Yet another Hawai Question (Kauai to be specific)

I've collected lots of info by googling, but have a couple
of general questions.
1) Is 8 days too much for Kauai?
2) Rental car auto glass breaking not common there anymore? (I was in
Maui 5
years ago, the Lonely Planet guides warned about it, I saw it next to our
Hotel)
3) Microsoft street guide says, I can cover about half the island in
less than 2 hours in a driving. Is that correct?
4) It appears Kauai lay out (for lack of better term) is similar to
Maui. i.e. You see Walmart, Kmart close to the airport?
5) Any difference between Thrifty and Alama in Kauai?
It is a family vacation, with 5yr old and 3 yr old. I am really not
looking for bike ridings, or visiting sugar plantations. What are the
cheap fun activities, other than hanging out in the beach, building
sand castle having leisurely walk etc.

Rowen wrote:
Sorry, I meant any difference between Alamo and Thrifty at Lihue
airport? (Not Alama as I wrote earlier) Why do I ask? I never dealt with
any of those two. I normally go with AVIS or Budget. Thrifty's rate for
full size car (Dodge Charger)was little less than Alamo mids-size
(Pontiac G6) car. Perhaps car size definition is different for Alamo and
Thrifty.


Anyway, I would appreciate hearing about any experience with those at
Lihue. There are loads or complain about Alamo at MCO though.

"Rowen" wrote in message
news_bQi.33996$Da.25900@pd7urf1no...
I've collected lots of info by googling, but have a couple
of general questions.
1) Is 8 days too much for Kauai?
2) Rental car auto glass breaking not common there anymore? (I was in
Maui 5
years ago, the Lonely Planet guides warned about it, I saw it next to our
Hotel)
3) Microsoft street guide says, I can cover about half the island in less
than 2 hours in a driving. Is that correct?
4) It appears Kauai lay out (for lack of better term) is similar to Maui.
i.e. You see Walmart, Kmart close to the airport?
5) Any difference between Thrifty and Alama in Kauai?
It is a family vacation, with 5yr old and 3 yr old. I am really not
looking for bike ridings, or visiting sugar plantations. What are the
cheap fun activities, other than hanging out in the beach, building
sand castle having leisurely walk etc.

1) No. Many people like your family, spend two weeks there. Then again,
it depends on where you hail from. If you already live near the ocean
and/or the Gulf of Mexico and trips to the beach are common, then you might
want to spend a couple days on Oahu. It sounds like your itinerary calls
for a leisurely R&R for the adults and fun & games for the kids without
spending a king's ransom. Since you don't plan to cover a lot of distance
or territory anyway, I don't think you'll mind 8 days in Kauai at all,
especially considering your planned activities. Packing up all your
belongings and schlepping them to another island, checking in and getting
all settled again isn't my idea of relaxation! Many people think Kauai is
more beautiful than Maui. Or maybe you'd consider a day on Oahu where you
can go to the beach and take the kids to the nearby zoo and aquarium.
Though it ain't cheap and the 3 year old may not remember much of it, the
helicopter rides through Waimea Canyon and past the Na Pali Coast are
spectacular enough for me to put them on the "don't miss" list. There are
helicopter tours that cover both places in a single trip.

2) Auto glass breaking is much more common on Oahu and Maui than it is on
Kauai. Most of it is done by drug abusers and recently there have been some
HUGE drug busts on Kauai.

3) Microsoft street guide as well as Mapquest, Google Maps, etc. use
computers to determine drive times and they are highly inaccurate for Hawaii
because the traffic here moves much more slowly than on the mainland.
Tourists drive slow to gawk and are much more likely to obey speed limit
laws because they don't know how much leeway and leniency local police
allow. If, for instance, when you were on Maui and looked at a map or saw
the roadsigns that indicate it's 55 miles from the outskirts of Kahului to
Hana, you'd calculate a fairly short trip. But, the breathtaking
world-class scenery causes a lot of people to drive slowly as do the many
areas where the posted speed limit is 15 miles per hour, not to mention the
many hairpin curves and the 19 one-way bridges that slow things down
considerably. If you did take the trip, it was probably 4 and a half hours,
which seems very long for a 55 mile trip. And if you returned via the
southern route, you discovered most of the roads were dirt or gravel, again,
not conducive to high speed transport. Ignore the driving times on those
maps for ANY place in Hawaii.

