Advice for a Hukilau Virgin!

Aloha!
After many years of trying, the wife and myself are FINALLY getting out of Dodge and flying down to Florida to attend our first Hukilau. We have never been to the Mai Kai before and cannot wait to see both it and all of the surrounding Hukilau Festivities!

To this end, we were hoping some of you veterans wouldn't mind helping us out with a few kind words of advice. We have already purchased the Th-Sun Ticket (as well as tics to The Beachbum's seminar and The DVD of Tiki Premiere).

Anyhoo here it goes....

1. We are staying at the Bahia Mar (it was only one available when we purchased tics). How far is that from airport and can we walk there to Bahia Cabana?

2. We really are looking forward to the Bar Crawl on Thursday night as an opportunity to meet fellow Hukilau-ers. As long as we register when we arrive is that all we need to do to attend?

3. Any other helpful tips you have would be awesome to hear.

Mahalo and We Look Forward to Meeting some of you next week!
Tom + Andrea

1. Yes, you can walk there. You can see the Mar from the Cabana. They're right across the marina from each other. The hotels are pretty darned close to the airport. It doesn't take long at all to drive there.

2. Yes.

3. Drink lots of water and pace yourself at the room crawl. I missed last Friday because of an epic, EPIC hangover and didn't really recover from it until Monday.

4. Have fun. It's almost impossible not to, so that's an easy one to do. :)

[ Edited by: phinz 2010-06-06 06:17 ]

Tom and Andrea,

Follow the advice of phinz and pace yourself. It's easy to get carried away, not just at the Room Crawl but at the Mai-Kai as well. When you order off the strong page they are STRONG, especially selections such as the Jet Pilot and the Zombie. They will sneak up on you. I usually leave those for after dinner drinks.

There will be security checking wristbands all weekend, especially since we have the Room Crawl on Thursday - the last thing we want are those sneaking up on us that are not Hukilau attendees, those folks work way too hard. Keep your wristbands on all weekend as they are not re-issued.

And the Florida sun - it's a doozie!! Be sure to protect yourself at all times while out in the sun!

Please say hello, I'll be the short haired redhead running around and smiling....

[ Edited by: Chip and Andy 2015-10-19 13:24 ]

This is a handy thread for me also. Thanks for the tips so far.

I have a similar but different question – we arrive into MIA international airport on Thursday afternoon and want to get our hotel (Bahia Mar) ASAP in order to get to the Mai Kai (for happy hour) before kicking into the night’s activities at the Cabana.

What’s the best way to get from MIA to the Mar? Is a cab is the only option and how expensive would that be? I’ve found some shuttle companies going from MIA to FLL but its around $40 per person (we are 2) and then that would involve another cab to the Mar anyway.

Cheers!

Harro,

If you are not renting a vehicle and are arriving in Miami, I would take that $40 shuttle ride. It's a bit of a drive and especially in afternoon traffic. You have the right idea though, first take the shuttle and then you will have to cab it once again to the Mai-Kai. Sounds like you'll miss the Harold Golen Gallery opening at the Mar but it will be open all weekend!

Be careful with those Happy Hour drinks though - they'll sneak up on you! Drink water while you are cocktailing - it's going to be a long but incredible night!

Working with the rental car industry - here's one trick that can save you money. You can rent a car from the Miami airport and drop it off at the Fort Lauderdale. A one hour rental in an Economy may be around $30

http://www.enterprise.com/car_rental/home.do;jsessionid=MNkLvJ1jCPPYzGjCcLJbnhT4VF6S90LdhTTmhxhGdTvgnYgq3BHT!1525063231

You just have to drop it off with the same gas you picked it up with. Saves some money and definitely time.

Thanks everyone for the great tips!

Looking forward to meeting y'all Thursday!

Best regards,
Tom + Andrea

Hukilau credo: NO HANGOVERS!

You simply cannot recover from one in that heat. It's hard to just stay hydrated, but hangover dehydration means, you may end up miserable for much of the weekend.

That and don't be too shy.

great tips everyone! No worries about pacing - i'm an Australian :D 8)

I hadn't thought of a hire car, and although the prices make sense ($100 for the 4 days), not sure i could be bothered when i'm not going to use it the rest of the weekend, and with the parking fee at the Bahia Mar etc. In my searches i discovered the tri-rail goes to Ft L but its not that regular. I think we'll get a shuttle.

Look forward to meeting you kind folk in a few short days!! Cannot wait!!

On 2010-06-07 13:44, Swanky wrote:
Hukilau credo: NO HANGOVERS!

You simply cannot recover from one in that heat. It's hard to just stay hydrated, but hangover dehydration means, you may end up miserable for much of the weekend.

That and don't be too shy.

what if you're acclimated to 110° already? we've had record highs all week. supposed to get cooler on thursday, yay! wait . . .

Perry - this aint the dessert and trust me when I say that 90+ in Fl is equal or hotter than 110 in the dessert. What you will notice the most is the wall of humidity that will hit you as soon as you walk out the door. It has been VERY hot this past week - so be prepared to sweat! Several visitors had a hard time adjusting last year - because they were not prepared for the jungle heat. Pools are refreshing and the ocean is beautiful, especially after midnight!

There is a FREE shuttle bus that runs up and down the beach, runs every 30 minutes. This a great way to get to the grocery store, liquor stores and shopping. It will not take you to the Mai Kai so make other arrangements. There is also the water taxi that can take you to many destinations along the water. If you are flying in there is no need for a car.

just to add my $.02 my savior has always been soda water (aka seltzer if you're from the northeast), especially late after drinkin'... something about the bubbles... go figure. the cabana has free refills so grab one and keep refillin' it, be polite and tip the bartender (politeness make's a huge impression when it's hot!)