Car rental recommendation for Hawaii/Kauai

What kind of car would you recommend for a week in Kauai? We hope to do a good bit of exploring. Two adults/two kids, not worried about room for luggage. The choices are:

  • Convertible: maybe not the most practical, but the kids would have a ball riding in something than the usual station wagon.

  • Jeep: are there places to go that need a jeep, and the rental companies would let you drive? I’ve heard some of the more remote areas of the west side are forbidden by the rental companies, but are there some roads you are allowed on that would be better with a jeep?

  • Mid-size SUV: higher clearance than a regular car and easier than a jeep, but not as fun to drive/ride

  • plain old boring car

The prices are comparable enough that we won’t use that for a decision. Thanks for any input (and I’ll gladly take other suggestions for places to see or skip).

Rent the Jeep, end of story.

I can’t give you advice specific to Kauai, but I was on Maui and the Big Island over the holidays a few years ago. Because of a variety of humorous circumstances that aren’t relevant to this discussion, we used 6 different rental cars in 2 weeks. The Jeep was, by far the most fun and felt most like being on vacation.

Pro:

  1. You can go essentially anywhere you’d want to. Even if you aren’t going to do any serious offroading, you’ll be able to use crappy/steep/rocky access roads that you wouldn’t want to subject a sedan to. We actually missed a couple of neat things because we didn’t have a Jeep the whole time.

  2. No matter what the season, the weather is so much better than wherever you live. You are going to be driving with the windows open anyway, unless it’s pouring down rain (maybe even then). So go all the way and get the vehicle with the biggest openings.

Con:

  1. There’s no secure storage space. Like any other tourist destination, there will be burglaries of unoccupied vehicles. Of course, even if you had a sedan, a motivated thief would smash the window and pop the trunk.

  2. It’s a Jeep. So highway stability, fuel economy, and long term reliability aren’t the best. Who cares? You are renting it.

Jeep seconded

You definitely want a convertible, but one thing you’ll get in a Wrangler that you won’t get in other cars is a better view. In a Wrangler, you’ll be sitting erect, and much higher than in a sports coupe or something, so you’ll have better point of view of everything around you, which you’ll definitely want in Hawaii. They also have a really short wheelbase, so they are extremely maneuverable and easy to drive, park, etc. Note: if you get the 4-door model, they are not as easy to drive. A friend of mine compared driving the Wrangler Unlimited to driving a pickup truck.

Disclaimer: I’ve been driving Wranglers since 1994. I think they are the most awesome vehicles ever built.

Thanks, both. Jeep it is!

I’ve been to Kauai at least six times, and I honestly can’t think of a practical reason why it would be worth spending more money for a Jeep. A passenger car is going to go virtually everywhere a tourist will go. There’s an odd chance that you might have really bad rain and the roads north of Princeville may be in bad shape, but that’s about it. Waimea Canyon is perfectly accessible by Kia or Ford Focus, ferinstance.

If you just prefer to rent a Jeep, go for it. But if you get a better deal on a convertible, I’d go with that. But I’ve always rented passenger cars, just because they are cheaper, and if you’re driving a lot on Kauai, you’re doing it wrong.

Enjoy your trip! I’m very jealous.

For whatever reason, a week rental of a Jeep is only $20 more than an economy or standard. A convertible is $20 more than the jeep. I’m used to seeing rate differences of $20 per day, not per week. So given that and two boys who will freak out at the chance to ride in an open-air jeep, the choice was made.

We’re staying on the east side. I definitely want to take a day trip north. Is Waimea Canyon also worth the drive?

When we went to Hawaii, we thought it’d be cool to drive a Jeep. On the first day: very bad sunburn. Second day: it got damn cold up on Haleakala in the morning. We wound up with a sub-compact.

That’s a pretty good deal on the Jeep. Waimea Canyon is freaking beautiful. It’s probably about a 2 hour drive from where you will stay, but worth it. The other options are boat tours, kayak tours, and helicopter tours.

The Kalalau Trail is also a highlight and that is much closer, to where you’re staying, but it is a hike that deserves to be taken seriously. If your kids are older, and it hasn’t been raining for a couple days, it’s awesome. But seriously, don’t swim in the water at the hidden beach: literally murderous riptides.

