The Beach Waikiki Boutique Hostel offers various tours. The ones that they offered at the time were Koko Head and Hanauma Bay on Mondays, Lanikai Beach and Makapuu Trail on Tuesdays, North Shore on Wednesdays and Fridays, Catamaran Boat Tour on Thursdays, Manoa Falls and Tantalus Lookout on Saturdays, and Pearl Harbor on Sundays. These tours cost between $20-$50 and you are expected to tip the tour guide, of course. The best part is that you meet people from the rest of the hostel during the tours with whom you can later hang out. The tours were totally worth the buck in my opinion, especially if you are not renting a car and are by yourself. This way, you don’t have to pay for a separate ride and can even meet new people. The tours are open to hostel guests only. During my stay, I was also invited to the New Year’s Eve fireworks party which is open to guests only as well. 

I then had to find a different hostel since I was only at the boutique for 4 days, so I went to Waikiki Beachside Hostel. They too had vacancies for a few consecutive days only, but I would have to switch rooms through my stay because some openings were female-only and others were mixed dorms. Moreover, some people had made reservations ahead of time. So, the best way they could fit me in for consecutive days was only if I agreed to switch rooms throughout my stay. Being a girl and this being my first time staying at hostels, I wasn’t too comfortable with the idea of the mixed dorm. But as it turned out, the guy who was there came with his girlfriend, so I felt okay. I also got the renovated rooms at Waikiki Beachside Hostel which I felt was better than the ones at the boutique hostel. However, while the boutique hostel had air conditioning, this one did not. The room did eventually cool down at night, so I didn’t mind. 

After a few days, I switched back over to The Beach Waikiki Boutique Hostel as soon as they had openings and this time, I would have to switch rooms here too if I wanted to stay at the hostel for consecutive days. For 2 of the nights I could only get a mixed dorm and would have to share with 3 other men. Once again, I was uncomfortable sharing a room with 3 strange men, but let me tell you, my discomfort soon faded! Not only were the boys super friendly, they were very clean! The bathroom was even cleaner than when I shared them with women. *wink* The four of us planned to go hiking the next day and bonded well. I am still in touch with one of them who is from Italy and serves in the Italian Army. Also, this time around I had to leave my suitcase in the storage room and take my stuff upstairs separately since I was on the 3^rd floor and the hostel didn’t have an elevator to take my suitcase up. I also found out that the hostel let us borrow surfboards and mats for the beach, all at no cost! I met a very friendly girl who was also a solo traveler from Korea and she became my travel buddy for a few days until she left.  

I ended up spending two weeks in total as I switched between the two hostels. The rates were between $30-$80, the higher end prices being during Christmas and New Year’s Eve. As a solo traveler, I highly recommend hostels, especially at an expensive destination like Hawaii. Pro tip: BYOT – bring your own towel because the hostels only rent out towels and I calculated that I would be better off buying one, but turns out the cheapest towel I could find nearby was $14! Also, make reservations ahead of time instead of waiting till you visit them like I did because it’s a close call! If you’re a female solo traveler, at least from my experience I can tell you that I had absolutely no issue sharing a room with other male travelers but if you’re still uncomfortable, it’s completely understandable, so do make sure to reserve all-female rooms ahead of time. Make sure to ask for discounted rates if you are staying for 7-10 consecutive days. 

Lastly, if you’re an introvert, don’t worry, there are plenty of people who explore by themselves and if you are one to meet new people like myself, you’ll make friends from many different countries. If you haven’t been asked, ask others if they’d like to go hiking, surfing, snorkeling with you and be sure to ask the locals for recommendations. From my experience, hostels are great for solo travelers whether you like to meet new people or not. Mahalo!