Dining outside Aulani?

[southerngirl528]

I'm from the country, really backwoods country lol. We was there a few years ago and it scared me to ride in the shuttle.. so I don't want to drive in that. I'll just let the tour people do the driving..

Hahahaha! I've lived in the country and had lots of family that were/are farmers back in the midwest, so I understand, but it really is not bad. Just do not try to leave Aulani to go toward Honolulu in the morning hours that folks will be driving into work and the reverse of this for end of work day when everyone is trying to leave the city. In between, not bad. And the drive between Aulani and Kapolei is just a hop, skip and a jump!

riving is still driving, no matter where you are. You stay in the lanes and don't hit anything. LOL We went to Europe and I said that I would rent a car and drive. My dad and sister freaked out ahead of time but it was that same as driving here. I think it is worse when someone else is driving since you do not have the control.

 

[BCV23]

There is no one right way to visit Oahu or any place else IMHO. Since you plan to take a tour you will see the island. Personally, I would rather do a tour from Aulani than from the city. Someone mentioned the North shore makes it easier to see things without going through Honolulu. I don't understand that at all. It is easy to get to the East side or North shore from Aulani without going through the city.

Between Ama Ama, the bar food by the pool, breakfast from Ulu, the Oleo room and the options across the street, we find ourselves rarely venturing off property for meals. We make a malasada run once or twice. Have usually gone to Kimona and Boots for breakfast and a shrimp truck for lunch on our circle drives. If you decide you really want a fast food chain, maybe check out Grubhub?

Totally understand your reluctance to drive. If you don't want to....don't! It's your vacation. I have noticed that although traffic is heavy during rush hours, there is far less speeding and weaving in and out of traffic there than we have here in the Chicago area and other places i've driven on the mainland.

Happy planning and have a great vacation.

 

[goofynut41]

No matter what I do I'm going to have a great vacation... I'M IN HAWAII!!!

 

[nkereina]

There is no one right way to visit Oahu or any place else IMHO. Since you plan to take a tour you will see the island. Personally, I would rather do a tour from Aulani than from the city. Someone mentioned the North shore makes it easier to see things without going through Honolulu. I don't understand that at all. It is easy to get to the East side or North shore from Aulani without going through the city.

Between Ama Ama, the bar food by the pool, breakfast from Ulu, the Oleo room and the options across the street, we find ourselves rarely venturing off property for meals. We make a malasada run once or twice. Have usually gone to Kimona and Boots for breakfast and a shrimp truck for lunch on our circle drives. If you decide you really want a fast food chain, maybe check out Grubhub?

Totally understand your reluctance to drive. If you don't want to....don't! It's your vacation. I have noticed that although traffic is heavy during rush hours, there is far less speeding and weaving in and out of traffic there than we have here in the Chicago area and other places i've driven on the mainland.

Happy planning and have a great vacation.

You're absolutely right that there is no right or wrong way to vacation. But if I were researching a place I hadn't been, I'd want to know if people almost unanimously recommend a rental car as the best way to see things and maximize my time. Hawaii is not a quick, cheap, or easy getaway for most people. Its once in a lifetime for many. So I think the caution about the driving and rental car advantages is still valid advice.

 

[BCV23]

You're absolutely right that there is no right or wrong way to vacation. But if I were researching a place I hadn't been, I'd want to know if people almost unanimously recommend a rental car as the best way to see things and maximize my time. Hawaii is not a quick, cheap, or easy getaway for most people. Its once in a lifetime for many. So I think the caution about the driving and rental car advantages is still valid advice.

But the OP wasn't doing general research and made it clear early on that he/she had no intention to rent a car. In addition, he/she also said they had already visited. Most people offered lots of help but there did seem to be a few posts which implied the vacation would be less than ideal unless the OP drove. Ideal to one person is not to another. For instance, my dear husband never visited HI on vacation without golfing. It was an absolute for him but he never implied I needed to join him to maximize my vacation.

BTW, I enjoyed your TR very much. I probably didn't comment as I rarely do having nothing concrete much less clever to contribute. But thanks for taking the time to share with all of us.

 

[BCV23]

No matter what I do I'm going to have a great vacation... I'M IN HAWAII!!!

Exactly!

