slippahs

The Big Island.

Babu

Is the Big Island volcano doable in one day (day trip?).

CPRich

Without specific gotta-see's, I'd go with Maui.

I had to make the trip to Oahu once to get to Pearl Harbor, Arizona, Big Mo, but now that I've been I don't need to go back. I'm not sure the kids got much out of it, other than standing in line for a long time.

Volcano National Park is great - we did 3 days on the Big Island, including an all-day blitz of VNP - helicopter tour, sunset at the end of the road, etc.

Once those must-do's were done, I've stuck to Kauai and Maui on repeat trips. I have kids 3 and 8 and we were at those islands this summer. Surf lessons, parasailing, jetskis, pineapple plantation tour, sunrise from Haleakala, submarine trip - you can easily fill 2 days with the kids on Maui.

ILuvParis

You don't mention whether you've been to Hawaii before. I always tell people if they are going to more than one island, to make Kauai the last one because if they go to Kauai first, they won't want to leave. Therefore, my suggestion would be don't leave. Priceline a hotel and let your kids have a couple extra days at the pool and/or beach without flying and transferring to and from airports another time or two. Believe me. At the end of your timeshare visit, you will not have done all the things on the island that you had hoped to do. You'll have another two days to do them!

Jon Maiman

For two days, I was also would recommend staying on Kauai. Where is your timeshare located on The Island? If it is in Lihue or Poi'Pu, see if you can do a vacation rental for two days in Princeville (or vice versa if you we're staying in Princeville). There is plenty to do on Kauai for much more than a week. Going to another island, you will lose too much of the time in the transfer.

That said, I will contradict myself slightly. If you have never seen the Arizona Memorial, then I would recommend going to Oahu and visiting it. There are many one day activities you can do on Oahu for the remainder of the time (Snorkel Hanuma Bay, Go to Kailua/Lanikai beach, Hike Diamondhead, etc.).

--Jon

Jon Maiman

If you do decide to go to another island for the last 2 days of your trip, I would recommend doing an overnight visit to the Big Island and staying in Volcano Village which is very near the entrance to the park. Viewing Lava is best done at night (easier to see it). Of course you have to get lucky and have visible flows during your visit. With your young kids, I would not recommend a hike out onto the Lava. At the moment it isn’t an option anyway. As conditions change, sometimes lava is visible from the end of Chain of Craters road though currently it isn’t. For the most current information on the eruption go to http://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/lava2.htm. Even if you can't see active lava flows, VNP is still fascinating and well worth visiting.

Back to lodging, my wife and I like Hale Ohia Bed and Breakfast. I have stayed there twice as my base for visiting VNP and Hilo. If you do a search of this forum you will see some other recommended lodging in Volcano Village. Also fly in and out of Hilo (ITO) for your visit to VNP. It is much closer than Kona (KOA).

--Jon

tednugent(no relation)

Agree on the Arizona 100%. ^

I'm not as worried as some about the childrens' attention spans.
I took my 8 y/o son & 11 y/o daughter there this past summer.

I think that children will be engaged by the things that engage their parents, so if you find it interesting and take the time to make it interesting for them, your children will be the richer for the experience.

Heck, go on Sunday, and then visit the swap meet at the Aloha Stadium afterward and buy all the tourist trinkets you would ever want.

Babu

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughtful and educated resposnes!

I discussed all your options with the decision maker (the wife). She agreed that island hopping is too much of a pain with 2 kids, so we are staying on Kauai; we'll save the volcano for another trip. Our timeshare is at the Marriott. I was able book 2 additional nights at the Hyatt for just under $400 per night. Since the flights to another island would have cost this much for the family, not a bad deal I suppose. The Princeville was an option but $200 more a night. Anyone feel the Princeville is worth $200 more per night?

I am curious as to ILuvParis's comment about "a lot to do on the island". I thought it was just a beautiful lazy sleepy island. What activities would you all recommend?

Thanks!

ILuvParis

Well, what you can and want to do will vary with the ages of the kids and the interests of your family, but there is snorkeling (including, e.g., boat trips to the Napali Coast that include snorkeling along the way), various other boat trips, bike rentals (including one firm that drives you UP to Waimea Canyon and you ride bikes down), backcountry tubing, zipline, hiking, helicopter rides, to name several. You can Google any of these activities or do a search of this forum for additional information and additional ideas. Also, when you arrive at the airport, there is tons of literature on activities, what's happening "this week" on the island, etc. in the baggage claim area.

