Driving Tips for Honolulu and all of Oahu

Will be leaving for Honolulu in a few days, and we%26#39;ll have a rental car for the 6 nights we%26#39;re there. I realize it will cost us $24/night to park at the Hilton Hawaiian Village - OUCH!

What%26#39;s the driving like on Oahu? Is it really difficult and with lots of traffic? Any tips for a not-so-young lady when driving around the island? I%26#39;ve been told by someone who went 6 months ago that I should get a GPS system for the car because for us who aren%26#39;t used to it the names of streets are hard to distinguish quickly (she joked that they all start with a K, end with an A, etc.) But I%26#39;ve never used one and even though I%26#39;d love one someday, I don%26#39;t know that I could learn it in the few days before I leave with all the other things to do. And I don%26#39;t really want to pay $10/day to the rental company for one.

The driving I%26#39;d like to do is to the North Shore, kind of circle island, Hanauma Bay, Polynesian Cultural Center, Pearl Harbor, Dole, and just in general exploring the island. So any tips are greatly appreciated, or if you can direct me to a topic where this has already been fully explored. Mahalo!

Driving Tips for Honolulu and all of Oahu

Please scroll down through this forum for the past week or so - and this question comes up constantly.

Get a good map. The maps they give you at the car rental agencies ar cartoonish and they are chopped up and separated by pages of ads. Go to AAA or a local books store and get a commercial map of Honolulu/Oahu.

You can take The Bus to Hanauma Bay. The Polynesian Cultural Center takes about an hour to get to. We have used the package with the pick-up and drop off service.

Dole is a tourist trap!

I%26#39;ve never used a GPS, and I don%26#39;t think that you%26#39;ll need one - IF you have a good map.

Too bad you have the car. You can rent one on Waikiki for just the days you need it.

Driving Tips for Honolulu and all of Oahu

Near honolulu there can be a lot of traffic since you have a 4 lane freeway in each direction to handle the amount of cars...if there is a wreck you can forget about a good speed on the freeway otherwise everything flows pretty smooth. Around the other parts of the island it is mostly a 2 lane road.

You will easily be able to navigate the roads to the North Shore and to the PCC. Like the previous poster mention just get a good map and you won%26#39;t have any problems.

PCC will take almost a full day. So keep it separate from a driving tour. Though you could stop at a few places on the way to PCC.

No need for a GPS system.

A couple of driving tours on this thread:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g29222-i37-k647862…

Good maps of Oahu:

www.aloha-hawaii.com/assets/resources/36.pdf

www.discoveringhawaii.com/HGDAMovieDrive.pdf

I have one other Oahu map on file. Send me a private message with an email address if you want it. I can%26#39;t download the map on the forum.

When you%26#39;re in Honolulu and Waikiki, there can be a bit of traffic and it can be a bit congested at times. So as mentioned, get a good map. Once you get out of Honolulu and head to some of the destinations you%26#39;ve listed, it%26#39;s mostly countryside-type driving where there%26#39;s only 1 lane going in either direction and not too too much traffic, so it won%26#39;t be too bad.

Thank you all, especially ';dusty56438'; for the link to another thread where this is discussed. With the fast pace of these forums, it is hard to find the topics that have been discussed, and ';search'; isn%26#39;t always that helpful.

Perhaps my friends that said they%26#39;d have had trouble without their Garmin were there in a busier time. The street names were confusing to them. I won%26#39;t worry about it though based on your comments.

Thanks again!

I would not have found my way with just a map. We brought our Garmin and were never lost. Make sure you know the addresses, plug them in there and let it take you there, no worries. It%26#39;s good to have a map to get your bearing and see the island overall, but driving around a GPS is a must for me.

bird