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Hawaii Trip Planning
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Hi Gang.

The Misses and myself are planning a trip to Hawaii. Most likely we will be going to Oahu, Maui, and Kona. She would like to enjoy the sites and I would like to also train. So, it won't be a training camp or anything, but I'd still like to do a decent amount of training (otherwise it's not a true vacation imo..). So, yes we will be going to the more 'touristy' areas for a short stint and then moving on. The basic idea is for about a 20 day trip and we are thinking we will stay in 2 places in Oahu, 2 in Maui, and 1 in Kona.

Questions:

Oahu

- With regard to Honolulu, where would you recommend staying for 'better' training? Are there any 'safe' areas to ride in the city (or, out of the city)?

- Where else would you stay in Oahu that is better for training?

Maui

- In reading past posts it seems that Lahaina and Kapalua are great for training. It seems the East side of the Island is more densely tropical (which is what we like more), how are the roads and training in this vicinity? Hana highway looks beautiful for cycling, but also looks like it might be treacherous. Any thoughts here?

Kona

- Any preference on Waikoloa Village vs Kailua Kona for both training and overall attractions? Any thoughts on staying near waipio valley? Would like to do that cycling climb there. Anyone do it before?

Contemplating bringing bike or renting. Frankly, I believe your own bike is always better, but had decent luck once where I rented (just brought my seat and pedals). Any thoughts here?

Anything else we should consider??? - attraction wise, food wise, any good hiking, any better areas for swimming or running (as I yammered on mostly about cycling above)? As of now we will be doing the main touristy things in Honolulu, we'll probably paddleboard, do the Atlantis Submarine, Kona coffee plantation, volcano,...

Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks.

Running is the best source of fiber that I know of...
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [TriChris14] [ In reply to ]
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Don't know why you would book two places on both Oahu and Maui.
The islands aren't that big, stay in one place and drive.


I frequent Maui.

Lahaina and Kapalua means you are in West Maui, so you either go north or south around the West Maui loop. A pain if you want to ride any of the roads in the central valley or south of Kihei, or upcountry.
Nice beaches though.
Hana is an epic ride, but West Maui loop is one of the worlds nicest rides.
Maui has amazing free pools too if you don't want to go open water.

Oh, a heads up. Car rental prices are INSANE this year because of pandemic stuff. Prepare to pay 2-3x usual prices until the fleets are restored sometime in 2022.

I never rent bikes... always bring my own.
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [TriChris14] [ In reply to ]
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I live in Hilo, on the windward side of Hawaii Island. My family and I do, however, spend time traveling all over.

Kailua Kona is better for buzz and restaurants. Waikoloa is arguably a better base for cycling. From Waikoloa, you have access to the Queen K, plus rides up to Hawi, Waimea, and Saddle Rd up to Mauna Kea. Be sure to select accommodation down by Waikoloa Beach Resort, not the Waikoloa Village that is around 7km from the coastline and has little to see and do.

Ironman Honu has its swim at Hapuna Beach. It's north of Waikoloa and a great place to do an open water swim. If you stay in Kona, Kua Bay is a nice (but also small) white sand beach. Two Step beach, south of Kona and adjacent to the national historical park (place of refuge), is a good place to snorkel.

I have not considered staying near Waipio Valley or telling someone do that. The town of Honokaa, on the way to Waipio, is a nice tourist destination, but you may not spend more than a few hours there. Cycling up and down the road to Waipio Valley will be hectic if there is any traffic -- and there often is. In some places the road is one car wide with no space for pedestrians. You have surfers visiting in the morning, so I cannot even recommend a good time to do it.

Bike Works in Kona rent bikes. Check out their website.

Hiking is quite popular on Hawaii Island. Four legal hikes I can recommend are Pololu Valley, Pu'u O'o Trail, Kilauea Iki in Volcano National Park, and the hike from Punalu'u black sand beach northeast along the coastline. On the first, you have sensational views into the valleys that surround the top of the eastern side of the island. The second sees you move from lava flow to tropical rainforest and back again. The third is a dormant crater. The fourth takes you across a huge, historical lava flow.

Try to visit Volcano National Park in the afternoon and evening. With the new eruption, you can see the glow from the crater.

