My HHV Oahu Itinerary - please help
 

Hi all! I am finally ready to book my vacation this summer - I'm getting ready to do it but I wanted to go over my itinerary with you all to see if I've missed anything, etc. We are staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village for 10 days/9 nights.

We are leaving July 23 from Roanoke and returning August 3.

The first day - 1) Monday we will be sleeping!

2) Tuesday we are resting and exploring the resort.

3) Wednesday to Sea Life Park to play with the sea lions.

4) Thursday - Diamond Head Crater and going to a luau.

5) Friday relaxing and watching the fireworks

6) Saturday - Pearl Harbor/Flea Market tour

7) Sunday - rest and relax

8) Monday - North Shore tour

9) Tuesday - relax

10) Wednesday - leave.

Questions I have:

1) the day we return the flight doesn't leave until 10:30 pm - we have a horrible sense of direction and are not very good drivers so we won't be renting a car. What can we do all day besides hang out at the airport??

2) am I trying to do too much or do you think this is ok?? Diamond Head is only 4 hours and I think Pearl Harbor is also. Did I leave enough time for us to relax and enjoy ourselves?? I usually never book tours but this is the first and you never know maybe only time I will be going.

3) Please give me any suggestions regarding this above info. Thanks in advance! I know you all will give me so much helpful advice.

I definitely don't think you're doing too much. Looks like a nice itenerary. The few things I would suggest - go to Diamond Head early and bring a water and a flashlight. It can get hot up there and there are a few spots where you're actually in the mountain and can't see. Secondly, I would try to go to Pearl Harbor on a weekday, and again go early. When I was there (2002), you couldn't reserve tickets for a specific time, you just bought tickets and went to the next available showing. So get there early before there's too much of a "back up". As for your first question - have the hotel hold your luggage and do whatever - you don't want to be holed up in the airport all day and night!

Looks good!

I agree--ask your hotel to store your luggage for you until closer to your departure time--no need to waste time at the airport.

Not sure if you are into snorkeling, but since you appear to have some time in your schedule, you may want to check out Hanauma Bay
http://www.hawaiiweb.com/html/hanauma_bay.html
I thought it was fun :)

Have a great trip!

HHV has a 'hospitality room' available. They allow you to use it if you schedule it upon arrival or at least a day or so before you leave.
That way, you can do another tour or wander Honolulu or the beach, etc. and then go get the key to 'your room' and get cleaned up for your flight home.

They scheduled 45 minutes for this when we were there. They also have a large luggage holding area (enclosed room) next to the check in desk.

We hiked Manoa and did the Tantalus/Round Top drive to Pu'uUalka'a Wayside State Park (beautiful views) the day of our departure.

I agree with wontan about the Hanauma Bay snorkel! Get there early if you do it as the parking lot fills up!

Diamond Head wasn't dark enough to require a flashlight when I was there. Maybe alittle shade, but that was it.

One last suggestion: join the Hilton's club online - it's free and they honor you by immediate check-in (no waiting in the huge lines!)

If your interested in Dole Pineapples, the Dole Canery is interesting as well...shouldn't take that long

What do you mean when you say you will be sleeping the first day? What tme do you arrive?

Throw the itinerary away!! Make a list of what you want to do with the highest priority items at the top of the list, with no special time to do them.

Then when you get to Hawaii start on your list based on what you feel like doing and when you feel like doing it. If you don't get the whole list done so what??

Aloha,
It really looks like you have planed a very relaxing vacation. Do I understand you correctly that you will NOT be renting a car for any of your stay? If not then this is a great "relaxed" plan that you have made and do agree that you could fit in a trip to Haunauma Bay. If you were to be renting a car for any or all of your stay there is so much more of the island that I would recommend.
Being raised here in Hawaii I always encourage the people visiting the islands to get outside of the tourist "box" and really "see" the island. If you get the opportunity take a trip out to the windward side drive over from Sea life park way and visit the world famous "Lanikai Beach" on the way back into town take the H-3 freeway and just enjoy the views!!
Aloha,
Jeanne

Sounds very relaxing! I agree, it might be nice on one or two of the days to rent a car and go around the island, but if you have tours set up, those will be fun too.

