Honolulu · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
Waikiki is dense enough to walk and cheap enough to survive if you eat where the buses go.
Hostels on Lemon Road
The dorm stock sits at the Kapahulu end of Waikiki, a block from the sand and a short walk from the Ala Wai canal.
What a day costs
Bed 45–70 USD, food 20–35 if you live on plate lunch and poke from supermarkets, and a HOLO card caps the day at about 7.50.
Getting around cheap
TheBus goes almost everywhere on Oahu, including the North Shore, on a HOLO card with a daily fare cap. Biki bikeshare covers Waikiki and downtown.
Free by day
Waikiki Beach, Ala Moana Beach Park, the sunset hula at Kuhio Beach and the Pearl Harbor memorial itself, which is free with a timed ticket.
Where travellers meet
The hula mound at Kuhio Beach draws a crowd most evenings, and hostel surf lessons at Canoes are the standard way to find people.