Ugh. Honolulu is a cool place, but it is less then ideal as a layover. I would -never- try to go to the Arizona Memorial on a layover. It may work out, but it's more likely that the line will be over an hour long. To go anywhere towards downtown or Waikiki, you could end up spending an hour or two stuck in traffic on H1 (and there is always traffic on H1--it just varies in intensity.)

I don't even know what I would recommend doing for a layover of 4 hours or so. The restaurants do suck in the airport, so you could run over to Ward Center for food (I recommend California Rock'n Sushi or Ryan's Grill, but there are a lot of choices) then you could walk across the street to Ala Moana beach park and relax there for the balance... however, once you've made it that far it's not much further to see Waikiki proper with it's shopping and touristy stuff.

Google Maps/Transit does cover Honolulu, and TheBus is a good way to get around, but don't expect it to follow much of a schedule (so the times google gives you are very loose.) The taxi alternative will -rape- you, though.

If you have the flexibiity making a transpac flight, either go for the nonstop or give yourself a few days on the island. Prices are dirt cheap now with the recession, so it won't be terribly expensive. And who can't use the days off?

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