HNL - Ko Olina transportation

Any transportation recommendations from HNL to the JW at Ko Olina? I'm not interested in renting a car for my stay, but am curious if there is a better alternative to the listed $75 one way taxi fare from the airport (as mentioned on the hotel website)? Any public transportation options that make sense?
Thanks, in advance.

I was there 3 years ago, and we had a rental car. Not sure what the options are right now, but renting a car is your best bet. Try hotwire it's pretty cheap. However, can't remember if I had to pay for the parking or not. I think it was around $7/day.

My thoughts are that you really need a rental in Hawaii. Unless you are planning on spending the whole time at the resort, in which case you'll be missing out on a lot. There isn't much in public transportation and things are pretty spread out. It would be different if you were staying in Waikiki, but Ko Olina is out in the middle of nowhere.

The Ko'Olina is relatively isolated - you need a car to get groceries, go out to eat, and sightsee. I don't see how you can get by without one, unless you plan to never leave the resort, even for your meals. Public transportation is minimal and will waste a lot of precious vacation time.

IuLiKa said:

I was there 3 years ago, and we had a rental car. Not sure what the options are right now, but renting a car is your best bet. Try hotwire it's pretty cheap. However, can't remember if I had to pay for the parking or not. I think it was around $7/day.

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Parking is free if you are a Marriott owner or are renting from a Marriott owner, or at least it was two summers ago.

I strongly agree with the others that this is a resort where you need a rental car.

This thread started with rapjr asking about transportation to "the JW at Ko Olina." I assume that means the J.W. Marriott Ihilani at Ko Kolina, not Marriott's Ko Olina Beach Club.

I'm going to assume that there are good reasons why rapjr does not want to rent a car -- even though my personal preference would be to have a rental car, both for airport transportation and to be able to make excursions away from the hotel.

I think it would be possible to have a great vacation at either Ko Olina resort without a car. There are the resort facilities, beach lagoons, and various restaurants at the Ihilani, the Beach Club, and the golf course (Roy's). For golfers, there's golf. The Paradise Cove Luau (which I found disappointing last time) and Fia Fia Night (which I really enjoyed) at the Beach Club are both in walking distance. There are boat tours and boat charters available at the Ko Olina Marina. In addition to all that, there all sorts of excursions to other parts of Oahu available through the concierge.

I did a quick Google search looking for shuttle services that go from HNL to Ko Olina. There are a bunch of them, but if I were looking for such a service, I would call the concierge to get their recommendation.

Finally, there's a Hertz location at the J.W. Marriott Ihilani at Ko Kolina. If a rental car isn't completely out-of-the-question, but just isn't wanted for the entire stay, then one-way rentals on arrival and departure day would be options. Also, renting a car for a day or two to explore Oahu would be an option.

Should have clarified a bit...Yes, staying at the JW Marriott and trying to avoid $29/day parking. Most of the time will be spent at the resort so don't have a great need to get out very often. I was aware of the Hertz desk at the hotel and may rent for a day or two if I have the itch. I guess I was mostly curious if anyone was aware of a specific and reliable shuttle type service that was a better alternative than a cab.

I did a quick search for public transport options between HNL and Ko Olina: not much there and TheBus options don't look like they offer much for resorts at Ko Olina plus they don't do luggage. Here is an excerpt from the Trip Advisor on this issue:

Posted on: 8:20 pm, February 09, 2009

Several companies will offer a transfer for $50.00 one way, for up to 4 passengers. The metered Taxi fare is approx. $68.00 with no traffic. Doa google search and you will find a handful of companies that will transport you for a fixed rate. Try A8 Shuttle, Dirt-Cheap Shuttle or Star Taxi. They all offer fares for $50.00 with no extra charges for luggage.


As far as I'm concerned, the $29/day parking fee at Ihilani is a total rip! I could see maybe $25/day valet charge at a hotel in downtown Honolulu or Waikiki where there is limited parking, but not at Ko Olina.

Good Luck.

Not that it does anyone any good now, but I was told last year that the Hawaii Legislature has approved a monorail system to operate between Ko Olina and Honolulu with stops in between (maybe even the airport).

Construction is to start within a few years with completion by 2016 (or so they say).

I am not sure where things stand because of the current economic situation, and this project could in fact be sped up in light of the recent economic stimulus funds for all 50 states.

Maybe someone reading this will be able to contribute more up to date information regarding this huge project......

When this project is completed it will be a piece of cake to get to Ko Olina.

TheTimeTraveler said:

Maybe someone reading this will be able to contribute more up to date information regarding this huge project......

When this project is completed it will be a piece of cake to get to Ko Olina.

Click to expand...

Honolulu Rail Transit has a website at http://www.honolulutransit.org/

According to the Honolulu Advertiser on Monday, January 5, 2009 (in an article comparing Honolulu Rail Transit to the new rail in Phoenix):

I woud call the resort. When we stayed at the Marriott Waikiki they had an arrangement with a transportation company for a $9 transportation fee between the hotel and the airport. They had a simlar arrangement at Ko Olina for pickup and delivery -can't remember the price since we had a rental car at Ko Olina but used the service in Waikiki. They also had deals for transportation to various points around the island, and I thought, to Kapeole and back. I would be surprised if they didn't have a similar service at the JW.

As for being there without a car. My DH and I commented that Ko Olina was one place were we could see enjoying a week where we never left the resort. We would probably never do that, because of all the great hiking in the islands, but if we did, we would still be happy. Granted it is not the JW but I am sure we could find things to entertain us there as well.