More than 90 new stores and restaurants will open in Waikiki over the next several months, giving O'ahu residents more reasons to revisit the state's No. 1 tourist destination.

And that makes affordable parking — a seemingly elusive commodity in Waikiki — even more critical.

Many hotels and shopping centers provide free or low-cost parking for customers who eat and shop in their restaurants and stores. But if you just want to stroll around the area and don't have specific dining or shopping plans, finding cheap parking can be tricky.

Wai'anae resident Desiree Kealoha usually falls in the second category. The 20-year-old waitress visits Waikiki about three times a month to hang out, go to the beach and shop.

"Actually, we don't really know where to park, because it's so crowded and there's no parking, so we have to keep driving around," Kealoha said. "It's harder now because there's more cars. Every year there's more and more cars coming out."

Residents who want to cruise around Waikiki and check out the new developments will have to do some extra planning to find reasonable parking.

Finding parking is even more of a challenge with visitors to the state at near record numbers. Hotel parking garages are filling up, and some have stopped offering cheaper parking rates regularly for local residents.

The Waikiki Improvement Association has stopped promoting its Holoholo Parking program, which started about the same time as the Sunset on the Beach movies and the Brunch on the Beach. The Holoholo Parking program allowed local residents to park at several Waikiki properties for rates starting at about $1 per hour.

"We just felt that we had lost critical mass to really go out there and promote the (Holoholo Parking) program," said association President Rick Egged.

But if you're not discouraged, here are some of the projects that may draw you back to Waikiki: