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My car is actually in the middle of the Pacific through Matson as I wright this, I will let you know how it all works out. I actually used a service through A-AAA auto movers out of AZ and they set everything up and were very helpful.
I used Pasha to ship my car from So Cal. They were great. Super helpful, made everything easy. Pickup was a breeze, and my car arrived in the same shape I left it (just a bit dusty).
As for Hawaii Kai, what specifically do you want to know? It's a residential community... lots of condos & townhouses. Cheaper than living in town, or at least you can get a nicer (newer) place for the same money. But you have to deal with the commute. (Which, compared with commuting in LA, is really a breeze. But folks here complain about it.) There are shops (Costco, grocery stores, a couple of strip malls). I think it's a nice little area, and I'm thinking about buying a place there. I don't have kids, so can't say anything about the schools or anything.
I used Horizon (shipmyvehicle.com) to ship my Prius in August, and they were great. I picked them because they ship in enclosed containers to Oahu.
We are now using them again to ship a vehicle from Maryland. The transport from MD to CA was great, very quick. But then the vehicle sat in CA for over a week before they even took it to the port (Long Beach). Now it will have to wait almost another week before the ship sails. This is very annoying. I think it is DAS Auto Shippers (the overland company) that is causing the problem, though, not Horizon. If you are transporting from a port on the west coast, I would definitely go with Horizon.
They can tell you when the ships sail from your preferred port, and when you must have the car there to make the ship (for example, I think our ship sailed on Wednesday and we dropped it off on Monday afternoon). It was very fast to Oahu (and only a couple more days to Kauai).
I used Horizon (shipmyvehicle.com) to ship my Prius in August, and they were great. I picked them because they ship in enclosed containers to Oahu.
We used Horizon from Honolulu to Long Beach, CA - because of the enclosed container- we were very happy with their service. They will let you know when to have the car at the port but keep in mind, sometimes they will offer to move you up if space becomes available on a ship that's leaving sooner. They will only ship your car with less than 1/4 tank of fuel (I think it's just 1/4) and I had just filled it up the morning they called to tell me our car would make it onto an earlier shipment if we wanted it to (which we wanted because it would get the car to California the same weekend we were arriving there). I spent several hours driving around Oahu, back and forth, that day to run out all the fuel from the tank (couldn't find anywhere to siphon it - there was some sort of special safeguard on the fuel filler) so the car would be at the right fuel level for them to ship (otherwise it would've had to go on the next ship). I said all that to say that you might not want to fill it up all the way when it gets close to your shipping date, whichever company you use.
About Hawaii Kai - without knowing what you want to know for sure. . .we lived there for two years, from 2004 to 2006, and were just out there again last month (all of these places were still there). We could walk from our house to Koko Marina which had 24Hr Fitness, 8 screen movie theater, two banks, watersports, Starbucks and Coffee Bean/Tea Leaf, Foodland grocery store, multiple restaurants (fast food and "slower" food and ice cream), Supercuts, surf shops, Radio Shack, Chevron and a 76 station (I think it was), among other things. There are two more strip malls with Costco, a huge rental storage facility, more restaurants both fast food and slow food and ice cream, Long's Drugs, Safeway, City Mill (hardware), much much more. The marina is visible from all of these malls/areas - some people (not us) would come in their boats up to the docks for dinner at the restaurants. Depending on where you live, it is walkable to these malls/areas - but all of Hawaii Kai is contained in a relatively small footprint so even driving in the car is quick. Parking wasn't a problem when we lived there like it was in Waikiki or downtown - you could usually find a spot decently fast at these malls and restaurants. There is also an Outback Steakhouse along the highway and there was/is a 7-11 store off Hawaii Kai Drive that sold gasoline and also used to/may still have a pizza place next to it (by the slice and also by the pie).
We liked living there very much - had lived in Waikiki for just over six years before that. Safe and quiet and peaceful, with nice, flat places to run - many condos and townhouses - high-rise buildings as well as single-family homes - it's right on Maunalua Bay so you see the ocean every time you come home. . .ocean on one side, the marina runs through it and the Koolau mountain range is on the other side so you see the mountains constantly as well. Just up the hill is Hanauma Bay for snorkeling - through a series of S-turns along the ocean are the Blowhole and Sandy Beach - a little further is Makapuu (hiking, whale watching, staggering ocean views). . .it was an extremely beautiful place to live. Google Map the satellite view for "Koko Isle Circle 96825" and it will put you into Hawaii Kai and then you can scroll around and see the surroundings - you will see how much water is there and how close you are to the Koolau range and Hanauma Bay and Koko Crater. Just an amazing place to live - indescribable views (the water in the marina is way nicer-looking than it is on Google Maps by the way).
The commute was, to me, way worse than we have now in California because of the limited space on the island and the amount of people trying to move around it. Compared to freeways with six lanes across, just a two-three lane highway (72, or Kalanianaole Highway) connects Hawaii Kai with the H-1 freeway and if there is an accident (or water main break or anything else along the roadway) it can basically immobilize traffic for hours. It is possible to go the long way around, past Makapuu and Waimanalo and Kailua and across the Pali Highway to downtown but that would take way longer - just something to keep in mind if you move there and the highway is blocked - it's not just one way in/one way out so that's good. Even with no accidents, it took awhile to get to downtown even two years ago - the speed limit was low - 30mph, maybe 35mph if I remember (if somewhere lives there now please correct me) - quite a bit of stop and go but it's like that everywhere on the island especially during certain times. If I left for work ten minutes later it would take at least half hour longer, that sort of thing. . . THE Bus does run from Hawaii Kai to town and many points in between, or past - really great bus service all across the island - with a park and ride facility right off the highway (off Keahole Street). There used to be/maybe still is an express bus to downtown as well.