That’s a really really good point. Whether in a jeep or convertible. Treat it as sun bathing and WEAR SUNSCREEN for longer drives.

I still remember the sun burn I got back in 2003 on O’ahu while driving the island.

Regards,
-Bouncer-

Don’t rent a jeep for travelling around Kauai. I’ve been there many times.

There just aren’t any places that you are going to want to go to that require a jeep to get to. (If you were going to the Big Island, then yes, get a four wheel drive vehicle to get up to the top of the Mauna Kea volcano.)

But there are great roads that will get you anywhere you want to go on Kauai. Jeeps are uncomfortable on regular roads. They are made for dirt, off the beaten track, roads. They are also very noisy.

Rent a nice, comfortable (and secure) SUV.

Whatever vehicle you rent, wherever in Hawaii it may be, MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THAT THE JACK, CROWBAR, LUG WRENCH, SPARE TIRE ARE ALL THERE, and whatever else is supposed to be with the car.

Otherwise, when you return the vehicle, the guy will go straight to the trunk, open it, and the tools won’t be there, and YOU will be billed for them.

This is a major profit scam of industrial proportions in Hawaii (and perhaps all other similar high-tourism places).

If you get the Jeep, make sure to wear comfortable walking shoes.

Yes - pretty much essential during any visit to Kauai.

It’s been a while since I was there, but I’m also in the camp that feels it may be hard to find roads that truly call for 4WD. But if you & the family enjoy riding in a jeep on 2WD roads, go for it.

Kauai roads are a bit “constraining”. They manage to cover about 85% of the circumference of the island. Because there’s no connection through the very rugged northwest section of the coast, you have a C-shaped road that’s actually a linear feature - one route that nearly everyone is stuck on.

I’d strongly recommend a visit to the Laysan Albatross colony at Kilauea Point on the north side of the island. Seeing these birds in flight is amazing. Here’s a web cam showing a female with her currently couple-of-days-old chick.

My wife and I honeymooned in Kauai and we rented a boring old economy car (a Chevy Cobalt, if memory serves). We didn’t feel like we missed out on anything by not having a more “fun” car; we spent as little time in the car as possible.

As mentioned above, sunglasses, hat & sunscreen are essential when driving any convertible. It’s worth the time to familiarize yourself with the operation of the Jeep soft top which is primitive and cumbersome at best, and should be noted that you can take the side and rear windows off, while leaving the canvas top in place, to provide shade, while still enjoying that open-air feeling while driving. I think the warning to wear comfortable walking shoes is a bit much. An even relatively new Jeep should be reliable. I’ve had four Jeeps over the last 20+ years, and only ended up walking once, because I ran out of gas (and two of my Jeeps were old and beat up). They lend themselves well to the kind of driving you’ll find yourself doing if you explore the island - the wheelbase is both narrow and short, so a Jeep is highly maneuverable at low and moderate speeds, and (again) the high, relatively unobstructed vantage point you have is extremely helpful as well.

We drove the Mount Washington Auto Road last fall, and opted to take the Jeep instead of our minivan, for all the reasons cited above. We certainly could have done the drive in the van, but it was a better trip for having the Jeep.

If you’re staying on the east side, then DEFINITELY don’t go with a convertible ! Here’s the way Kauai works:

  • north: variable rain/sun
  • east: “rainy” side
  • south: variable rain/sun
  • west: dry and sunny (Barking Sands beach is one of the 10 driest places on earth)

If you get a convertible and are staying on the east side, then you will be putting the top up every time you go back to the hotel.

Kauai, as with all the other Hawaiian islands (except the big island) is relatively small. You can get from Hanalei (northeast corner) to Barking Sands in 2 - 3 hours depending on traffic. And that time is more due to the speed limits than the actual distance.
So ALL* attractions, like Waimea Canyon, are “worth” the drive. And Waimea Canyon (and the drive up to the overlook of Kalalau Valley) are definitely worth checking out.

It took me 3 days to figure out the “predominant weather” of each area - that is, if it is raining where you are, just go to one of the dryer places. Though a small island, the weather in one part does not imply that same weather is present everywhere on the island.

  • the only attraction I would advise not to waste your money on is that “Fern Grotto” :wink: