The Hawaiian islands are an ideal destination to plan a dreamy, romantic getaway as well as enjoy endless outdoor adventures. Since we spent our honeymoon on the island of Oahu in 2007, we wanted to return to Hawaii for our 10-year wedding anniversary trip and we decided to explore the Big Island and Kauai this time. Hawaii is not commonly thought of as a budget travel destination, but it can be enjoyed without completely breaking the bank. We managed to save around $4,000 on the cost of our trip by using airline and hotel awards and points. Below are some travel hacking tips on how we managed that, and notes about things we did that were splurge-worthy.
1. Airline Miles
To reach Hawaii we needed airline tickets from Atlanta to Honolulu, which can cost up to $2000 after fees for two tickets. We both had accumulated a good amount of Skypass miles with Korean Air thanks a few previous round trip flights to Asia from the United States. By booking our flights through Korean Air, we were able to redeem 50,000 miles for two round trip tickets to Hawaii on Delta, which is part of the same SkyTeam Alliance network as Korean Air. The Korean Air redemption rate is 25,000 miles for economy round trip (or 45,000 miles for business class) within North America anywhere that they fly. If you tried to redeem Delta Skymiles for the same ticket through Delta it would cost more than triple the amount of miles (93K miles per ticket when I last checked) so booking through Korean Air is critical to getting this exceptionally great redemption rate. From Honolulu we purchased separate inexpensive inter-island flights to get between Oahu, Big Island, and Kauai as needed. Lucky for us, all of our flights were right on time on this trip!
2. Hotel Awards
While on the Big Island we stayed at two very lovely fairly budget-friendly AirBNBs (see links below) and I would highly recommend both of them. We had access to a kitchen at both AirBNBs, which could have saved us some funds if we didn’t go out to eat pretty much the whole time, which we did because we always want to try out local restaurants. Several months prior to our trip we both signed up for Chase’s World of Hyatt credit card, which at the time was offering a sign up bonus of a complimentary two night stay at any Hyatt in the world if you spent a few grand (in the range of $2000) on the card in the first three months. They have offered this introductory offer off and on for many years and it is totally worth the $95 annual fee to enjoy this bonus since Hyatt has some grand hotel properties in primo locations. By using our two-free nights credits per card we were able to stay the the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa for four nights without paying a dime. This hotel usually costs more than $500 per night for the room we had so for the cost of $190 for the annual fee for two credit cards we were able to get a 4-night hotel stay worth over $2000. Not a bad deal.
3. DIY Activities
We had originally booked a pricey lava boat tour on the Big Island, which was canceled last minute because lava was not flowing into the ocean at the time. So as our plan B we went to Kalapana and rented bicycles and did a DIY hike looking for lava from Kilauea Volcano. I think the bike rental was around $15 each and it came with a bike, bike lock, bottle of water, headlamp, and some vague directions about where you might find lava (hint: look for smoke). The plan was to pedal down a dirt road for a few miles and park somewhere along the side of the road and then hike over unmarked dried lava fields toward the general direction where lava might be flowing. Once the sun went down after hiking over dried up lava for about an hour we found what we were looking for – glowing red real live lava flowing along the earth in many spots all around us. The lava was flowing slow enough to not be threatening but it was of course incredibly hot. It was magical and amazing and it felt like we were on another planet. One thing about doing this on your own is that at some point you will have to walk over a very jagged and sharp dried lava surface in the pitch black dark and find your way back to the road where you started, which was a little challenging but doable. Then you have to find where you parked your bicycle, which can take a while in the dark since there are so many bikes parked along the road. There is definitely potential to fall and hurt yourself pretty badly so this is probably only for the slightly daring and wearing sturdy closed toe shoes is a must. The photo below was taken with my iPhone and we really were that close to the lava.
We also did some fantastic snorkeling independently in Kealakekua Bay while we were staying in Kona. Pack your own snorkeling equipment and you can snorkel many places on your own. While staying on the east side of Big Island, we spent a full day at the Volcanoes National Park, which has some fantastic volcano exhibits and wonderful walking trails. We also explored remote Papakōlea (also known as Green Sand Beach), which was about a two-hour walk one way to a stunning beach with greenish-sand, which appeared to be a popular hang out spot for young locals. Pretty detailed directions about how to get there can be found online.
An activity we enjoyed immensely on Kauai was hiking. There are miles and miles of trails that can easily be enjoyed without a guide in the Waimea Canyon State Park, Kōkeʻe State Park, and the Nāpali Coast State Wilderness Park. There are trails in a wide range of difficulty levels and even places you can hike to and camp overnight if you into that kind of thing. I do recommend bringing shoes you don’t mind getting muddy if you plan to hike on Kauai. It is a lush, green, and wet island, which contributes to its beauty but also can mean muddy trails, especially on the north side of the island.
Note: our visit took place prior to the massive 2018 Kilauea Volcano eruption. Park rangers and staff at the Volcanoes National Park can provide up to date information on lava flows and safety.
4. Worth the Splurge
Our biggest splurges on this trip included two scuba diving trips and two helicopter tours. Our helicopter tour on the Big Island was really cool because we were able to see volcanic lava flowing along large areas of the ground from the air. With the rising steam and rivers of lava flowing below us it was an other-worldly experience. While in Kona on the Big Island we took a dive trip with Jack’s Diving Locker, which included an hour boat ride to the dive site, an afternoon dive, and then the grand finale, a night dive which entailed swimming to the bottom of the ocean in the dark and then shining a flashlight upward and patiently waiting for sea life to appear. We were not disappointed as a flock of graceful Manta Rays appeared and danced all around us for almost an hour. We also were visited by some playful dolphins and of course a plethora of beautiful fish. The Manta Rays are some of the most breathtaking creatures I have ever seen and to have them swim right up and almost brush against my head over and over was an incredible experience. This splurge was worth every penny and then some. I should mention this was also our first real scuba diving trip since getting our certifications at home. It truly was one of the most extraordinary experiences I’ve had in my life and I will forever cherish the memories of this ocean adventure.
The scuba diving in Kauai wasn’t quite as magnificent as Kona but it was super fun and included a boat tour of the Napali coast, which was stunning. The helicopter ride around Kauai was jaw dropping as you could fly over and into the middle of the island, which is completely inaccessible by car. We flew through mountain peaks and right beside hidden waterfalls that are thousands of feet tall. The scenery was incredible for the entire hour-long tour and I would highly recommend seeing the island of Kauai from the air if at all possible. We went with Blue Hawaiian for both of our helicopter tours and found them to be very professional, fun, and safety-minded. If I only had one helicopter tour in the budget I would have opted for the Kauai tour and skipped the Big Island tour but both were honestly fantastic and quite different.
We made so many amazing memories on this trip and thanks to our hotel and airline rewards we were able to spend more on fun activities and less on our transportation and lodging, which enhanced our trip so much. Hawaii holds a very special place in our hearts and for our 20-year anniversary we hope to possibly visit Maui.
Rainforest Eco Cabin – our AirBNB in Volcano, island of Hawaii
Kealani Panoramic Views – our Air BNB in Kailua-Kona, island of Hawaii
