hi, i just joined sos, and my bf is an officer in the navy. he'll be stationed in pearl harbor in a few months and i'll be joining him summer of 2009. if anyone can give some advice, that would be great. (b/c i know how expensive it is there...)

thanks!

we're in Hawaii and have been for a very long time.

honestly it's not that much more expensive than say California or other places. People who live here might say it is, but once you can take part in the commissary, exchanges and the discounts that come along with being military in hawaii it's not THAT bad.

We get cost of living in hawaii and I'm going to miss it desperately when we move.

I've talked to about 4 people this month who have all PCS'd out of hawaii during this past year and 3 of them say they miss it and are doing worse financially on the mainland because of the loss of COLA.

we're navy on the marine corps base......

I'm in Hawaii also :-)

my bf hasn't found a place yet, but i know he wants to stay close to the base. i'm hopefully starting law school in 2009 so i won't be working. i just hope that his bah will cover his apt. how do you like it in hawaii?

As an officer, I'm sure his BAH will cover his apartment. Housing is pricey here, but you should be able to find something within reason. He could probably find an apartment in Aiea which would be relatively close both to UH (that's where you're planning to go to law school?) and Pearl Harbor.

yeah, i'll be at uh. i'm hoping that i can just take the bus to campus. how is public transportation?

We have a good public transportation system- although it would help you if when looking for an apartment your bf makes sure it's near a bus stop- you wouldn't want to have to catch more than one to get to school. I think the A and the 40A go to UH? I don't know. There's a local number you can call that's in the phonebooks to see which route you would take and the estimated amount of time- if you're planning on taking the bus I would HIGHLY recommend either getting an apartment downtown, near the university (Manoa is a REALLY nice area!), or at the very least, having your bf call that number to figure out what your bus ride would be like before he decides on a place to stay. I don't know offhand what it is- I think it's in the blue pages in front of the book.

looks like i have some research to do! thank you for your help! how long have you been there?

I'm sure his BAH will cover an apartment........he'll just have to look around. I have several friends who are officers and they live fine here. We love Hawaii..........

public transportation is great and UH will recommend you use it. the parking is limited there.

are there a lot of events or shows to see in honolulu? i've only been there once and that was about six years ago! i hear that the honolulu symphony is pretty good!

We've been here for four years. I don't know if there's a lot of events- there sure seems to be a shortage of concerts here. Although honestly, I haven't really looked around a whole lot- I have a two year old so I'm not actively searching for events to go to.

I'm not a symphony person, but my neighbor has been. We've lived here for about 10 years and there are more concerts/shows lately than ever.

I love concerts, Jimmy Buffett was here, Jack Johnson always plays at least once a year here, we've seen 311 and they will be back next month with Jason Mraz. There are always smaller venues at local bars where bands play....you just have to really pay attention.

I am happy to see a few here that are there. I will be joining y'all at the end of this year. Look forward to meeting some of you hopefully.

I love being here and there is always something to do. Chris Rock tickets go on sale on Monday, for example. I saw Jimmy Buffet in October, that rocked, plus there are free and cheap concerts at the bases from time to time, like 3 Doors Down was just here and I recently saw Montgomery Gentry and Bowling for Soup for free at the Army base. There are local events every weekend, the malls do free hula shows, there are orchid shows a lot, farmers markets, art shows downtown, all sorts of things.