs, buses & rent a car for one day, you will have spent as much as renting a car for the 4 days.

Maunawili Falls:

http://www.hawaiiweb.com/html/hiking...ili_trail.html

Waimea Falls (This is a botanical garden. They allow swimming & jumping. About $10 admission):

http://www.hawaiiweb.com/oahu/sites_...imea_falls.htm

Manoa Falls (You are not supposed to go into the water. Some do. No jumping areas though):

http://www.hawaiiweb.com/oahu/sites_...anoa_falls.htm

Kapena Falls (Not much of a waterfall. It is right in Honolulu. Hawaiian Royalty used to swim & bathe there)

http://www.world-of-waterfalls.com/h...ena-falls.html

Buy a copy of Oahu Revealed. Lots of good info including waterfalls.

Ebay has a "Buy it now" 'Oahu Revealed' 2004 for $1 + $4 shipping.

www.half.com (an Ebay company) has a 2004 edition for $.78 + about $3 shipping.

Half.com is the same as Ebay with the exceptions that the price is fixed (no bidding) & the shipping rate is fixed.

suze

You can do OK (I do) with only public transportation around Waikiki and Honolulu (The Bus, airport shuttles, walking). But to see rainforest, waterfalls, etc. you'd want a rental car to get around.

southcali

Ok so it sounds like renting a car is a good idea. Since we only have 2 full days there I was thinking renting a car for one of the days. The first day there we are thinking of doing the local stuff in the area i.e. diamond head, snorkeling at the beach, the hole in the wall food tour, etc. With the outrigger wave riding how does that work?? Are there spots on the beach we can just walk up too? The second day we can rent a car and check out the spots that are outside of town and do the rainforest hikes and waterfalls. So outside of the city what are the key areas to go?