Originally Posted by slippahs
I'll give you credit if you sleep in your car overnight--just make sure to find a safe place as there are occasionally rental car break-ins. You'll also likely find the surf to be on the South Shore during that time of year. The winter is when the waves pick up on the North Shore--so don't be too disappointed if the waves are flat to a foot or two.
Not the expert on hostels, but I do know that there's a large concentration of them in Waikiki. If you do end up staying in a hotel and still want to be on the North Shore, the Turtle Bay Resort is something you might look into. Also, camping at designated beach parks overnight requires a permit. More info on that
here.
Right - need a permit, but camping is free AFAIK at a lot of places. Thanks for the link!
I think that the Turtle Bay Resort will be out of my price range for this lil stopover since I'm not trying to make a real vacation out of it, but just want to bum around for a few days before heading back to work on the mainland. Thanks for the heads up about the North Shore surf that time of year. I still don't think I want to end up around the crowds of Waikiki, so maybe I'll check out Makaha or something - good waves there in July? I'm an amateur surfer at best and just want to have some fun on the cheap for a few days and get away from it all. Sounds like camping is the way to go if I don't want to be in Waikiki or spend more than $40 a night.
I would really hope that, haole or not, some ice-head wouldn't smash my window for something while I'm sleeping *in* the car!
peace,
~Ben~