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Mon May 21, 2007 2:59 am  |
Hi
We're just planning a trip to Hawaii but haven't got a clue where to start!
We have a flight booked but what I really want to know and can't seem to be able to find info on is...
anyone that's been before, do you just stay on one island? How easy is it to get from island to island? How much does that cost and how long does it take? Are the islands very far apart?
We don't know whether to stay on one island and visit other islands on day trips or to stay on say Oahu and then go to another island for several days. Ooooh so confusing.
Can anyone recommend somewhere beautiful to stay, we would prefer scenic and quiet.
Anyone have any suggestions?
TIA x |
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Mon May 21, 2007 7:52 am |
Hi Sarah,
I have never been to Hawaii, but my ex-boss here in Japan owns a holiday house on The Big Island at Pahala.
It is just SO beautiful and I cannot wait till I can go.. go lush, green and peaceful. No tourists (unlike Maui where I would never want to go in a million years, though I know most people love it).
Give me less tourists, a volcano with lava flow, green sand beach and a laid back lifestyle for my vacation anytime!
The whole area is full of vacation cottages/houses "Pahala Plantation Cottages", but her house is not one of the ones rented on their website. But the site has lots of info about the volcano, beaches, lava flows, etc. etc. -- oh and the COFFEE
http://www.pahala-hawaii.com/cgi-bin/web_store.cgi |
_________________
SKIN: combination, reactive to climate changes and extremely fair. "Women complain about premenstrual syndrome, but I think of it as the only time of the month that I can be myself." --Roseanne |
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Mon May 21, 2007 8:12 am |
Hopefully I can help with a few of your questions ...
Do you just stay on one island? Well, that depends on what you want to do and how much time you have. You'll fly in to Oahu and probably want to spend some time in Waikiki. If I were you I would want to visit at least a couple more islands, I would pick Lanai and Maui personally, the Big Island is also lovely. Waikiki is in the city of Honolulu - busy area and lots of traffic. Depending on where you stay on the strip you could be spending a lot of time in your car stuck in traffic. It is not quiet and scenic in Honolulu, you will be in the middle of high rise apartments, hotels, etc. The North Shore of Oahu is a quieter spot but it is a long drive.
How easy to get from island to island, cost, etc? Super easy, you just take an interisland flight on Hawaiian or Aloha. You can find cost and flight times here:
http://www.hawaiianair.com/Pages/Index.aspx
http://www.alohaairlines.com/home/home.php
The other islands are not day trips. If I were you and looking for quiet and scenic I would plan more time on the other islands than Oahu.
Places to stay - now this all depends on how much money you want to spend! Hawaii is expensive in general. The places I am going to post here are top end hotels though, you could go somewhat less expensive.
In Waikiki the Halekulani: http://www.halekulani.com/
The other top hotel in Honolulu is the Kahala Mandarin Oriental - however it is not on Waikiki beach.
In Maui the Kea Lani:
http://www.fairmont.com/kealani/
Note: I can say that if you want quiet and scenic do not choose the Grand Wailea in Maui, it is a family friendly place with lots of children.
In Lanai the Manele Bay Hotel:
http://www.fourseasons.com/manelebay/
Hope that helped! |
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Mon May 21, 2007 8:22 am |
| tiger_tim wrote: |
Hi Sarah,
I have never been to Hawaii, but my ex-boss here in Japan owns a holiday house on The Big Island at Pahala.
It is just SO beautiful and I cannot wait till I can go.. go lush, green and peaceful. No tourists (unlike Maui where I would never want to go in a million years, though I know most people love it).
Give me less tourists, a volcano with lava flow, green sand beach and a laid back lifestyle for my vacation anytime!
