kyunbit

Hi,


I would be leaving US by the end of next year and would make one Hawaii trip anytime before that. I am guessing this would be my only trip to Hawaii ever. So I need advice planning it carefully.


I am a sort of person who would rather hike and have some kind of adventure rather than relax on a beach.


So what places on Hawaii should I see. How many days should I go for(cannot exceed a week)? What would be the best time to go?




Thanks,

CPRich

I'll take the easy one - if you can't take more than a week, than plan for a week. Most here will say you need more than that to even see one of the main four islands (I agree, I've never gone for less than 2 weeks).

I would suggest a week on Maui, though Kauai and the Big Island of Hawaii are viable alternatives. I'd recommend Oahu only if you feel a need to visit the memorials from WWII. With just a week, splitting between two islands probably isn't worth the hassle.

If you want *real* hiking/adventure, the Na Pali coast is the top choice, IMHO, but there is plenty of hiking fun to be had on Maui (Heleakala,front and back sides) and probably on the Big Island also.

comesatime

Tough assignment - best of Hawaii in a week - and your once in a lifetime trip too! But that is the way that life goes sometimes, so you have to work with what you have.

My husband and I are avid hikers and have hiked a lot while on the islands. For hiking, our favorite island is Kauai. The hikes are relatively easy (not NaPali though), and the island is very lush. Here is a nice website for the primary Kauai hiking trails: http://www.kauaiexplorer.com/hiking_kauai/ I have never found anything comparable for the other islands, although it has been awhile since I have looked. Kauai could be nice for a one time visit because it is much smaller than other islands, so you can reach every area in a reasonable amount of time.

For hiking, I would give the Big Island and Maui a tie. Both have good trails, but they are not quite as lush as Kauai. On the Big Island we like the hike near Pololu and the Kiluea Iki hike at Volcanoes National Park. The downshide to the Big Island is the size. You can (and probably will) spend a lot of time in the car getting from place to place. Don't get me wrong, I love this island and visit frequently since we have family in Hawi, but it is an aptly named island. LOTS to see though.

Maui hiking is nice, and we just love the sliding sands trail at Haleakala. It is probably the most spectacular hike in all of the islands. Google sliding sands for photos, because words really can't describe what you see when you are there.

If you like hiking, you may also enjoy snorkeling (active lifestlye?) and there I would rate the Big Island tops, followed by Maui. We have not had good luck snorkeling in Kauai.

I have also been to Oahu a couple of times and even spent a week on the north shore in 2004. I like it, but parts remind me A LOT of California (where I am from), so we usually skip it to go to one of the other islands. Perhaps someone else could give you a summary of the activities that you may want to do.

Have fun with the planning. It's almost as much fun as the trip!

kyunbit

Thanks for the replies. First of all the big question that I am not sure of: When to go? I hate crowds; one reason why I dont appreciate a beach full of people while I can spend a whole week on a beautiful but isolated one. So I would ideally like to go when there are fewer tourists and the weather is good for hiking.

I am really torn between Big Island, Maui, and Kauai. I would like to do hiking as well as snorkeling (Any other such adventure sports that is spectacular in Hawaii?).
Am I right in assuming that I would get almost everything Hawaii has to offer if I visit Big Island? And if I fly into Maui and fly out of Kauai, will that be a very bad plan? Totally confused.

comesatime

I don't blame you on crowds. I would suggest October (from what I have heard it is a great time to visit but I have no first hand experience since due to my work schedule I am never able to go at that time!). Avoid the summer if possible - it can get warm and the kids are out of school. Hawaii was our family's summer vacation destination for many years. Lots of kids! (And they all get there the same way - on the plane, lol).

