OT- Hawaii

[Guest Guest_JohninMinn._*]

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The road to Hana is interesting for about 30 minutes. After that it becomes the longest most obnoxious drive you'll ever take.

 

Amen Brother!

[_BiB_]

Kauai:  Princeville Resort

Trust me. 

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I was living in Hawaii when hurricane Iniki came through. (CAT 5 plus). they just about had to rebuild the Princeville.

[Eric/Hawaii]

Going to Hawaii for my honeymoon next July. 13 days, 14 nights. Money not really an issue. Planning on doing three islands. Pretty sure which ones but I'm still up in the air about the length of time on each one. Oahu for the tourist thing, Big Island for the volcanos and Maui for the relaxation.

 

Any advice from those who have been to Hawaii?

 

And yes, I've been googling for 5 months. 

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If you want to see the volcano stay in Hilo. or even a night at the Volcano lodge. Very beautiful. Lots of other water falls within short driving distance of Hilo.

 

If your going to go to pearl harbor GO EARLY! once the tourist busses arrive you'll have a long wait.

 

Maui has the most tourist stuff to do. you can even take a boat day trip to Lanai and snorkle over there. Lanai is one of the best dive spots in the world.

Lahaina is my favorite place to stay in maui.

 

If you have any other questions fell free to PM me!

Aloha Eric

[_BiB_]

If you want to see the volcano stay in Hilo. or even a night at the Volcano lodge. Very beautiful. Lots of other water falls within short driving distance of Hilo.

 

If your going to go to pearl harbor GO EARLY! once the tourist busses arrive you'll have a long wait.

 

Maui has the most tourist stuff to do. you can even take a boat day trip to Lanai and snorkle over there. Lanai is one of the best dive spots in the world.

Lahaina is my favorite place to stay in maui.

 

If you have any other questions fell free to PM me!

Aloha Eric

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Long time no hear. Hope things are going decent for you. Longhi's still good?

[kegtapr]

Kauai:  Princeville Resort

Trust me. 

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Little to fancy for me. I can't justify spending that much on a room when I don't plan on being there that much.

 

Anybody ever stay at the Ka'annapali Beach Hotel in Maui? It's a little older but the reviews are great for service and Hawaiin experience. I'm not a fan of mega resorts but would like to stay in that area.

[_BiB_]

I haven't stayed there, but had Sunday brunch buffet there. Nice place.

 

If you are going to go up diamond head, take a couple water bottles and a good flashlight.

[eiregi]

I have never been to the caribbean. Heard Jamaica is dirty. But, the best one is Antigua or Aruba. What is there to do on those islands besides casinos?

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i just got back from the domincan republic and would recommend it to anyone

[njsue]

Someone I worked with went to a big resort in the Dominican Republic. They had a great time.

Things to satisfy me at a vacation spot, clean beach, big clean pool. Great nite life action like clubs.

[Thurman's Helmet]

Little to fancy for me. I can't justify spending that much on a room when I don't plan on being there that much.

 

Anybody ever stay at the Ka'annapali Beach Hotel in Maui? It's a little older but the reviews are great for service and Hawaiin experience. I'm not a fan of mega resorts but would like to stay in that area.

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I stayed there when I was in Maui. Great place. Nice rooms, right on the beach but also a nice pool. Not too far from Lahaina either. About a half hour drive from Maui airport IIRC.

[Guest Guest_gmac17_*]

just had my honeymoon in September.

 

6 nights kauai, 6 nights maui.

 

kauai is laid back and relaxed - incredible scenery with enough activities to keep you busy, maui has more stuff to do but is more built up and busy. We rented a car in both places, well worth it.

 

Road to hana is boring unless you get out and do the long, interesting hikes to different waterfalls etc. Restaurants are awesome.

 

PM me if you want a big list of recommened restaurants etc.

[JÂy RÛßeÒ]

We have a timeshare at the Maui Marriott. Going again in March. We've spent 3 weeks on Maui in 3 previous visits and still haven't seen it all.

 

Oahu is OK for a day or 2. Kauai was nice but we had a 3 yr old who didn't want to do much and a 6 month old - wanna spend more time there at Waimia canyon. Big Island is like nowhere else on earth.

