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I lived in Honolulu/Waikiki for decades without a car. I did always have either a bicycle, moped or motorcycle with a rack or basket (or both) on it, though. That did real well at hauling groceries home. For going outside of downtown, The Bus works real well and it is much less hassle and expense than keeping a car in Honolulu. The traffic on Oahu is insane and letting someone else drive is much more relaxing. I drove a tour bus for awhile and even then, I rode a bicycle to work. During some parts of the day, it is even faster to bicycle than drive through Honolulu.
Car rentals are easy to get if you have a major credit card and are over twenty one. It is around $35 to $55 a day to rent one, I think. And there are a lot of rental areas in Honolulu, especially in the Ala Moana/Waikiki area. If it were me moving, I'd find an apartment close enough to work that walking would be possible, get a good bicycle or moped (with an excellent lock) and just rent a car when I felt like exploring the island without The Bus. You'd save on car insurance, parking fees (most apartments in the downtown area charge extra to park a car) and car maintenance, too. Live simply, then you have more time to have fun.
Balad1 and KoaKine, thanks for the additional info, I'll definitley check them out!
Becca8377 thanks for your input! You sound like you were in a similar work/living situation to what I'll be in. Can I ask why you decided to move back to the mainland?
I figure living in Honolulu without a car could be a slight inconvenience, but I'm young and i know i can adapt. I used to go to college in Boston where walking and the rail system is the way all students get around. Even there, having a car has it's occasional benefits but also a bunch of hassles.
Did you ever use your car to go around the island, like a road trip or camping? If i didn't bring my car, how convenient are rentals for things like weekend trips, or moving bulk items? I hear Costco is the place to buy inexpensive food (and gas).
I moved to Hawaii at 22yrs old, right out of college... it was my first job. I stayed there for just short of 2 years. It was absolutely the experience of a lifetime and I'm glad I did it.
There are many reasons why I moved back - mainly, I was extremely unhappy with my job. While it was what I wanted to do and what I went to college for, I was working beneath people who would rather sit around and get paid to do nothing. I had no one teaching me anything and was often sitting around doing nothing for 40 hours a week. It was miserable! Other reasons include - my entire family is on the east coast and the high cost of living was just atrocious.
I originally moved to Hawaii thinking it would be forever, but after a short time there I realized that I could not stay there forever. I loved living there and did things I would've never dreamed of, but I was so ready to leave. If I could do it all over, I would definitely do it all again... but if I was given the opportunity to move back to Hawaii, I wouldn't go. I now live in Syracuse NY and have my ultimate dream job while being within driving distance of all my immediate family. Of course I'd take beaches over snow, but I couldn't be happier here!
I did use my car to drive around the island and such... that's probably the one thing that would be a negative without a car. But the bus does also go around the island, so you could always do that. It's pretty easy to rent a car if you needed to do stuff like that or mass shopping.
Oh and sidenote - if you do get a bike or moped, I agree with everyone else - GET A GOOD LOCK!!! I had my bike stolen - lock was cut right through. And my bike was a POS, couldn't even sell it if you tried. The metal U locks are best, can't cut through those. And also, my car was broken into exactly a week after I moved to Hawaii... at the Ala Moana mall of all places. Hard crime in Hawaii is rare, but petty crimes like stealing happen all too often.
I lived in Honolulu/Waikiki for decades without a car. I did always have either a bicycle, moped or motorcycle with a rack or basket (or both) on it, though. That did real well at hauling groceries home. For going outside of downtown, The Bus works real well and it is much less hassle and expense than keeping a car in Honolulu. The traffic on Oahu is insane and letting someone else drive is much more relaxing. I drove a tour bus for awhile and even then, I rode a bicycle to work. During some parts of the day, it is even faster to bicycle than drive through Honolulu.
Car rentals are easy to get if you have a major credit card and are over twenty one. It is around $35 to $55 a day to rent one, I think. And there are a lot of rental areas in Honolulu, especially in the Ala Moana/Waikiki area. If it were me moving, I'd find an apartment close enough to work that walking would be possible, get a good bicycle or moped (with an excellent lock) and just rent a car when I felt like exploring the island without The Bus. You'd save on car insurance, parking fees (most apartments in the downtown area charge extra to park a car) and car maintenance, too. Live simply, then you have more time to have fun.
+rep
Great post—I've been trying to find an account of someone who lives/lived in honolulu car-free. This is what my girlfriend and I are planning when/if we move.
