The Hawaii Series, yes, we are experts Chapter 5 · Sunday March 20, 2011 by colin newell
The Big Island of Hawaii is a diverse and all-encompassing destination that offers every manner of diversion and activity possible. In our previous chapter on this subject, we outlined some of these – and promised to talk about the meaty aspect of getting there, getting around and getting a roof over your head.
Photo above: Our home away from home, the Hale Kona Kai condo off of Alii Drive – right on the waterfront!
Digs | And once again, there are as many choices for accommodation as there are activities to accompany your visit. Hotels, motels, gated luxury, back-packers, camping and condos – and that just scrapes the lava strewn surface.
Travel to Hawaii (and most places away from North America – or where ever your home might be) generally involves a bit of long term advance planning. For Andrea and I, fans of one particular condo, we usually book 10 months in advance to get the unit that we want. If you are doing the hotel routine or booking a condo in a bigger unit you can probably get away with less lead time – often as little as 3 months. Results vary of course. That in mind, you might want to think ahead with flights as well…
Getting there | Where airline flights are concerned, you might want to jump in earlier than later. Sure, there are always seat sales to be had – but once you settle on your digs, you might not want to leave the flight to chance.
Want to visit the farms? Get a rental car! Photo right
Hawaii is well served by many of the finest airlines (and some not so much) that hop around North America and the Pacific Rim – Generally if you are coming from Asia (from memory here folks) you are looking at flying into Honolulu before getting your connector to the Big Island. American, Delta and United serve Hawaii direct from North America as does Hawaiian and Alaska (these 2 considered among the highest in terms of customer satisfaction – the others… not so much )
From Canada you can fly to Hawaii direct with West Jet – and Air Canada comes in via Honolulu.
All this in mind, it is highly variable as to when you will get your best price – Seasoned travelers will know better than I – because Andrea and I do not really shop around much. We fly Alaska – and buy the tickets when we feel like it – generally after we nail down our accommodation.
Wheels | After getting the flight and the roof over our head, it comes down to booking some transportation while on the Big Island. And here is the bonus folks. Car Rental rates on the Big Island are amongst the most economical on the Planet – that is because there is so much to choose. The only caveat here is: Will you or won’t you be driving on dirt roads or climbing into the mountains to check out some of the out of the way coffee farms?
Photo right – In our next chapter, we will look at Eating and Drinking – Hawaii style!
The joke comes to mind: What is the difference between a 4-wheel drive and a rental sedan? You can take the rental sedan anywhere. Yup, maybe you have heard this one.
What you rent will also depend on what you are bringing with you, family wise. If it is just the two of you, a two-door sub-compact will probably suffice. We rented a Nissan Altima the last time – probably for about $30/day – and it was too big. Comfy, but too large. And as far as getting to the coffee plantations, our lovely and friendly coffee farmers who have adopted Andrea and I have 4-wheel capabilities and have taken us to some mighty out of the way places (another chapter…)
One tip about rental cars: Many outfits will try and push extra “insurance” and “Collision waivers” – but so you know, Rental Car companies are not in the business of selling insurance – and technically they cannot call it insurance – We are life long AVIS rent a car people and they simply refer to it as “Liability coverage” – and dig this, most of us already have this coverage in many of our credit card contracts or attached to our home and car insurance. Worthwhile to check out what your policies do and do not cover.
Health care | If you are visiting Hawaii from Canada or the continental Unites States of America, look over your health care coverage closely – if you are visiting from anywhere else, look close. You are better off having too much insurance than too little. We get an extra chunk of coverage that sets the two of us back around $50 for the entire month – for the two of us. And it incorporates virtually unlimited liability, extraction, doctors-without-borders, etc – almost valet health care coverage. Look it up if any of this is a tad unclear.
In our next chapter we will get down to the finer details of where to stay – and what to do when you get there! As well, we will starting talking about the joys of dining in and eating out.
2011 sights and sounds - disaster moment by moment · Monday March 14, 2011 by colin newell
One can do little more than reflect quietly on their blessings as a people only a few thousands of miles away struggle silently and firmly against seemingly insurmountable odds…
Sound clip caught by one of our monitoring stations in the Haida Gwaii as the events unfolded. First few seconds in Japanese followed by English announcements. 5 minutes later, the unthinkable…
If you cannot see the audio device below, click here for the mp3.
Disaster – Moment by Moment
The Hawaii Series, yes, we are experts Chapter 4 · Sunday March 6, 2011 by colin newell
The Big Island of Hawaii – suggested for those who want “everything” in a visit to the Hawaiian Islands.
And when I say everything, I mean:
Want a closed or gated resort vacation destination? Check
Want a hiking, biking, surfing, swimming, snorkel vacation? Check
Want an ethno-botanical tour of a bio-diverse ecosystem? Check
Want to park yourself in a waterfront downtown condo in a semi-tropical paradise? Check
Want to get up close and personal a volcanic Earth birthing process? Go no further
Truth is, the Big Island of Hawaii is the go to, one stop shopping, place for folks seeking a semi-tropical and safe paradise that literally has something for everyone – with no exceptions.
That said, whether you are traveling single, double or in family, it helps to think ahead and identify your expectations.
I talk to people, almost weekly, about vacation planning – specifically about the Hawaiian Islands – and no, I am not a travel agent – but I have been in Hawaii often enough to make some informed statements about what the Islands have to offer.
And as discussed in one of the earlier chapters, there are some deep seated myths about the Islands – go back if you need to review. In summary, the most common ones are the assumptions of mistaken identity; Oahu has it all, Waikiki, volcanoes, great surfing, etc OR Go to Maui if you want to do the best coffee touring that the Islands avail.
