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Getting around
By Robert Bone
Special to The Advertiser
Rental cars
Outside of O'ahu, with its excellent bus service, and where taxis are also easily available, your best bet for traveling to the sites and sights on most any other island is by your own rental car. There are several companies, so competition is intense and rates are generally reasonable.
After all, kama’aina (local residents), too, usually have to rent a car when they travel to an island other than the one on which they live. Even on O'ahu, there are many areas not easily reached by bus or taxi, making rent-a-cars a valid choice there, too.
Limos and tour buses
Those who don’t want to drive will find several dozen companies offering guided experiences on various size limousines or tour buses. Some of the more well known of these include Polynesian Adventure Tours, http://www.polyad.com, Roberts Hawaii, http://www.roberts-hawaii.com, the E Noa Corporation, http://www.enoa.com, and Trans Hawaiian Services, http://www.transhawaiian.com. The types of tours they offer, however, change frequently, and some of them may only make their arrangements through travel agencies.
MORE ABOUT THE BUS
Between the Islands
Today you normally have to travel between the islands by air. From Oahu, you start this process from the Interisland terminal at Honolulu International Airport http://kumu.icsd.hawaii.gov/dot/hono.htm.
Currently there are two main jet carriers, Aloha Airlines, http://www.alohaair.com and Hawaiian Airlines, http://www.hawaiianair.com. Flights between the major airports on the major islands – O'ahu, Kaua'i, Maui, and the Big Island (either Kona or Hilo) are especially frequent, sometimes going every hour. Flight times are short, usually varying between about 20 minutes to a half hour.
Flights to and from Lana'i and Moloka'i are less frequent and are often served by propeller craft, such as Island Air, a subsidiary of Aloha Airlines. Hawaiian Airlines also maintains some prop or jet-prop flights.
There are also propeller flights to smaller airports, such as to the Kapalua Airport or the Hana Airport on Maui.
For peripatetic travelers who want to visit several island airports within a given period, Hawaiian Airlines sells a special Hawaiian Island Pass, in five-, seven-, 10-, or 14-day periods, ranging from $299 to $409. Aloha Airlines offers its Island Pass, allowing unlimited travel over seven days for $321.
By water
The only way anyone takes an interisland trip on the ocean surface today is either by (a) your own private yacht or (b) one of the week-long cruises on the SS Independence, launched by American Hawaii Cruises, http://www.cruisehawaii.com. The latter may be an excellent solution to some who want to see and learn about several Hawaiian islands, without having the worry about packing and plane schedules. The ship offers various guided tours at each port call.
Travel writer Robert W. Bone is a successful journalist, editor and photographer. He is the author of "The Maverick Guide to Hawaii."
