What your Hawaii Vacation Will Cost

Let's try to figure an approximate cost for the average one week Hawaiian vacation for two people. This will give you an idea which you can then multiply or divide by people or days to suit your particular situation. My answer is $3,770 - read below for explanation why.

Flight to Hawaii
This obviously will vary by where you are flying from. I'm going to pick the current price of a West Coast flight to Honolulu and the current cost of a Chicago flight to Honolulu and average them to use as our flight cost. If you are interested in general ongoing Hawaii flight discussions, check out my Hawaii Flight Prices Blog. Expedia's Fare Comparison engine shows a generally average price of $400 from LA and $700 for the month of April. We'll average that into $550 per person.

So, approximate flight price for two people is $1100

What if I want to fly to a neighbor Island?
Well, traditionally you would have to fly to Oahu, and then take a flight to the neighbor island, for $70 or so one way. However, these days there are more and more flights directly into every other major airport in Hawaii, so maybe you can fly direct for about the same. Or, maybe you can take advantage of the newest airline in Hawaii for $40 one way fares.

Hotel or Lodging prices
Well, obviously what you pay will depend on where you stay. Let's assume you'll be staying in a hotel, at a moderate price ... say $160 a night, $175 once you figure in taxes and fees, etc. Here's my page on the best hotels in Hawaii, IMO.

So, approximate lodging price for two people for 7 nights is $1225

Food
You've gotta eat, and this can really get expensive. We recently stayed in Waikiki for a week at a hotel with a kitchenette. As soon as we got there we dropped $180 or so at a grocery store. I was a little blown away by this much money for a weeks food, especially since we were still going to eat out a few times. All in all we probably ended up spending about $250 on meals for two adults and a two year old. Well, we also recently went to Las Vegas for a week and did NOT stay in a place with a kitchen. That was much worse. First of all, eating out every meal for 7 days is really not any fun. Secondly, we spent much more -- probably almost $500. Think about it - breakfast was $20 at a very reasonably priced buffet, lunch at Quiznos or subway still ran us $25 dollars or so once you add in drinks, and we spent as much as $50 for dinner each night.

Let's say $15 for breakfast, $20 for lunch, and $30 for dinner every day - that's $65, so $455.

Activities
Well, every beach in Hawaii is free, except for Hanauma bay. So, hanging out on the beach or in the hotel pool is free. However, if you want to surf or snorkel, or scuba, or go on a cruise, etc - those are not free. Let's say you spend two days just hanging out and spend no money, then you spend two days doing inexpensive things like snorkeling or going to a museum or park ($40) and then you spend 4 days doing things like dinner cruises, scuba lessons, helicopter tours, etc. Say $500 total. This is very conservative. I'm keeping it this low because visitors who are concerned about their budget can easily keep it under this and still have a great time, but most people probably spend much more.

So $540 for activities

Renting a car?
Renting a car is not always necessary, but I imagine most people do. Let's add in $450 for a car