Reliant Blog

How Our Family Went to Hawaii for $2800!

Life· Travel

Hacks for traveling on a budget without missing out

Trip Goals & Expectations:

Traveling is something we’ve always been passionate about as a couple and something we hope to continue with our children. We’ve had our fair share of trips so far with Hattie, but vacations look a lot different with a child and if we, as a couple, aren’t on the same page about our expectations, it makes everything more difficult when a busy toddler throws some curveballs in our itinerary. All this being said, we started planning by setting our goals for the trip and discussing our expectations:

  • Active, outside, together!
    • This is becoming more of a theme for all of our travels as we are all more happy when we are outside and we keep our bodies moving, instead of returning from vacation feeling like we need to go on a diet. We have also found that we aren’t big city people, so if there is an opportunity to stay somewhere less urban, we always prefer that
  • Relatively frugal (shop and make food)
    • In order to be able to travel more frequently, we need to be able to save money where we can. Plus, this makes the above point more achievable
  • Explore God’s creation 
    • There is so much beauty to be seen anywhere we travel and getting to be outside exploring is something that we both feel deepens our relationship with God
  • Spend quality time together as a family
    • Enjoy each other’s presence and have unplugged, uninterrupted time together
  • Learn about the history of Hawaii
    • There is a lot of history here!

Itinerary:

A few notes before we jump in… First, flexibility is key in travel with children. There were many times when we had to flex our plans to adapt for naps or bedtime due to time zone changes and there were times when we were able to push nap time a little more than expected. We have also found that family friendly lodging and amenities available on site is a game changer for traveling. We were able to have quality one-on-one time while Hattie napped instead of sitting silently in a hotel room waiting for nap time to be over. Additionally for lodging, we were able to save a lot of money by staying in military base lodging- major perk of the military. Sure it’s not the Ritz, but we’ve been very impressed by locations, proximity to the beach in most locations, lots of playgrounds and pedestrian friendly paths, and of course the safety of staying on base can’t be overlooked. (See the Budget category at the bottom for more budget hacks)

Day 1:

  • Travel Monday and arrive in Honolulu on Monday evening
  • Pickup rental car from airport
  • Check into Pearl Harbor lodging (Navy Gateway Inn– $166 for 1 night/2 bedroom suite)
    • Would recommend looking into Navy Lodge Hawaii as there is a playground and pool on site, but it was sold out for leisure travel when we were looking to book

Day 2:

  • Visit Pearl Harbor Memorial (USS Arizona, Battleship Missouri, USS Bowfin Submarine)
    • Really thankful we started the trip here. It gave us proper perspective on where we were visiting. Not just to see the white sand beaches and the turquoise waters, but also to remember those who gave their lives to protect our country.
    • Notes about visiting:
      • We did the standby admission for the USS Arizona and it only took about 30 min to wait for a spot on the ferry over- they do have reservations available though
      • Children must be 4 and up to tour the submarine
  • Beach/Settle in

Day 3:

  • Hike Koko Head Trail
    • Similar hike to the Manitou Incline in Colorado Springs (straight up mountain with rail ties for steps, shorter but amazing views)
    • We brought our Osprey Poco Plus hiking backpack because we knew we would be doing a lot of hiking and Hattie prefers to sit in that over the stroller a lot of times
  • Hit up Lanikai Juice for a post-hike treat!
  • Hanauma Bay
    • Easy snorkeling here, but parking was full so we continued with our drive along the shoreline
  • Halona Blowhole
    • Cool feature to pull over and watch! When seas are rough and up, water is forced through a hole in the rocks making a sort of geyser
  • Makapu’u Point
    • Walk/hike to lighthouse or along the shoreline. Lighthouse trail is 2.5 miles out and back & paved, so we were able to bring the stroller
      • We were traveling at the end of the season for WHALE WATCHING (so cool!) and were able to see a few from far away on this hike! They have binoculars at lookout points, but we would watch for them as we were walking
  • Lunch/nap
  • Bellows Beach

Day 4:

Day 5:

  • Slow morning, walk path at Bellows, pack up, check out by 10am
  • Rent bikes at Bike Shop Hawaii ($18 per bike for 4 hours)
    • Ride to Lanakai beach on bike path
      • It is a shoulder for most of the path, but it is so beautiful and there are a lot of pedestrians, so traffic was moving pretty slowly
      • We weren’t sure if the bike shop would have child seat rentals, so we brought our Shotgun bike seat and Giro Scamp helmet for Hattie to be able to bike with us- highly recommend this seat! She loves riding out front and it’s small enough that it was easy to fit in our suitcase!
  • Stop for a treat at Sunrise Shack in Kailua
    • This had been recommended to us and we just happened to bike right by it, so we had to stop!
  • Check into MCCS Hawaii Klipper Villas ($220/night for 2 bedroom suite) between 2-3pm. Hattie nap time
    • Check out the Beach Cottages if available! Our villa was lovely and spacious, but a little ways (still walking distance) to the beach.
  • Get settled at base, evening walk to park

