How to save on your Hawaii vacation

O'ahu go pass - available at:

1.  Costco (4 days pass)
2.  Groupon has a 3 days pass (sometimes 20% off) or
3. O'ahu pass website - signing up on their website (get $10 off) -3,5,7 days pass

3 days though Groupon cost is around  $133 per person which is a great deal considering any Luau in Hawaii is at least $89.


Pearl Harbor has 3 different areas if you buy them all separately, it's about $60+, Kualoa ranch (movies filmed here: Jurassic Park, 50 first dates, Journey to the end of the earth, Lost, etc) by itself is $109 (so even if you just go to Luau and Pearl Harbor - you are still saving $30, if you any other, like the Kualoa Ranch, now you are saving $139) Dole plantation - 3 admissions to 3 sites (maze, garden and Pineapple Express), and much more.

The O'ahu card get you into 30 places around O'ahu (which includes 1 of the 4 bonuses,  Luau at the Polynesian cultural center, Jeep rental for the day, swimming with Dolphins at sea life (***note: make sure you get a bug spray with spf, I walked out of there with at least 10 bites that swelled up like a burn mark for days after*** you can buy this at a Walmart or target, I will take a picture and share shortly)  or the Germaine's Luau) and also discount for some selected shopping.



Recommendations to do each day with O'ahu pass

Restaurants in the area worth trying

Places to stay: you can reach out to a Marriot vacation club to see what deals they will give you for being willing to sit through a sales presentation about 90 minutes of your time and at the end of it, you get a $50 voucher to use at all the restaurants in the area (see below).  Some are $199 for 3 week nights for studio room, you can opt to buy more at a certain rate, maybe slightly more for the weekends). Check out this post about Marriott Ko 'Olina (tips and savings for this resort)

Flights, book well in advance or another way to save is if you are willing to connect to another city or either buy a separate flight out of that city instead of buying a round trip that may cost more.



Food: places like vacation clubs have kitchenette and kitchens, buy a week worth of food at a Walmart or Costco (Costco also sells gift cards to restaurants in the area that you can get for $79.99 worth $100-so that is $20 dollar saving if you want to go out to eat in the area), if you are drinkers, better to just buy a couple of bottles to have in your room and have a cooling insulated cup to refill and use around the resort.  Or if you really want to try the food at the restaurants at the resorts, go there for lunch if open or go to their happy hour, additional you would get a premier Marriot club card that would save 5%-10% off restaurants on site or nearby.  

Another way to save is joining apps like Foursquare or Yelp that when checking in, may give you %10 off the total bill or give you free appetizers or desserts.

 Additionally, Hawaii has a couple of different charity programs where restaurants in Hawaii support that would give you 10%- 15% off participating restaurants however, I had a very bad experience with Hawaii Perks so I am not sure if they are truly legit to recommend here.

Packing for Hawaii