We are planning our first family vacation to Hawaii for next summer. A colleague at work (a well-to-do DINK) poo-pooed our plans when I said we were spending 5 nights at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Hhonors points. They thought that Waikiki was a pit, traffic unbbearable and that we would be bored after a few nights.

We arrive on a Wednesday evening. On Thursday we will use the time change to our advantage (we're on East Coast time) and get to Pearl Harbor early. Later that day we might climb Diamond Head or explore Waikiki. On Friday we might take a drive to the north shore and visit the Dole Plantation. Saturday will be spent at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Sunday we might explore some other beaches, my kids might take surf lessons, me might do an out rigger canoe ride and then go to Roys for dinner. Monday morning we fly to the Big Island where we will explore VNP and stay in Volcano for one night. Tuesday we'll finish exploring the national park and head off to see the green and black sand beaches on the way to Waikoloa. We'll be staying at Hilton Waikoloa Village for 4 nights on Hhonors points (again put down by the colleague because it is not high end). Then we will be off to Maui for 4 days. We haven't selected our lodging there yet, but we probably will stay at the Fairmont, Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton on Maui.

My colleague said we should spend less time on Oahu and more time on Maui. I thought I had a nice vacation planned and now I'm just feeling down.
Any advice? Mahalo!

You have a very good plan.

The jet lag is worse than people expect it to be. A little pad time in Honolulu is not a bad thing. You may want to even think about simply a day on the beach at the HHV instead of quite so much running around. But those are minor emendations.

Enjoy and e komo mai!

Well done on the 9 nights with Hhonors points!! The only flaw I see is running plans by the colleague, and letting it get you down. Sounds like a great family vacation! FWIW, I would probably go with the Fairmont on Maui. But I would be interested to see what others suggest. Have a wonderful time!

I recently returned from two weeks at HHV. I was not bored, but then I went to do a lot of nothing, along with reading and walking. One advantage of Waikiki is being able to walk to dozens of restaurants and stores, as well as The Bus and shopping shuttles, so I don't have to rent a car. I like Oahu (have been all over the island and seen about everything). For me it's a cheap vacation (with Hilton timeshare points, United miles, and not paying for a car).

I've also been to the other three main islands, mostly for two weeks on one island at a time. Each is a different experience, and each has advantages and disadvantages. Don't let the colleagues ruin what you've planned; it'll be a great vacation.

Ditto to what cblaisd said. Good plan. ^

Just be careful not to overplan every waking minute.
You're on a vacation.

I'd also consider using that jetlag to your advantage and getting to Hanauma Bay at sunrise. Spend some time there (the early bird sees the turtles ) and leave for breakfast about the time all the tour buses are unloading tourists.

He was right about the unbbearable traffic. But after you get to the hotel all will be great.

Ditto cblaisd & tednugent's sentiment.

Sounds like you have a great vacation planned.

Can I come with? (at least to Big Island and Maui as I live on Oahu)

Sometimes I think people will put down oahu as almost a way to showoff that that they have more experience since they have gone to the "outer islands"

^ Nailed it.

"I did the arizona memorial, waikiki, diamond head and now I'm done with Oahu."

So after about 20 trips to O'ahu by ourselves, we went holoholo with two friends who grew up on O'ahu, and after two days of touring, Mrs. kaukau and I had to agree that O'ahu was the most beautiful island of them all! Seriously! We were blown away by the variety of habitats our friends showed us. Hard to convince people who've never had friends take them around.......but O'ahu is GORGEOUS! Fo' real! (But Maui No Ka Oi!)

Mahlo everyone! (if I knew how to say "very much" in Hawaiian I would!) I think I'm feeling the "Aloha spirit!"

I know that Hilton's are not Four Seasons, but frankly I think for a family with children they might "fit" us better. And I did score 9 nights "free" using points so we can splurge on our accomodations on Maui.

There will be a 6 hour time difference between home and Honolulu. So by the time we get to the HHV it will be 2:00 AM "our time". The trip out will be a long day for all of us. We won't plan down to the minute and cram our schedule with activities either.

ALOHA & MAHALO (again)!

OMG, those were my colleagues exact words! LOL!

I'm thinking your co-worker is jealous because you're planning a trip to Hawaii and he isn't.



And btw, I've been to both Hilton locations you are headed to, and my 3 kids loved them. Don't miss the penguin feeding at the HHV (our favorite penguin is Icarus; they are all tagged and named); there are fireworks there over the Hilton beach on Fridays. My kids loved the North Shore beaches (huge waves, huge sea turtles) and the Dole Plantation with the worlds largest labyrinth. If your budget allows a dolphin encounter you can do it on either island (on Oahu its at the Kahala Mandarin).

The kids love, love, LOVE the HWV and you will have the advantage of the large pool area construction being completed (they were just finishing it up on our last visit in Feb so my kids were a bit disappointed). We had a great snorkel/whale watch adventure from Red Sail sports that we booked from HWV. Even if you don't partake in the dolphin encounter, your kids can easily see the dolphins at the hotel. We also love the black sand beach at Punalu'u with their green sea turtles.

You've made great choices. Don't let anyone else try and rain on your vacation. My kids (all teens now) have been there 5x and cannot wait for our next trip.

Have a great time.

I've done entire trips without leaving Oahu and enjoyed every minute of it. If we want to get an outer island feel, we will spend our first few days either on the North Shore or at the Ihilani and then move to Waikiki, which we use as a jumping off point.

There are a lot of outer island snobs out there, mostly because they arrived in Oahu, went to their hotel in Waikiki and never left to explore the rest of the island.

It really is quite beautiful and much of that beauty is easily accessible.

In my opinion, your friend is a quarter correct. Oahu is great once you get outside of Honolulu itself. Oahu has alot to offer but the traffic can be terrible at times. Remember, Honolulu is a very large city. If our travel plans call for us to stay on Oahu, we usually stay 3 nights on Oahu (Waikiki Beach) and then 6 or 7 nights on a different island. When we travel in March, we are doing 3 nights Oahu, 6 nights Maui. This year we did 5 nights Hawaii and 5 nights Kauai.

Your plans on Oahu sound great. A couple of things. When you go to Pearl Harbor get there, in my opinion, no later than 7:30 a.m. That means leaving your hotel around 6:30 a.m. or so. You will be able to get into the museum at Pearl Harbor anytime of day but if you plan on doing the Arizona Memorial they issue group boarding passes (1 thru whatever) on a first come first serve basis. Most of the time, they have issued all group boarding passes by 12:00 p.m. I can't recall what time group 1 starts the tour but it might be at 8:30 a.m. We have done group 1 and group 2 only. After that I can't help you. In addition to this, you will go through security. They do not want you bring bags in.

Follow my advice carefully. Put any bags in your trunk prior to arriving at ANY POPULAR TOURIST DESTINATION!!!!!!!! That means Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Waikiki BEach, etc. Even though this is Hawaii, theft does happen. It happened to my wife and I back in 1998. We don't know if stuff was stolen at Pearl Harbor or at Diamond Head. Either way, without us knowing about it, we put stuff into our trunk in the parking lot. These people who steal stuff know how to do it. Slim jims, master keys, dent pullers, etc. There is nothing like ruining your vacation that a theft. Lucky for us it was a camcorder battery, towels and a couple of minor things.