any money saving Hawaii tips?

With all the wedding expenses, we are having to look at ways to stretch our honeymoon fund on our September trip to Kauai.
Are there any places you ate or things you did that you thought were a really good value...or better yet a bargain?

Message edited 8/13/2008 9:00:23 PM.

Re: any money saving Hawaii tips?

Try to rent a condo (basically an apt) instead of staying at a hotel. FH and I did this on our vacation in Maui. We went to the supermarket and bought breakfast and lunch food, so that we'd only go out for dinner.

Re: any money saving Hawaii tips?

Breakfast was included at our hotel, so we stuffed ourselves silly in the morning, skipped lunch (or had Jamba Juice or something like that), and then dinner was the only meal of the day we paid for.

We rented snorkel gear at Snorkel Bob's and it was only like $30 for the week. Boogie boards were $20 apiece? Maybe less. So we just kept that stuff in the trunk of our car, and wherever we ended up, we were all set for cheap entertainment. All the beaches are free, if you didn't know (you never have to pay for parking like in LI). There are also tons of free fun things to do - go visit Spouting Horn (a kind-of geyser, it's very cool) one afternoon; take the 5-minute walk up to the bluffs to the left of Shipwreck Beach for the most gorgeous views of the Pacific you'll ever see; get yourself some shave ice for $1 and eat it in a park with the locals... etc...

Definitely buy your souvenirs at Wal-Mart and not at your hotel or a gift shop! Wal-Mart has a large souvenir section where you can buy Kona coffee, keychains, t-shirts, etc.

Hope that helps! I miss Kauai.

Re: any money saving Hawaii tips?

Thanks for the advice on both threads!!!!
that's a good tip on Wal-Mart, when I lived in Green Bay they had the best Packer stuff at a fraction.

Re: any money saving Hawaii tips?

One thing I found out along the way was to book your own inter-island (actually any and all) flights...travel agents often charge an extra fee (which they won't tell you!!!) to book flights through them. We found that Go! Airlines were the cheapest (we paid $77/flight/per person)but if you have American Airlines frequent flier miles, use Hawaiian...you can earn more miles
As far as souvenirs and T-shirts and even dresses!!, try ABC Shops (they are the main drugstore all over Hawaii) vs other stores...cheap and once you spend $100 you get free gifts like mugs and calendars.
I loveeeeeeeeed Hawaii, especially Kauai, and I can't wait to go back!!!! Have a great time.. you have over a month to get even more excited!!!!