Ala Moana Hotel/site-seeing on foot

Hello,

I%26#39;ll be in Hawaii on business next week and am taking a couple of days to myself at the end to relax. Staying at the Ala Moana hotel. Any tips on the best way to get around and what is within close proximity to that hotel? Is the beach close by good, or should I make my way to Waikiki? I won%26#39;t have a rental car.

Thanks!

Ala Moana Hotel/site-seeing on foot

Hi fellow Vancouverite:

You can walk to Waikiki easily, if you like to walk! We walked to Ala Moana Mall all the time on our last visit to Waikiki. Took us about 1/2 hour from staying in mid-Waikiki at a leisurely pace. I think you%26#39;re only a block from the beach...Your hotel says it%26#39;s: Across the street from Ala Moana Beach Park.

If you don%26#39;t want to walk to Waikiki, TheBus is only $2. Enjoy your trip!!!

Ala Moana Hotel/site-seeing on foot

Ala Moana Beach Park is the primary beach park serving the City of Honolulu, and a far superior strand to Waikiki. It is wider, unbroken, with always calm water, statuesque shade trees, huge grassy areas, and full restroom, shower and snack services. Don%26#39;t bother going to Waikiki Beach unless you want to see the crowds and say that you have swam there.

Honolulu is an excellent walking town, entirely flat in the main neighborhoods, with sidewalks, lighting and crosswalks throughout. Your hotel, which looks fabulous since its $52M renovation, is very well located. Next to the largest shopping center in the Pacific (don%26#39;t miss the Makai Market Food Court....the world%26#39;s best), at the gateway to Waikiki, and with easy access to the Ward Centers and Downtown.

About 2 miles in either direction will take you from Diamond Head to Chinatown, encompassing Kapiolani Park/Zoo, Waikiki, Kakaako, the Capitol District and Downtown.

The bus system in central Honolulu is excellent (never more than a few minutes wait), with Ala Moana Center as the hub. However, it can get to be a loooooong ride if you take it to the outlying rural areas and beaches.

You really should think about renting a car for a day...they are fairly cheap (can be had all-in, with taxes, for less than $30). Oahu lends itself to a ';circle drive'; which will show you all the spectacular diversity of the island in a beautiful several hour drive....it is grand outside the city...and you will be able to visit the prime beaches.

Great - thanks to both of you for your input! I%26#39;m looking forward to this break even more so now. I definitely do enjoy walking, and am happy to hear the hotel is in a location that allows me to do that.

I appreciate your help!

Lots to do on Oahu.

Rent a car for a couple of days. You can see the island much better with a car.

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g29222-i37-k647862鈥?/a>

Map of Waikiki. Includes Ala Moana Hotel.

You can take the Ala Moana Blvd bridge or the Kalakaua Ave bridge if you want to walk to Waikiki. Ala Moana Blvd is more scenic especially if you walk along the beach from Ala Wai Harbor.

Magic Island at Ala Moana Beach is great for sunsets.

spotlighthawaii.com/SpotlightPDF/WebMap/Oahu鈥?/a>

A tip about walking to Waikiki from the Ala Moana hotel: Cross through the Hilton Hawaiian Village hotel and then walk along the shore line (there%26#39;s a path) until you get to Duke%26#39;s restaurant bar or the Moana Hotel and then cut through the hotel. You%26#39;ll end up right in the heart of Waikiki. Cuts the walk by a third I think then if you walked to Waikiki via the street. Or, there are $2.00 shuttles from Ala Moana Shopping center or the excellent mass-transit Bus.

I agree with the previous poster about Ala Moana beach being better than Waikiki. The reef line is shallow in Waikiki, there%26#39;s more sandy bottom at Ala Moana. However, I do enjoy a day in Waikiki, the new ';beach walk'; just opened and International Market Place is always fun (there%26#39;s a great coffee shop in the back with a bird%26#39;s eye view). I love spending a few minutes using the rocking chairs on the front porch of the Moana Hotel. In the evening, nothing%26#39;s better than sipping a cocktail at a beachfront hotel bar watching a free hula performance and listening to the softly crashing waves. Heaven.

Then I spend the rest of my time away from Waikiki! Easy to do from the Ala Moana hotel. The Ala Moana shopping center is fantastic. Great shopping, good coffee, lots of restaurants, and easy transportation from there. I think there%26#39;s a Hertz at the hotel, but you can easily get around Honolulu using the Bus (Iolani Palace, Aloha Tower, Ward Centre, and Bishop Museum). If you want to go out of town (north shore, Diamond Head, Pali lookout, windward, swap meet, Haleiwa, Makapuu, Polynesian Cultural Center, etc) I would rent a car. It will give you more freedom to stop and go and be faster than taking the Bus. You%26#39;ll have a great time!

HI. I just walked about 6 miles last evening in search of that Bounty Hunters headquarters and i must say it was a neat walk at night. The streets were a tad scary in some places but I walked by the jail where he drops prisoners off and so forth which has scary written all over it. Oddly enough my wife and i wanted to hunt down the place where his show gets taped for whatever reason just to say we did it. We passed a few other couples walking about as we got closer to the hotel (the one mentioned here) and the couples were friendly. Maybe they were going to that site as well, but I dont recommend it at night really unless its on the return portion. The churches lit at night were very photogenic.

Totally agree with all the comments about Ala Moana Beach park being much better than Waikiki. Some of the best spots to just sit under a palm tree, feel the breeze and watch the world go by. I so wish I was there right now instead of at my computer (where I%26#39;ve been for the past 1 1/2 hours) at 5:30 UK time trying to get my bodyclock back from Hawaii time :0( I would also reccommend catching a bus either a number 8 (get off at Park Shore announcement and walk a little way) or number 2 down to Kapiolani park . If you do it early in the morning grab a coffee from Starbucks and stroll down to the breakwater near lifeguard station 2F go out to the end and watch all the amazing fish that come to the surface as people feed them.