Hawaii on a Budget

A lot of people have the idea that Hawaii is super expensive. Only for the rich and famous. I get it! It can be super expensive if you want it to be! But it doesn’t have to be, and a lot of the island is actually really affordable. I am going to share with you all the tips and tricks to plan your very own budget friendly Hawaii vacation!

My boyfriend and I went to Hawaii at the very beginning of this month, and I want to share everything about it, including the amount we spent. It’s by no means “Panama City” cheap, but the amount we spent was low (I think) for Hawaii standards.

I’ll start with an overview.

We went for 5-6 days and flew via Portland, Oregon (PDX). We stayed in AirBnB’s the entire time, ate local food, and rented a car to travel around the island. We started in Kona and drove around the island clockwise where we spent the night in a different city and AirBnB almost every night. And we did some cool stuff on the way around. The amount we spent (excluding food, souvenirs, etc) was $775 per person.

Picking an Island

At the beginning stages of my planning, I had no idea which island to choose. I knew the main islands people traveled to were Kauai, Oahu, Maui, & the Big Island (also known as Hawaii). I looked at them all and finally decided on the Big Island for a few different reasons.

It was the cheapest to fly into at the time.
I had been told the Big Island was the most diverse. It obviously is the biggest of the islands and it honestly had a little bit of everything. There were volcanoes, gorgeous beaches, rain forests, mountains, and more.
All the others seemed fully booked already (and crowded).
We did not have enough time to island hop (maybe another trip).

Looking back, I am so glad we went to the Big Island and got to spend all our time there to experience that island. A lot of people island hop, which is great if you have enough time, but I did not want to be traveling the entire time with the short period we had. In addition, the Big Island was calm. So laid back. And there were not any crowds, with the exception of two beaches we went to which I will mention later. Someone told me the Big Island was the least touristy and I definitely believe that.

I loved the diversity of the island. The Kona region had gorgeous beaches and was pretty arid and hot. Once we started going toward the northern part of the island, we started to climb into the mountains. The weather there was very different (60, windy, and rainy) but it was very lush, green, and forested. Then once we went to the south east towards Hilo it was warmer but still had lush forest and some cool rocky coasts. There were also tons of cool waterfalls to see. Most of the beaches to lay on and swim at were near Kona due to the rocky nature of the east side. I loved all of the island but I think I enjoyed the east side north of Hilo and the south west side near Captain Cook the most.

Flights

Depending on where you are flying from, the price for a flight can vary significantly for Hawaii. I now live near Seattle, and the cheapest flights in the Pacific Northwest were from Portland & Seattle, which were around $350/person to Kona. The other islands were also pretty affordable to fly into as well! We chose a night time flight on the way back. It knocked off a few bucks for the return trip and gave us a place to sleep for the night instead of spending extra money for a hotel.

Lodging

Upon planning, I first looked at hotels in the area and immediately thought, “we can’t afford this”. The resorts and hotels were insanely expensive on any island! Then I looked into AirBnB. Love them or hate them for what they do to the local rental market, they were much much cheaper than any resort or hotel on the island. I tried to be very “responsible” for the ones we stayed at and mainly chose either eco-friendly, hostel types, and ones owned by island locals. Our total for lodging for the entire trip was $495 or $248 per person.

I can’t say enough good things about all the houses we stayed in! They were all super great, had wonderful views, and great hosts! If you want the exact house and contact info for any of the houses let me know! I would be glad to share with you!

Rental Car

The Big Island is , well, BIG. You basically have to have a car if you want to see the island or do day trips to somewhere other than where you are staying. And most of the island is very rural. So I knew getting a car would be crucial for us since we wanted to travel around the island. I originally wanted to rent a sweet Jeep (*eyeroll, I know), but they were also expensive. So I looked into a company called Turo. It is like an AirBnB but for cars. We ended up renting a very sweet ride (Kia Rio) from a super nice guy named Mark. It was super easy and not too expensive. It also had insurance covered, and unlimited miles. It also got really great gas mileage. Only had to fill up the tank twice! $339 total, or $170 per person. There were two occasions where I wished we would have had something with some more clearance, AWD, or 4WD but other than that it was great. Our trip was heavily focused on doing outdoor activities so if I were to do it again, I probably would spend some extra money to get a more 4WD friendly rental.

FOOD

I did not include food in our costs, but we mainly ate pretty cheap. I just wanted to mention a few places we ate that were worth noting.

I LOVE MAC SALAD. It is one of my favorite dishes everywhere. We stopped and got mac salad in every town we went to. My favorite Hawaiian BBQ/ mac salad joints were LL Hawaiian BBQ ( they are throughout the island but we ate at the one in Kona twice), and Ippys Hawaiian BBQ in Waimea. My favorite poke place also had some great mac salad, but even better, fresh poke (Kona, Umekes Fish Market Bar & Grill).

We also love beer so of course had to stop by Kona Brewery in Kona. It did not disappoint. The pizza was BOMB and their beer has always been some of my favorite. Another to mention was the Big Island Brewhaus in Waimea. We just had drinks there, which were great, and the food that went by our table looked super good!

There were a few places we really wanted to eat at in Hilo, but they were closed the days we were there. (Two Ladies Kitchen)

For some reason, Naalehu was one of our favorite things about the island. A tiny town on the southern end with gorgeous scenery and delicious food. We stopped by Taco Tito and had great tacos, then went over to the famous Punalu'u Bake Shop where we got a few different Hawaiian specialties. Aloha Mix Food Truck looked amazing also.

Stuff to do and see

We did a lot! So much that it is hard to just mention a few without all the others, so here is our complete list. We mostly just played it by ear and decided what to do the morning of, but if you are more into planning this could be useful.

Mahai'ula beach - gorgeous beach, short hike, not crowded
Manini'owali Beach (Kua Bay) - beautiful white sand beach, no hiking, but crowded.
Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park - short hike, so many sea turtles and good beaches!
Pu'uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park - beautiful nature trails
City of Kona
Coffee tours, coffee farms around Kona (the coffee is so good there!) We went to Kona Coffee & Tea.
Waipio Valley - hiking optional
Rainbow Falls (Hilo) - short hike
Low Store - https://www.facebook.com/lowscorner/
‘Akaka Falls / Peepee Falls (Hilo) - short hike
Liliʻuokalani Park and Gardens (Hilo)
Richardson Ocean Park (sea turtles!)
Macadamia Nut visitor center (Hilo) - we didn’t go (not a big fan) but FYI!
Lava Tree State Monument -interesting little walk to see trees that were taken over by lava
Kehena Black Sand Beach - tried to go here but it was so insanely crowded (interesting crowd) that we couldn’t find parking.
Kaimū Beach Park - short hike to cool overlook of the ocean and cool lava rock to see - used to be able to park there but the new lava flow took it over
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park - super awesome National Park with lots of hiking options, beautiful views, cool lodge and restaurant.
Punaluʻu Beach - really pretty black sand beach with lots of sea turtles.
Papakōlea Green Sand Beach - medium length hike. We didn’t get to do it but it was on our list.

I really wanted to go diving, night snorkel with manta rays, etc. but ended up not doing it due to staying in budget. I know people who highly recommend those type of excursions though! Snorkeling gear can be found for pretty cheap around the island or rented and is a fun activity that can help keep you in budget!