The whole area is full of vacation cottages/houses "Pahala Plantation Cottages", but her house is not one of the ones rented on their website. But the site has lots of info about the volcano, beaches, lava flows, etc. etc. -- oh and the COFFEE
http://www.pahala-hawaii.com/cgi-bin/web_store.cgi |
You wouldn't want to go to Maui? Why? It's supposed to have the best beaches. I've been surfing (just the net, not the waters yet) this morning and I'm still just as confused!! I was looking at hotels on Maui, but after you wrote you wouldn't go there in a million years I don't know what to do??!?!? Tooooo much choice!  |
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Mon May 21, 2007 8:28 am |
| stellamaris wrote: |
Waikiki is in the city of Honolulu - busy area and lots of traffic. Depending on where you stay on the strip you could be spending a lot of time in your car stuck in traffic. It is not quiet and scenic in Honolulu, you will be in the middle of high rise apartments, hotels, etc. The North Shore of Oahu is a quieter spot but it is a long drive.
Hope that helped! |
Much appreciated, thank you.
We do not want to stay in Oahu for too long if we can help it. From what I can gather it's very built up and hotel blocks everywhere, is that right? If that's the case, we could get that in Spain! We want peace, scenery, volcanoes, waterfalls etc. I found an amazing looking hotel on the net this morning, think it was Maui but it was about $1000 a night, ouch! At that price, I wouldn't want to leave it or sleep! Lovely but a bit tooooooo pricey.
Can you recommend an island other than Oahu, for the scenery, quiet location we are looking for or does each island have a bit of everything? TIA x |
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Mon May 21, 2007 8:51 am |
Each island does have a bit of everything. If I were you it would not be my choice to stay on Oahu, too crowded. If you do stay on Oahu, the Halekulani is lovely. If you are just going to stay one night though - for convenience to the airport the Ilikai is one of the first ones on the strip, less traffic to fight when it is time to go. The restaurant on top of the Ilikai is fab as well.
Tiger_tim is correct that Maui is geared more toward tourists, but it is not chockablock with hotels and high rises like Honolulu. Maui will have more activities, like surfing lessons, climbing Haleakala mountain, etc. The Kea Lani is not 'on the strip' so it is a more peaceful place to stay. Plus the suites are available with kitchenette facilities which is nice.
I think Lanai is probably one of the most romantic places I have ever been - but there is not a whole lot to do other than be romantic! I personally like to chill out and do not care too much about activities but I don't know how much entertainment you're looking for. Lanai is a wonderful, beautiful place though and not as built-up as the other islands. |
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Mon May 21, 2007 10:06 am |
| So do you chose an island as a base and then hop to the others or do you stay on each island? Seems the things we want to see are on each island. |
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Mon May 21, 2007 10:29 am |
Nobody has mentioned Kauai - which is my favorite island for beauty and less crowds. The Princeville on the north shore has the most amazing setting of anywhere I've been - although is cooler and rainier on that shore (although more beautiful). It's my favorite place in Hawaii.
Maui is a great place. It has people but unless you are really looking to avoid any people/crowds it's a great place to go. Kea Lani is low key and nice - it's right up the path from Grand Wailea (which DOES have families, but is an amazing place!) and the Four Seasons which is also really nice. Those 3 resort are off of the same walking path facing the ocean. Do you have kids? What are you looking to do? I think it makes a HUGE difference in making your choice. |
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Mon May 21, 2007 11:20 am |
I have only been to Oahu once, and to the Big Island three times. We have never island-hopped (too-much added cost to the vacation for us). Maybe that's why I love the Big Island so much -- it's big enough to keep us entertained for 10 days. There are different landscapes and even different climates in every direction.
We stay on the Kohala Coast, just north of the airport along the west coast of the island. It's an unsual place, as much of this part of the island is covered with black lava rock. It's like being on another planet. It may not be for everyone, but we love it! Along the beaches, very lush resorts have been carved into the lavascape, plus there are many day trips you can take into the amazing green countryside nearby.
The Waikoloa Beach Resort has two hotels plus rental condos to choose from. The Hilton is huge, fancy, and kid-friendly. The Marriott is quieter and more elegant, IMHO. We rented a condo in the resort one year, which was great, because we weren't stuck eating in restaurants for every meal (there's a Costco 20 minutes away, which was our first stop!). The restaurants are fabulous, BTW. Here's their website:
http://www.waikoloabeachresort.com/index.shtml
Oooo, I'm jealous! I love Hawaiian vacations!