 

[nkereina]

But the OP wasn't doing general research and made it clear early on that he/she had no intention to rent a car. In addition, he/she also said they had already visited. Most people offered lots of help but there did seem to be a few posts which implied the vacation would be less than ideal unless the OP drove. Ideal to one person is not to another. For instance, my dear husband never visited HI on vacation without golfing. It was an absolute for him but he never implied I needed to join him to maximize my vacation.

BTW, I enjoyed your TR very much. I probably didn't comment as I rarely do having nothing concrete much less clever to contribute. But thanks for taking the time to share with all of us.

I hear what you're saying. But perhaps the OP didn't realize how valuable a rental car can be in Hawaii. We shut the idea of renting a car down at first too because we had never rented one before. But after reading numerous comments about it and doing the math, it made sense so we bit the bullet and I couldn't be more glad that my mind was changed on it. It is a general discussion forum, and I know I would feel remiss if I didn't mention the benefits of a car in Hawaii so that the OP at least has all the information.

And thank you for your kind remarks on my TR! Thanks for reading!

 

[SteveNZ]

Ok thanks so I guess I have to buy all these expensive meals... Oh well Guess I'll eat once a day LOL

Just wanted to add that the Island Country Market, which is right across the street from Aulani, is not at all expensive and the food is wonderful. It's not a restaurant per se, but a restaurant-quality kitchen in an up-market convenience store which serves take-out food. It's made to order, but they have a huge menu with just about everything you could think of - I highly recommend the coconut breaded shrimp which costs $9 and is HUGE. The same meal in Aulani is $16 and about half the size. They also have a very large range of grab-and-go items.

 

[Brancaneve]

I would also recommend Monkey Pod across the street. Although it is pricey, they have very reasonable prices for their happy hour. With the time change we found ourselves hungry for dinner right around that happy hour time slot which was perfect.

 

[algae]

There are plenty of inexpensive places to eat in Kapolei, but honestly, I don't go to Hawaii to eat McDonald's.

Unless you go to get their taro pies. Pretty good, actually. We go to McDonald's all around the world just to see if they have some special local menu item. Mostly, it's some special pie flavor. Estonia had lingon berry pies...

 

[happymommy]

Yeah my youngest always wants a taro pie. I don't care for them! They do have Portuguese sausage and rice on the breakfast platter (or used to when we lived there). I don't eat that either, LOL.

We do stock up on Haupia mix when there - youngest loves that stuff! Not healthy but fun. Walmart and Target carry it. Gotta admit it's pretty ono.

 

[Jamesmom7]

Driving is still driving, no matter where you are. You stay in the lanes and don't hit anything. LOL We went to Europe and I said that I would rent a car and drive. My dad and sister freaked out ahead of time but it was that same as driving here. I think it is worse when someone else is driving since you do not have the control.

We went to Italy and the driving was nuts! The only time we ran into issues was the day we flew in there was a fatal accident that shut down the entire road. One way opened up 4-6 hours later and I think the other was closed well into the night. Luckily it was opening as we got in and we gotta to aulani in about 2 hours.

 

[Riburn3]

I can’t stress enough how nice it is to have a car while in Hawaii.

Like you, my first trip to Hawaii I was really apprehensive about driving since you always read about how it’s some of the worst traffic in the country. Staying on the north shore and have plans around the island meant I didn’t have much of a choice and I’m glad I did.

If you basically drive anytime outside of rush hour in Honolulu, you’re fine. Once you’re at Aulani, it’s much less trafficked and you can go multiple places including the north shore without having to go through Honolulu traffic.

I’m the kind of guy that goes to Hawaii and parks it on the beach with a book for the majority of my stay, but even then it’s fantastic to have a car when you need to pick up some essentials, see something else, or just want to eat something else. You won’t regret it.

 

[kittylady1972]

As others have already mentioned, the ABC Market is fantastic for cheap eats. They have some hot food items that are between $5 and $8 each and are plenty of food....from terryaki chicken to pork to rice dishes. They also have things like wraps and salads and sushi, all very reasonably priced as well. This is an easy walk over as people have already mentioned. My kids did the pizza place there...they were not fans. Just Tacos is fantastic...we ate there twice...but can be pricey. We LOVED Monkeypod, go during happy hour for even cheaper eats...wished we had visited that place a second time.