Young couple being stationed in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii - any suggestions/advice on moving, housing,Hawaii in gen?
Question:
We are married, my husband is in the USMC, and we are moving from N. Carolina to Hawaii during the first week of January. We are both in our early to mid-twenties, no kids, and I am a teacher. I've heard lots of mixed stories but could use some advice - this is our first PCS so advice on PCS'ing, Hawaii (housing, inexpensive things to do, etc.) would be helpful. Should we live on base, off base, find a realtor to help find a rental, etc.? Should we buy a car before or after (I'm selling my GTO beforehand)? Thanks!!! :)
Answer:
The military will ship one vehicle to Hawaii for you. But you will be responsible for getting it to the closest port to North Carolina so you will have to drive there. They will give you MALT and Per Diem for doing it. The choice is really yours, if you own a vehicle and want to keep it then do it. If it isn't financed there is no problems at all. If it is financed you will need a letter from the bank allowing you to take it to Hawaii. If you do buy a vehicle there, depends on what you want. If you want used, then try the lemon lots on base. There is Kbay, Hickam (is the nicer one), Schofield to go to. If you want to buy new, then look at Windward dealers where Kbay is. They do have decent prices usually. Make sure if you can you finance it before you go to the dealership. Set an amount that includes taxes, title and tags and don't go above it. You are the one paying for it not them. For a loan try Navy Federal they do have offices on both sides of the island.
Go with an open mind, good attitude and be respectful. Never had a problem when we were stationed there twice and that was with friends who were locals and military.
Housing at Kbay is nice they are rebuilding it. There is 802 housing if it is still available, they have set amounts for BAH and anything about that in that housing only you pocket. It isn't the greatest housing though but close to everything. The other housing was definitely better than what was there before and newer.
If you want to live off base go to the housing office first and foremost. They can have rentals through there that are decent for you. You can live in the Windward area or choose to be closer to Pearl Harbor/Hickam area. It is about a 30 minute drive with little traffic if you do. They do have housing over there as well. Plus lots of apartments to choose from. Just make sure that if you do rent you are paying at least $400 less than what your BAH is to pay for utilities. Because running the A/C all the time can start getting high on electricity.
There is lots to do in the area, make sure though you don't do it all within the first few months then you can be bored afterwards. There is lots of places to swim at if that is what you like, hiking is great, great cheap food places to eat at as well, movie theaters are nice. Have passports because you can always go to Australia or Japan or other places within 8 hours.
ETA: Schools by the military bases are better than some of the local schools yes. But our kids have gone to schools in California, Florida, Hawaii and overseas and Hawaii schools were no different. There is always going to be bad schools in the area no matter where you are.
Eating out isn't expensive if you know where to go. We ate out all the time for under $30 as a family of FOUR! You go to the small ma & pa restaurants as they have good, decent food for cheap.
The COLA more than makes up for the price differences in things. You just have to know where to shop. Use the commissaries as you have 4 to choose from. Shop at small local places, use your Safeway/Vons reduce price card, Foodland as well.
You will get up to 60 days of lodging paid for. But if you refuse a house then you have 10 days to find a place. The TLA more than covers the cost of lodging and food. There is the DLA which does help to cover the cost of a rental car. Rent on base at PH or Hickam if you can they are usually cheaper than out in town.
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