Don't bother with a flashlight...There are lights in the DH tunnels now.

HHV will be happy to store your stuff on the last day. You don't need to leave for the airport until about 8 pm, so ask about the hospitality room.

No need for a flashlight at Diamond Head any more. They installed lights in the tunnel a couple years ago.

You ought to rent a car on Oahu at least a couple days. There are only a few main highways & it is impossible to get lost. Even Stevie Wonder would have no problem driving on Oahu.

Lots of Oahu info:

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34812564

Sounds like a nice pace to me.

Your last day, as others have suggested, leave your luggage with the hotel front desk at check-out time, then just go to the beach or something. The end nearest your hotel at Fort de Russey park is very nice, also it has bathrooms and outdoor shower.

No need to go to the airport until it's time. Just do some last minute shopping, have a couple meals somewhere, spend time on the beach... is my suggestion.

Thank you all so much for the info! I am so glad that we can leave our luggage at the resort until 8:00 or so -maybe we will go on one of our tours that last day. This reminds me of a question I was gonna ask - we will have to stay overnight in Phoenix on the way home - any suggestions of a cheap, safe close place to stay?

I'm also getting ready to get on the Hilton site to join the Hilton Honors Club after I post this message.

I think we will have so much fun! My mom is going and I'm a little stressed about making sure she has a good time. My seven year old son is going also.

I will definitely do Pearl Harbor on a wednesday instead of the weekend now. I know my mom will love the flea market part of this tour and that's where I plan on buying all my souvenirs.

My little boy will LOVE Diamond Head and Pearl Harbor. I have got to find a way to get myself relaxed though! I am the one who wants to swim with the sea lions - I just love animals and doing stuff like that.

BTW the first day we won't get there until around 6:00 pm hawaii time and I'm sure we'll be exhausted so that's why I said we would probably catch up on some sleep.

Also if it's impossible to get lost and the traffic isn't too congested (that's usually our problem - the other traffic) then we might just end up renting a car after all!

One more question - which luau should I go to and which should I avoid? I read that Germaine's was pretty good.

After one final meeting with mom this evening I am booking - as of yesterday they still had rooms - if they don't we'll stay somewhere else! I'm gonna try not to stress out about where we stay!

Hopefully HHV will be available since that seems a great place for a family with various ages. If not any hotel in Waikiki is a good location really. It's not that big. A tour is a great idea for the last day (to avoid getting all sandy at the beach!).

We can get together a list of all kinds of great places to eat for a reasonable price in Waikiki. Both in old threads here on Fodor's and over at the Trip Advisor Honolulu forum there's loads of "cheap eats" advice.

I've been looking for cheap restaurants to eat. I will take most people's advice on stocking up at an ABC store. I will look under "cheap eats" here and at tripadviser.com - thanks so much!! I will definitely give a detailed report from this trip!! If anyone knows of really cheap places to eat or can give me a link I would appreciate it so much!

"World Famous North Shore - Blue Water Shrimp & Seafood Co." truck parked between Launiu and Kaiolu on Kuhio. $5.95-$13.95 for an big plates of food (shrimp, tuna, salads, hamburgers etc.) Picnic table seating or to-go. It's quite near the beach, you could get the food and walk down to Fort de Russey picnic tables. It's open all day.

Arancino Italian 255 Beachwalk, excellent food, fun setting, $60 for 2 people included two drinks each, one shared appetizer, two pasta entrees. Arrive early to avoid waiting in line.

Barefoot Bar at Hale Koa Hotel (enter from the beach) - tropical drinks for $5.95. Great service, setting, sunset view.

Irifune, 563 Kapahulu Ave.

Ono Hawaiian Foods, 726 Kapahulu Ave.

