Help plan a Hawaii vacation please!
 

Hi,

My husband and I would like to go to Hawaii for about 10 days during thanksgiving (I know, I know - toughest time of the year). We'd like to split our time between the Big Island and Kauai. While we enjoy the beach, we prefer the "adventure" vacations - trekking, canyons, diving, volcanoes, waterfalls etc - and hence the 5 nights each split on each island.

I'm having a tough time figuring out whether to stay in a hotel or time-share apartments. Any ideas on how to get in touch with someone that owns one and is reliable? I tried United Vacations online, and Continental vacations online - they have only the resort-type of properties... I'm not sure I'd like to be in one such property fo 10 days :-(

Any help you can provide would be much much appreciated.

Thanks,
Kamala

Hi Kamala,
Last time my husband and I were in Hawaii we did exactly what you've got planned, 5 days on the Big Island and 5 days on Kauai. In both places we rented, and after doing so I will NEVER stay in a hotel again in Hawaii. It was so much more fun having our own place! On Kauai, we rented a tiny cottage right on the water from Gloria's Vacation Rentals (www.gloriasvacationrentals.com, IIRC). On the Big Island we were with friends, and rented a house on Kealakekua Bay from Black Bamboo (www.blackbamboohawaii.com). The house was brand new and fabulously equipped. Other friends subsequently rented a cottage from Black Bamboo and were also very pleased.

You can also find lots of rental listings at www.vrbo.com, as well as several other rent-from-the-owner websites. If you just google something like +Kauai +rental +cottage you will get many results.

BTW, staying right on K-bay for at least a couple of nights is a wonderful thing to do on the Big Island. You can then kayak across the bay to the best snorkelling in the state. Only other way to access the site (at the Captain Cook memorial) is to take a boat trip with 30 of your closest friends or hike down a dusty two mile dirt road. I love to hike, but that hike wasn't memorable. Also, a pod of spinner dolphins frequents the bay, and there is an excellent chance you will be able to kayak (and snorkel!) among them. Fabulous experience. Of course, you won't want to miss Volcano Nat'l Park, and that's about a 1 1/2 hr drive from K-bay, so you could consider splitting your time. The Big Island is BIG!

Feel free to PM me if you'd like any other rental links---I've got them on my home computer.

Diane

pindi,

I worked at the Princeville Resort for 8 months. For the absolute BEST food at near-giveaway prices, you MUST go to a great little restaurant over in Hanalei Town.

The staff is awesome; they normally wouldn't carry Red Bull, but since that's been my signature cocktail for the last 7 years, the sweet (hot!) bartender would run across the street to get me some (before I even had a chance to ask).

The food is fresh, comes in grand portions, and you won't find better value for your money anywhere.

Call ahead: they do divine tempura fish tacos, but only one night a week. You'll think you've died and gone to heaven.

For another typical taste treat, you've gotta go by Hamura's near the airport. They have grilled meat skewers and a traditional Hawaiian dish known as saimin, our version of ramen. Gets croweded due to few tables, but the broth is homemade. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

You're gonna have a grand ol' time! Aloha.

pindi: I'm going to move your thread to the Hawaii forum. I think you'll find many people there willing to help.

To your topic, you might also want to consider B&Bs. Here's my favorite on the Big Island - www.holualoainn.com And, since you like adventure you might want to check out the Hawaii State website for Kokee State Park on Kauai. They do have very rustic cabins for those who like to hike. They do rent out very far in advance though, so your best hope would likely be for a cancellation.

Good luck.

There are many nice condos in Poipu on the south end of Kaua'i. Frommer's guide book lists them all with contact numbers. Grantham resorts has a number of reasonable properties. http://www.grantham-resorts.com/ We stayed in her Nihi Kai villas which Frommer's recommended. Poipu is closer to the Waimea Canyon than Lihue. OTOH, the Marriott Resort in Lihue is fabulous and closer to the Kalalau Trail which is a great hike.

On the Big Island we stayed at Volcano Inn B&B. http://www.volcanoinn.com/ Very nice, seems pricy but you get a lot for your $. You are minutes from all the trails in Volcano NP. Do not confuse the Volcano Inn with the Volcano House which is in the park itself but gets very bad reviews.

Simple on Kauai
 

If you want to stay at the 1 o'clock location on Kauai, try Green Acres Cottages (http://greenacrescottages.com).

