School Trip to Hawaii

[msommers]

Awhile ago, there was talk of putting together a geo field trip to Hawaii with one of our profs as a tour guide, essentially. No one had idea of cost and nothing really transpired until tonight on facebook they seem to have something sorted out.

I've never been to Hawaii and love volcanoes so this seems like a prime opportunity to go. I have absolutely no idea of cost and was hoping some of you who have gone or are in the travel business (yes I'm looking at you Chris haha) could shed some light.

We'll be going during our reading break, so the days they have suggested are Feb 18-27. I reckon there will be about a dozen of us going, but that's just a rough guess.

Here is what they've posted on the invite page:


Flight prices are out!!! So we can start to actually plan this. We forgot to get an email list at the meeting we had way way back so this is the way we are going to try to get in contact with everyone that was interested.

http://www.luxuryretreats.com/villa-page/index.aspx?vid=109190

These are the places that we are looking at booking. They work out to be about $100/per/night. If anyone has any suggestions, we are open to ideas. Flights round trip are going to be between $750 and $800. Once we get everyone who is interested we can figure out the total cost. The previously we had $3200 for everything including food but was completely guessing the flight and hotel cost. Just a quick calculation:

Flight: $750
Hotel: $1000
Food: $700
Van rental: $150

We are looking ~$2600 roughly everything included.

Is this kind of accurate?

I'm not sure if getting a kitchenette for all of us to cook our own shit would be cheaper or an all-inclusive type deal.

I guess while I'm at it, which island, geologically speaking, would have the most to see? To avoid island hopping and raking up the tab too much. We are students afterall!

Cheers.

[darthVWader]

I would stay away from hotels and look into renting a condo or house. I was in Kauai in Feb and we rented a two bedroom two bathroom condo for $100.00 a night. They have Costco on the Island so we just loaded up on food and Beer and life was good.


http://www.hawaiianbeachrentals.com/?gclid=CI7ngdvozKICFQ8mbAodRUAmwg

[lint]

another good place to look is vrbo.com

[t-im]

I'm fairly sure Hawaii doesn't really have any "all inclusive" resorts, so you'll be renting a condo or staying in a hotel...

You will probably save money if you have a kitchenette of sorts. From my experience, restaurants in Hawaii (Waikiki/Honolulu) are expensive and nothing exceptional. That being said, I have not ventured to any other islands so I could be totally offbase with my observation.

You can probably get airfare a bit cheaper then 750.

I'm in Hawaii (Waikiki/Honolulu) 1-2x a year and love it. Have fun!

[thrasher22]

$100 a night for a hotel? Apparently students have a lot more money than when I was in school 2 years ago...

Renting a condo is a good idea if you can pack 4 people in there, or just stay at a hostel for $20 a night, saving you $820 EACH.

http://www.hostels.com/hawaii-state/usa

[adidas]

Flights should be much cheaper then that, have a look around and you could easily land a round trip for 500 with air canada.

[msommers]

Thanks for suggestions, I think a hostel is a much better idea than a hotel. Condo may work or could be difficult depending on how many commit. I mean fuck, at 2600 for a week I'm not ready to commit to anything as it still seems too expensive. Good to know about the flights as well. Are those prices available close to departure or average anytime given the time of year?

[freshprince1]

I assume since you said you like volcano's that you're going to the Island of Hawaii? Probably in the city of Kona? I've been to Oaho twice (i.e. Honolulu, Waikiki Beach...etc) and there's not a lot of Volcanic activity there.

If you are going to Hawaii/Kona, make sure to leave a whole day to explore Volcano National Park. I was there back in May and did the park in one afternoon...not nearly enough time!

Have fun, Hawaii is awesome, tru paradise.

It will be cheaper to rent a condo and make a lot of your own food. While not overly expensive, eating out in Hawaii will cost a lot more than eating at home.