4) Well, the layout may be similar, but Kauai is quite a bit smaller (553
square miles) than is Maui (729 square miles) and the population density is
a little less on Kauai.

5) Don't know, when I've rented cars on Maui, I've always used Enterprise,
although my boss would sometimes rent from Alamo. When I worked there, I
had a company car, so didn't ever rent them.

You are invited to visit my Kauai webpage at:
~ http://keith.martin.home.att.net/vKauai.html - where you'll find no
advertising, no pop-ups, no cookies and nothing for sale. Or if you want to
compare islands, you are invited to visit my Islands webpage with links to
each Hawaiian Island:
~ http://hawaii.home.att.net/index.html - Bon voyage! KM

What are the complaints at MCO ?

"Rowen" a écrit dans le message de
news:EQdQi.37986$1y4.23377@pd7urf2no...
Rowen wrote:
Sorry, I meant any difference between Alamo and Thrifty at Lihue airport?
(Not Alama as I wrote earlier) Why do I ask? I never dealt with any of
those two. I normally go with AVIS or Budget. Thrifty's rate for full size
car (Dodge Charger)was little less than Alamo mids-size (Pontiac G6) car.
Perhaps car size definition is different for Alamo and
Thrifty.


Anyway, I would appreciate hearing about any experience with those at
Lihue. There are loads or complain about Alamo at MCO though.

"Runge4" wrote:
What are the complaints at MCO ?

Its too hot and humid.

Rowen wrote:
Sorry, I meant any difference between Alamo and Thrifty
at Lihue airport? (Not Alama as I wrote earlier) Why do
I ask? I never dealt with any of those two.

All I can say here is that Thrifty in Vegas attempted to rip me
off by calling me after I got home to say that I owed them $$
for scratches+dents. I replied, "BS. The car had scratches+
dents which I notated at time of rental." I sent their home
office a copy of the defect-card that I had kept and they sent
me a coupon as an apology.

Never had a similar problem with Alamo. BTW, Alamo and
National are both owned by the same company. They retain
their separate ID's to satisfy concession+lease obligations.

In article p_bQi.33996$Da.25900@pd7urf1no, says...

I've collected lots of info by googling, but have a couple
of general questions.
1) Is 8 days too much for Kauai?

No. I always wish that my 7 day trips were longer. There is a lot to see.

2) Rental car auto glass breaking not common there anymore? (I was in
Maui 5
years ago, the Lonely Planet guides warned about it, I saw it next to our
Hotel)

In 30 years, the only auto glass breaking that I have ever seen was at
trailheads, and by vandals.

3) Microsoft street guide says, I can cover about half the island in
less than 2 hours in a driving. Is that correct?

If you drove fast, didn't stop to look at anything and the traffic in Kapa`a
was light. Take your time. Stop a lot. Don't worry about the traffic in
Kapa`a, as it will not help. If you stay in a central location, like Kapa`a to
Poipu, you can easily cover each direction, save for the canyon, in 2.5 hours,
but I'd plan a full day and enjoy.

4) It appears Kauai lay out (for lack of better term) is similar to
Maui. i.e. You see Walmart, Kmart close to the airport?

Yes, it is similar. If you consider the road through Kapa`a the same as the
Highway to Hana, it's really similar. Note: I'm talking drive time only, as
the road to Hana is much more beautiful, than driving through Kapa`a at rush
hour.

5) Any difference between Thrifty and Alama in Kauai?

I do not know, as I always rent Hertz.

It is a family vacation, with 5yr old and 3 yr old. I am really not
looking for bike ridings, or visiting sugar plantations. What are the
cheap fun activities, other than hanging out in the beach, building
sand castle having leisurely walk etc.

Definitely spend time everywhere! Go slowly. Do not try to see too much. See
the Waimea Canyon, as it IS the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. Beaches are off
the highway, unlike much of Maui and O`ahu. You have to drive from the highway
to the beach, often through sugar cane fields. Around Kapa`a and Princeville,
the beaches are next to the highway. Go to Hanalei and hang out. Good eats
along the highway and some good shave ice stands plus fruit stands. If Mango
Mama's is still there, stop in for a "drinking coconut."

Good eats at Poipu, just across from the Sheraton. Go to www.chowhound.com and
do a search for Kauai for dining options. Lot of good reviews.

Kaua`i is a great island and fun for the family.

Aloha,
Hunt