When planning a trip most trip planners will search for a way to cut corners on
travel expenses, with the obvious top three being lodging, food, and transportation.
When it comes to visiting the island of Kauai renting a car is an expense that has to
be budgeted for.
travel expenses, with the obvious top three being lodging, food, and transportation.
When it comes to visiting the island of Kauai renting a car is an expense that has to
be budgeted for.
During our visit to Kauai in June of 2021, the beginning of summer and the start of the fervor of the post covid travel season. The island seems small enough to get around without a car, especially for the backpacking trip we had planned. Besides individual rental cars there are other transportation options available that we pursued. The Kauai bus, ridesharing, and hitchhiking. For those who intend to go just about anywhere outside of a resort, or tour; the towns are spread out and the wild parts of the island are surprisingly remote, are almost exclusively accessible by car. Kauai bus is a great choice for those who are looking to go to locations off of the main highway with primary routes out of Lihue going to Kekaha and Hanalei Bay. It’s very cheap, costing between two and five dollars a person; please note the drivers accept cash only. For those with large backpacking backpacks the bus is not an option
as large backpacks are not allowed on the bus. Ride shares are also an option for some travers, as there are many rideshares available from the Lihue airport. The cost can add up quickly as we took an Uber to Koke’e state park which was an hour twenty minute ride which totaled out to be about $100. The other drawback is that rideshares are few and far between outside of Lihue. We arrived on the island without a rental car. I had booked a night of camping that on the topo map of the island looked very close to the entrance of our backpacking destination. The only detail I had overlooked was that Waimea Canyon lay between our campground and the entrance to the Napali State Park; the intended destination. There are no direct roads that link the campground to the state park entrance. The only way to get to the park entrance was to backtrack and go almost completely back around the island on the only road to the park entrance. The campground also has absolutely no cell service and there are little to no busses that service Koke’e State Park. We were able to make friends and hitchhike with some other campers, being very transparent about our predicament. Not everyone is willing to pickup hitchhikers so relying on this method is not guaranteed to work for everyone in all situations. Due to the backpacking culture, and laid back locals, and happy tourists Kauai is still very hitchhiker friendly. We caught a ride all the way back to Lihue where we were dropped off at a discount car rental, called Island Rentals and were lucky enough to rent their very old pickup truck for $160 a day. We learned from our new friends that they too were lucky to get their basic four door hatchback for $200 a day. The conclusion is that Kauai is truly a paradise worth visiting. At the end of the day even though we paid a premium for transportation. We were able to save on our flight, pre- packed food, camping, and
hostel accommodations.
Resources
https://www.kauai.gov/BusSchedules
https://www.kauai.gov/Government/Departments-Agencies/Transportation-Agency/Carry-On-Items-Prohibited-Activities
https://www.islandrentalcars.com/
as large backpacks are not allowed on the bus. Ride shares are also an option for some travers, as there are many rideshares available from the Lihue airport. The cost can add up quickly as we took an Uber to Koke’e state park which was an hour twenty minute ride which totaled out to be about $100. The other drawback is that rideshares are few and far between outside of Lihue. We arrived on the island without a rental car. I had booked a night of camping that on the topo map of the island looked very close to the entrance of our backpacking destination. The only detail I had overlooked was that Waimea Canyon lay between our campground and the entrance to the Napali State Park; the intended destination. There are no direct roads that link the campground to the state park entrance. The only way to get to the park entrance was to backtrack and go almost completely back around the island on the only road to the park entrance. The campground also has absolutely no cell service and there are little to no busses that service Koke’e State Park. We were able to make friends and hitchhike with some other campers, being very transparent about our predicament. Not everyone is willing to pickup hitchhikers so relying on this method is not guaranteed to work for everyone in all situations. Due to the backpacking culture, and laid back locals, and happy tourists Kauai is still very hitchhiker friendly. We caught a ride all the way back to Lihue where we were dropped off at a discount car rental, called Island Rentals and were lucky enough to rent their very old pickup truck for $160 a day. We learned from our new friends that they too were lucky to get their basic four door hatchback for $200 a day. The conclusion is that Kauai is truly a paradise worth visiting. At the end of the day even though we paid a premium for transportation. We were able to save on our flight, pre- packed food, camping, and
hostel accommodations.
Resources
https://www.kauai.gov/BusSchedules
https://www.kauai.gov/Government/Departments-Agencies/Transportation-Agency/Carry-On-Items-Prohibited-Activities
https://www.islandrentalcars.com/
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