You arrive in Honolulu! What next?

After at 5+ hour flight, you’ll be a little weary and mostly excited about being in Hawaii for Gay Bowl. Once you get off the plane, what’s next?

When you arrive at the Hawaii international airport (Daniel K. Inouye International Airport or HNL), you’ll first head across the terminals and follow the signs toward the escalator to head to baggage claim. There are plenty of bathrooms along the way if you need one. We suggest using one further from your gate in order to avoid standing in line.

The Honolulu baggage claim is fairly small, but many have trouble getting to it. After you arrive and get off the plane, you may need walk for a bit to get there. OR you can opt for to take the airport’s shuttle bus known as the WIKI WIKI (translation: “fast fast”) and it might save you a few minutes, but you just might want to stretch your legs after the long flight. Follow the signs to Baggage Claim.

Once you’ve collected your luggage, you have a few options for getting to the host hotel The Alohilani Resort.

Shuttles

The host hotel, The Alohilani, offers shared and private transport via a local company Roberts Hawaii for a fee. For more information and booking, click here. There are no free shuttles from the airport to Waikiki.

Rideshares

To meet your rideshare driver from UBER or LYFT, you’ll have to go up (on the elevator) to level 2. See map below.
For those arriving on Hawaiian Airlines, you’ll be at Terminal 1. To meet your rideshare, go to level 2. The pick up location is outside Lobby 2.
For those arriving on other airlines, you’ll be at Terminal 2 or 3. To meet your rideshare, go to level 2. The pick up location is outside Lobby 5 or 8.

The minimum cost (best traffic) for a rideshare to the host hotel ~$30.

Rental Cars

Last December, picking up a rental car at Honolulu airport got easier. There are now many Oahu car rental companies in one consolidated place. Just walk across the street from Terminal 2 (around Lobby 7).

Before you book your rental car at the airport, make sure that you know about the host hotel’s parking rates/policies. Gay Bowl XXII will be a very “walkable” tournament and dealing with a car might be a hassle. Renting a car for a day or two is also possible IN Waikiki, just ask the hotel concierge.

Many of you already have memberships with different rental car companies, so contact them for the best deals.

HNL to the Alohilani Resort

Once in the vehicle, there are really on 2 ways to get to Waikiki - mainly via surface roads along the Nimitz Highway which blends into Ala Moana Boulevard as you approach downtown, OR the highway (H1) where you’ll exit at Punahou or King Street. No matter how you travel, the timing of the trip will be 20 minutes or longer depending on traffic.

If you take the surface road, the views are mostly industrial until you reach downtown Honolulu (you’ll see large boats and piers and, if you’re on the right side of the vehicle, The Aloha Tower (which was once the largest building in the mid-Pacific). The highway route is a reminder that Honolulu is a city and has urban traffic just like the city you’re coming from.

When your Shuttle, Rideshare, or Rental Car crosses over the Ala Was Canal, you’re officially in Waikiki!

In the future, there is a rail line (monorail) that will provide transport from the airport to the city and other areas, but it’s still being built.

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Funding for Gay Bowl XXII has been provided via a grant by Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) through the Community Enrichment Program (CEP). For more info about HTA and CEP, click here.