Although under new ownership, my friends built it and ran it for years. Very nice and lots of fruit trees. Certainly different from a hotel.

Pindi,

My wife and I have made 5 trips to Hawaii so far including 2 stays on the Big Island and 2 stays on Kauai. For Kauai, we have been there in the summer and stayed in the Princeville area. There are lots of condo’s available for rent in Princeville and nearby Hanalei. In the winter, the surf will be higher in the northern part of Kauai, so Poipu may be a better option. It is also more centrally located. We did a number of hikes in Kokee State Park (highly recommended by the way) and it was a long drive from Princeville (1.5 to 2 hours one way).

We just got back from a 12-day trip to the Big Island earlier this summer. The Big Island is really big and it takes a while to get between places. So plan your itinerary in advance to maximize the use of your time. For Volcano National Park, I recommend staying in Volcano Village. We have stayed at the Hale Ohia Cottages (www.haleohia.com) twice and both times were very happy. Cottage #44 and Ihilani are our favorites. All of them are nice. Each cottage/suite has a mini fridge and is setup for light duty cooking. We have also eaten at Kilauea Lodge but never stayed there. It looks nice and I would certainly consider staying there. Volcano Village is also a good base for seeing sites in the Hilo and Puna areas.

For the Waikoloa area, we stayed at the Marriot Waikoloa Beach Resort. Even though were more condo types in Hawaii we enjoyed staying there a lot. All of the rooms have mini-fridges so you can do your own breakfast/lunch if you like. The property is on a nice beach and very close to two spectacular beaches (Hapuna and Mauna Kea). There are lots of Condo’s available in the Kona area though they are far away from nice beaches. We weren’t impressed with Kona proper. There are also some Condo’s in the Waiklola area managed by Outrigger. If you go the Marriott route, there are very good specials right now due to ongoing renovations. The renovations are not a problem and won’t spoil your stay.

No matter what you do, it is hard to not enjoy Kauai and the Big Island.

--Jon

Another option is Volcano House in the park. The food isn't great and their are hordes from tour buses BUT nothing beats looking out over the crater early in the morning or at dusk. Oh and did I mention the walls are paper thin?
Get a crater view room and you will not regret it.

Finally do remember, as Jon pointed out, it is called the Big Island for a reason. Plan carefully to minimize driving.

David

try using the search function in the hawaii forum. we have had numerous discussions of accommodations on both islands in the last few months, which may be of use.

My husband and I have only been to Maui and Oahu so far but have used vrbo.com for condos with great success there. I've seen unused timeshares for kauai and big island go for under $200/wk on skyauction.com too. We've only tried the skyauction route for cruises and timeshares for St. Maarten so far--no problems yet, knock on wood.

Help, tahitiboy -- what's the name of this "great little restaurant in Hanalei town"?? :confused: We'll be there at the end of the month, sounds like a great place to try.

I can second this recommendation as we are considering staying there all or part of our upcoming vacation. We toured the property last year and were impressed with the quality of the grounds. Last year we stayed in Haena at http://www.diversvacationrentals.com and were very pleased. There are several properties on-site. You would be very happy in their *House in the Clouds*. It's on an out of the way street and a two minute walk to the beach; as well it's very convenient to the Na Pali coast as well as Tunnels Beach. The only downside here is you are very removed from the rest of the island after crossing the seven one-lane bridges.
You definitely want to explore Kokee park which is on the opposite side of the island. Perpaps consider a night or two in the (rustic) Kokee cabins.

Thank you!
 

Just wanted to thank everyone for their advice - I feel much more confident about this trip now. I guess luck is on my side as I was able to snag a United reward EWR-KOA and HNL-EWR. Having a bit of trouble finding award availability for the interisland flights though.

If I had to make a difficult choice and stay on the big island for only 2.5 days, and 5.5 days on Kauai - would that do any justice to the Big Island trip? I have a very good idea on things I can do in Kauai (there were such fantastic threads in this forum on this topic), but am a bit lost on Big Island.

If you had only 2.5 days to spend in Big island, and beach wasn't your priority, what would you do? Your favorite place to stay/eat?

Thanks again for all your help!

By all means, I would visit the Volcanoes National Park; be warned, it is a lenghty drive to and from there from Kona and you should plan a complete day for your visit.

I'd suggest you take a look at the FAQ at the top of this forum for places to stay/eat and other related information.