beachbrew

Planning our first trip to hawaii, and want to do two nights on Oahu(primarly to visit pearl harbor) and spend 7 or 8 nights on maui. We would be flying in from the east coast. Which island should we do first?

philemer

Save the best for last. Do Oahu first. And do the popular PH tour the first morning because you'll be awake at 4 or 5 AM anyway. :-)

DJ_Iceman

Philemer offers good advice. Most folks think of Hawaii as a relaxing vacation, so get your go-go-go touristy stuff out of the way first. Otherwise you're going to have a week to adjust to aloha time, then cram some craziness in at the end which will just feel weird.

rabtech

Have done this exact trip and another idea is to stay on Maui the entire time and simply do a day trip to PH. They used to have companies that would pick you up in Maui, handle the entire trip to PH (tour group) and return you to your hotel that evening. The advantage is not having to switch hotels during our stay, return rental car and pickup another rental, etc.

startpacking

+1

Kölner

Oahu is the most underrated of all Hawaiian Islands.
Oahu is more than Waikiki.

Sarfa33

Hi all,

I'm planning a 5th anniversary trip with my wife to Hawaii in July. It will be her first time ever in HI and my second, though my first was on a business trip and I pretty much only saw Honolulu and a little bit of Waikiki.

Here's the catch, though. Due to a dearth of vacation days at the moment, our trip will only be three nights and two full days, with two travel days. I know it's really short, but we've been talking about going forever, but keep putting it off for various reasons, so I feel like it's time to just do it! ^

So, here are my questions:

1) What island? We have no interest in going to Honolulu or Waikiki and want a "typical" (stereotypical?) Hawaiian vacation -- beaches, dolphins, luau, surfing. Since we don't have a lot of time, renting a car and exploring various places probably doesn't make sense. It should also probably be relatively airport accessible, since we don't have enough time to spend multiple hours to get to/from the nearest airport.

2) What hotel? We're willing to pay for a top tier hotel. Ideally, it should have all the "typical" activities listed above on site or very close. Romantic hotel > Family friendly hotel

Thanks in advance for your help!

-S

djp98374

Given your short stay you should have a rental car.

Have you booked your flights yet??? If not, then book a red eye for the return then you will get a 3rd day on the island.

Given your short trip I would put my focus on Maui or Kauai.

If you are set for this in July do the north shore of Kauai. This part of the island has been used in sentry for jurasic park.

For Maui look at Lahani area

Both are small island but you must have a car.

With either location they have various boating and sealife watching excursions.

On Kauai you have the north coast with no roads so you could explore it either by boat or by air.

Both areas have top tier resorts. Maui has a few national chain resorts. While the princeville area has resorts, but not all are national chain ones.

On Kauai the southern part of the island has more resorts....because most travel in winter where the north side is very wet and rainy, the south is drier. In the summer months the north shore has its dry season with calm ocean waters and depending on when you travel you could see the sun set over water.

Both locations have good snorkeling locations where you could bring your own gear or rent gear.

cblaisd

If you're going "top tier," I'd also suggest flying to KOA and staying at one of the North Kohala resorts. The tonier ones will pick you up. If you wanted, you could do a one-day car rental if you wanted to spend a day seeing some of the nearer sights (Waipio overlook, Painted Church, etc., etc.)

Sarfa33

Thanks for your replies.

Do you really think that we'll have time to do sightseeing by car, either on Maui or the Big Island? I feel like with our limited time we're going to be full up just with what's nearby.

Right now, I'm thinking about Maui to stay at the Four Seasons at Wailea. Do you think that's a good choice?

Thanks!
-S

Ancien Maestro

Contrary to the others, I believe Wailea Maui is the best place to visit given the short time that you're on the islands. So if you feel full up and just want to enjoy, Wailea is heaven on earth and the nicest place to stay in all of Hawaii imo. The only nicer location than the Four Seasons Maui in my opinion is where Fairmont Kea Lani is located simply because you get a breathtaking view of Molikini, the legendary half crater submerged in water.. an absolute wonder of the world. The whales dance and seem to breed off the shores of Polo Beach.

Fairmont Kea Lani will provide the best value as you receive a suite (all suite hotel) for a similar rate you would pay for a regular hotel room at Grand Wailea and Four Seasons. Four Seasons will provide you the best service in Wailea and if you stay at Four Seasons Maui, do visit Spago's onsite. Spago's has a pre-fixe menu $50 pp before 6PM and after 8:30PM, otherwise expect a bill that's double for a three course. Grand Wailea is Las Vegas meets Hawaii and has a great water park for kids. Family friends of mine have regularly vacationed at Grand Wailea over the past 10 years, and currently has 5 kids. I have a few friends who was married at the Four Seasons Maui. Numerous people I know have stayed at Fairmont Kea Lani. Good luck with your choice. You can't really go wrong with Lahaina neither, but if you've visited Wailea in year's past, anything else would just keep you yearning for Wailea.

djp98374

The big island for such a short stay isn't worth it. You need to travel for at least 5 days to explore the island.

From KOA it's a 3 hr drive to the volcano. The roads are generally be lane each way roads with limits at 45 at best, and less in towns.

Sarfa33

Thank you all for the helpful replies! :-:

I hadn't even considered the Fairmont, but it looks great! ^
I guess I'm pretty much settled on Maui (easy access via nonstop flights on DL from/to LAX as well), so I just have to decide on 4S or Fairmont.

Decisions, decisions...

-S

Lavarock7

I once sat next to a woman on her way from the Big Island to the mainland. She had come for a wedding at a resort (I think the 4 Seasons).

I asked her if she saw Kona town, NO. Drove around the island? NO. Saw the volcano? What volcano?

She stayed at the all-inclusive resort and never left it all week (except to go to and from the airport).

OK, so her first trip to Hawaii she saw the resort, felt the weather and swam in warm water. It's no wonder people say Hawaii is so expensive :-)

I guess it's just me, but I would want to explore, shop, see the volcano, try local food (not resort fare).

My first trip and only trip to Molokai, I arrived one morning, drove all over the island, saw phallic rock, visited the coffee fields, drove to to see the cliffs, experienced the "Royal Court", drove down to see the canoe races between Molokai and Oahu and relaxed at the hotel Molokai to write a trip report.

Was it a bit hectic? Yes, but I experienced Molokai and my memories are much more than the inside of a resort that could have been in Mexico for all I knew. But that is just me :-)

BBPlaya13

Could use ya'lls help solidifying my HI plans. My gf and I are booked into HNL 2/1 - 2/9 with another couple, I'm interested in:
1) Advice on which islands to visit.
From the research I've done so far I don't think I want to stay on Oahu. Sounds like it might be touristy and filled with other people, my travel partners and I are more interested in the outdoors and scenic views.
2) Advice on maximizing hotel night stays with points.
I've looked into the Amex SPG, Chase Hyatt, and Hilton. I like the SPGs low redemption rates, but no transfer partners makes it rough. Hyatt's redemptions are a little higher, but at least I can transfer URs over. Hilton has the most options with 4 potential cards for earning points/nights and the UR --> Virgin Atlantic --> Hilton points transfer, but the redemptions are quite high at islands other that Oahu.

Any thoughts or feedback?