Consolidated "Layover at HNL, What to Do?" Thread (2016 and Onward)
 

I am flying OGG-HNL. We plan to goto mama's fish house for lunch. They open at 11am. Then I will part ways with them. There is a 2:10 deparature that gets me to HNL at 2:47pm. Even if we take an 90min for lunch, its maybe 20min to drop me at the airport getting me there an hour before my flight. I have TSA pre so I would think this would not be too big of a rush. Their flight is at 3 and the next HA flight is 3:55 getting me in at 4:25pm.

About 2yrs ago, I arrived in HNL at 4:13pm and had a flight out on UA at 8:15. I had enough time to walk over to UA, check my bag, take the bus to "Nico's Pier 38", eat a quick dinner, take the bus back, then go through TSA-pre security and get to my gate with plenty of time to spare.

This time, the UA flight is at 8:25 and my upgrade has not cleared yet so I have an even bigger need for dinner. If I take the later flight option, I should be able to just goto Nico's again. My question is if I take the earlier flight, arrive at 2:47, will it buy me anything? Would the extra 98min give me enough extra time to go somewhere better (even by taxi (or car rental) instead of bus). Thats a 5:38 layover vs 4hr

Consolidated "Layover at HNL, What to Do?" Thread
 

Use lyft! It's about half price of taxi!

Thanks, I'll consider it. I was able to rent a car for the day for $40 last time too.

But my real question is regarding the layover timing.

It's certainly doable if there are no glitches. If it were me, I'd go to Nico's again or, a bit further, the Side Street Inn.

Friends of mine are travelling on HAL444 from Brisbane and connecting 11 hrs later to HAL4 to LAX in a few weeks. This is an 11 hour layover. What are their options for a day room at a hotel? It'll be a couple and three children.

Also, will their luggage be checked through to LAX? I know that's more of an airline question, but their primary issue is finding somewhere to grab a few hours sleep as HAL4 gets into LAX at aroun 06:30

Ever been to the Kahala Hotel's Plumeria Beach House? Get a seat on the outside lanai tables and start with a Mai Tai and go from there.

NRT-HNL, 5 hour layover, then SFO. If I don't leave the airport, is there anything to do for 5 hours?

Eat, drink, sleep.

I often layover in HNL on way to mainland US from Japan. After a couple of hours, the airport gets boring. On longer layovers, I've rented a car and driven around the island, ending up in Waikiki for dinner. A nice day. On shorter layovers when I don't want to leave HNL area but get tired of airport, I take a short walk (10 minutes or so) to a strip mall nearby. No scenery to look at, but a Starbucks, few restaurants, Jamba Juice, convenience store, etc. are there.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/airport-trade-center-honolulu

Coming from Japan, after clearing customs you can easily re-check luggage in the same room as customs (to your left after customs check) and get a boarding pass for next flight from an airline agent (if you don't already have it). You're landside at this point and there is nothing landside at HNL. This is when I will walk to the strip mall and hang out for a while, before coming back to go airside.

How to kill 10 hours in HNL - Any suggestions?
 

Hi all,

any suggestions about killing 10 hours in HNL (landing 1205 - departing 2210)?
I've been there before so exploring and visiting wouldn't really be an option.
What about booking a flight to one of the other islands? Risky? Any suggestions are more than welcome.

Thanks a lot!

You could try booking a return flight with Mokulele Airlines www.mokuleleairlines.com who fly from the inter-island terminal at HNL.

I've flown from and to Maui with them and they were amazing scenic flights in a very small plane. I think each journey took around an hour. Obviously you are taking a risk with inclement weather / planes going tech so you have to assess whether it's worth that. We flew from Kapalua Airport in West Maui where a back-to-back would be very simple as the terminal is pretty much a shed and there's no security screening. You might prefer to go to the main Maui airport though (or the main one on another island), where there would be other options to get you back to HNL as well in case of any problems. Be sure to check which is the best side of the plane to sit on - in this case it was the left in both directions

I think you can also take scenic sea plane tours in Honolulu and helicopter tours, which could pose less risk in terms of not making it back to the airport in time.

That's middle of the night UK time. Assuming a short TP run, why not try as best as possible to stay on UK time to reduce jetlag and get a day room at a hotel and sleep.
The Pacific Marina Inn at the airport is usually slaughtered on TripAdvisor but I've stayed there three times now with an overnight connection and for the price, its perfectly acceptable for a few hours sleep.

Thanks for all your replies so far, I'll probably get a day room :p

Any suggestions for what to do on a 5-hour Domestic-to-Domestic layover? In the ideal world, I'd be able to head to a nice oceanside restaurant for a bite and a drink. Would love to see ocean and mountains.

Thanks in advance.

You could catch a taxi to Waikiki and have a meal on the beach. It's 30 minutes or so away from HNL.