Free Road Maps of Hawaii

[DJ & PJ]

We will be sailing in Sept 2008 to Hawaii. We will be renting a car on a few of the islands and need detailed road maps - preferably FREE. Does anyone know of a website? Thx.

[Travel Angel]

Plenty of webisites where you can download a map and print.... check it out:

 

http://www.milebymile.com/main/United_States/Hawaii/maps.html

 

Good luck and hope this helps

[onecorgilover]

Hi DJ & PJ,

 

I used a map similar to this one...I hope it's ok to post, if not, please delete:

 

 

You will be driving parallel to the ocean and you can stop at the various locales along the way.

 

Here's an excerpt of my trip report that briefly described what we saw:

 

The next day we got an early start on our Circle Island tour. There are plenty of tour groups that will take you on a tour around the island, but there’s something special about discovering the island with someone you know and love and at your own pace. Not familiar with said tour? Where depending on where you start (most start in Waikiki), you make your way around the island if you stay primarily on Kamehameha Highway (Route 83).

Here’s a pdf of the route: http://www.discoveringhawaii.com/OahuCircleIsDrive5.pdf

Make sure that you drive counter clockwise around the island so that you will be on the side where you can view the ocean instead of the Ko’olau Mountains. We left at 8 am and finished at a little past one at Dole Plantation....we skipped Waikiki because we had other activities planned there the next day. On that drive you would see: Various shrimp trucks, Chinaman's Hat, All of the beaches (Sunset Beach is to die for), Byodo In Temple (If you're a 'Lost' fan, where Jin proposed to Sun), Macadamia Nut Farm, Pali Lookout, etc. There were two machines at the Byodo In Temple and Dole Plantation where you could use a penny to make a commemoration of your visit for 50 cents. It made a really neat (and not to mention, cheap) souvenir.

Byodo In Temple was built in 1968 to celebrate the centennial of the Japanese immigrants arriving in Hawaii. It is an exact replica of a 900 year old Buddhist temple complete with Japanese bridges, ponds filled with koi, peacocks, swans, a tea house and perhaps not so old world, a gift shop. It also housed an 18 foot Buddha, the largest that has been carved in the past 900 years.

Dole Plantation was very interesting as well. There was no shortage of visitors pulling in and out of the large parking lot of this cheerful, yellow building with a brick red roof top. As you arrived, you were quickly greeted by lovely tropical flowers that spelled out the name DOLE in the grass that led you up the walk way to the entry. We took a lot of pictures before we found our way into the store where we indulged in the pineapple sorbet in a waffle cone ($3.95) we hadn’t eaten lunch yet….but who cared? lol It was delicious! I never knew so many things could be done with a pineapple! The possibilities were endless…but I wasn’t quite sure about the chocolate covered pineapple….. There were wonderful displays of the various types of pineapple that were grown on the plantation and a gigantic maze that you could walk through where a huge cut out of a pineapple lay in the center.

The Pali Lookout is a definite must-see. You will get a beautiful 180 degree view of the island below. There are several areas on Pali Hwy (Route 61) to see great views, but stop at the main entrance to get the best one. WARNING: I learned this the hard way….the wind shears are awful, it blew my glasses off before I had a chance to blink. Luckily, I retrieved them, but they will need to be fixed. If you wear glasses, make sure that you attach eyeglass cords to them or hold on to them before they blow off.

[fllady]

If you do a Google search for Hawaii road maps, also will get you some.;)

[LuckyStar]

The car rental can also give you free maps. Hawaii is so awesome, you are really going to enjoy it.

[TrqoisWtrs]

These are the free drive guides you can find where they have tourist info (like luggage claim at the airport, etc.) You will also get these when you rent your car. If you can't wait, you can order them now. :D

http://www.driveguidemagazines.com/hawaiimaps.html

[cb at sea]

You will get maps with the car--and there really aren't THAT many roads, as far as main highways go! (There are alot of neighborhood roads!)

It's very hard to get lost when the road encircles the entire island! Keep driving--and you'll end up where you started!

[beachchick]

You will get maps with the car--and there really aren't THAT many roads, as far as main highways go! (There are alot of neighborhood roads!)

It's very hard to get lost when the road encircles the entire island! Keep driving--and you'll end up where you started!

 

True, but you can't do that on Kauai, and the other main islands have multiple roads, some are full loops and others are partial. Plus, there are some circle roads that are not suitable for most visitors to drive. For example, I wouldn't want someone to head north out of Lahaina and decide to just keep driving around the north to get back to Kahului. Not only is it a slow route, but the road is difficult in a few sections with high cliffs, not great road conditions, and only one lane so that you need to know one-lane driving etiquette. That could make for a pretty lousy day for someone who didn't know what they were getting into.

 

It's certainly pretty darn hard to get lost and there are only a few main roads, so a detailed road map is usually not necessary (except in Honolulu/Waikiki). But I'd hate for someone to think that they could drive west around Kauai and loop over the north to go around the whole island only to run up against the end of the road at the edge of the Na Pali coast or think they could drive over the north-west tip of Oahu (at Kaena Point) to get over to the north shore.

 

The rental companies all give you a decent map, usually with additional information and sometimes coupons for discounts at various stores, restaurants, and activities.

 

AAA has a decent Hawaii book with basic maps of each island. The "Revealed" guidebooks have both overview and detailed maps. The free Drive Guides are good; as cruisin*tigger wrote, you can order them in advance (for a fee?). We like the drive guide maps quite a bit and my DH has taken to simply printing out the ones we need. I've killed a fair number of the Maui Drive Guide maps that are at the airport, car rental companies, and Chambers of Commerce (or similar visitors information centers).

 

If you do a web search for maps, you'll get hundreds of hits, many with excellent and printable maps.:)

 

beachchick

[grand isle joe]

One thing that I found out the hard way was when I asked for directions the person gave me the "local directions" meaning that you already know the landmarks and distance. A drive that I assumed, because of the directions given, should take 15-20 minutes took 55 minutes and almost missed our snorkle excurtion. After that fright I always asked for the "tourist directions" and estimate time for worse case senerio. Wishing you a wonderful cruise to Paradise.:D

[cb at sea]

The rental car place will give you maps---and there are only a few main roads, anyway!