Waikiki Trolley vs LeaLea Trolley: Which Pass to Buy

They look alike and sell on the same street corners, but they are separate companies. The Waikiki Trolley has run since 1986 and is operated by E Noa Corporation from a booth in Waikiki Shopping Plaza. The LeaLea Trolley is run by LeaLea Tours, part of the Japanese travel company H.I.S., from a lounge on the third floor of Building B at Royal Hawaiian Center, and H.I.S. includes the trolley with most of its Hawaii tour packages sold in Japan. Since 2023 the LeaLea pass has included the Waikiki Trolley’s Pink Line, now the Ala Moana Line.

Every LeaLea line except the Ala Moana Line leaves from and returns to Royal Hawaiian Center; LeaLea’s map says to wait in front of the ABC Store in Building B. The Ala Moana Line is the Waikiki Trolley’s own, and it starts at Waikiki Shopping Plaza. Times below are from LeaLea’s November 2026 map and are first and last departures from the hub.

• Bishop Museum without a car: the Malama Line is the only trolley that reaches it, and LeaLea’s map gives one pass holder 10% off admission there and at the Honolulu Museum of Art.
• XploreRide: the 9-line passes add free standby rides on XploreRide, a virtual-reality bus ride for ages 7 and up, through July 31, 2027 (H.I.S.).

The Manoa/UH Line started on Sunday, November 1, 2026. It leaves Royal Hawaiian Center every 75 minutes, heads up Kapahulu Avenue, climbs University Avenue to the UH Mānoa campus and turns around at Manoa Marketplace, then comes back the same way past Zippy’s and the Hilton Waikiki Beach. The loop takes 63 minutes, and the last trolley is back in Waikīkī at 5:33 p.m. It is LeaLea’s first line into Mānoa, and the Waikiki Trolley has none.

It is a pass-holders’ line with no single fare. The first loop runs like this; each later trolley follows 75 minutes behind the one before (10:15, 11:30, 12:45, 2:00, 3:15, 4:30).

• Eat your way up Kapahulu: Rainbow Drive-In for a plate lunch, Leonard’s for malasadas (open 5:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, by its own site), and Zippy’s on the way back.
• Manoa Marketplace: LeaLea’s map calls it a community shopping center with popular cafes, a bakery and a small farmers market. With 75 minutes between trolleys, one trolley off and the next one back gives you an hour and a quarter there.

The Waikiki Trolley’s strength is the single-line ticket: you pay for the one loop you want. Prices are adult / child from waikikitrolley.com, and each ticket is good all day on its line.

LeaLea changed its passes on November 1. Its passes now cover nine LeaLea lines plus the Waikiki Trolley Ala Moana Line and XploreRide, from $49 for 1 day, $79 for 4 days and $94 for 7 (LeaLea Tours). The older 7-line passes, from $39, were sold only for dates through October 31. LeaLea sells passes, not single rides: there is no one-line ticket.

Buy online and the confirmation email is your voucher: swap it for the pass at the LeaLea Tours lounge, Royal Hawaiian Center B-3F, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, and you can collect it a few days before your start date. Children 2 to 11 need a child pass, and LeaLea limits children under 5 to two per adult.

On cost, the break-even is simple. A day on the Waikiki Trolley’s Ocean View loop alone is $35 an adult; add the Historic Honolulu line and you are at $70, more than its own $64 all-line pass and well over LeaLea’s $49, which covers its own coast and downtown loops (East Oahu and Malama) and seven more. If you will ride just one line in a day, a Waikiki Trolley single ticket is cheaper. If you will ride two or more, or stay four days or a week, the LeaLea pass is the better buy. A family is the exception: the Waikiki Trolley publishes child fares from $6 to $58, and LeaLea does not show its child price until checkout, so compare both carts before you pay.

Diamond Head. Non-residents need an advance reservation to enter the state monument and pay $5 a person (DLNR). The LeaLea Diamond Head / Kahala Line stops inside the crater by the trailhead, first at 7:46 a.m. and last at 3:50 p.m. DLNR allows 1.5 to 2 hours for the hike, so ride out early: the 3:50 p.m. stop is the last trolley back. The Waikiki Trolley’s Green Line is on its drive-around route for now (see above).

Hanauma Bay. The LeaLea East Oahu Line makes a 15-minute photo stop at the Hanauma Bay Lookout, only on the first two trolleys, Wednesday to Sunday. LeaLea’s map is plain about it: photos and restrooms only, and you cannot get off there and catch a later trolley. Snorkeling the bay takes a Hanauma Bay reservation and a way to get there and back. The Waikiki Trolley’s Ocean View Line passes the area without a Hanauma stop. Both coastal loops stop at Sea Life Park, which Waikiki Trolley says is closed on Tuesdays through December 15, 2026.

The trolleys are sightseeing loops. For getting from A to B, TheBus is cheaper: $3.00 on a HOLO card with two hours of transfers, $3.25 in cash, and never more than $7.50 in a day on HOLO. A 7-day HOLO pass is $45, against $94 for LeaLea’s 7-day pass and $88 for the Waikiki Trolley’s.

TheBus also runs where the trolleys stop short: Route 13 from Waikīkī to the university, Route 5 up Manoa Road toward the falls, and most of the island beyond the trolley loops. Skyline rail does not reach Waikīkī; our Skyline guide covers where it does go, and Getting Around Oahu compares the bus, rideshare, bikes and a rental car. If you are driving yourself in, read Waikiki parking first.

Match the ticket to the day you have planned:

• One sight, one day: Waikiki Trolley. A single line is the cheapest way to ride a trolley, from $6 to Ala Moana Center.
• Two or more lines: LeaLea. From $49 covers every line for the day, including the Waikiki Trolley’s Ala Moana Line.
• Mānoa, Kapahulu food, Bishop Museum: LeaLea. The Manoa/UH and Malama lines are the only trolleys that go there.
• A family with young kids: compare both. Waikiki Trolley publishes child fares; check LeaLea’s at checkout.
• Mānoa Falls or Hanauma Bay: neither trolley. Take TheBus Route 5 to the falls, and book Hanauma Bay before you plan the ride.