Porgy's Smorgasbourg, fixed price buffet open all day (i believe breakfast was $6.95 and dinner $11.95 or something like that).

If you want to eat 'fancy' or not, the ET book has loads of coupons that take the sting out!

The book has recently lowered the price to $15 but usually will drop to $9.99 in May.

You can go online to see some of the coupons offered.

Also, ET book has a coupon for the Polynesian Cultural Center. They have a luau (OK with chessy but nice entertainment) and a theme park - educational for the 7 yo as well as the adults.
The fire dancing was superb!

It's near the North Shore, so you'd have to drive or arrange transporation (there's plenty available).

May I ask what this ET book is and where I can find it??

One more thing - I keep forgetting to ask - are you allowed to recommend tour companies on this board? If you are could I get opinions? Oahu Nature Tours is one I'm looking at. The other I found under hawaiiactivities.com - they both sound reputable but I want to make sure because I want to book everything before we leave just in case.

My picks.

Haunauma Bay: If you want to try easy snorkeling then definately go to Haunauma Bay. Alot of folks took picnics and coolers and spent the whole day there - wish I had done that.

North Shore: I loved it so much, I'll be heading back there this year and leaving Waikiki behind. Shark's cove is easy and absolutely incredible snorkeling when we were there. (this from someone who isn't a swimmer). Can you rent a car for the day and stop where you want and do what you want? HHV has rental cars there - reserve now though. Plenty of other places within blocks and the car rental agency will pick you up. No sense of direction needed - one route up and back.

HiltonHV: I stayed in the Alii Tower for a week last August. Unless you are up early and waiting in line with the rest of the folks, the pool chairs are gone immediately - so too the first line of beach chairs and umbrellas by the water. The chairs/umbrellas then are lined up in rows behind each other where unless you stand, you are not seeing the beach. This waves at the HHV are similar to a quiet lake - great for very small children, but borning to older children who will want the waves at the other end of the beach (20 minute walk along the boardwalk). There we watched plenty of light surfing and listening to alot of free music and dancing at the outdoor stage.

Diamond Head: wear sneakers or at least closed comfortable shoes. There were people who wore tongs, the tongs broke and had to climb in bare feet. Bring water and go early when the sun isn't the hottest if you can. Even going rather early we had to wait 10 minutes for a parking space. There was also a place to get a shaved ice and water there (truck?).

Definately buy an Entertainment book at www.entertainmentbook.com

mark

I have booked our room at the Hilton and our flight through expedia. I'm getting ready to book tours. Oh and I went ahead and booked the Polynesion show and luau - I didn't pay close attention though and they have us going the day after we get there. Do you think I should change it?? I just don't know how bad we will have jet lag since Cancun and Jamaice is the furthest we've ever been and we live on the east coast so I don't know how we'll feel. Should I change it to another day? I think you can leave either at 10:00 or at noon. Now to book the rest of those tours....

I think the first morning you are there, you will be up really early -- so no problems with planning things for that day.

We live outside of Atlanta, so it's a long flight for us, too. We try to stay up as late as possible the first night we're in Hawaii, so we can try to sleep later in the morning, but we're still usually up by 5 or 5:30 a.m. because of the time difference.

Have a great trip. It's good that you've got days for just relaxing -- that is one of my favorite things to do in Hawaii!

My husband and I went to Hawaii from NJ last year. The day of arrival, we were exhausted -- fell asleep after dinner. Jet lag had us awake at 2:00am! But we stayed half-alseep until 5:00, got breakfast, and then hiked 16 miles. So, even if you're up a little early, you'll probably have plenty of energy that second day! You should be fine.

Also, I agree that you should add Hanauma Bay to your itinerary. It's an amazing place, and if you go early in the morning, you can be back at your hotel relaxing by lunchtime. ((R))

I found one of the "cheap eats" threads but I couldn't find the REALLY big one:
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34506042

Here is another link to a food blog:
http://onokinegrindz.com/

suze, does the Barefoot Bat at the Hale Koa allow non-military people to buy drinks there now? I've been there many times and they always asked to see my military ID card.

