Getting Around: Waikiki

We are not renting a car for our trip to Hawaii. This shocks many people on Cruise Critic and Tripadvisor. Yes its probably much cheaper to rent a car plus you get to stop whenever and go wherever. But the simple reason is in America they drive on the other side of the road and its much too confusing for us! Also that means the driver would probably miss half the sights and the added stress of not knowing where we are going.

So with all that being said we have decided to use The Bus, booking tours and shuttles and using the trolley buses.

There are many trolleys to choose from in Waikiki. The Aloha bus is a double-decker bus that runs 3 different loops. I have used a similar service ( in fact it could be this company) when I travelled to Sydney last Easter. The second story is open meaning you can take photos and videos without the pesky glass reflection.

Another trolley is the Waikiki Trolley this does a similar trip to the Aloha Bus in in a smaller bus. They have a great deal for a 7 day pass where you get entry into the Aquarium and Zoo included. We were planning on going to those places anyway so it works out very cheap even if we don't use the service everyday.

One thing I love about these sorts of buses is you can essentially sit on the bus for an hour or so and see all the sites, then get off at the places that interest you. A 7 day pass goes for about $50 which is amazing value as the one in Sydney charged $39 for 1 day!!

Booked Part 2

Last weekend I booked my sister and myself on a photography tour in Kauai. This tour is going to be her Birthday present from me. I didn't think she's want to do something like this but I showed her some of the example photos and she was inspired! I originally found Kauai Photo Tours by just Googling "photo tours Kauai" and after reading some review from Tripadvisor and Cruise Critic I was certain this would be a great tour for us.

I was very impressed with the fast email responses, especially considering the time differences. I decide to call to make my reservation ( international calling using Skype is amazing- so cheap) and spoke to Kris. He answered all my questions and gave me great instructions on where to meet the transfer bus.

One thing I love about booking all these tours was there is no money needed up front. Most just need your credit card info and charge you that day of your tour. This is great as it allows you to confirm your tour plus have some extra time to save!

Since booking I have read a lot more reviews on Cruise Critic and everyone seems to have a great tour.