I will plug the Andrew Doughty – Hawaii revealed series again.
The Big Island of Hawaii is the largest Island with the greatest selection of activity options. It is the most geologically and environmentally diverse Island in the group – and it is one of the few places on Earth where you can have a snow ball fight and within the same hour be surfing on some of the Earths most spectacular waves.
So plan ahead. Single or Double, it is not rocket science. If you have a family with teens or preteens, you may have the greatest challenge. We saw lots and lots of families of all shapes and sizes on the Big Island of Hawaii – and the single thing that was of some concern to Andrea and I were the young parents who opted to bring their walking toddlers with them. There seemed to be a higher average incidence of fussiness with the toddlers than the newborns and the tweens. Chances are, it is the product of a long journey and the sub-tropical heat – both situations work themselves out after a couple of days “adjusting” and acclimatization.
For families, if you are having a time keeping your family entertained on the Big island of Hawaii (and Waikiki, Oahu is the one spot that has the upper hand with shopping) then maybe the Islands are not for you.
Waikiki (as I inferred above) is a shoppers mecca – but why anyone would eschew Hollywood, New York or Vegas and cross half an ocean for a shopping trip escapes me. All the stores you will find in Waikiki are on the mainland – and the prices are probably better too.
So. Talk to your spouse-trip planner and children about what their expectations are in a semi-tropical vacation. Generally one should start booking things 10 months to a year in advance. No excuse for not thinking it all out.
So, in conclusion – talk it out, plan it out, find out what you want to do and research the details. There are some great books (I plug them) and more online resources than you will ever need – TripAdvisor.com being a winner (all consumer driven)
In our next chapter on the subject of the Big Island of Hawaii, we will touch on the subject of travel agents, booking the roof over your head, and the little extras you will want to remember… and yeah, a bit on budgeting your travel.
See you then.
The Hawaii Series, yes, we are experts Chapter 3 · Wednesday February 23, 2011 by colin newell
Planning a trip to Hawaii from “North America” — or as they say in the Hawaiian Islands… the mainland?
Couple of things you should know and plan ahead for.
Flights: The Hawaiian Islands, Honolulu, Oahu being the hub, is served widely by many International and domestic carriers from North America. A lot of the “direct” flights occur from Western cities like Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, San Diego and others.
Photo right: Palm trees. All shapes and sizes. You will find yourself looking at the sea… a lot… and the fabulous plant life!
And if you have done any flying anywhere, you will know that the secret to economy is booking ahead and/or using “miles” – we generally book 8 to 10 months in advance. And we have yet to use “miles” for anything – I was accumulating Aeroplan points for a couple of years – had about 60,000 of them – and then did not heed warnings about making a simple purchase to keep them up to date – and lost the entire castle.
As an aside, I think customer loyalty should work both ways… Just saying.
So plan ahead folks. The flight, in our opinion, is the first thing you should nail down when getting your trip together. Plan ahead. Shop around. And unless you notice the flow in this series of articles, the order of operations should be (our opinion)
- Research your destination; books, internet, word of mouth
- Shop and purchase your flight
- Book your lodgings
- Get your rental car
- Shop for what you will travel with; clothing and accessories.
Car Rentals: The cheapest car rentals are quite likely on the Big Island of Hawaii – but do not leave this task to the last minute. My typical deal with Avis rent-a-car (slightly more expensive than most…) is less than $30/day unlimited miles when I book 10 months in advance. Try getting that rate when you arrive at the Airport and it could be 25% to 50% higher.
Most of the Big Island can be handled with a standard rental (is extra for a four-by-four Jeep or SUV type vehicle) and for many rental agreements this includes the often maligned and much improved “Saddle Road” – check your paperwork folks! From what I understand, AVIS is OK with the Saddle Rd. but I have never taken it – and our last visit (a month ago), there was snow on/about the visitors center – so no dice here. I hate driving in snow in North America and I sure as heck avoid it in Hawaii!
What to pack: Do not make the mistake I did this time. I had an full sized new bag (on rollers for check in) and dang it if I did not needlessly fill it up. No reason to bring 22 cotton T-shirts to Hawaii. But I did… Hauling 7-10 pair of Jockey tops and bottoms makes sense because I like to do laundry once a week when on the road. That and 3 pair of Tilley shorts, 3 ExOfficio shirts, my Tilley hat, Teva’s and slippers for the condo and I am good to go… and not including any camera, computer or electronics – I carry that on in most cases.
Security in the air: As we all know, since 9/11 travel has been less casual… less fun… more stressful. And for those of you that find flying a little nerve wracking (I don’t), the whole airport experience can be a little unsettling. The good news about Hawaii is (from my perspective), it is a pretty laid back place – it is not considered a terror hot-spot and maybe, just maybe, the TSA and airport experience is a tad more laid back. And unless you are flying (departing) from some place like New York, Washington or some other sensitive area, chances are the whole departure experience will be seamless. From our observations over the last 3 years in a row, TSA folks have been ultra-professional and lately, seemed to have developed a sense of humor. Go figure.
There has been a lot of chatter over the last 10 months about enhanced airport security — and yea, I think it is a good thing… but from what we witnessed, the only folks that were getting “enhanced” screening were setting off metal detectors (the old traditional ones) or families that had new children and were loaded up with young family accessories.
I know, the fact that Andrea and I are white, professional looking 40-somethings probably weighs in our favor. Cannot do much about that. That said, we were traveling around every shade and size of folks and no one in particular was being singled out… other than those that were bleeping the metal detectors – which is kind of the way it should be.
In our next chapter in our Hawaii travel series, we will talk more about the planning aspects of having a good time – research that you should not leave out – and setting your expectations and budgeting according.
Thanks for reading!