Postal- Yes Barefoot Bar is open to the public is my understanding. We were there in January this year and had drinks at sunset there on three occasions. No one questioned us. I know you can't go into the other restaurants or shops, only the beach-side patio bar and walking thru the hotel grounds.

If this is not true I'd sure be interested in knowing. We would never have gone if we weren't supposed to! People recommended we go there for the fantastic $5.95 maitais, so we did. And it was lovely.

Yes, they don't ask for ID's at the outside bar, or Happy's Snack Bar, so if you have kids, you can get some great "junk food" at a reasonable price (pizza, dogs/burgers, fries, and the like). ((b))

well, there is no signage or anything to the effect that the Barefoot Bar is not open to the public. It's not like we snuck in or anything
:-(

Everything is booked and we are ready to go to Oahu in five weeks!! Our itinerary is pretty much what I first drafted up with the exception of doing the Pearl Harbor tour on a wednesday instead of a weekend. We ended up doing the Polynesion Cultural Center luau on a saturday. We're booked to climb Diamond Head one morning and on our last day there since we don't leave until 11:00 pm I book a North Shore tour that runs from 1:00 to 6:00 pm - I figure that gives up plenty of time to freshen up and get ready to head for the airport back home. We're also going to the flea market on the Pearl Harbor tour. Which brings me to my new questions:

At the flea market what are some must-have things to pick up??

Do we need to buy watershoes for the beach since I have read about coral?

Any must eat foods to try besides the shaved ice??

I've been trying to go through all the food posts and making a list. The best things I've come up with to remember are to get food at the ABC store that is in the resort and that the military resort next door is cheap and good to eat at. Any suggestions??

How much is a cheap beach umbrella?? My mom would love to have an umbrella to sit under - she isn't a fan of the sun, but I don't want to rent one for $35 a day or whatever.

Finally someone told me that you aren't even allowed to take shampoo on your carryon on the plane. Is this true? I'm wondering what in the world we can put in our carry-ons. I'm always afraid of my luggage getting lost and I always pack swimwear, a couple outfits for my and my son, makeup and shampoo, and other toiletries. Is there a list or something that I can go to?

I think that's about it. Oh and we are still going to Sea Life Park to swim with those cute little sea lions - they remind me of dogs and I'm such a dog lover - I wonder why they call them sea lions - they should be called sea dogs!!

Seriously I do appreciate all your input - and I promise to write a trip report and I'll be honest - I can hardly wait!!!!!!!!

did ya look at my links for the must eat foods? Malasadas...plate lunch...

I did look through the new "cheap eats" thread and took more notes last night and this morning. Thanks! I think I'm so excited and stressed at the same time that I'm probably asking questions that have been answered!

I did find out about the carry-on stuff - so I guess that means I can't even bring my own special bottle of hair spray in my purse?????? Unless it's in a 3 oz tube - and I guess I can live with that - I'm just so afraid that something will go wrong and that my luggage will be lost!

I would like to know about the beach being rocky - is it bad enough for water shoes??

And I remember reading about buying your own lounge chair but I can't remember seeing anything about how much an umbrelly would cost?? To buy I mean.

And what foods are must-trys???

You don't really need water shoes for the beach as you can easily avoid stepping on rocks/dead coral at most of them.

Please do not use the water shoes to step or walk on the reef, though. I see it very often at Hanauma Bay (even though people are warned not to do it). People are basically killing the coral when they step on it.

Yes, do buy the water shoes at Walmart or Long's Drugstore if you don't bring them. You won't always need them, but best to avoid a surprise 'OUCH!'

Leonard's Masalada's are a must. A plate lunch is a must - but unless you like to be stuffed, plan to share this meal.
Catch of the day is always good.
I've not had a bad fish taco either - and usually this had also been so much that two can share.

Pulled pork, Taro chips, Lava Flow - Manapua are sold at some of the gas stations - I recommend trying them as well (also filling).

