Planning a Hawaii honeymoon on a budget but don’t know where to start? Keep scrolling for the best tips for planning an affordable Hawaii honeymoon!
This list of affordable Hawaii honeymoon tips was written by Marcie Cheung (a Hawaii travel expert) and contains affiliate links which means if you purchase something from one of my affiliate links, I may earn a small commission that goes back into maintaining this blog.
You just got married. Now you want a Hawaii honeymoon, but every blog post you’ve read makes it sound like you need a second mortgage to pull it off.
Hawaii does have a reputation for being expensive, and some of that reputation is earned.
But after helping couples plan their honeymoons through my Hawaii travel consultations for years, I’ve noticed something: the couples who come back saying their trip was perfect almost never spent the most money.
They usually spent less than they budgeted for and still felt like they got the splurge-y version of the trip, because they knew which two or three things were actually worth paying full price for and skipped the rest.
I’ve personally visited Hawaii more than 40 times, and the honeymoons I help plan now usually follow the same shape: a little adventure, a lot of resort time, and no money stress once you’re actually there.
Here’s how to build that without overspending.
Quick takeaways:
- One island, not two or three, unless your trip is two weeks or longer
- Maui rental cars run $70 to $130 a day in 2026, the highest in the state
- A mid-range week for two costs roughly $1,750 to $2,800, not counting flights
- Skip the oceanfront room. Every room looks the same at night
- The cheapest meals in Hawaii are lunch plate lunches and grocery store poke
Pick One Island (Seriously, Just One)
If you and your new spouse are debating whether to squeeze two or three islands into your honeymoon, here’s my advice: don’t, unless your trip is two weeks or longer.
Island hopping sounds romantic on paper. In practice it means repacking bags, racing to the airport, and sitting in TSA lines instead of sitting on a beach together.
I’ve worked with couples who came back from “see it all” honeymoons more tired than when they left.
If your trip is a week or shorter, pick one island and let yourself settle into it. Not sure which island fits the two of you?
I cover that in my Hawaii island hopping guide, and it’s also one of the first things I help couples sort out in Hawaii travel consultations.
If You Do Want to Island Hop, Here’s How to Keep It Affordable
Some couples have their hearts set on two islands, and if your trip is ten days or longer, that’s reasonable.
Flying between islands takes 30 to 45 minutes and is usually your cheapest, fastest option.
There’s also one ferry left in the state, the Expeditions ferry between Maui and Lanai.
It runs three round trips a day now, down from a more frequent schedule years ago, so plan your day around the ferry times rather than assuming you can hop on whenever.
If you’re heading over to the Lanai Cat Sanctuary, which I’d put on almost any Maui honeymoon itinerary, it’s open daily from 9am to 3pm and admission is free, though donations help a lot.
Take the 6:30am ferry over if you can swing it. The 11am boat gets you to Lanai around noon, and after the 25-minute drive to the sanctuary, you’re left with maybe two hours there before you need to head back for the last return ferry.
That’s enough time, but it’s rushed, and you won’t have much room for lunch in Lanai City on top of it.
Between January and April, watch the water on the ferry ride over. Humpback whales show up often enough that the window seat is worth fighting for.
Flying in from the East Coast or Midwest? Build a buffer day into your schedule before the “real” honeymoon starts. Jet lag doesn’t care that you’re on your honeymoon.
Leave Room in Your Itinerary
Hawaii will humble even the most organized planner. Helicopter tours get grounded by weather. Trails close without warning. Boat tours get rescheduled at the last minute.
None of that is anyone’s fault, it’s just how the islands work, but it means your itinerary needs slack in it.
I tell my consultation clients to book fewer activities than they think they want and leave at least one full day open.
Traffic is also worse than most people expect, especially on Maui and Oahu, so don’t trust a GPS time estimate without padding it.
Use Points and Miles Before You Pay Cash
A lot of honeymoon budgets get eaten up by flights and hotels paid in straight cash when points were sitting there unused.
If you’ve been collecting airline miles or hotel points, this is the trip to spend them on. A single travel credit card’s sign-up bonus can sometimes cover an entire round-trip flight to Hawaii for two people.
Google Flights is still one of the better free tools for comparing fares and layovers, and flexible dates can knock a real amount off your ticket price.
If you have a card with strong travel rewards, use it for the hotel too. Many hotel loyalty programs pay out more points when you book direct with their partnered card instead of through a third party.
Rent a Car Only for the Days You Actually Need One
Car rental prices in Hawaii have settled down since the post-pandemic spike, but they still vary a lot by island.
As of 2026, expect to pay $40 to $60 a day on Oahu, $50 to $75 on the Big Island and Kauai, and $70 to $130 a day on Maui, where limited fleet size keeps prices well above the other islands.
If most of your trip is resort time with a couple of adventure days mixed in, you probably don’t need a car for the whole stay.
This logic falls apart if you’re staying somewhere remote, like West Maui without easy shuttle access or the Hilo side of the Big Island, where a missed shuttle can turn into a long, expensive taxi ride.
