Hawaii Trip Planning

Triathlon Forum
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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.

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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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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/forum/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/2018_Kona_Survival_Guide_-_All_new_40th_Anniversary_Race_Edition_P6729131/

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I’ll second everything that O&E said. Saved me a lot of typing.

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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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Second the recommendation of renting a bike from BikeWorks.

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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.

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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?

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Great information. Any reason you say ‘legal’ hikes?

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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/havo/planyourvisit/camp.htm

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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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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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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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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

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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

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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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?

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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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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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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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.

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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?

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.