I don't mean to derail this thread (feel free to respond by DM), but maybe you could tell me a little more about your experiences? How scary is the traffic on a bike? (I'm experienced with driving in traffic, but I live in a city of 70,000 or so... I imagine it's different) How bad are the inclines (so hard to tell from photos)? Any other tips?
Really great info!! After reading all your experiences of living in Honolulu, I'm leaning more towards selling the car. I know I have to drastically change the way i live in order to adapt to island life and the high cost of living, maybe it's a romantic idea, but I think it would be fun, beneficial almost, to cut the financial worry of owning a car. Like some of you have said, owning a car has it's perks but I can find other way to schlep stuff around...
I agree with jteefoster, can you guys elaborate more on what it's like to get around without a car, particularly by bike? I'm planning on mailing my Trek over, it's a great bike but I've heard biking downtown can be dangerous??
And Becca8377 and hotzcatz, thanks for sharing your stories!! It helps to hear from people who have been in the same situation!
I agree with jteefoster, can you guys elaborate more on what it's like to get around without a car, particularly by bike? I'm planning on mailing my Trek over, it's a great bike but I've heard biking downtown can be dangerous??
And Becca8377 and hotzcatz, thanks for sharing your stories!! It helps to hear from people who have been in the same situation!
My best advice to anyone traveling by bike is that if you're riding on the road, then act like a vehicle... and if you're riding on the sidewalk, act like a pedestrian. This means, while on the road you must obey all lights, signs, signals, etc as if you were a car. You don't get the right of way just because you feel like it. If you're on the sidewalk, you must wait for the walk signal and don't just ride your bike out into traffic from the sidewalk.
There are 2 places on Oahu where you are REQUIRED to ride on the road - that's downtown and Waikiki. If you're caught on the sidewalk, you can get pulled over and get a ticket.
I never rode my bike in downtown but did a few times in Waikiki. The majority of the time I would go into Waikiki, I would take sidewalks to the outskirts, lock my bike up, and then just walk wherever I wanted to go. Personally, I hated riding my bike on the road because there are so many crappy drivers. Tourists who don't know where they're going or what they're doing are the worst. It's personal preference I guess, but I just always preferred sidewalks. And if you do take sidewalks, remember that you're sharing with pedestrians and don't ride like a jerk
Some more advice - just be aware of your surroundings. Be like a "defensive driver" and expect other people to mess up. As long as you pay attention, you should be fine.
Roads in Honolulu are pretty narrow without a lot of margins. Usually, I would ride my bike on the sidewalk in all areas except downtown Honolulu and Waikiki. I was usually bicycling between one of the boat harbors (I lived on my boat) and either my office downtown or to somewhere else between the two boat harbors so it was pretty flat ground. Usually, I'd take side streets instead of the major thoroughfares, too, since there's less traffic on the side streets.
Don't ride with any sort of music in your ears, you need to listen for traffic coming from all directions. Assume you are invisible and the cars don't see you. I never had any accidents, but I'm a pretty paranoid rider.
You can take your bicycle on the bus, there are racks on front to put them, although if the rack is full you have to wait for the next bus. My bicycle was never stolen but I had a cable lock to lock the tires on and a hard metal U lock to fasten the frame to something immobile. I also carried it into my office instead of leaving it parked outside and then brought it onto my boat at the end of the day.
I had a Vespa motorscooter for awhile. That was fun and it was very moped like so it could be driven and parked like a moped, but the tires were pretty small and it wasn't as safe as a motorcycle. For about a decade, I road a small motorcycle around Oahu, a Suzuki GS450L. That was about a perfect motorcycle for Honolulu, big enough to get out of the way of things if it had to and yet small and maneuverable for tight traffic. I also always wore a helmet. It keeps your hair from being tangled up by the wind as well as makes a dandy shopping basket at the market. If you can fit it in your helmet, you can carry it home on the motorcycle.
Since you will be looking for a place to live and already be thinking about biking around, you can pick a place where you don't have to go up into the mountains to get home. There are some lovely rides up Tantalus and places if you want mountain biking, but for a daily commute it might be a bit much.
As a single woman,I would have been miserable without my car. Plus it multiplies your housing options. There are a LOT of used appliances ,furniture for sale there because of the military moving in and out. There used to be a place on Nimitz that was great. What an adventure! Good luck!
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