Is The Go Oahu Card Worth It or Not a Good Deal?

If you click through to the website you'll see that it says something like

30 Attractions, One Low Fixed Price, Up to 55% in Savings

But is this valid? Could you really save 55% if you bought the go Oahu card and used it on your vacation.

When the Go Oahu Card first came out a couple of years ago, the company contacted me to tell me about it. I thought it was very interesting so I ordered one, went to Oahu (I lived on the Big Island then) and used it a few times. It worked great and saved me a bit of money.

Then, I went home and did a study to see how it would work for more than one person on more than one day - say a family over three days.

I wanted to compare prices and see for sure, with my own eyes, exactly how much one could reasonably expect to save.

I went to each website and looked at their listed prices, tried to figure out how many things an active family could do in a day, and added up all the prices and compared the differences.

This is what I got

This is with an imaginary family of four (2 adults and 2 kids between 3 and 12) going to Oahu for a week. They buy a 3 day card for each family member, which costs about $500 total (actual price may be a bit more or less depending on sales or promotions). They go go go on the days they use the card, and the other days they mostly hang out in the pool or on the beach by their hotel or do free things.

Day One
Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park in the morning (normally around $120)
Bishop Museum in the afternoon (around $50)
In the evening, you run around Waikiki on the trolley (normally at least $50)

Day Two
USS Arizona audio tour plus USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park (about $50)
Sea Life Park admission (typically near $70)
In the evening, get a free caricature at Royal Hawaiian Caricatures (ride over on the trolley) or get 25% off Germaine's Luau tickets (Let's be really conservative and say $80)

Day Three
Makani Catamaran Breakfast Sail (about $140)
Hanauma Bay Snorkeling (around $20)
Hawaiian Ocean Surf Lesson or One day Car Rental (I'm not sure of price, let's say $40)
All Day Waikiki Trolley rides (around $50)

Total: $670 -- a savings of $170 -- Looks like a good deal in this very active case

This is a savings of 25% - but like I said, I was very conservative when I estimated my prices. The people at go oahu card probably have the exact prices of all the activities and that's where they came up with their 55%.

This is the kind of thing my husband would love, love, love. Get up, get going, run from fun thing to fun thing. Drop into bed tired but happy. Me? as long as I'm feeling good I like to go like this to.

I like the go oahu card. I think it's great for people who are really active, people who want to stick to their budget, and for gifts.

Imagine if you knew someone who was honeymooning in Hawaii, or your kids were going to Hawaii on spring break and you could give them this wonderful opportunity for tons of awesome, free activities. :)

If you just don't know if you can keep up that kind of a pace, an alternative to the go oahu card is the Custom Oahu Explorer pass, by the same company. Instead of buying the card by the day, you buy the card for a set amount of activities and you can do them whenever and the more activities you buy, the more you save.

I have written a review of this pass here.