General Touring Tips to avoid Traffic

[justme0729]

I'm attempting to map out an itinerary and as I've been researching, I have read a lot about avoiding traffic. Do you have any tips about what days (weekdays vs. weekends) we should visit the east coast (Lanikai, Haunama Bay), Waikiki (Diamond Head, Waikiki Beach, Manoa Falls), and north shore (Waimea Bay, Waimea Falls, Dole Plantation)? I've read that Waikiki is better on weekends because less commuters... what about the east coast and north shore?

We will be there from a Thursday-Friday with jellyfish expected to be around for the last 2 days of our trip. Any suggestions on how to plan these things into our trip?

 

[kdonnel]

Traffic is way over blown as a problem. It could add 45 minutes to a trip, not hours. We always just decided where we wanted to be and when and added a little time for traffic.

 

[Broadreach]

I came across this website a few weeks ago. Looks like it has good info and can show you how the morning/afternoon commute traffic flows. Good luck. https://www.oahure.com/TrafficMaps.php

 

[Chanel Santiago]

Avoid commuting from Aulani weekdays during the morning commute which can be from 6am - 9am and avoid afternoon commutes back to Aulani from 4pm - 6pm. As the above poster stated, it can add 45 minutes to a commute. However, in the event of a major accident, it can be much longer. Weekends are generally okay but popular destinations will be more crowded due to the weekend.

 

[TagsMissy]

Honestly, like everywhere else. Just avoid business rush-hour in the morning and evening.

 

[nkereina]

IMO, its best to plan any sightseeing on weekend days because you'll be contending with less traffic, but also because Aulani was noticeably more crowded on weekend days in our experience. Many locals come to stay on the weekends.

We did visit the North Shore on a Monday and the windward side (Kailua, Kualoa Ranch) on a Wednesday. We left for the North Shore around 9am and hit minimal traffic. We did run into some bumper to bumper traffic heading to the windward side around 6:45am due to an accident, and then again once we were on the main drag over there around 7:30am because its one lane in each direction. It added an extra 40 minutes or so to our commute.

 

[alohamom]

If you are planning to go to the East side (Kailua and Lanikai beaches, Byodo-In Temple, Pali lookout etc) then be sure to take the H3 that runs through the island.
I dont think any one would tell you to go around via the H1 through Honolulu anyway but you never know and the H3 cuts through the gorgeous Ko'olau mountain range via tunnels.
You will miss the all of the city traffic this way as well.

 

[southerngirl528]

If you are planning to go to the East side (Kailua and Lanikai beaches, Byodo-In Temple, Pali lookout etc) then be sure to take the H3 that runs through the island.
I dont think any one would tell you to go around via the H1 through Honolulu anyway but you never know and the H3 cuts through the gorgeous Ko'olau mountain range via tunnels.
You will miss the all of the city traffic this way as well.

Yes! And the pali highway is awesome! We did a circle island tour and came out the tunnel from the east shore coming back inland, when we drove out of the tunnel there were not 1 but TWO rainbows practically LAYING against the mountain! Felt like I could have put my hand out the window and touched them! It's a beautiful drive.

 

[gregf71]

We were at Aulani two weeks ago and rented a car one day to explore the island a bit. We picked up the car and left the resort around 7:30am on a weekday. Our first two stops were just west of Honolulu and we didn't find the traffic from Ko Olina being bad at all. It really depends on what you are used to. We are from Southern California and deal with pretty bad commuter traffic. What we experienced that morning and afternoon was really nothing by comparison and we hit both of the "bad" time periods. Yeah, there were a decent number of cars on the roads, especially the H1, but we never stopped once on the H1 nor slowed down to any sort of crawl, except for once (see below). Maybe we were lucky.

After hitting a Japanese candy store and Liliha Bakery on Nimitz early that morning, we drove up to the Byodo-In Temple on the east side, followed by the Dole Plantation. Next, we drove up to Hailewa for lunch and shave ice, followed by a visit to Laniakea (Turtle) Beach on the North Shore (where traffic slowed in both directions for beach parking). From there, we drove back down into Honolulu to hit a tiki bar (La Mariana Sailing Club) and then headed west to get malasadas from the Leonard's mobile in Waipahu, before stopping by the Kapolei Costco for gas and returning to Aulani. It was a great day!

 

[alohamom]

We were at Aulani two weeks ago and rented a car one day to explore the island a bit. We picked up the car and left the resort around 7:30am on a weekday. Our first two stops were just west of Honolulu and we didn't find the traffic from Ko Olina being bad at all. It really depends on what you are used to. We are from Southern California and deal with pretty bad commuter traffic. What we experienced that morning and afternoon was really nothing by comparison and we hit both of the "bad" time periods. Yeah, there were a decent number of cars on the roads, especially the H1, but we never stopped once on the H1 nor slowed down to any sort of crawl, except for once (see below). Maybe we were lucky.

I am from Toronto and I would have to say our traffic is almost as bad as Los Angeles area and I am used to commuter traffic too.

I think you hit the nail on the head regarding it being relative to what you are used to but we have seen it light during rush hour and very very busy too ( like stand still bumper to bumper)

As soon as even a little fender bender happens the traffic just crawls. I think the reason this happens is that there is no other major artery and it just kinda backs up.

I found the worst of it is just as you are leaving the airport heading west, especially around 3 to 4 pm