Appreciate if somebody could tell me :-
a) are free WiFi spots common in Honolulu?
b) which is the best pay-as-you-go data SIM card?
Thanks

I have found very few WiFi hotspots in Honolulu. And when I have asked locals, they look at me like I am nuts. I have home internet service in Hawaii with Hawaiian Tel and that gives me free WiFi at select places (like Jamba Juice etc.) via my Hawaiian Tel email address but that's about it. My condo complex, the Waikiki Banyan, has a coffee shop in the lobby with free WiFi if you have coffee or a snack there. I suspect most hotels have the same sort of thing if you are in Waikiki but public WiFi spots are by no means ubiquitous.

I come from Vancouver where it's hard to find a public place without WiFi. Every McDonalds, Starbucks and pretty much every other coffee shop/fast food joint/restaurant has it as does my dentist office, malls, stores etc. so I found it quite strange when I tried unsuccessfully to find readily available places to connect in Honolulu. Here is a list of local WiFi spots: http://www.wififreespot.com/ha.html

I have an 808 area code pay-as-you-go sim with Tracfone and they offer cheap data so that is an option but they won't ship outside of the US. I haven't tried it (Tracfone data) as I only use it for a local cell phone but I understand it is more of a browsing plan than true data. If you wanted it for an ipad, I can't see why you couldn't just pop the sim into your ipad as I do with my Speakout pay-as-you-go Canadian sim ($10/month browsing) and it works fine. I have friends who have bought a one month plan with a cheap phone/data sim from AT&T at Ala Moana.

Thanks Finkface!!

I've found wifi at every Starbucks and McDs in Hawaii I've ever tried.

http://www.mchawaii.net/ This site seems to confirm its ubiquity.
http://www.mchawaii.net/wifi/

In Waikiki a bunch of people were hanging out in front of the Apple Store at the Royal Hawaiian Mall on Kalakaua Avenue to use their free wifi every time I walked past there. It was pretty funny actually.

There are plenty of Starbucks in Waikiki.

-David

I too will be after a SIM card when I'm in Hawaii later this year. I'm looking at going with T-Mobile and will set things up after I arrive in Hilo. I know where the store is located, so hopefully I'll be able to get someone to help me set things up.

At this stage I'm looking at a plan that I can add on the $10 international plan. The plan I'm looking at is between $50 and $70, just gotta decide which features of each I need.

Main uses will be internet (Facebook etc), maps and phone calls to home (though I'll use free wifi wherever possible).

I have an unlocked Telstra iPhone 4s.

A friend of mine turned me on to this website which is tracking where refarmed TMobile 1900mhz 3g sites are popping up:

http://airportal.de/

Straighttalk byod, parent company is tracfone best option IMO