<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Wolverine:
How many days ae necessary for the Big Island for a first-timer?...... Should I also see other Islands, or is it better to stay put?</font>
IMO, you've got time for two islands easy with 14 days vacation.
There are very frequent and cheap flights between the islands and many early morning inter-island flights so you will not waste prime day time hours traveling between islands.
for a first timer to the big island, I would leave yourself 5 days with no lounging around but then you miss out on the relaxation factor, so a 7 day would be great.