Day 6:

  • Complimentary breakfast from MCCS Hawaii Klipper Villas- definitely a benefit of staying here!!
  • Rent Kayak from Marine Corps Base Hawaii Outdoor Rec
  • Put in at Hale Koa Beach and paddle to Secret Beach (~1 mile/1.5 hours round trip). Saw some sea turtles along the way! Returned the Kayak after 3 hours and paid $33.
  • Evening at North Beach (we ordered pizza to the beach 😍)

Day 7:

  • Check out at 9am and get complimentary breakfast from MCCS Hawaii Klipper Villas
  • Drive to Green World Coffee Farm for a quick stop and treat, then on to tour Dole Plantation
    • These felt very touristy but they were free experiences- we probably would have easily cut this out if we didn’t have time to kill before our flight
  • Visit Laniakea beach to see sea turtles, watch surfers, and enjoy the beach
    • Turtles come to shore year-round but peak in the summer!
  • Food Trucks on North Shore
    • a fun, shaded outdoor eating area with shrimp trucks, taco trucks, and another location of the Sunrise Shack!
  • Drive 1.5 hours to Waikiki & Diamond Head State Monument
    • We took a longer route to ensure Hattie got a nap in the car- a lot of driving this day, but better than no naps!
    • Diamond Head State Monument closes at 4 pm and requires out-of-state reservations, so we missed that by a little
  • Stop by Makalei Beach Park
  • Get to airport around 8pm local for 10pm flight

Day 8:

  • Travel overnight Sunday night to Monday morning
    • Our first red eye flight with Hattie. She slept for ~3 hours then refused to sleep the remainder of the night. Recommend toddler having their own seat for overnight flights if possible. Rough way to end a great trip… probably won’t book this kind of flight again 🙃

Total Budget Spending:

  • Flights: $724.30 (Chase- used points, also received $294.75 for travel credit from chase)
  • Car: $742.09 (American Express- used points and received $99.74 back on statement, +$81.38 car seat). $60 to fill up rental car with gas.
  • Lodging:
    • NGIS Hawaii: $166 (1 night)
    • Bellows AFS: $402 (3 nights x $134)
    • MCS Hawaii: $440 (2 nights x $220)
    • = $2079.90 (Cost of most people’s airline expenses alone)
  • Flights: $1639.20 (Chase- used points & received $294.75 annual travel credit)
    • $1639.20 – $914.90 (point value redeemed) = $724.30 (amount we were charged)
    • $724.30 (amount charged) – $294.75 (statement credit received) 
    • = $429.55 total spent on flights
  • Food: Spent $500 total (shopped at commissary, limited eating out to once a day)
  • Entertainment: Spent about $70 on rentals and such
  • Trip total: $2800 (for HAWAII🤯?!?!!!!!)
    • Articles we’ve read says people typically spend $4000 per person

Lessons Learned:

  • Frugality pays off
    • Normally people spend $4000/person to travel to Hawaii for a week and we did it for $2800 total for 3 people
    • We saved a lot of money by
      • utilizing points from credit cards (both of our credit cards have great rewards for travel: the American Express Platinum and the Chase Sapphire Reserve (both have annual fee waived for military))
      • limiting eating out to once/day- food is crazy expensive right now and it can be difficult with a toddler. We enjoy having a good meal, but we also equally enjoyed grilling burgers on the beach!
      • getting on-base lodging- although base lodging options may not be as luxurious as staying at a resort, we felt very comfortable at each location and the amenities of staying on base are hard to beat!
  • Flying with a toddler in the lap is much harder once they start walking. Try to get an open seat next to you or consider buying another seat, especially for overnight flights
  • Kids need boundaries, especially when in new settings. Every time we enter a new environment, we try to take a tour and explain all the boundaries so kids have a clear expectation (helps mom and dad be unified as well)
  • Note from the Real Estate Investor lens: coastal and island markets are expensive, hence why many of the indigenous population in Hawaii are getting out priced from their own homes and homelessness is a big issue. Maybe best to consider renting instead of buying in these high cost of living markets
  • The United States involvement in WWII began in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and ended with Japan’s signing of surrender aboard the USS Missouri, which is parked in Pearl Harbor now as a museum. Never forget the 2403 Americans killed at Pearl Harbor, and the over 400,000 Americans killed before the surrender was signed.

Overall, it was an unforgettable trip and we are so thankful to see all of these experiences through Hattie’s eyes. We will cherish this trip for many years to come and, who knows, maybe next time we will bikepack through Hawaii!

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