Hawaii

[vietthahuong]

Anybody here live or know much about Hawaii either on Oahu or Big Island? I will go there in late of May to explore and possible for future living there. Thanks in advance.

[steveh]

Here is some of my views after visited the Oahu couple times:
- Most of jobs is tourist or defense related. Most of other good paying jobs are already moved out to mainland because too much regulation. Most of younger generation are alredy moved out.
- Good public transportation, maybe because the island is too small (smaller than Orange County, CA).
- Food is much more expensive than California. 1 coconut is $5 while Vietnamese supermarket sell for $1. Mango cost $3/lb while it cost $4 /box in CA.
- It's good if you're already or about to retire. Otherwise it's not a very good place to live.

[vietthahuong]

Thank you very much, I gonna visit both of the islands and decide from there. Thanks again

[sadness]

Hi Vietthahuong, if you can choose between the 2 island, I would recommend Oahu since there's a Chinatown which is very convenience to shop for asian foods, not to mention cheaper than other islands. Other islands doesn't have it. I don't know much about Big Island except that there's nothing but volcanoes, and not many people lives there.
From what I heard, most vietnamese lives there drive taxi or doing some kind of business for living. Most people rent unless you're wealthy. A condo with 2 bethroom cost from 350 to 400K depend on the location. In my opinion, Hawaii is best for vacation, but not living there since everything is so expensive. I was at Oahu for 1 week and I had seen everything on the island, not to mention knowing the road without looking at the map.
Good luck with your search.

[vietthahuong]

Sadness,
Thanks so much for the usefull info, I also have input from others about Oahu as well. Maybe I should skip Big Island and go to Maui. It's not bad for 2 br condo with that price, it's about the same as in Capital region area.

[sadness]

Vietthahuong: I have been to Maui also. Maui is countryside-like compare to Oahu. If you like quiet environment, Maui is suited for that. I had tried all of the restaurants over there as well.....wouldn't recommend you to try anything. Regarding the condo price, I was wrong....it's above 400K for a 1 bedroom condo in Oahu :) I've asked my friend since she already own couple condos over there. If you settle in Maui, it should be cheaper.