Yes, you can get everything that you want on the Big Island, including a nice Hawaiian vibe, but keep in mind, it is BIG. We stayed in the Waikoloa area last time (got the Marriott there for $100/night on Priceline!) and it took about 3 hours to go to Volcanoes National Park. Seems that it took about an hour drive to get to Pololu and about 45 minutes to drive down into Kailua Kona. Btw, Kailua-Kona is also nice place to stay. I found a link to a site listing driving times and it has some good information. http://www.bigisland.org/maps-region...imes-distances That said, the driving times would never deter me from staying on the Big Island, but I am thinking that it may affect your itinerary a bit. I don't mind driving at all - I am from California afterall - so I say get yourself a convertible and enjoy the scenery.

Flying in and out of different island is no big deal as everything pretty much routes through Honolulu anyway. Your travel days will consume some time because of this unless you are able to find some direct interisland flights. Last time that we went there was just one direct flight from the BI to Maui, the rest of the flights all connected in Honolulu. There are probably more flights on Island Air or Go!, but we usually fly Hawaiian.

I'm not trying to be discouraging here. You just need to do some careful planning because of your time limitation. Here's what I would do - you can adjust to make it right for you.

If going only to the Big Island (make sure to avoid Ironman - mid Oct?- time):
Stay in Waikoloa (less airport traffic). Visit VNP (1 day), Pololu/Hawi/North Shore sights (1 day), spend a day on the water either on a sailboat or zodiac and do a snorkel cruise (1 day), visit the Hamakua Coast - Akaka Falls, Lapahoehoe, or anything else that catches your eye (1 day), spend a day at the beach - Hapuna perhaps, (1 day). Your other two days will be travel days. Maybe a bit of time for some shopping etc.

Maui/Kauai - Maui - Stay in south Maui - perhaps Kihei - because it is closer to the airport. Hike Haleakala (1 day), drive to Hana or at least go as far as the black sand beach at Waianapapa State park (1 day), snorkel off of one of the Wailea beaches in the morning then check out and fly to Kauai. On Kauai where you stay isn't quite as important as it is a smaller island, but the airport is in Lihue so maybe stay somewhere near there? Hiking - I could spend all three days hiking here! My favorite is the Kuilau trail, followed by the Kalalau trail and the Pihea trail. Another MUST DO in Kauai is a boat trip to see the Napali Coastline.

Those are my personal favorites. Hopefully someone else will weigh in with theirs. You can absolutely do this trip in 7 days. Stay busy and rest when you get home.

bocastephen

This is how I would do it - to see the best of natural Hawai'i.

1) Where are you departing from? West coast, east coast or middle? Are we talking Sat-Sat or Sat-Sun in length?

2) I would do two Islands - Kaua'i and the Big Island

3) I would fly to Kauai'i first, spend Sat-Tues there, then the Big Island from Tues eve to your return home

Don't wait until too late in the year to do the trip or Kaua'i will be too wet for hiking, making the trails miserable and sloppy.

If you need to travel late in the year after Kaua'i's rainy season starts, then you can do Maui and the Big Island.

On Kaua'i, you want to focus on the best hiking trails with the greatest scenery - so that would involve an early morning pilgrimage to Kalalau Lookout (before the clouds roll in) and Waimea Canyon, and hikes of the Awa'awapuhi/Nualolo loop and Kalalau trails.

On the Big Island, you'd want to focus on shorter hikes around the various falls north of Hilo, hiking the lava (I can put you in contact with a guide who will take you to the flows in the early morning), Green Sand Beach, etc.

kyunbit

I am flying in from Midwest with either a late Friday/Sat-Sat trip. seeting aside 2 days for travel, I will have almost 6 nights 7 days to see Hawaii.
One problem is that direct flights exist only to Maui (OGG) or Oahu (HNL). I do not want to waste time in Oahu, so I was thinking of Maui+Kauai. But it seems Kauai+Big Island will be a better bet. Do you think that will be a better bet despite the fact that I will have to catch flights out of Maui?