If you didn't mention the ET coupon discount at booking, call PCC back and mention it (they say they require it to be mentioned at booking - then, bring the actual coupon with you).

Also, many booklets at the airport and all shopping centers have coupons, usually 10% off price for many tours. Therefore, I'd also call back and ask if they have knowledge of any coupons and where to find them (for their particular activity). That way, you save yourself alot of looking through multiple booklets.
Sometimes your hotel or resort will also have special arrangements with certain tours or restaurants and give you coupons upon check in - so you might want to ask in advance which those might be or just keep this in mind when you arrive.

For example, I bought a purse from a shop at Coconut Marketplace our last day & just prior to check out time, I finally glanced at the booklet they gave me at check-in. There was a 30% off coupon I could have used on the purse...argh!

TSA travel tips can be found at www.tsa.gov for all the lastest security policies. Basically, you are only permitted to carry on a 1 quart size, clear zip-top plastic bag holding 3 ounces or less containers of liquids, gels or aerosols. Limited to 1 bag per traveler. Everything else must be in your checked baggage.

Also, the beaches along Waikiki and Hilton Hawaiian Village are white sandy beaches, so no aqua shoes are needed unless you have sensitive feet.

Hilton Hawaiian has a good teppan yaki Japanese restaurant called Benihana where chefs cook your food right in front of you. Kinda fun and the food is good.

Lots of tourists also go to Ala Moana shopping center which is located across Ala Moana Beach - less than a mile from HHV. Your hotel might also provide a shuttle to the shopping ctr.

Hope you are still checking this for replies! :) Just wanted to mention that at the Swap Meet, it can get VERY hot. The entire thing is on black asphalt. Make sure you drink plenty of water and don't try to do to much. I am just thinking, with your mom and your 7 year old, you want to take it easy. I would also suggest a hat of some kind for everyone! The heat can really sneak up on you! Have a great time!

One comment about Benihana at the HHV -- this is a HUGE chain restaurant and not exactly authentic (or even great) Japanese food. Hibachi-style cooking is fun to watch, but chances are, there's a Benihana at your mall at home. I'm usually not an "eat-local" purist, but Hawaii's proximity to Japan means there's a ton of tasty, cheap, authetic Japanese food and sushi all over Honolulu. It would be a shame to overpay for Beni's.

It is true what karameli posted. But, I know when my boys were younger, they really enjoyed the entertainment experience. The chef really catered to our sons and did all sorts of tricks. During his cooking theatrics, he even made this flaming "volcano" out of the onions. But then again, I suppose it all depends on the chef at your table.

We dined at Benihana at Whister Village in British Columbia, but for some reason enjoyed the food better at the one at HHV. Our personal experiences were always enjoyable.

Anyway, more food for thought. :-)

Hello! I am counting down the days! We leave Monday the 16th at 12:30 pm from Roanoke, VA. We are all so excited! My mom is especially excited - I am so happy that I can take her there. I'll be paying off the trip for a couple of years though! LOL!

Anyway I have one question. When I booked with expedia, one of the things that came up was a free breakfast orientation. I was wondering if this is worth our time???? I mean is it a timeshare sales pitch or does anyone know?? It's set for tuesday the day after we arrive and I thought I'd ask and see if this free orientation breakfast was worth it. I'm unsure whether it's something to do with Hilton or what. Can someone fill me in???

For a less expensive alternative for breakfast, try the Wailani Coffee shop just outside HHV at the corner of kalia and Ala Moana Blvd. It's not the world's best breakfast, but it's good and less than 1/2 the price of those at HHV. Since you have a family there, you may appreciate this alternative. As you walk out the front of HHV, turn to your left and walk 1/2 block. You and your family will LOVE HHV and Oahu in general.

the "free breakfast oreintation" is a sales pitch for guided tours. I've had many friends go to it, and always be totally irritated afterwards at having had their vacation time wasted like that.

Even a McDonald's breakfast will be a better use of your time!