We will be staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village for about one week. Their daily parking is $20-25. Should I skip the car rental and just use the shuttle services? We are planning to visit polynesian cultural center, diamond head and the Hanauma Bay.

Thanks in advance for your advises.

I think it's better to have a rental car for the things you want to do. I'd just pay for it at the hotel.

I can get around on foot and using The Bus, but I only stay right in Waikiki.

skip the car. Honolulu is a small city with an excellent public bus service, plus you have the Hilton shuttle. Parking is a pain there.

I agree with Suze that it is better to have a car. you could just rent a car on the days you have a long drive out of the city.

Does the Hilton have a shuttle that goes to these 3 places? It is a long way to PCC and would be time-consuming to take the Bus, although I believe you could get there via a tour company. It's more feasible to get to Hanauma and Diamond Head via the Bus. But the Bus will take longer than a car because of stops and waiting.

Pay the parking & get out & see the island.

You can see Oahu much, much better with a car.

By the time you pay for shuttles, cabs, buses & tours that you can do on your own, you will not have saved any $$ by not renting a car.

Plus you will have spent hours on or waiting for slow public transportation.

katrinaryan:
We got back last Sunday from a weeks stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. We stayed in the Lagoon Tower.
We didn't rent a car but opted to use public transportation instead.
A smart move. The buses go everywhere from the Village stop. At $2.00/person it's a steal.
There are also shuttle buses the colors of the rainbow. The Pink Bus shuttle makes a loop in the Waikiki and surrounding area. Also $2.00. The Blue Bus goes to Diamond Head. I think it's a little more expensive than the Pink Bus. We saw Diamond Head on a previous visit so we didn't do it this time. The hotel has all of these Buses' brochures.
The Hawaiian Village is a super hotel.
Aloha!
John

I'm with the "renting the car" just for the days you'd need it. Looks like 2 or 3 days based on your post.

I'm really curious about the shuttles you all are talking about. What are the Pink and Blue buses?

john71 is right about all the buses but the problem with that is you only see a limited amount of Waikiki.

The HHV has a Hertz car rental desk in the lobby and you can get a car and return it there after your done. Car rentals in Hawaii are not that expensive.

Aloha!

I want to clarify... IF you plan to stay only in Honolulu and Waikiki I think it's OK not to rent a car, in fact I never do. BUT going out to PCC or wanting to see any of the rest of the island a car works better.