Just make sure the flag says Waikiki!

Last minute MR to HNL
 

I'm going to have a 9 hour layover in HNL tomorrow afternoon. I would really love to see Diamond Head, but I arrive at 2:00 PM and I read that last entry is at 4:30. Is there a way to see the park without renting a car? I'm afraid that I would miss the 4:30 deadline after waiting in line to get the car.

Also, any suggestions for the rest of the day? I'm interested in almost anything outdoors but I don't really care for shopping.

Thanks!

If you have a burning desire to see Diamond Head and do not have my Scottish blood, a taxi would do it. (Of course a rental car might work.) For the return trip you could use TheBus, bum a ride or call the cab. Maybe hit Waikiki on the way back. After which the 19 or 20 will take you to the airport in about an hour. It's a shame you are too late for the Arizona Memorial.

Wirelessly posted (The Hawaiian iPhone : Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A306 Safari/6531.22.7)

Did you want to hike to the top of Diamond Head? Either way, you should have enough time. Just get the rental by 3 Which would give you ample time to drive over there and hike up.

The rest of the day can be spent grabbing dinner at Diamond Head Market and heading to nearby Queens Beach (parking across the street at Kapiolani Park) so you can catch the sunset over dinner.

I haven't read the whole thread and this may be a repeat, but here is what we did on this trip:
15:00 arrive HNL
15:15 pick up boarding pass for HA flight
15:30 take bus 19 to Waikiki
16:35 arrive at Hilton Village
16:45 order MauiZaui pizza at Roundtable
17:00 enjoy eating excellent pizza
17:30 go for a walk on the beach
17:55 grab bus 20 back to HNL, transfer slip accepted
19:00 go through security
19:30 board flight to LIH

So there is plenty of time to take the bus, have a pizza, and go for a walk in a 5h layover.

That's a good timetable Merlin and shows what is possible. You could probably add nearly an hour to the time at Waikiki by taking a taxi both ways vs. The Bus, but the price is going to be a lot higher.

Wow! All's well that ends well! A little too close for MY comfort zone!

During our recent HNL layover, we were able to visit the Aloha Tower Marketplace for a bit of shopping (picked up some very nice Hawaiian shirts which were on sale) and then had drinks & appetizers at the Gordon Biersch restaurant & brewpub overlooking the harbor.

We took our time as I went ahead and sprung for a cab both ways (what the heck, we were on vacation and I was able to use miles for our CO BF flights IAH-HNL as well as our interisland HA flights HNL-LIH)........

Afterwards, we had time to hit the CO PC once more before walking over to the HA interisland terminal (a bit of a stroll but not bad).

4 Hours on a Saturday night
 

I have a 4 hour layover, then on to GUM on a Saturday night (arrive 6:10, depart 10:10). I'd like to have a good dinner cause I'm coming from a 10 hour flight in Y, connecting to a 10 hour flight in Y and then an early am connection to NRT (God willing). We'll have carry-on's but I assume I'll be able to leave them at the RCC.

I did see a reference to a small shopping center within walking distance but wondered if there was something else. I think getting to Waikiki is really tight and I don't like really tight. But, if I'm wrong, let me know. I don't like sushi and I'll have plenty of time to eat Japanese food in Japan.

Or, we could eat at the airport. Is it safe to walk around the airport neighborhood at night? (I've only gotten and returned cars so I know nothing about the area.)

Suggestions greatly appreciated.

There's a Big Kahuna's pizza at the Airport Trade Center; probably a 10 minute or so walk from the UA baggage claim. I wouldn't count on being able to store luggage at the RCC; you may want to check on that in the United forum (and, of course, confirm the hours too).

For more upscale, you could take a taxi to Sam Choys.

Thanks

Another thought is taxi to Aloha Tower. If the plane is on time, and you can quickly deplane and get to a taxi, my guess is that you could have 1 to 1.5 hours there for a meal.

http://www.alohatower.com/

Indeed. Gordon Biersch has brewpub & restaurant there. I also picked up some terrific hawaiian shirts on sale at one of the clothing shops at the Aloha Tower complex.

So I got in on the crazy EWR-SEA (or vice-versa) one-way MR deal that will have me in HNL for 3.5 hours...

I've been wanting (i'm not sure if this is good or not) to try Mitch's Fish Market out...so i'll definitely head there (unless someone gives me a good tip on other sushi).

My question is: Is there any shave ice stands within walking distance from HNL?

I'd love to get some fresh Shave Ice, but I'm not going to risk anything with a bus or taxi.

Thanks in advance,
jeremy

I really like Ninja Sushi at the Airport Trade Center.

I don't remember whether Byron's Drive Inn has shave ice.