Again thanks a lot for the comments. Atleast now I have a decent idea of what not to miss in Hawaii.

outoftown

There are direct flights to/from KOA from SEA, LAX, SFO, SLC, PHX and MSP. Mrs. Outoftown and I are flying home KOA via MSP in Jan 2011 on DL. Our inbound is to HNL, but there are almost hourly connections to the other islands. I would agree with bocastephen with Kauai and the Big Island. Maui would be the third choice. Only downside if for years, if your trip comes up in conversation, everyone will want to want to know why you didn't visit the more "popular" and visited destinations of Oahu and Maui. This will be our 10th trip to Hawaii. Big Island so far is our favorite. Volcano national park is one of the few places in the world where you can hike and see moving lava. If you have to fly into HNL, spend the one night and pack the next morning. Go see Pearl Harbor very early, then fly out in the afternoon.

-outoftown

kyunbit

Big Island+Kauai it is then. Can land in KOA and then visit Kauai.
Will post new year, say 3rd Jan to 10 Jan be a bad time to visit Big Island+Kauai?

bocastephen

Here is what I would do. There are flights to KOA from SEA (nonstop) as well as a few other west coast gateways. There are also limited nonstops to Lihue as well. Try to leave the midwest in the later afternoon on Friday (never the last flight) and overnight in the west coast gateway of your choice (the choice depends on the cost/benefit of getting to KOA or LIH nonstop, or a cheap connection in HNL). Your goal is to take the first flight out on Saturday morning and be at your destination before lunch - on a morning nonstop, you would hit KOA by 10am or so.

You can also try an open-jaw the routing - just looking for the combination of price/time that suits you and allows for a connection back home from your west coast gateway after landing Sunday morning.

Let's say you're leaving from STL. You can fly STL-SEA or STL-LAX on Friday evening, then depart SEA or LAX to KOA or LIH the next morning. Since you are doing two Islands, you can fly to KOA and back from LIH or vice versa - or if the prices are low, do LAX-HNL and an inter-island ticket that goes HNL-LIH-KOA-HNL, so your transpac segments all route through HNL.

It will take a little elbow grease and online searching to find the right combination, but it can be done.

Italy98

As others have stated one week is very little time to see one island, let alone more than one. I would recommend climbing Diamond Head on Oahu and taking a helicopter ride around Kauai (great if you are there during the whale migration).

On the side I would recommend eating a meal at the Rainbow drive-in and breakfast (macadamia nut pancakes) at Boots and Kimo's.

bocastephen

The problem is, Kaua'i will be wet at that time of year - since you're going primarily to hike, I'd be concerned that those trails might be washed out or uncomfortably sloppy at that time of year. You might be OK, but then again, you might spend 3 days there driving around with limited hiking opportunities.

So..some good news...you're there during whale season. I would consider doing a Maui/Big Island combination (unless you don't care about the wet trail risk on Kaua'i).

Although you can take a whale watch cruise from Maui, and most of the whales hang around Maui, I have a contact who can take you out to see whales from the Big Island, and she'll get you up close and personal (although no swimming) - and she can take you in the water to meet some wild dolphins. When you're trip is set, I'll PM you her contact info and the lava tour guy as well.

comesatime

I agree with the Big Island/Maui advice. That time of year the weather will be iffy in the northern most islands (Kauai/Oahu), and the more southernly islands tend to be drier (in my admittedly minimal experience - someone who actually lives there may have a lot more insight). You only have so much time and you need to maximize your days. Plus seeing the whales is a fabulous experience. I have heard that Maui is the best place to see them, but I imagine that they are all over. I have only seen whales in Mexico, but it was a super cool experience.

Ancien Maestro

For the most diverse eco systems.. Big Island of Hawai'i.

For the best time to go where no one is around.. that means low season.. would probably be around October.

ILuvParis

If the Na Pali coast is the top choice for hiking/adventure (which the op says (s)he wants), I'm not quite understanding why Kauai would be a "viable alternative."

That's like saying ya gotta spend a week in New York, but maybe Chicago, to see the Cubs.

My recommendation would be two days on Waikiki. You can't go to Hawaii once in your life and not see it. Then hike, snorkel, catamaran and zipline on Kauai for four or five days.