[Guest Guest]

I was in Hawaii on our honeymoon when Iniki came through. We were staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village the night before it hit. We were scheduled to move to Maui that afternoon. We were on the second to last airplane to leave Oahu before they closed the airport. The bumpiest flight I have ever had the displeasure to be on. Later that night we watched the news casts of the damage on Kauai and to a much lesser extent on Oahu. As I remember it the damage on Kauai was pretty much total. We didn't see much on Maui, but never the less it was the second time I've been as close to a hurricane as I ever hope to be.

 

I was living in Hawaii when hurricane Iniki came through. (CAT 5 plus). they just about had to rebuild the Princeville.

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[_BiB_]

I was in Hawaii on our honeymoon when Iniki came through.  We were staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village the night before it hit. We were scheduled to move to Maui that afternoon. We were on the second to last airplane to leave Oahu before they closed the airport.  The bumpiest flight I have ever had the displeasure to be on.  Later that night we watched the news casts of the damage on Kauai and to a much lesser extent on Oahu.  As I remember it the damage on Kauai was pretty much total.  We didn't see much on Maui, but never the less it was the second time I've been as close to a hurricane as I ever hope to be.

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We were living on the south shore (Oahu), Ewa Beach. Literally right in the water, the Pacific was my back yard. Got real lucky. The storm shifted down the channel, and tthe western side of the Island, not more than about 20 miles from us got tore up pretty bad. The worst we got was the tin roof on a storage shed get peeled off. There's a reef about a mile out that broke up a lot of the heavy stuff before it got inshore. It's a good thing that there isn't much in the way of tide there, no storm surge to be had. The Islands are too small to let much pile up. Interestingly, I had people calling me from inland to come up and stay with them during the storm. They were at a higher elevation than all of us on the beach, and actually got much worse wind damage. The wind speeds in a Hurricane are much higher a few hundred feet up than they are at sea level.

[Guest Guest_gmac17_*]

As I remember it the damage on Kauai was pretty much total.

 

and the storm freed all of the chickens from their coops, which is why the island is overrun with "wild" chickens today. (do you call a chicken a wild chicken? ferrel chicken???)

[TigerJ]

I have only been to Oahu. I would like to go back and do the Big Island, Maui, and Kauai. I think your choice probably depends on what you want to do and when you want to go. I agree that Waikiki is very touristy. There are a few fun things to do even if they are touristy though. Shopping at the International Marketplace was fun, for instance. If you like the touristy stuff, the Polynesian Cultural Center gives you a nice overview of all of Polynesia.

 

Here is a hint. In the winter months the north side of the islands have rough surf while the southern side is smooth as glass. In the summer it's reversed although it's generally very tame even on the south shore in summer. If you're on Oahu in the winter, that means you are not going to want to plan on swimming on the north shore. That's where they have those big wave surfing competitions and the waves get as high as houses. Winter is also the rainy season in Hawaii. That won't bother you much on the southern shores of the islands which are protected from the rain bearing northeasterly winds, but you might have to plan your activities in certain areas based on the weather. Hilo, for instance, is a pretty rainy place, but in the winter months it rains most of the time.

 

It sounds like you'll be there long enough to do pretty much whatever you want. I guess the general advice, I would give is not to pack too much into the time you have. Take it easy and make sure you have time to enjoy each other's company.

[Tom]

I liked Maui............but they are all pretty nice.

[Guest Guest_firewall_*]

The Big Island is great and has way more to offer than simply the volcano. I was there last month and the volcano was not exceptionally active, it was a long, mean hike to see lava but the situation is constantly changing. Check with the park service for updates. Get a copy of the the Big Island Revealed guide book, it's great. The Big Island has everything, beaches, jungle, even skiing. The best snorkeling spots are Captain Cook monument, rent a kayak and paddle over, you're often accompanied by dolphins, and the coral off the monument is awesome. Afew miles away, place of refuge is also great, saw dolphins, barracuda, moray eels and tons of green sea turtles...these two areas are roughly 30 and 35 miles south of Kona in the Captain Cook/ Honaunau area. South Point is cool if you want to jump off a cliff. Puna/Pahoa, is weird, jungly, suvivialst/hippie, pakaloko (dope) growing country with lots of cool things; thermal pools, natural volcanic steam rooms, amazing jungle and flowers and crashing surf amid the weirdness. Hilo is rain soaked and down at the heels but it's old hawaii. The Hamakua Coast, north of hilo has tons of waterfalls and jungle gardens. The road ends at Waipio Valley...worth the the hike down the super steep road to the black sand beach. Watch the crazy locals surf.

