Maui/Hawaii Bucket List Input (Hilo, Makawao: car rental, rentals, vacation home)

[Pilgrim21784]

Hey Folks,
I'd appreciate your input on a "bucket list" idea the DW and I are considering. We've been to Hawaii several times (Maui only) and are thinking about doing a year there to really explore Hawaii proper.

No interest or intent to permanently relocate, jobs not required (we're retired) and just want to do a 12 month stay to fully explore the incredible beauty we've seen so far, using Maui (Upcountry highly preferred, Makawao #1 on the list) as home base.

Any critiques of the following numbers would be most welcome and appreciated. All values are monthly and upper end limits for my planning purposes.

Housing - $3,000/month
Utilities - $600
Food (two grey hairs and a poodle) - $1,000
Car rental (12 month term) - $600

Everything else is discretionary and not a budget item, medical coverage goes with us, not an issue. Inter-island transfers, entertainment, whatever, will be subject to cash on hand.

Just wanted to get a reality check on the numbers I currently derive from the web. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

[hotzcatz]

Aloha Pilgrim,

I'm sure you're already aware of the requirements to import the poodle? Figure about $1K to $1.5K to import the poodle due to the veterinary requirements, paperwork, tests, etc. Once the dog is here, then it could fly inter-island without any additional paperwork.

Do you think renting vacation homes on each island might be a good idea? Stay on one of the more populated islands for several months and then shift to another one for several months? Most travel between islands is done by air and most routes go through Oahu. To get from Maui to Kauai, you'd go to Oahu and pay one fare and then continue on to Kauai and pay another fare. Basic one way fares are now around $75 to $100 each way, each leg. It used to be much less expensive to go inter-island. Maui has a small ferry service between Maui/Molokai/Lanai but only those other two islands which are much less populated than Maui.

You could start on Maui since it's where you are most familiar and visit Molokai and Lanai on the ferry. Then shift to either Kauai, Oahu or Hawaii for three months then go on to the next island. By spending three months on each of the islands with the most population, you'd have a good long time to see things on each island without a lot of money being eaten up in airfares.

I think vacation rentals have the utilities paid already, don't they?

For your bucket list, what sort of things are you interested in? If your passion is golf your list would be different than if you were an avid skydiver.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

I like hotcatz's suggestion of moving around to different islands. As you know, each island has its own identity. We have been living in our house on the Big Island for a year and a half, and we are still finding new places to explore.

For a vacation rental, check out vrbo.com. Most of them advertise a monthly rate, usually at a pretty good discount. They are furnished and the utilities are paid. That way you don't have to get into signing leases.

BTW, your estimate of utilities seems rather high. Our electricity is around $250/month; we use propane for cooking, costs about $250 every six months; cable tv is $80/month; water is about $20/month.

[Pilgrim21784]

Many thanks for the input. Just living and seriously exploring Hawaii in its entirety is one of our biggest bucket list items. We're typical retired, tourist types and plan to just hit all sights, (sans golf ).

Hotcatz, Mia Amigo: I WISH I could do skydiving, surfing, etc.; best I can manage is low stress snorkeling and "enjoy watching" the youngsters have the fun. Old war injuries nixed the active physical stuff many decades ago.

I am a two wheeled rider and might check out renting a maxi-scooter if possible. I can't do foot shifting so ride maxi-scooters, currently own three. My better half will spend most of her time doing a mind boggling number of photos of flowers and nature shots, she's a former professional photographer.

I've read tons of prior posts on the dog transport stuff and am aware of the procedures, costs, etc; didn't want to ask questions already answered on the Forum.

We considered doing multiple island stays and thats credible advice. But as noted, its usually easier to do inter-island via air, but that can be, even short hops, a trauma for critters. MY DW is (don't quote me), more fond of our dog than me and her major consideration is that we minimize transportation trauma on our dog as much as possible.

Its also way less expensive, in my imperfect knowledge, to do a single 12 month rental than island hop with multiple rentals and avoids the dog friendly option limitations.

We've already established an acceptable dog caretaker setup on Maui from prior visits so we can go off island to see the others for a few weeks at a time and not have a problem (and, rambling, sans dog, is much simpler for me, just don't tell my wife I said that).

I figured we'd do a 12 month rental on Maui (finding dog friendly is a chore, but doable) and the 1 year time frame rental (cash upfront) makes it much more affordable. We're not impoverished, but I do like to count my pennies so I don't come up short.

Dreaming: Appreciate your information. My estimated costs are by design at the worst case scenario, just so if I budget at that level I won't be short.

My thanks for your input.

[hotzcatz]

Perhaps bringing your one of your scooters to Maui would be good? Maybe two if your wife likes to ride, too? Does the poodle fit on the back or in a sidecar? Getting there should be fun since it takes up so much time.

If you can take off for several weeks at a time to visit other islands, that would make maintaining a primary location on Maui much more workable. Day trips to other islands are usually taken up in airport time.

There are a lot of botanical gardens around, your DW would love to photograph the plants and flowers there. For Maui, at Haleakala there are silversword plants which are found no where else. Very iconic and photographic. Maybe she could do a coffee table book of Hawaii's endangered plants? Then you'd be doing "research" while going places to photograph plants and it would all be tax deductible? Maybe a book of each island's plants and flowers? I personally think there could be room on this planet for a coffeetable book of Hawaii's cattle pastures. We have some extremely scenic cow pastures here and there. Anyway, I digress.

Picking locations for your week to several week "vacations" from your vacation (what a concept) could be selected so you'd be able to see most of the things on each of the other islands. A week to ten days in Volcano would let you explore the volcano thoroughly. Perhaps even drop down into Hilo, but that would probably be worth it's own week. Loads of plants, waterfalls and scenic things in Hilo.