Kaiser is the high school but we also don't have kids so know nothing of the quality. Not much nightlife out there, just restaurants and movies - no bright lights or neon - used to be almost boring quiet and dark when we would return from Las Vegas at night (then once it was daylight, and we would look around, it was like, YEAH - no comparison by daylight. . .). Compared to Waikiki, it was peaceful and quiet and we liked being away from the chaos - we didn't like having to drive to the waves though - once we moved out there we couldn't walk to a surf break anymore.
Hawaii Kai is about five miles (but definitely not five minutes) from Kahala Mall - the mall is right where highway 72 and H-1 connect - that would be the closest "major" mall.
If I can answer anything more specific for you I would be glad to help out.
Thank you so much for all the info! I just got to know the East side a little better when we visited a few months back...Thats when I knew I wanted to live on that side of town. A couple questions. How is the weather on the East side? Is it more rainy than the West? Also where did you live in Hawaii Kai? I want a Nice/Newer or at least very well kept Condo. I was looking at the Colony/Pennisula? Any thoughts?
It's excellent that you were already able to spend some time out there, you are way ahead of things already for sure compared to some who are moving to Oahu. I think I noticed on another thread that you are shooting for January 2009 to be in Hawaii?
We only lived in Waikiki and Hawaii Kai so I've never experienced day-to-day weather elsewhere on the island. . .also not having lived there for two years now. . . I remember one solid month around February-March 2006 where it rained (torrential pelting rain) every day but that was a freak occurrence and was pretty much island-wide I think. Otherwise, I can't remember being bothered by rain in Hawaii Kai - just random passing showers or storms or whatever like anywhere else. As I remember, Kaneohe/Kailua (windward) get consistently more rain for sure than Ewa Beach/Waianae/Kapolei (leeward).
We would have loved to live on the Peninsula - or in The Colony - that whole development was being built/most of it was brand new when we lived on the island - saw some open houses and models and liked them very much (between 2004-2006). Some were townhouses/attached, some were single-family homes and some (The Colony) were in a semi-high-rise building (I think five floors high) right on Lunalilo Home Road across from Kaiser High. We lived right down the street from there so I remember the area really well (we owned a house on Anapalau Street on the way into Koko Isle, so it was walkable to Koko Marina Center and that was great - we sold it when we moved off the island). It seemed like many people would buy those Colony units for investment property - actually that was true for many of the condominiums - and then rent them out. Another "newer", as in, being built when we lived there, townhouse/condo -type community is Moana Kai - also Nanea Kai. Both of those are off Hawaii Kai Drive and are only like three stories high I think - split level, tri-level, some with garages. Not sure when these were actually completed, also not sure when they finished all of the Peninsula - there was a section called Peninsula II also.
I noticed some youtube videos of property, also look on Craigslist for rentals since alot of them have pix attached. You didn't say if you will be renting or buying but either way the pix might be useful to get the feel of some places and scope things out. There are more highrise (very high) condos on Hahaione Street (Mauna Luan, Commodore) and on Hawaii Kai Drive (Plaza Hawaii Kai, Naniwa Gardens, can't remember the other one) - also Mount Terrace which is off Kawaihae Street right at the beginning of Hawaii Kai - - there is also Kalele Kai and Mawaena Kai right at the intersection of Hawaii Kai Drive and Keahole Street. Although none of these buildings are new (as in, some were built in the 70's), some (actually probably many, by now) of the units have been really nicely renovated. With any of the condos/townhouses, some will be more newer/more nicely-kept than others (this seems like so much common sense but when we moved to Oahu we were really shocked at how different rental units could be, even in the same building - we had only been used to apartment complexes in Florida where all the interiors were the same).
I tried to list everything I remember to try to give you a decent idea of what's out there - because the newer the construction, the higher the price/rent and I remember looking at Craigslist recently just to scope it out (just still keeping track of rents on Oahu for if we ever decided to move back- definitely won't be buying anything) and thinking there were some really nicer units in the "older" buildings for way less money. . .
I know this was alot of rambling, hopefully you can sort through it and find something that might be of help - let me know if you have any more questions!
Thanks for all your help! Do you or anyone else know anything about the Mauna Luan in Hawaii Kai? The pics they are showing on craigslist look great, but I noticed it's an older building and wonder if the pics are deceiving.
Thanks for all your help! Do you or anyone else know anything about the Mauna Luan in Hawaii Kai? The pics they are showing on craigslist look great, but I noticed it's an older building and wonder if the pics are deceiving.
If you google (their map page) "Mauna Luan in Hawaii Kai", you get this:
which ought to have enough photos from a variety of sources, so you can tell.
Hank
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This is very annoying. I think it is DAS Auto Shippers (the overland company) that is causing the problem, though, not Horizon. If you are transporting from a port on the west coast, I would definitely go with Horizon.
Mauna luan in hawaii kai??
