Hawaii Marinas

[Randyonr3]

looking for a little local info........
Thinking of heading for the islands on our next trip out ..
and looking for a little Marina info.. interested mainly in the area around Honolulu..
Deep draft slip for our 42, sailboat friendly, and the wife says clean bathrooms.. somewhere near shopping and local transit..
Planning on spending a year or more there..

Also, how about some out of the way attractions, and eaterys that only the locals know about..

[Capt.Don]

Rainbow Drive-in, plate lunch, Rainbow Drive-In | Hawaiian Plate Lunches | Honolulu, Hawaii

[Cat36]

The Ali Wai marina is the largest public marina in Honolulu. There is a waiting list for permanent slips but they do have transit slips if you want to move every month, it is right in Waikiki. There is also Keehi marina which is right before Sand Island and a few miles from downtown Honolulu, it is one of two places on Oahu where you can have your boat hauled out. Out on the West side is KoOlina marina, it is not far from the town of Kapolei, they can handle boats up to a little over 100', you can also have your boat hauled out at Phoenician boatyard across the harbor from there. It is about 25 miles from Honolulu and sits in a resort community. Waiainai marina is not deep enough for a 42' sailboat. Haliewa marina is on the North shore but does not have a lot of amenities and is about as far from Honolulu as you can get, during the winter it can get a good surge in the harbor. The windward side in Kaneohe bay mainly has private marinas and you have to cross the Koolau mountains to get to Honolulu. Whichever marina you choose keep things locked up, there is a lot of theft at all the marinas on Oahu. The public transit system in Oahu is one of the best in the country and you can get just about anywhere on the island. There is West Marine, Pacific Ocean Producers, along with Keehi and Phoenician boatyards for supplies but none of them carry a lot of items, you can beat their prices buying from Defender marine even after paying the shipping. There are all sorts of out of the way places to eat and they are not hard to find, it just depends on what you are looking for. Oahu is great to visit and stay for awhile but living there sucks after the first year or two. It may be considered part of the U.S. but it really feels more like an extension of Asia. Inter island sailing can be rougher than open ocean sailing due to the islands disrupting the trade winds and the channels between the islands stacking up steep short period waves. Hope this info helps.

[savoir]

The toilets at Ala Wai were always pretty grotty. Anyone been there recently?

Take your YC membership card to Waikiki YC and ask for a visitor's card. Going there by dinghy is pretty easy and it is always spick and span. Hawaii YC is nearby too.

[roverhi]

Koolina is a beautiful marina in a resort setting with prices to match. You can get 3 month per year temporary mooring at State Marinas on a space a. basis. Don't believe they will reserve a slip so it's if you get lucky when you show up. With the 3 month in a year reg, you can stay at the AlaWai from October, November, December in one year and January, February, March the following year.

This past year there have been slips available at Honokohau in Kona. A number of boats spent six months here over the winter.