Our first visit.advice please?
Scott S asked:
Aloha!! My wife and I are looking to travel to Hawaii in August for our joint birthdays and we have never been before. We wanted to snorkel, dine, sightsee and go to the beach. We would prefer nice beach cottage to large resort but are open to both. We have no idea which island is best or where to start looking to plan our trip- short of perusing a zillion websites that seek your business. If you were planning a trip like above……what would you do? Many, many thanks!
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Aloha!! My wife and I are looking to travel to Hawaii in August for our joint birthdays and we have never been before. We wanted to snorkel, dine, sightsee and go to the beach. We would prefer nice beach cottage to large resort but are open to both. We have no idea which island is best or where to start looking to plan our trip- short of perusing a zillion websites that seek your business. If you were planning a trip like above……what would you do? Many, many thanks!
February 12th, 2010 at 4:38 am
ADVICE is what your looking for right ???
here it goes ………GO TO GOGGLE MAPS ,,,or MAPQUEST and look at the aeriel images and FIND a nice Secluded area for you and your wife ,,,,,find out which city it is and Stay there ….yea it might be a little bit More $$$$….but do you really want to fight ALL the Families on the Big Beaches
February 13th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Aloha!
I would recommend either Oahu or Maui.
The most populated island with the most variety is Oahu. On Oahu you can go to the major city areas of Honolulu or Waikiki, and you can also see the beautiful North shore countryside where all the major surf competitions in the world are held. I am a resident of Hawaii, and having lived on Oahu for 5 years, I would recommend Oahu. If you look in the classified section of the Honolulu advertiser, you can find great vacation rentals on the North shore where you can go snorkeling at Sharks cove, and see some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
Or, if you prefer to stay in the city, you can go snorkeling at the largest fish sighting spot on the island Hanauma Bay. If you are going in the winter, you will not be able to swim on the north shore beaches or snorkel at sharks cove because of the huge waves. But Waikiki and Hanauma bay on the other side of Oahu are available for swimming all year round due to the consistently small waves.
There are many interesting things to see on Oahu, if you like history, take a tour of Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. In Laie, you can go to the Polynesian Cultural center for a night show luau and see Polynesian dancers from all over the many islands:
In Haleiwa, you encounter an old surf town with a rich history and fun shops. You can go to the Dole plantation near Haleiwa and tour one of the largest mazes in the world and taste sweet fresh pineapple prepared in an endless variety of ways:
You can go skydiving right next to Haleiwa in Mokuleia
I went to this exact place for skydiving, and it was a blast!
You can dive with the sharks in the Haleiwa harbor
For the most bang for your buck, I recommend Oahu, and if you want a more countryside atmosphere, try to stay on the north shore.
Also, most airlines only offer a direct flight to Oahu (Honolulu). So you will probably have to switch planes if you want to go to Maui, Kauai, or the Big Island.
Maui is an extremely beautiful island, but it has no major city. Also, it is larger, so the beaches are more spread out. Kauai is smaller than Oahu and Maui, but probably one of the most beautiful islands. If you want to see only rain forest and beaches, and don’t mind a little remoteness and lack of touristy type accommodations, go here. The big island is the largest and most environmentally diverse of the islands. You can see black, red, and green sand beaches here, and also you can hike out to an active volcano and see lava flowing into the water.
It is a tough decision, but for a first time trip, I would definitely say go to Oahu, and stay on or visit the north shore.
I also recommend looking at a Lonely Planet guide book or the equivalent to get the most out of your trip.
Aloha, good luck!
February 14th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
For a more romantic, less crowded, not so touristy type of place……I recommend Maui.
For fun activities with lots of people…I suggest Waikiki, Oahu.
Either way you can all activities on all of the islands!!
For bed & breakfast type places….windward Oahu has beautiful quiet ones!!!
February 16th, 2010 at 4:50 am
Not to push you more websites but these two have some really good places to go and have things to do and Good Luck!! You can also use these two websites to plan your whole trip.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Maui is bigger than Oahu, but there are less than 120,000 people living on Maui and more than 900,000 people living on Oahu. For what you want to do, I think you want to be on Maui.
I lived on Oahu for four years. I live on Molokai now and travel to Maui frequently for business and sometimes just to play. I’m just going to link some things you’d like based on my experience and your stated interests. By the way, there are no bad Thai restaurants on Maui.
I am recommending the Hana side for a good chunk of your stay, but it will be up to whether you want to drive the infamous Road to Hana, or fly from OGG to HNM in a 9-seater plane. Those are great for photography, but you may want to wait until after your flight before you eat, I’m just saying. One of the airlines asks you to please take your aloha bag with you if you leave the plane. Of course, some folks find the endless curves and one-lane bridges of the land route to be just as unsettling.
I won’t recommend a snorkeling spot because the best conditions will depend on the weather and surf. But ask the guys at Snorkel Bob’s where they would go if they weren’t working today.
One of the hotels–the one in Lahaina is a little bit different from everything else. Yes, it’s kitschy. Yes, every room seems to have a hula girl lamp and a sign that extols the virtues of doing nothing and then resting afterwards. Some of them have beaded curtains. But, most or all have kitchens and sitting rooms, and it’s right on the sea wall, so you can fall asleep lulled by the sounds of the ocean waves. If it’s for you, you’ll love it. If not, you’ll skip it. But I’ve stayed there six or seven times.
February 19th, 2010 at 10:23 am
My husband and I just got back from spending a week on Oahu. We had a blast and we agreed that the smartest thing we did was take a Grand Circle Tour the first full day we were there. (Lots of sites book them-we found one for $50 each) Roberts Hawaii took us around on a small bus with about 12 other people and our guide was so informative and knowledgable. He took us to all the major spots as well as some that weren’t as well known. He even gave us all a map so we could make notes on places we liked and wanted to revisit later, which we did. The tour took most of the day – we got picked up at 7:15 and dropped off at 4 – but we really enjoyed it. We didn’t really enjoy the Polynesian Cultural Center as much (maybe we’re just not the ‘cultural’ kind of people) but that and Hanauma Bay for snorkeling were some of our best decisions during the week. Be sure to visit the Banzai Pipeline to watch the pros surf the big waves! That was really neat and the beach wasn’t as crowded as the ones closer to Waikiki.
February 22nd, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Na Oahu is no good, Maui is nice, try looking in Hana, or kihei, Kauai is very nice as well, or even, Molokai
February 25th, 2010 at 12:50 am
Mahina Surf on Maui is my favorite place to stay. It’s nothing like a big resort, yet you’re not entirely secluded. Also, no little brats running around