My family and I took a 5-day vacation to Hawaii last week. Before we took off, I studied some tour guides, and read some articles on how to save money in Hawaii. I remembered that there is one article that says something like “Hawaii trip is not cheap, but worth it”. Well, the author obviously got the first part right.

I knew it wasn’t going to be cheap when I booked the flights and hotel at Expedia 3 months ago. The air fair and hotels are basically priced same no matter you book though Expedia, Travelocity, or Orbitz. The only reason I chose Expedia is that I am used to it. You can even try American Airline official website. I bet the price will about the same. Anyway, we spent $1200 for each ticket, and $450 per night for stay at Hilton Waikiki Beach Hotel. These prices are ok with us. You think they are expensive? You will see.

When we arrived, it is time for dinner. There are many Japanese restaurants inside Hilton. We randomly picked one. It cost us $90 for 3 dishes, before tips! The worst thing is that we were still hungry after the dinner. I am not sure if Japanese really eat so little as dinner. We end up buying some cookies from a convenient store nearby. I thought it is my bad luck to have chosen this restaurant. We tried two other Japanese restaurants in the next few days (I don’t have many choices, more than 50% of restaurants are Japanese). The truth is that they do eat so little, and they are very expensive! The taste is ok, but if you are still starving to death after finishing your dinner, what’s the point of good taste?

Let me tell you what else are expensive. Intenet access is not free, it is $16 or $21 (depending on speed) every 24 hours. Room services for breakfast cost $25 for two eggs/patatos/coffee, and $7 for 4 pieces of bacan. Beach umbralla is $30 to rent one, bench: $20! The price is not even for one day, but one time. That means if you came back in the afternoon, you have to rent them again.

If Hawaii is such a great place to have fun, all the prices will be acceptable. See the picture, it is the hotel I was staying. Looks nice, huh? But the beach is the worst among all the beaches I visited in the past 20 years. There are many little rocks mixed in the sand. And for young kids, there is no water park for them to play. The only thing kids can do is playing with sand. I enjoyed Miami, Cacun, Bahamas, Jamaica, and Caribbean islands, but not Hawaii. If you are planing to go, think again.