Going To Hawaii? Must Have Apps to Make The Most of Your Vacation

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Planning a Trip to Hawaii? How great is that! There are usually many things to figure out: flights, hotels, itinerary, and fun things to do.  Apps are probably the last thing on ones mind when making plans. However on our recent family trip to Hawaii, we used our favorite Apps and discovered a few new ones that were so helpful during our vacation.  Here is the list!

1. Gypsy Guide

This App really helped us make the most of our vacation. For a very small fee, between $5-$10 depending on the Hawaiian Island you are visiting, you can have your own tour guide. Once the App is downloaded you do not need phone service for it to work and it will know where you are driving and pick up in the tour wherever you are.

For the Island of Oahu, there are 340 audio points where you can learn about the history or Hawaii, great places to stop and places not worth stopping at.  The Oahu App has two routes. The Beaches and Volcanoes Tour which routes along the East side of the island, (we did in one day), and The Island Cirlce Tour (we did partially over 2 days).  There is even a bonus section on Pearl Harbor that was a great history lesson.  This App was invaluable, especially with children in the car.  There could be no arguing or fighting because they were LISTENING.  Even the teenagers enjoyed it! It was because of the tour guide that we discovered our favorite beach of all: Kailua Beach.  The guide even helped us find the best place to park! It was a beach we may not have gone out of our way to visit, but it was perfect. It ended up being the best place for body surfing and had the perfect sand.

On the Island of Kaua’i we used the App to discover ALL the parts of the Island.  The entire drive up to Waiama Canyon State Park and to Puu O Kila Lookout was filled with information about the history of the island and a great geology lesson about how the island was formed.  It helped pass the time during the long windy roads we encountered.   We also used it to along the North Shore towards Princeville.  It gave us recommendations of must sees on that end of the island.  The only piece of advise we did not particularly agree with was giving the “Shaka” greeting to the waiting car after crossing the one lane bridges.  For some reason we still don’t understand he gave us the bird instead!

We have used in the past while visiting Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park.  You can read about those places HERE. These apps are well worth the investment and you won’t regret it.  If you have any other trips planned, check them out as they are adding new destinations.Waiama Canyon

2. Kauai Map

This is an App we discovered and used while on Kaua’i.   It very helpful because we wanted to stop and discover as many different beaches as we could.  The surf and conditions vary greatly on the island and this App pins each beach and tells you its conditions, lists if there are lifeguards, and what facilities and activities are at each beach. It lists the hazards and parking and even links to google maps to give you directions. If you are traveling around Kaua’i and are wanting to discover new beaches, this is the App to have.

                      Picture credit screen shot of Kauai App

3. PCC

If you are planning to visit the Polynesian Cultural Center on Oahu, this is a must have.  It will give you a map and you can see where you are in the park related to all of the fun islands to visit. It will also list the activities to do at each island and most importantly lists the times for the demonstrations at each island so that you can plan out your day and not miss one.  To read about our day at the Polynesian Cultural Center and ticket options, check out my blog HERE.

4. All Trails: Hike, Bike & Run

This was a great App we discovered while on Kaua’i. We started a hike near Shipwreck Beach and had a little trouble navigating the trail. You can put in your location and it will list the trails in your area (including all over the world). Once you chose your trail it will give you a description, parking info, tips and directions. It tells you how difficult or easy the trail is and displays other hikers reviews. It was a great App for Hawaii and will be great for all upcoming adventures.

                      Photo from All Trail App

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5. The Weather Channel

Even though we don’t let bad weather bother us on vacation, it was nice to check out the forecasted temperature and to see if rain was expected and when, so we could plan out our day.  Hawaii has such a range in weather and it can change so much depending on which side of the island you are on.

6. Groupon

This is a great app to have on the phone to check to see if there are any deals for food or excursions where we would be visiting.  We decided to go to Kualoa ranch for an ATV ride.  I did a quick search on groupon so see if there were any discounts we could use.  We did not end up finding one but if there was, it would have been worth it to check!

7. TripAdvisor/ VRBO

We booked our first 3 nights using TripAdvisor and stayed at a rental owned by a local.  We used this app to look up our rental instructions.  It was also used it to search top rated activities to do in the areas we visited.  If the days are not planned out, it is nice to have the App to do a quick search about what is recommended in the area.

8. Mapquest

This app was used daily for navigation on both the Islands we visited. We did also like to have a paper map with us for reference so that we could view the entire island at one time.  MapQuest helped us plan our day so we could figure out ahead of time how long it would take us to get from one place to another.

9. Your Airline App

Flying Delta it was nice to have the App ready to go so we could check in ahead of time for both our inter-island flight and the flight home.  We also could chose our seats so that we could get them close together.  (We had the cheap tickets so did not pay ahead of time to do this) Having the App for your particular airline can be beneficial to quickly check if there are flight delays.

10. Your Hotel App

If you are staying at a hotel with an App available, it is nice to have it ready to go so you can check in/out of your hotel room.  It is readily available too in case you need directions.  We stayed at the Hyatt Place in Waikiki so used the Hyatt App to check in and out of our room.

Hawaii on your bucket list?  Pin this for later! These apps will help make your Hawaiian Vacation even more amazing and stress-free!

When you travel which Apps do you find most helpful?  Please share below!  Thank you and Happy Travels!

Jennifer