Search the forum for KonaCoffee's Survival Guides. They contain an immense amount of information about the western side of the island.
https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ce_Edition_P6729131/
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [odds_and_ends] [ In reply to ]
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I'll second everything that O&E said. Saved me a lot of typing.
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [ThomD] [ In reply to ]
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While in Waikoloa make sure you have dinner at Lava Lava, great food and drinks and sunsets. Stayed at the Marriott and walked there for dinner every night we were there.
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [odds_and_ends] [ In reply to ]
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Second the recommendation of renting a bike from BikeWorks.

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [TriChris14] [ In reply to ]
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Rent the bike for sure - much less hassle. Your rental car may not accommodate - as stated the rental fleets are much smaller and demand is increasing. Most rental fleets were liquidated for operating cash.

Waipio valley is a must see but you must have 4wd to get down there and over to the beach. I wouldn’t consider biking it.

It is the mind itself which builds the body.
-Joseph Pilates
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [NordicSkier] [ In reply to ]
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Great information and thanks for the reply.

So, correct me if I am wrong here, but Hana would be fairly 'safe' in your opinion as far as cycling is concerned?

Running is the best source of fiber that I know of...
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [odds_and_ends] [ In reply to ]
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Great information. Any reason you say 'legal' hikes?

Running is the best source of fiber that I know of...
Last edited by: TriChris14: Mar 26, 21 12:45
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [TriChris14] [ In reply to ]
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On Maui gotta climb Haleakala.... I am going May 7 for 9 days, renting there. Haleakala and WML are on the agenda then a couple upcountry rides. If on Facebook there's a pretty active Maui cycling group, lots of local rides scheduled. We stay at a family place in Kihei, which is not a bad center of operations.

Also not sure when you are going, but currently there are testing requirements, and I think they have different requirements for each island. Maui for example is a negative test from an approved testing site no more than 72 hours from last flight to the island. No vaccine exemption as of the moment, probably not until Summer

ETA on the big island, if you like something different check out the cabins at the Volcano House. Awesome place to spend a couple nights, and might be able to open jaw a Hilo/ Kona flight connection to save travel time.

https://www.nps.gov/...anyourvisit/camp.htm
Last edited by: ChrisM: Mar 26, 21 12:50
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [TriChris14] [ In reply to ]
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TriChris14 wrote:
Great information. Any reason you say 'legal' hikes?

If you spend time exploring Hawaii Island, you will see a lot of no trespassing and keep out signs. They can indicate sacred land or private land or be there for safety. Stay clear of these areas and avoid any chance of trouble.
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [odds_and_ends] [ In reply to ]
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West Maui Cycles rents road bikes. It's in Lahaina. Others have spoken about riding on Maui.

WRT to running, there are some great trail runs up behind Kapalua. Warning that they can be steep but fun. If you want flat running, there is a dirt road next to Highway 30 (mountain side) that runs all the way from Kapalua to Olawalu. Technically, it's trespassing on Maui Land and Pineapple but everyone (locals, tourists, etc.) uses it for biking, running, motorcycle riding. About the only thing you can't do on it is drive a car as the entrances are blocked.

WRT to open water swimming .. my local advice is stay out of the water at sunset and after a heavy rain (particularly near river runoff areas) (e.g., S-Turns, Honolua). Otherwise, it's great.
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [NordicSkier] [ In reply to ]
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I saw you mention about car rental prices being high as we have been thinking of going over to Kona this May or Sept now we have been vaccinated, oh boy I just looked at Costco car rental prices and for two weeks it was around $1400 I think we'll wait until things settle down, never seen prices like that ever. Cheers LA Rob
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [TriChris14] [ In reply to ]
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For Kona we did an Airbnb on Alii drive, so it was great for running in the morning. You can run into town, grab a coffee and run back if that’s where you’re staying.

Definitely check out the snorkeling and manta ray night dive while you’re there, it was one of the highlights of our trip. We went with Sea Paradise, I’d advise giving them a call if youre interested as they’ll give you a great discount if you book multiple trips with them.

Coffee plantation tour was great as well, definitely recommend.

