Hawaii

[disneygirlie11]

For anyone who has vacationed in Hawaii, what can you tell me about it? What island should we go to? What do you do there? Do you have to take tours to go the waterfalls and things like that? I am completely clueless about this and we have decided this is where we are going next year since DBF doesn't want Disney again until 2010 lol. I need any and all info you guys can give me !!! Thanks :) :) :)

[Fryguy]

I can only speak for Oahu and the Big Island as I have not been to the others, but once you there you won't care.

It is a whole different world there. The one thing that sticks out in my mind (besides the Kona coast, Hanama Bay, and Kilahua) is that people just stop to watch the sunset on Waikiki beach.

It is just relaxing.......

Go and enjoy.... oh, and count the amount of ABC stores that you see :D

[EmmMOM2]

My DH and I took our Honeymoon on the Island of Maui for our honeymoon. It was incredible!!
The weather is perfect ALL the time. We stayed at the Maui Westin hotel which was on the GREAT Kanaapali Beach and we were within walking distance of an outdoor mall, which was great.
We toured the "Road to Hana" on our own and saw many waterfalls and beautiful sites. You can google the road to hana for more info. But that's a perk of Maui.
We horseback rode in the Volcano on Maui...which was beautiful!!! Their are MANY options.
Maui was great as it was less Cityish then the main island of Hawaii (honolulu).

My friend stayed on the island of Kauai and apparantly this island is for people who want to be more remote, so she enjoyed it, though that's not really my thing as I like to immerse myself in the culture as well.

If you go to Maui I reccomend these:

The Old Lahaina Luau ....was incredible
http://www.oldlahainaluau.com/index_main.html

Warren And Annabelle's....a night you will NEVER forget!!! http://warrenandannabelles.com/

Hike or take horses on Mount Haleakala (volcano)

Visit the Winery as well they have fun tours!!

[Tick-Tock]

We went to the Big Island and Maui. The Big Island is where Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is located, with a volcano that has been steadily erupting since 1983. It was so cool to see the new lava flows. We stayed at Kona on the west side of the island (the drier side; the east side gets a lot more rain) and drove all over the island. There are a couple more national park sites on that island that were among the best stops of our trip.

On Maui, we also took the road to Hana. And we biked down Haleakala volcano (we rented from a company that did not organize a group, but took us all up to the top and we made our own way down at our own pace). Really fun! Maui also has Lahaina, an old whaling town.

[nls721]

It's hard to say what island you should go to, it will really depend on what you like. If you want stuff to do at night (clubs, dining, shopping) you should go to Oahu. As, Kauai and Hawaii don't really offer that. Maui has a little. But, yes there are tours to all those type places. There is a tour desk at all major hotels that could arrange any type of tour. You mention waterfalls though, you probably want to spend a few days on Maui. There is the "Drive to Hana" where you take your own rental car. You pass a black sand beach, but along the way you pass many many waterfalls. Some of which you hike up to, some you just obsere from the road.

It is pretty common people vacation at a couple different islands during a trip.

Let me know more specific questions, DH was stationed at Pearl Harbor for 4 years and we traveled inter-island quite a bit.

[Daisy712]

Aloha,
We took our whole family to Hawaii in 2005 (Me, husband, DD 9, DS 12, and both sets of grandparents). We stayed on Kaanapali Beach in Maui and Waikiki on Oahu. Kaanapali Beach Hotel is wonderful if you are on a budget. It is considered the most Hawaiian hotel. Great atmophere and interaction with Hawaiians. We stayed on Waikiki Beach and we would never go there again. I would stay on the North Shore or on the west side of Oahu. Waikiki is in Honolulu which is a large city. It has your large city concerns. Many, many homeless were on the beach and we didn't feel safe many times. We also saw prostitutes after the sun went down strolling through Waikiki. This was near and around the fancy hotels, Royal Hawaiian and Moana Surfrider. If you are looking for island life, I would stay away from Honolulu/Waikiki. The rest of Oahu is fun to see. We loved the Polynesian Cultural Center on the North Shore. Turtle Bay Resort is a great resort on the North Shore. We also went to the Big Island of Hawaii and loved it. We took the helicopters over the volcano. It is a once in a lifetime experience. Very awesome!

You may want to see if your local library has issues of Hawaii magazine that you can leaf through or subscribe to it. It has a lot of great recommendations.

Have fun. We can't wait to go back.:lei:

[faline]

We first visited Hawaii a number of years ago and, at that time, did a cruise so spent a little bit of time on several of the islands. A few years, our daughter got married on Maui. On that trip, we spent a few days on Oahu before spending the rest of our time on Maui.

Oahu has many hotels right in the Waikiki Beach are and an active night life. Pearl Harbor is a must-see here. There's also Sea Life Park and the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Maui has a number of resorts and condos for rent - some of which are ocean front. Several others have mentioned Hana Highway. You can also take snorkeling trips, whale watching trips and a trip up into the mountains to watch the sunrise. It is more laid back than Oahu and most night life on the west side of the Island centers around Lahaina. Whle we enoyed the Old Lahaina Luau, our favorite was the Feast at Lele.

The Big Island of Hawaii offers lots of places to hike and you can tour the active volcanic areas of Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park.

I'm sure Kaui has changed considerably since we were there. I do recall taking a trip up into Waimea Canyon which is quite impressive and reminescent of a smaller version of the Grand Canyon and also taking a boat ride up a river to the Fern Grotto.

I'd sugget talking to others who have been to Hawaii and getting a few good tour books to help you decide which island(s) would best suit you and your style.

[Dakota Rose]

I've visited Hawai'i nearly two dozen times and it is most certainly tied for my favorite vacation spot.

You can't go wrong with a vacation in Hawai'i and rest assured it can be as touristy or as hands-off as you want it to be.

O'ahu is the most touristy with the most guided activities.
Maui is probably the 2nd.
Hawai'i and Kaua'i tied for the 3rd.
Lana'i and Molokai are the least.

Usually, we only do a luau and explore the rest of the island on our own. We rent a car, rent snorkel gear, take our guidebook and go. At least one day is spent driving the circumfrence of the island (with the exception of Kaua'i as it can't be driven full circle) The last two trips we've taken snorkel cruises (once in Kaua'i and once in Maui) and those were a blast and worth every penny. Being that we've been there so many times, we have our favorite spots and restaurants, mostly where the locals go.

Andrew Doherty has written excellent planning books for Hawai'i. Google Wizard Publications.

Have a good time!

Aloooooooooooha!