As of now I have my time split between Maui and Oahu as is, 7 full days and 7 full nights at Maui, checking out on day 8 to go to Oahu. That day will be split in half probably. Then 4 full days and 4 full nights at Waikiki, but the last full day, we fly out that night at midnight to come back to Ohio. I have double bookings on night 7 at both Maui and Oahu. I can't decide if I need more time in Oahu or not. I have my husband, and my two college aged kids. They are not into museums or shopping, more water sports, except we will of course see Pearl Harbor. Any advice or opinion would be appreciated. Thanks

Welcome to FlyerTalk! Sorry, but I'm really confused as to what you are doing - the 7 vs. 4 nights part mainly. Where are you staying on both islands? That will make a difference as to what activties are easily accessible. Generally, knowing your interests (sortof), I'd say more time on Maui. I love Oahu & it is definitely best for food & shopping, but depending on where you are staying, the water sports vary.

P.S. This might be better posted on the Hawaii Board - lots of good local's info there...

Welcome to FlyerTalk! I'm moving this to the Hawaii forum.

--richard, moderator

We fly into Maui and spend 1 day driving to Hana and staying over night, then driving over to Kanaapali and staying at the Sheraton for 5 or 6 nights, and flying either Christmas day or the day after Christmas to Oahu and staying at the Hilton for 4 or 5 nights. I just can't decide if 4 nights and 4 days is not enough time at Oahu and 7 nights and 7 days is too much time at Maui. I've never been to either. We want to beach, snorkel, hike, go to Pearl Harbor, see the North Shore on Oahu, go to Diamond Back, see the sunrise at Haleakala, etc. I just wondered if anyone had an opinion for college aged kids. They are not much into shopping, maybe the daughter is, and they are will not be happy going to museums and gardens. Thanks. Lisa

- only, it would be better to start with oahu and end with maui

I would loved to have done Oahu first and Maui last, but Maui was completely booked back in late September when I was trying to do this. I know I should have started last spring, but couldn't get it together back then.

Last time in HI was when I was 18mos old so all of its going to be new to me.

I'm looking at a split setup as well with my flights to the islands going into HNL. Most likely do 4 nights on Oahu, 4 nights in Maui just to soak up as much as possible.

-JC

Hi, I just got back from a trip to Hawaii and we were in both Oahu and Maui. We only spent two nights in Waikiki and as far as we were concerned that was enough. The rest of the time, we were in Maui (7 nites) and I could have easily spent another 7 nights there! We did a Pearl Harbor and Honolulu city tour in half a day. Working in NYC, visiting Honolulu was like visiting a big city like NY, with palm trees.
While in Maui, do not miss Mount Haleakala with a bike ride down (38 miles) from the summit. It is a real rush and really very safe.

Have a great time...I wish I was going back.

Brian

I agree with that the majority of your time should be spent on Maui; however, I also feel that two days would probably be a bit too short. There's a great amount you can do on Oahu, and I don't have the time to get into it (I have in the past, so the trusty search feature, along with the FAQ on the top of the Hawaii forum) will bring up some very relevant info on things to do on Oahu.

FWIW, you've got a good plan. The extra day? Spend it on Maui. You can use that day as an exclusive beach day where there's nothing planned. If your college-aged kids had been into museums and shopping, Honolulu would have been the best bet for the extra day, but with water sports, Maui seems like a better fit.

Also, a word on the biking down Haleakala. It's not as safe as some are led to believe. I have a friend who lives up in Kula (on the slopes of Haleakala) who says there's at least one ambulence passing up the road a day. I'd personally just drive up and enjoy the view.

Also, if you don't yet have plans for your final day on Oahu, a few hotels offer day rates for about $100 or so that allows you to stay in a hotel room past the check-out time. This might be a good idea if you plan to spend the day at the beach and need a place to shower or refresh before your flight out.

Hope you have a great trip and let us know if you've got any further questions!

Having been to Waikiki/Honolulu is not the same as having visited Oahu - the rest of the island is entirely different.

I agree that the split is about right. I did 4 on Oahu and 5 on Maui (with 3 on the Big Island squeezed in between). We covered just about everything we wanted to see on Oahu. I'm glad I went - I had to get to Pearl Harbor one day and Haunama Bay was extremely cool - but I probably won't go back. I'll be spending all my time on Maui, and maybe sampling Kauai.

I do agree that you need to get away from Waikiki. The Dole plantation, the North Shore, Hanauma Bay, Waimea Valley Audubon Center, Puuualakaa Overlook, hike up Diamond Head, Nuaanu Valley Rain Forest, Nuuanu Pali Lookout - there's plenty to do.

Since you're going to Hana, I recommend stopping here for a walk through a lava tunnel cave:

http://www.mauicave.com/

My sons and I did it this past summer. It was well worth the money and time, a very interesting adventure that you don't see advertised much on Maui.

Absolutely agree with Slippahs- spend the xtra day on Maui, and spend it at Big Beach at Makena the kids will love it! (Its my favorite place on earth!!)

Bicyling: I'm sitting here at the Ritz in Kapalua. I've been thinking about doing the surise viewing and downhill bicycle trip but this thread has me rethinking that. The biking sounds like fun but maybe it would be better just to go see the crater.