There is a great spa at the Hyatt, for mom and dad, too!

Unfortunately, a couple of locals who used to post here regularly (and seem to be missing in action) probably would have had some good ideas too, but I'm sure other visitors will post as they see this thread.

tagor

We are in need of some assistance with our 10 night Hawaii itinerary!
Help! Please...
First a little background, we are a family of three, mom, dad, and 12 year old son.
We are fairly active and have a sense of adventure.
We will be going to Hawaii for ten nights in August 2008, that is confirmed, however what we do with those ten nights is totally up in the air!
What we want to do is relax at the pools (great pools are VERY important) as well as explore the islands. (a good mixture of both)
Our interests include:
Checking out the volcano's, I have heard you can take a bike tour down one?
Are there any lava flows active?
Trying Scuba diving, we are not certified but understand you can do a resort dive of less than 40 feet without the certification. We would all be interested in this, which island would be best?
We like to rent a car, and explore on our own, go for a hike, check out caves etc...
We are also interested in trying zip lining...
Star watching might be cool as well.

My original thought was to visit three islands.
3 nights on the Big island at the Hilton Waikoloa Village.
Then 3 nights on Kauai, at the Grand Hyatt Kauai.
Finishing with 4 nights on Maui at the Grand Wailea Resort.

After a lot of reading, we started wondering if this might be too rushed of an itinerary?
We are caught between this possibly being our one and only trip to the islands ever, and wanting to see as much as we can, and doing too much as to have no time to relax and enjoy!

We could really use some advice.
Should we consider doing only TWO islands for 5 nights each?
We were thinking possibly only doing Kauai and Maui.
Would we regret not seeing the Big Island? And what about Oahu? We are not really "beach" people, we love to walk on the beach for sure, but can't spend a day lying on one, and prefer to swim in pools.
We like to spend a day or two at the resort but also want things to do and explore on our own.
Would we be bored on Kauai for 5 nights, and wish we had moved along?

I guess what we really want to know is with 10 nights available, which islands and for how long... LOL
I know that is the million dollar question, and different for everyone.
I have tried to give as much info as possible about what we like to do, any suggestions or advice is appreciated.
Specifically differences between the islands, and activities available.
Thanks in advance for any help.

linsj

My best advice: Don't try to go to more than two islands. You'll lose most of a day moving from one island to another. Personally, I prefer to spend my whole two weeks on one island at a time.

When I read through your list of interests, I immediately thought of the Big Island (volcano) and Kauai (hiking, zip lining).

ILuvParis

You may also want to do a search of this forum. This question (or variations of it) has been asked before and you might get some good advice from someone who misses the question this time around.

If pools are more important to you than beaches, I'd skip Oahu (or at least Waikiki) as the beach is the thing there, while you can find amazing pools on the other islands. I'd also recommend sticking to two islands.

bigjoc

For 10 days, 2 islands are more than enough. The last thing you want to do is waste your vacation time hopping around, checking in and out of hotels, renting cars, etc. Isn't the whole idea to relax? Kauai and Maui are great choices.

cmjaffe

Just my family's 2cents... we did 2 islands this past December being away for 10 nights... son 14 DD 10 and stayed 4 nights at HWV, 1 night in Volcano Village and then 5 nights in Kauai. This Xmas we're staying a full week in Kauai and then 5 nights in Oahu (couldn't get return FF tickets for whole family from Kauai). Though the HWV was nice (stayed on points) found that for older kids the pool is just "ok" and there's no beach on property. Getting in/out took forever. There are other lodging offerings that we feel are much better choices (such as Hapuna Prince).
JMHO though

jacknyoc

you're right to think about only doing two islands with 10 days. IMHO, Kauai is a must...great scenery, hiking, kayaking (Hanalei River, north shore), snorkling (north shore) and some nice resorts/pools (Hyatt, for sure...although Princeville on north shore might also be good option).

The Big Island would seem to suit your needs for volcanoes, scuba diving and large resorts...but I've always been more partial to Maui myself. Good luck and have fun wherever you end up.