 

The Big Island is bigger and outside of Kona it's not that touristy. Car rentals are cheap and unlike the other islands you can really road trip here. One tip though, for seafood, go to the Costco in Kona, buy a cheap cooler, a cheap grill and stock up and beer ice and marlin and ahi tuna....just grill along the road somewhere....live aloha, get out of the goddamn resorts, talk to the locals, who don't like whites until you actually talk to them, learn about them and their island's history. These are some seriously baddass people, who were the world's greatest navigators atta time when my people, the Brits, were hunched around clumps of burning stevestojan while sharecropping for some king.

 

I simply can't imagine how anyone would be bored on the big island.

[_BiB_]

The Big Island is great and has way more to offer than simply the volcano. I was there last month and the volcano was not exceptionally active, it was  a long, mean hike to see lava but the situation is constantly changing. Check with the park service for updates. Get a copy of the the Big Island Revealed guide book, it's great. The Big Island has everything, beaches, jungle, even skiing. The best snorkeling spots are Captain Cook monument, rent a kayak and paddle over, you're often accompanied by dolphins, and the coral off the monument is awesome. Afew miles away, place of refuge is also great, saw dolphins, barracuda, moray eels and tons of green sea turtles...these two areas are roughly 30 and 35 miles south of Kona in the Captain Cook/ Honaunau area. South Point is cool if you want to jump off a cliff. Puna/Pahoa, is weird, jungly, suvivialst/hippie, pakaloko (dope) growing country with lots of cool things; thermal pools, natural volcanic steam rooms, amazing jungle and flowers and crashing surf amid the weirdness. Hilo is rain soaked and down at the heels but it's old hawaii. The Hamakua Coast, north of hilo has tons of waterfalls and jungle gardens. The road ends at Waipio Valley...worth the the hike down the super steep road to the black sand beach. Watch the crazy locals surf.

 

The Big Island is bigger and outside of Kona it's not that touristy. Car rentals are cheap and unlike the other islands you can really road trip here. One tip though, for seafood, go to the Costco in Kona, buy a cheap cooler, a cheap grill and stock up and beer ice and marlin and ahi tuna....just grill along the road somewhere....live aloha, get out of the goddamn resorts, talk to the locals, who don't like whites until you actually talk to them, learn about them and their island's history. These are some seriously baddass people, who were the world's greatest navigators atta time when my people, the Brits, were hunched around clumps of burning stevestojan while sharecropping for some king.

 

I simply can't imagine how anyone would be bored on the big island.

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As has been mentioned, it's what you are into. A lot of the things you mention can be done on any of the Islands. Seafood grilling on the beach? We used to stop at a roadside "market" and buy fresh ahi, shrimp and lobster tails on the way to Makua(Western Shore, Oahu) for a day of swimming, grilling (some EXCELLENT beef too, BTW, some huge cattle ranches, grill over some Keave wood) and good company ( a lot of locals set up semi-permanent family camps on the beach). After we lived there for a while, we sort of lost our "Howlie" connotations. It's all about Pau Hana (end of the work day), and off to something to do. I still think that in honeymoon terms, Maui is the place to go. If you want to do some hiking, anywhere along the far end of Hana road or Io park is great. And no sunrise in the world beats the one from the summit of Haleakala. Can be quite romantic (nothing like nookie in the morning). And for going out for dinner and drinks, Lahaina is fun.

 

Mahalo, and Aloha.

 

'course, if it were up to me, I'd go for a week in Hong Kong. My favorite city in the world next to Savannah, Georgia. Different reasons for both.

[njsue]

My brother is the extravagant traveler. He has gone to Hong Kong. What he told me about what is legal in Amsterdamn

 

Although I would like to go to Sicily to see my where my Family tree started.

[porgyman]

Went to Maui on my honeymoon. Spent 10 days there. Lots to do and great food. Rented a convertible and took in the scenery. My wife and I loved it. We'd go back there again.