Maui? Do the road to Hana, make sure you also stop at Leodas for some great pies and baked goods. Julia’s banana bread is the real deal as well and worth the drive to find it. For a wonderful (and very expensive) meal you have you check out Merriman’s in Lahaina

the world's still turning? >>>>>>> the world's still turning
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [hercules] [ In reply to ]
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hercules wrote:
I saw you mention about car rental prices being high as we have been thinking of going over to Kona this May or Sept now we have been vaccinated, oh boy I just looked at Costco car rental prices and for two weeks it was around $1400 I think we'll wait until things settle down, never seen prices like that ever. Cheers LA Rob

We’re going to Maui in may. We usually use independent offsite rentals for local beater cars. Paying $400 while the Alamo/ dollar etc crowd paying $1k. Maybe something like that on Hawaii?
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [ChrisM] [ In reply to ]
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We’re going to Maui in may. We usually use independent offsite rentals for local beater cars. Paying $400 while the Alamo/ dollar etc crowd paying $1k. Maybe something like that on Hawaii?[/quote]
That will be good if you can still get a good local deal on the price of the rental car, I have not done much checking around yet but when I saw the first post on here about the rental car prices being through the roof that's when I just did a quick check on the Costco travel site for the rental cars, I will certainly check out some local places but just reading now on the Hawaii newspaper on line how they are seeing quite a surge of visitors to the islands now restrictions are being relaxed and so I imagine prices are going to go up for everything. Best of luck finding a good deal and enjoy Maui.

We have some friends who just came back from their Condo they have over there as they were there since early January and they said there is quite an uptick of visitors, and they are still very strict with their mask mandate there also, lots of people get tickets for sitting on the beaches without masks apparently. Cheers LA Rob
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [hercules] [ In reply to ]
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hercules wrote:
I saw you mention about car rental prices being high as we have been thinking of going over to Kona this May or Sept now we have been vaccinated, oh boy I just looked at Costco car rental prices and for two weeks it was around $1400 I think we'll wait until things settle down, never seen prices like that ever. Cheers LA Rob

Yup. Was looking at going to Maui this summer. Flights were reasonable, accommodation about usual (expensive) but car rental was the kicker.
That, and ongoing mask rules, testing requirements, etc... too much hassle for the cost.
Will vacation much closer to home and wait for things to return to normal first.
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [hercules] [ In reply to ]
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Yes I have heard MPD is actually issuing mask tickets. I got no problem with that. We have a family place so it is relatively cheap- I’ve not seen airfare like this in a while, 275 p/p direct.

But everything else on Maui is $$$. Boat diving is ridiculous so we do mostly shore diving with a couple splurges
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [TriChris14] [ In reply to ]
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Before you book you plane tickets check out car rental rates. In popular destinations you are possibly talking 300 dollars a day. Maybe more. Rental agencies sold large portions of their fleets because they had to during covid (no revenue). Now there is a shortage. At the very least book the car far ahead.

They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [TriChris14] [ In reply to ]
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TriChris14 wrote:
Great information and thanks for the reply.

So, correct me if I am wrong here, but Hana would be fairly 'safe' in your opinion as far as cycling is concerned?

I've ridden the road to Hana a couple of times.
Very safe in my opinion. It has a fair amount of traffic but the traffic can't go fast because of the narrow road and constant turns.
Road surface is mostly excellent.
The locals drive like maniacs, but not too much of a problem.

WML has way better views of the ocean than the road to Hana. Road to Hana is mostly in the trees.

I think I actually prefer the backside of Haleakala, descending from Ulupalakua to Kaupo. Start at Grannys or Kula or even Pukalani.
Wide open, mind blowing views. However, it is always windy AF.

My bucket list is still to do the full East Maui loop in one day
First try I had to turn around due to a mechanical.
Second time I turned around at mile 14 marker on the Hana highway cuz it was pouring rain from miles 2-14 and a driver I talked to said it was probably raining all the way to Hana.
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [TriChris14] [ In reply to ]
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Chris,
IRT Ohau, anywhere in Waikiki or the gold coast near Diamond Head are ideal. I'd bet there are tons of ABNBs in the area. Around Diamond Head and out to Hawaii Kai and you could easily do 50-100 plus miles with no issues safe roads, wide shoulder, with a few locals or Calif expats in a hurry to get to wherever. Don't trust any white SUV...they'll cut you off as you approach turns of intersections or will buzz by you thinking they can't cross the double yellow line even if there is no one coming in the opposite direction as far as the eye can see. As far as rental cars, just go with Touro. Tons of independent operators in town. Tourism is picking up. You will need to get a pre-covid test within 72 hours of your departure or its immediate quarantine for you. Schedule it at your local drug store, (Walgreen"s or CVS) and go to Hawaiicovid19.com for more info. You upload your results to the trusted traveler profile you create. The police used to follow up on these things but not so much anymore. I'd be happy to ride with you for 10-40 miles especially if you're in town on Friday when I do my long rides.