Maui: I been in Maui since Wednesday and am leaving on Thursday. I've enjoyed Maui so far. I went to Oahu last year with my exgirlfriend so I keep comparing the two trips in my head. I've decided that I definately like how Maui feels a lot more relaxed than Oahu. I really disliked the Honolulu rush hour as it reminded me too much of the Chicago rush hours. In Maui, I've run into some minor slow spots, but of course, no major traffic. Things are lot more relaxing and laidback here in Maui. Of course, this is reflected in the nightlife. I used to hate bars, but now I like them for practicing my pickup skills. On Wednesday and Thursday, I was in Wailea, but the bars were dead around there. Friday and Saturdays were good but my understanding is that Waikiki is crazy every night. I never got to experience the night life in Oahu last year as my ex wanted to go to slepe early everyday. I just mention night life because again, it reflects Maui's more relaxed nature.

Oahu: I spent a week last year in Oahu and I felt like I constantly had stuff to do. I definately think 2 days is too little time to experience Oahu. We did plenty of stuff in Oahu, but still missed some stuff. Off the top of my head, I believe we did the long drive around the island one day. Another day, we saw Pearl Harbor and drove on the west side of the island (personally I thought the west side was a waste of time). One day we walked from Waikiki to the Palace and saw most of the attractions in between. Another day, we took the submarine underwater boat ride, went to a luau, and saw the Bishop museum. I think the rest of our time was spend seeing Devilhead, going to the beach, and shopping. We didn't have enough time to see the Polynesian
Cultural Center (though I don't really care about that), the falls park attraction (starts with a "W" but I can't think of the name off the top of my head), and I didn't have time to snorkel in that bay that was in Elvis's Blue Hawaii movie.

Maui sites: I feel like I've seen almost everything on Maui and I still have a few days left. If I weren't stuck with this cough, I'd consider spending 3 days getting an open water Scuba certification. Here's what I've done so far:

Day one (Wed): arrived at 8pm, got rental car, stopped at Walmart in Kahuliu, checked into the Wailea Mariott, got a drink (realized there was no nightlife that night) and went to sleep.
Day two (Thanksgiving): morning jog along the Wailea beach/coast, drove to Paia and the beach (I can't think of the name offhand, and I don't have a map handy) east of there that is known as a good suf spot. After that, we drove along that one-lane road from the Kahuliu area that loops around to Kapalua.
Day three (Fri): Went to the beach behind the Grand Wailea. checkout and dropped off our bags at the Ritz in Kapalua. We killed some time driving again to Paia and to through the hills south of Paia until our room was ready. Then we just relaxed at the Kapalua beach, and I checked out Paradise Bluz in Lahaina.
Day four (sat): Took the drive to Hana, the pools in the national park, and finished the loop around. Then we went home and I went to the club in the Hyatt.
Day Five (Sun): I slept in until 10am-11am. We drove down to Wailea again and onto the state park that has the lava flow. We were hoping we could go offroading there, but the trail that is one some of the Maui maps is impassable now so we turned around. We then hit Jaws Tacos (an Idine place in Kihua (sic?). Then I took a nap. Later, we walked around Lahaina and grabbed some food.

My point is giving my current itinerary is that we've wasted a lot of time. I saw "wasted" in that we did a lot of unnessary driving that was fun, but really didn't help us see any other attractions. In my trip to Oahu last year, I felt that I had little time to waste if I wanted to see all the attractions. If we hadn't spent so much time driving around, we could have probably seen the two attractions that I still need to see.

In the rest of my trip here, I plan on going to the Crater and possibly taking the bicycle trip. I'm not sure if I'm going to go to the Crater at down. Again, I could have already done this in the time that I've been here if I were in a sightseeing "rush" mode. I also have to stop by the whaling village attraction. We could have done that today but I didn't feel like walking around in the rain.

Since I seem to have a ton of time, I think I'm going to dedicate on of the remaining days for a daytrip to Molokai.

I don't currently have a guidebook for Maui as we decided to go on this trip about 12 hours before our plane left on Wednesday. I had a guidebook for Oahu so maybe that's why I was scrambing around more. When I have a guidebook, I get in this mode where I want to try to see almost everything that the guidebook says I should see. Still, the brief research I've done, and what I've heard from other people is that there isn't really that much to see here in Maui.

If I were to plan this trip again I'd do the following: 1) Take the Hala coast drive. 2) Take the northern one lane road that goes north of Kapalua and loops to Kahuliu. 3) See the crater 4) Hit the Whaling town and stroll through Lahaina 5) Go swimming, snorkeling, or kayaking and/or relax. I guess my point is I could easily do that in 3-4 days easily. I don't feel like I could have seen all of Oahu in 3-4 days. Am I missing any major attractions in Maui?

Of course, seeing attractions isn't always the most important thing about a vacation. Looking back at your post, I see that you are mostly into water sports. I don't know that much about that as it isn't my thing, but I guess you'll have plenty to do here in Maui in that area. I was talking to a girl at the Hyatt club last night who happens to be a concierge at the Grand Wailea. I remember asking her about stuff to do and I remembered her saying water sports are a big thing for people that come here. Thinking back on what I wrote, I guess that's why I have lot of free time. I've spent about 4 hours total in "water sports," which for me has just been wading in the ocean.