hawaii on a 5k budget

We go for 8 nights to the Courtyard King in Kona on the Big Island. We like it because it has a little beach right there with water sport rentals, a pool, and is within walking distance to a lot of restaraunts. We like going horseback riding, kayaking, paddle boarding, and snorkeling. We also enjoying biking (you can also hike) out to where the lava goes into the ocean. There are trails around the volcanoe too and out to secluded beaches
We highly recommend it! We've done it for $4,000 all in and we get it through Delta Vacations.

Is that all inclusive ? Sounds like a dream- of course spending money seems to be not enough. We love being outside and good to know it can be done! Does Delta have a travel agency? Do you have any tips on where to save cash?

Not that it has to be- ideally would like to book ourselves but a travel agency might be able to offer us better rates.

CheapHawaii.com or other sites like that can give you discounted rates if you bundle airfare, hotel, rental car.

There’s cheap flights to Hawaii with United now and Southwest will be offering flights soon, if not already. There is no all-inclusive in Hawaii, I believe I read there are no all-inclusive in the US. For a travel agency, I’ve had great experiences with Enchanted Honeymoon(s)? out of Nebraska. We used them for our spring break trip to Mexico and it was super easy (nobody lived in Nebraska either). I’d also check out a air bnb to see prices of places too! Then you can cook at home and save some money that way

To stay in that budget, you should consider an Airbnb. All of the islands are insanely expensive, especially for food. The best way for you to cut costs is to have an accommodation with a kitchen, so you can at the very least prepare breakfast and lunch for yourself.

What has been your experience with Airbnb?

We are in the middle of booking our honeymoon to Hawaii for the first part of October. We will be staying in Honolulu for 2 to 3 days and then getting on a 7 day cruise from there which will take is around several different islands. A cruise is a good way to go if you are wanting to visit multiple places and more things are included with cruises like food. We are still waiting on final quotes for prices but when we started it was $7,500 for the cruise, flights, and hotel stay for two people. I'll comment more when I hear back from our travel agent lady helping with everything.

Following!!

We are going to Oahu for a week and flying from Florida. We are coming in around 3K. You can definitely do it for 5K. I'd look into Expedia bundles, that's where we booked through! Oahu has great beaches, hiking and food, and its a more popular island! Remember, its relatively cheap to "island hop" the plane tickets/plane rides are really reasonable once you're there.

ETA: We'll be staying at Waikiki Beach!

I just returned from a 10 night trip to Maui. We didn't pay for airfare (used miles saved up for 2 years), or our hotel (we were guests at a friend's timeshare). We spent just under $3,000 during the trip. That's just spending money, restaurants, excursions, and souvenirs for 2 people. We attended a PGA event at Kapalua, golfed, snorkeled on our beach, road to Hana, did a whale watching excursion, visited high country (Surfing Goat Farm, Ocean Vodka distillery, Lavender Farm), Old Lahaina Luau, snorkel/snuba excursion to Molikini, and local shopping in Lahaina by the Banyan tree. We saw numerous waterfalls on the Road to Hana, and witnessed 40' waves and a surf competition while we were there, not to mention a blow hole and that whole Ballistic Missile Threat, LOL! I'v never been to Hawaii before so I can't speak for the other islands, but I would highly recommend Maui!

I've vacationed three times in Kauai at a time share (family vacation- my parents have it, we also have family on the island), once on Oahu, and once on Maui. I about have a heart attack every time at the cost of everything, everywhere lol. Nevertheless, Kauai (on the time share end, which does have a few hotels) is like the epitome of the "island" feel if you are looking for relaxing of all the islands. It does have the other end which is all hotel/resorts if that is your need there are just way more peopleeee There is only one road on the whole island. Oahu is like LA, but 10 feet from the beach with people getting married every hour on the hour (we stopped by to see Pearl Harbor). I literally felt anxious there with all the people crammed, it was not relaxing, and I liked it when I lived in LA better. Ha. Maui has a lot to do in the way of activities. So, we love Kauai; we've gone hiking, paddle boarding, swimming/snorkeling, downhill bike tours, boating tours, rum plantations, helicopter tours, and a LOT of eating. Activities are generally $100-120 bucks (unless free). We also cook a lot but a trip to the grocery store for us (usually 6 people, just for breakfast/lunch material) is easily $500 bucks. I know that we've gotten airline tickets for as cheap as $600 and expensive as $1200 depending on the season we are traveling and purchasing (this is from CA). So, it may be your most expensive island and you're paying for way less people and way more island vibes lol.

We're in the process of booking our honeymoon to Maui from Boston.

My FIL's offered for us to exchange their timeshare, but there was nothing to exchange on the whole island for over a year. The timeshare company offers "getaways" for members, so we booked through that instead.

We're staying in a 1 bedroom condo, right on a private beach in Lahaina for 7 nights and it was $979 and then we paid $60 or so for a guest pass since we aren't the actual timeshare owners. I did read that Costco offers similar deals.

Flights are more than I'd like to spend right now, so we're going to watch them for a little bit. My BP also asked for a list of things we'd like to do while we are there. I have a suspicion that they want to get us an excursion or something (I did that for my matron of honor as her BS gift), so I think she's returning the favor. I did not do a honeyfund for etiquette purposes (just to clarify). I think it's definitely doable for $5K if you search for some deals!