Is it necessary to get a rent-a-car on vacation in Oahu, Hawaii?

Question

I heard the buses are way more cheaper and will take you everywhere. Is that true?

Answer 1

I wouldnt renta car. It is a waist of money and you will just get stuck in traffic. You can pretty much walk every were or take a bus or taxi

Answer 2

Yes, the bus system is great and will take you any where you need to go on the island. and are very timely and usually have a 20 min wait in the waikiki/down town honolulu part. no big transfers or waits unless you want to go to the north shore and the dole canary.I think if you are planing to stay mostly out of north shore, the bus will take you anywhere fast, and cheap.

Answer 3

Aloha The Bus!

That's the name of it...while it does take you all over the island...

it even goes down alot of the neighbors and runs 24 hours in downtown honolulu....but runs every 1/2 hour on the outer cities late night.

It's $2 one way...or tourists can get 3-10 day bus passes...

it will take you to all major attractions that Oahu has.

Just keep in mind....but roads will be a 2 lane road and if an accident happens you will be stuck there for hours!

It will take about 2 hours to get from one destination to another...

But the bus has voice commands to let you know where you are at...and will name the streets as it approaches them!

The bus drivers are very friendly...

But  also keep in mind that the 1million people that live here will also be taking the bus for leisure, work and transportation.  so be courteous!!

Answer 4

Short and Sweet...Only rent a car for a day or two to go to North Shore...Toooooooooooooo Much Traffic on Oahu, The Bus is Great!~~Aloha~~

Answer 5

The Bus is a very efficient and inexpensive way of getting around the entire island however you should keep in mind you will be losing a lot of (possible) valuable time having to stop at every bus stop and riding all day from place to place. I would recommend renting a car for a day  or two just for flexibility and convenience.

Answer 6

For most of what you will want to do, you will probably be OK with the bus.  It will get you around Waikiki, back & forth from Ala Moana Center, out to Hanauma Bay, & to downtown w/o difficulty.  But it will be hard to see the north shore or the windward side - not sure how good the transportation is to Pearl Harbor.  I would encourage you to rent a car for at least a day or two so that you can see some of the rest of the island.  So many people come to Waikiki, think that is all there is to see on Oahu, & then complain about how crowded & over built Oahu is.  There is so much more to see & do.

Answer 7

No!  It will be impossible to understand the traffic system and you'll most likely end up dead in Waianie killed by native Hawaiians just for being a tourist.

Answer 8

You can rent a compact car for about 15 dollars a day, so I always rent one when I am there.  Buses are nice and handy and all that, but they charge 25 per person to go over the the Polynesian cultural center for example, so you would have more than made up your rental car fee by then.  Also it's fun to go driving on the circle around the island, find places to stop and swim and take photos, that wouldn't be possible from a bus.  

Answer 9

i've vacationed there with a rental car and without, and i can say that the rental car certainly makes things easier. the bus was ok for going short distances downtown, but when i  was there at least, it was late quite a few times and on one particular night ended up making my family late to the luau we were scheduled to go to.

if you want to travel around all of the island, i think a car is the way to go, or at least rent one for a day or two. you can stop along the drive as you please, where you can't really do on a bus. you might see a great scenic spot to take a picture, or find a beach that you didn't anticipate or plan on going to. with a car, you can do all these things and leave as you please on your own. with the bus, you really have to match what you do, and how long you spend on doing it, to their schedule. depends on how you like to vacation i guess. i typically like to just explore with a loose plan. if you're really structured and have things very well planned out then a bus might work.

and i agree with the person above, the first time i went to oahu i stayed mostly around waikiki. the second time i stayed on the windward side of the island near kaneohe and found out there was SO much more out there to see and in my opinion, much nicer beaches on that side :)