You can easily spend hundreds of dollars per day on Hawaii tours and activities, but you definitely don’t need to empty your wallet to enjoy the islands of aloha. Here are tried and true strategies that will help you get the most out of your tour time and dollar.

1.  DIY Tours
I often see brochures for organized, paid tours to places that are absolutely free for anyone to see.  For example, on Oahu, tours that include going to see the USS Arizona and Punchbowl are very popular, but you don’t have to pay a dime to see these two top spots. So make sure you plan some do-it-yourself (DIY) tours as you make your Hawaii vacation plans.

Another example of creating a DIY tour is that Andy and I created our own tour to find sites where the hit TV show LOST was filmed on Oahu. We could have spent nearly $500 for the two of us on an organized tour, but we had a blast on our adventure.

2.  Take advantage of all the free things to do and see in Hawaii.
Aloha State offers a playground of inexpensive, but memorable activities. In fact, most of Hawaii’s highlights are free! With Hawaii’s waterfalls, national parks and hiking trails, there’s no doubt that Hawaii is more than just a pretty beach.

I wrote a series of posts on the best free or nearly free things to do on each of the four major islands. Here are links to each of those posts.

• Maui’s Top 7 Free or Nearly Free Things to Do and See
• 10 Best Free Activities and Sites on Oahu
• Best Free Activities on Kauai
• Best Big Island Budget Activities

3. Plan ahead and book online.
There are some things that you simply can’t DIY, like helicopter tours and luaus. Those activities are big ticket items, too. To get the best bang for your buck, I encourage you to do a bit of online research before you go on your vacation. Take that time to comparison shop, read reviews and reserve your spot. Maybe I’m too much of a planning nerd, but I’d much rather spend my vacation time enjoying Hawaii rather than researching tours while I’m there on that treasured vacation time.

Another benefit to researching and booking online is that many business offer very good discounts  when you book direct and they aren’t paying a middleman. For example, Safari Helicopters offers a $68 discount (from $229 to $161.20) on their 60-minute Deluxe Waterfall Safari Kauai Tour by booking direct online. Blue Hawaiian Helicopters discounts their 55-minute Kauai helicopter tour, too from $225 to $196.65 – a $28 savings.

4.  Keep your eyes peeled for coupons.
In my visits to Hawaii, I’ve come across some very good money saving coupons, but I’ve had to look in lots of places to find them. Here’s where I’ve discovered good tour and activity coupons.

• The free driving guides and maps that the rental car companies provide a few useful coupons.
• Flip through the free magazines and guides that you’ll see in the baggage claim area of each Hawaii airport.
• Bank of Hawaii has some good online coupons from time to time. See both the travel and entertainment categories for tour and activity coupons.
• Hawaii Entertainment Book offers great luau coupons that recoup the cost of the entire book with just one admission, but this book is only useful for visitors going to Oahu only.
• Check Oahu (Honolulu) Groupon Deals that offer both restaurant and tour deals.

5.  Take advantage of free entertainment.
I’m continually amazed at the excellent quality of free entertainment that’s offered by restaurants, resorts and shopping centers all across Hawaii. It’s so very easy to find, too. I should write a separate post listing my favorite spots. If you have a favorite one, please share it in the comments.

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So, these are my top five ways to save money on Hawaii vacation activities and tours. What other ways have you used to save money on your visits?