Oahu Hawaii Travel

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I’m going to oahu for a week with my husband and 2 y/o son next month for a family vacation and I’m having trouble deciding whether i need rent a car or not. And if i do need to rent a car, should I bring his car seat or just rent it over there?

With only a week, I can’t tell you what a time-save having a car will be. Plus, there are certain destinations you can’t get to, even with the great metro bus system "The Bus". And don’t you want to be able to stop at that deserted tropical beach or run down to that romantic or glamorous restaurant on the spur of a moment? And finally, you probably won’t be able to walk very far for restaurants and so forth with a toddler!!

When you reserve a hotel, make sure to take into consideration whether or not they include car parking in the price of the hotel. Some hotels require valet parking rather than self-parking. $25/night is common, particularly in Waikiki. The cheaper and mid-priced hotels almost all charge parking fees.

So with rental, parking fees and gas, a week with a car could cost an additional $400 including gas for an intermediate or compact, but totally worth it if you can swing it. I usually try to go through CostCo online or AAA to get a discount, so shop around on line. If you rent in Hawaii, harder to get a deal, although some people are good at negotiating in person (I’m not). Alamo frequently has cheap rates, as does Enterprise (I don’t like Enterprise, the sales people are too aggressive for me and cars are hit-and-miss).

Perhaps if the cost is high for you, you can rent a car for the first 3-4 days. Here are things you can’t do easily with The Bus:

* Nuuanu Pali Point, is considered the most beautiful lookout in all of Hawaii

http://www.soaringmuseum.org/landmark/nls09/palilookou_std.jpg

* On the Pali Highway, you can turn off the highway to the right on the Nuuanu Pali Drive, which goes through a rain forest/jungle and eventually connects back up to the highway before the Point turnoff.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://lh3.ggpht.com/_1zmG8BxR5io/R-dIAE0jLYI/AAAAAAAAASM/7I_l5IpLHEk/IMG_0089.JPG&imgrefurl=http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/FRyo6VEEgXFmZ8K4Eu7TqQ&usg=__-oHbtcPwnS00txdGzSATNf-K9KY=&h=1200&w=1600&sz=25&hl=en&start=96&um=1&tbnid=5v7EoaEdWzzZbM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnuuanu%2Bpali%2Bdrive%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GCNV_en%26sa%3DN%26start%3D90%26um%3D1

* Valley of the Temples and the Byodo-in Temple

http://reviews.ebay.com/Oahu-Hawaii-Valley-of-the-Temples-Memorial-Park_W0QQugidZ10000000005279427

Essential Guide to Oahu by Virginia Wageman The Essential Guide to Oahu covers everything you’ll need to know for a great Oahu vacation, including extensive sections on Waikiki, the center of tourist activity, and Honolulu, Hawaii’s capital. In addition to information about where to stay and what

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I dont know how to swim, float, hold my breath under water so I am not waves at a beach- friendly

Most of the surfing action is on the North shore i.e. past Haleiwa town.
there is some nice beach area by bellows, and right in Waikiki in back of the Hale Koa hotel is a nice streach of beach. It’s a little less crouded than right at the main Waikiki beach.
On the North shore is a real nice scenic view at Waimea Bay Beach Rock, but watch out for the undertow. It gets deep quick.

The Beach park by chinamans hat (small Island) is very shallow and goes out a long way before it starts to get deep.

http://www.hawaiiweb.com/html/duke_kahanamoku_statue.html Oahu site views.

http://www.co.honolulu.hi.us/main/government/

City and county of Honolulu just click on tourism at top of page.

P.S. You might want to pick up a blue guide book for Oahu.