Know your resort’s location before you decide to skip the rental entirely. Otherwise, rent it only for the days you’re leaving the resort, and return it same-day when you can to skip overnight parking fees.
Discount Hawaii Car Rental is what I personally book through, since you can lock in a rate now and rebook free if prices drop, with no cancellation fee.
On car-free days, ask your hotel about shuttle service to nearby beaches and shopping. Plenty of guided tours include pickup and drop-off too, which is one less thing for you to coordinate.
Eat Like a Local, Not Like a Tourist
Hawaii imports most of its food, which is a big part of why eating out costs more than you’d expect. A mid-range couple should plan on $65 to $95 a day for casual and sit-down meals, not counting drinks.
A few ways to bring that down:
Order at lunch instead of dinner.
Plenty of restaurants run a cheaper midday menu, often with the same ocean view you’d pay double for at sunset. This doesn’t work everywhere though.
Some of the higher-end spots run the same menu and prices all day, so it’s worth checking before you build a whole afternoon around the idea.
Try a plate lunch.
Two scoops rice, mac salad, your choice of protein. It’s the dish Hawaii is actually built on, and it tells you more about local food culture than a $60 entree does.
Hit the grocery store poke counter.
Skip the poke restaurant prices and grab a container from a local grocery store instead. It’s some of the best poke you’ll eat on the trip, for a fraction of the cost.
Get takeout and eat at the beach.
Most restaurants and food trucks will pack your order to go. Find a spot on the sand and you’ve got a better view than most restaurants offer, no reservation needed.
Skip the Hotel Room With a View
This one feels backward on a honeymoon, but every room looks the same at night, because it’s dark outside.
Oceanfront and high-floor rooms carry a real markup, sometimes hundreds of dollars a night, for a view you’ll mostly enjoy for twenty minutes at sunset.
Book a garden or mountain-view room within walking distance of the beach instead, and put what you save toward something you’ll actually remember, like a sunset sail or a couples massage.
Browse Hawaii hotels on Expedia before you commit to a resort, since pricing shifts constantly by season and it’s worth comparing room types side by side.
Make Your Own Drinks Instead of Hitting the Bar
Resort bar drinks in Hawaii are not cheap. If your room or condo has any kind of kitchenette, pick up a bottle at Costco or a local grocery store and make your own happy hour on the balcony.
You’ll save real money, and honestly, mixing your own drinks together is part of the fun of being on a honeymoon in the first place.
If you want to know which resorts have the best balconies for exactly this, that’s a detail I help couples track down in Hawaii travel consultations.
Take Advantage of Happy Hour
If you do want to go out, happy hour is your best friend. Most restaurants run discounted food and drinks for a window in the late afternoon.
Order a couple of shared plates instead of full entrees and a $150 dinner turns into a $60 one without anyone feeling shortchanged.
Avoid Peak Season If You Can
Prices swing hard depending on when you go. Winter, summer break, and spring break bring the crowds and the highest rates across flights, hotels, and rental cars.
If your schedule allows it, look at mid-April through mid-June or September through mid-December instead. Lower prices, thinner crowds, and a quieter version of the islands that suits a honeymoon better anyway.
Opt for Free (and Actually Romantic) Activities
Some of the best honeymoon memories don’t cost a thing. A long walk on the beach at sunset. A swim before the day gets busy. A hike that ends at a waterfall.
These tend to be the moments couples bring up years later, not the $300 dinner.
If you want a little structure without spending much, Get Your Guide and Viator both list paid tours by island that range from splurge-worthy to surprisingly cheap, so you can scan what’s out there and decide what’s worth paying for.
What I’d Actually Tell You to Do
Ask me what honeymooners regret most, and it’s almost never “we didn’t do enough.” It’s “we tried to do too much and didn’t get enough time just relaxing together.”
One island, a few meaningful splurges, and a lot of unstructured time will beat a packed itinerary every time.
I work through these decisions one-on-one with couples in Hawaii travel consultations, and I’ve talked through a lot of these same mistakes on my podcast, Hawaii Travel Made Easy: episode 28 on the top mistakes couples make on a Hawaii honeymoon, and episode 79 on wedding and honeymoon mistakes.
Your honeymoon doesn’t need to be expensive to be the trip you talk about for the rest of your marriage. It just needs to be the right island, the right pace, and a little bit of planning before you go.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should we budget for a week-long Hawaii honeymoon in 2026?
A mid-range couple should plan on roughly $1,750 to $2,800 total for a 7-night trip, covering hotel, food, activities, and a rental car, not including airfare.
Is it cheaper to stay on one island or island hop for a honeymoon?
Staying on one island is almost always cheaper, since island hopping adds flights, extra rental car days, and more transportation costs on top of your base trip expenses.
What’s the cheapest way to get from Maui to Lanai?
The Expeditions ferry is your only option besides flying, and it runs three round trips daily between Maalaea Harbor on Maui and Manele Harbor on Lanai.
Do I need a rental car for my whole Hawaii honeymoon?
Not necessarily. Many couples only need a car for the days they’re leaving the resort to explore, which can save a significant amount compared to a full-trip rental.