-- Bee |
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Mon May 21, 2007 12:51 pm |
| charis wrote: |
Nobody has mentioned Kauai - which is my favorite island for beauty and less crowds. The Princeville on the north shore has the most amazing setting of anywhere I've been - although is cooler and rainier on that shore (although more beautiful). It's my favorite place in Hawaii.
Maui is a great place. It has people but unless you are really looking to avoid any people/crowds it's a great place to go. Kea Lani is low key and nice - it's right up the path from Grand Wailea (which DOES have families, but is an amazing place!) and the Four Seasons which is also really nice. Those 3 resort are off of the same walking path facing the ocean. Do you have kids? What are you looking to do? I think it makes a HUGE difference in making your choice. |
Hi
Thanks for info, no we don't have kids so we just want to do the scenery, beaches, volcanoes, waterfalls without all the crowds and kids.
Seems that the accommodation from what I've seen on the net today is either really, really expensive (my fave starts at $1100 a night), or cheesy and a bit dated.
We'll be there for 14 days so that's why we thought we could do several islands. Plus as it's big birthday for me we wanted to do something memorial, I thought of a helicopter trip over a volcano.
Any suggestions?
TIA x |
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Mon May 21, 2007 1:11 pm |
The idea of the helicopter over the volcano is a good one. We have done that and we actually saw lava lakes splashing up lava and flowing into the ocean - it was one of the most memorable things we've done. You can check and see how active the volcano is right now. A nice quiet resort on the big island with a BEAUTIFUL beach and very few children is the Mauna Kea - I don't know their current prices. Avoid the Hilton Waikoloa (sp?)- it's fun, but kind of a Disneyland in Hawaii type of experience (tons of kids- way more than at the Grand Wailea in Maui). If the resorts are too much, how about a condo? You are right - things tend to be very expensive or kind of cheesy.
I still recommend Kauai for a quieter time - it's such a contrast to the Big Island. The helicopter tour on that island is also very worthwhile (amazing cliffs and waterfalls). Even if The Princeville Hotel (Sheraton) is too much, you can stay in a condo up there and eat in their amazing dining room (outside on the patio) - the backdrop of the mountains and hanalei bay is one of my favorite views ever. I love going there and highly recommend it. The north shore of Kauai is unique and beautiful (also cooler and damper) and so worth going to. I wish I had other rec's for places to stay. Maybe some others have found some nice reasonable places. It would sure be nice to know of them! |
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Mon May 21, 2007 1:24 pm |
| charis wrote: |
The idea of the helicopter over the volcano is a good one. We have done that and we actually saw lava lakes splashing up lava and flowing into the ocean - it was one of the most memorable things we've done.
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Sounds the sort of thing we're looking for. What island is the volcano on or what's it called, I'll do a bit of research?
Thanks for all the tips guys, please keep 'em coming, I'm so confused but at least now I've got a few sites to check out. x |
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Mon May 21, 2007 1:40 pm |
| charis wrote: |
| A nice quiet resort on the big island with a BEAUTIFUL beach and very few children is the Mauna Kea - I don't know their current prices. |
Yikes just had a look for the Mauna Kea and it's closed for reconstruction due to earthquake damage?! Silly question, but do they have many earthquakes in Hawaii?? |
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Mon May 21, 2007 2:43 pm |
| I don't think they have many earthquakes! The volacano is on the Big Island of Hawaii. That's what it's called Hawaii (or the Big Island). I know it sounds kind of confusing! |
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Mon May 21, 2007 2:59 pm |
Hi, all!
I lived in Hawaii for 12 yrs (teenage and early adult). It has changed alot since I moved away, but from all the advice above, it sounds like things have not changed much!
Regarding earthquakes, there are probably small tremors that you never notice, but every 10 years or so, there might be a big one that causes damage. Sometimes it's because of volcanic activity, but sometimes (like the most recent one) it's because of the land "shifting" under the water.  |
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