----------------------------------------------------------
Someone once accused me of being swimfan. I miss that guy.
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [TriChris14] [ In reply to ]
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We drove that route and i really wanted to ride it but there's some seriously questionable driving going on along that road. The mix of rental cars and distracted drivers made me think twice. I noticed that they have an organized ride once a year where they close the road. That would be a lot of fun.
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [TriChris14] [ In reply to ]
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I live on the Big Island but have been to all of the other islands and done SBR on all of them - also crewed on the Epic 5. I have a few notes:

Oahu - probably your best bet is the Diamond Head side of Waikiki. You have easy access to Kapiolani Park but also the lower road around Diamond Head for cycling. Cycling isn't great on Oahu due to traffic and density, but the east side is pretty decent. You can also swim at Kaimana Beach, which is nice. I've never rented bikes there, but there should be good options since it's a big city.

Maui - I second the suggestion for the West Maui loop, but you could also consider summiting Haleakala for an epic workout. There's a bike shop out of Haiku that will even do SAG in addition to renting you a decent bike - you definitely want SAG on that ride because fluids are hard to come by once you get beyond Kula.

BI - there are group rides (Hawaii Cycling Club) out of Kona, so that's a benefit of staying down there. I'm partial to the Kohala Coast, though - the nicer part of the IM course. Waikoloa Resort is a good option, but so is the Mauna Lani, and also the Mauna Kea resort has what is IMO the nicest beach. We have a Sunday group swim that goes from MK beach to Hapuna (site of the Hawaii 70.3 race) and back - plenty of turtle and manta ray sighting opportunities. Any of those resorts give you easy access to the Queen K and beyond that the road to Hawi. For climbing, you've got the Waikoloa climb, and at the top you have various options to continue (Old Saddle Rd, New Saddle Rd). I agree with the comments about Waipio - good to do as a hike, but I wouldn't stay out there.

Renting vs. bringing your own: I've done both. All three islands you're going to have good rental options, so bring some power pedals, bike computer, shoes and helmet and you're probably set. If I were only going to one island, I would probably bring my own bike - the hassle is interisland flights and the rental car space you'll need each time for the bike. Bear in mind that right now rental car prices are through the roof, as car rental companies sent their inventory off island during the 2020 tourism nuclear winter. You didn't mention when you were planning the trip for, so that may or may not be an issue then.

Ian
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [ihersey] [ In reply to ]
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If its just a couples trip stay on the dry side of the big Island, look into Hapuna they have good rates. You can rent a bike at the Kings shop in Waikoloa. Great open water swimming at the Mauna Kea and Hapuna Beach. enjoy
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Re: Hawaii Trip Planning [TriChris14] [ In reply to ]
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I am not sure I have much to add but will simply share my experience.

Maui I have almost exclusively based in Lahaina. When there I ride the West Loop every day. I have submitted Haleakala leaving from Lahaina. For me as a mostly roadie who has ridden many of the greatest mountain climbs in the US I think the west loop is my favorite ride of anything. Yes my favorite bike ride is probably Maui West loop. Favorite mountain climb probably Logan Pass. #2? Haleakala. Its incredible and very hard.

Big Island I based out of Waikoloa. Perfect to get to Hawi or Kona and I did ride to the Pololu Lookout and up 250 toward Waimea. That mornint descent on 250 in the wind was the worst wind ride of my life. I almost phoned a friend. My #2 worst wind ride ever was same trip West Loop. Wind on Hawaii is crazy :)

I rode my bike almost 25,000 kicking the year off in Hawaii. I really believe there can't be much better places on earth to ride bikes. Especially in the USA.

Still need to hit up Mauna Kea....next time ;)

24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex
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