BootsnAll Travel Community

Hi
Im going to Hawaii for 4 months this summer. I had origonaly planned to stay in Lahaina in Maui as i know friends who spent last summer there and thought it was great. However having researched the islands it seems that Honolulu in Oahu would be a much more suitable option for 5 students looking for work, accomodation and a lot of fun.
Could anyone here advise me on what island and/or what area of a particular island would be most appropriate for us? Any advice or information would be much appriciated!

Thank you.

Depends on the sort of jobs you're looking for. Resort work can be found in Maui, but if you want a wide range of job types to sort through, and more competitive pay, Honolulu's your best bet, for obvious reasons -- it's just a hell of a lot bigger.

Also, the nightlife will get a bit repetitive if you stay in Maui. Honolulu does afford a larger variety of clubs and things.

Wherever you go, be prepared for the island fever -- it's like "cabin fever," a sort of itchy restlessness that will get to you once you've been locked on an island for several months. This effect may be somewhat minimized if you live in Honolulu, just because of the big-city feel. Plus, you can always hop to another island and see some different sights if need be.

Let me know if you have any other questions -- I used to live in Hawaii and there are others here who still live there, so ask away!

--Jessicah

Hi Stu,

I've been living on Oahu for the past 8 months. I'd definitely recommend it over Maui as far as job availability goes. What kind of work are you looking for though? I see you're from Ireland, so you may have to look around for some under the table gigs unless you have a work visa. That said, I see "Help Wanted" signs up everwhere I go in town, so I'm sure you can find something.

What Jessicah said about island fever can be true, but it depends on how you spend your time here. The beaches will get old after awhile :P. If you're into hiking, we have some great trails here. There's also scuba, kayaking, rock climbing...pretty much any warm-weather outdoor activity you could want. Honolulu also has some good nightclubs, from what I've heard.

If you have more in-depth questions, feel free to email me at rachaelmw@gmail.com. I'll try to point you in the right direction.

-Rachael

Thanks for the responses. We are in quite a tough spot our group is divided over where we want to go.
We all have J1 work visas so hopefully we will all find some sort of work. We'd probably all favour bar/restraunt/shop work over manual work though. One of our main concerns is how easy it is to find to find affordable accomodation for 3 months (I hear you need to rent for at least 6 months).
Another concern my friends have is Honolulu not being a nice city and totally over crowded. Maui is aparantly a much nicer island (and cheaper), is there any truth in this?
Again any help would be very much appriciated.
Thank you.

Honolulu's not a bad city at all. I mean, it's not tremendously exciting, and it is obviously very VERY touristy, but I wouldn't call it a bad city. There's no pollution, the weather's great, there's lots to see and do, and all the main sights are in one section of the city. Yes, you'll have to put up with huge tourist crowds, and it is a big city and therefore a crowded one, but I don't know if I'd really label it "overcrowded." If there's any overcrowding, it comes from the hordes of Japanese and American tourists that are constantly roaming the Waikiki area. And because Oahu's a small island with a large number of people, sure, you could call it crowded, and traffic at peak times of the day might get a little rough, but Singapore it is not.

You can find some apartments, maybe even houses, that will do short-term 3 month rentals, but the monthly rent might be a little bit higher as a result. Try apartment.com; I'm pretty sure you can do a search for 3-month housing on that. I bet many of your short-term housing options will be around Manoa, because the university is there. You might also check craigslist.

Maui is not much cheaper than Oahu. Do not expect typical American prices anywhere in the islands. Obviously, the more away you get from the tourist masses, the better prices will be, but they'll still be high. And Maui is extremely touristy, pretty much all over.

Really, you're looking at two islands that will have a lot of tourists. If you were going to the Big Island, Molokai, or Lanai, that's really where you'll find the lack of tourists, the smaller, not-so-crowded cities, the more relaxed, natural Hawai'i. Scenically, both Maui and Oahu are beautiful islands, and you won't be disappointed by either. It really all comes down to whether you want the less-populated island (Maui) or the more-populated island (Oahu.) Competitively-paid jobs and accommodation will be much easier to find in Oahu, but if you want things a tad bit quieter (though still touristy) go for Maui.

Another thing you might want to consider is your transportation. Public transport is not one of Hawaii's strong points. And it can be very frustrating to be stuck in a cheap apartment eleven blocks back from the beach and have to walk like mad just to catch some waves. Or even go to work. So take that into account as well when you're doing your planning.

Hope this helps.
--Jessicah