Hawaii Planning

[preppy]

DH and I are planning a trip to Hawaii in July for our wedding anniversary:) I travel for work so I have enough marriott points and Amex points for free flights and hotel for about 10 days.

I am looking for advice on itinerary. Our current plan is to fly into Maui on July 2 and stay at the Ritz there for 3 nights. Then fly to Kauai (the island I am most excited about) and stay at the Kauai Marriott Beach Resort for 5 nights. Then DH really wants to go to Oahu. He spear fishes and there is some lengendary guy who made his speargun who will go spearing with him and he wants to see Pearl Harbor.

Is three island too much? I don't want to spend more time on Oahu but really want to see Maui and Kauai. I am hoping for opinions from people who have gone. We are hoping to book atleast flights and some hotels before end of January.

Thanks!

[Deleted]

If you think it's going to be years before you get back to Hawaii, I think what you outlined here is fine (I like seeing as much as I can when I don't think I'll go back someplace anything soon/if ever).

If you think you'll be back, I would drop Maui and spend those days on Kauai. I wouldn't extend Oahu (though Pearl Harbor is very cool - I don't blame your husband for wanting to go .

[preppy]

We prob won't be back for a while so I want to hit as much as possible. Kauai was my must have but I also feel like Maui would be a nice spot too since that's where the ritz is? I am glad you don't think it would be too much:) I was hoping to start with Oahu but with the dates we are looking at I didn't want to be at Pearl Harbor on July 4th, I have a feeling that's a busy day there!

[Deleted]

Get your tickets for Pearl Harbor as soon as you can - they do sell out.

[preppy]

Dec 26, 2014 16:07:54 GMT -5 @heyitsme said:

Get your tickets for Pearl Harbor as soon as you can - they do sell out.

Thanks! Good to know I prob wouldn't have bought them early:)

[Deleted]

I personally would not go to 3 islands for 10 days. I don't know where you're flying in from but most of the flights in pretty much kill the first day and going to the airport and traveling to another island is going to kill at least 4 hours of those days. I would pick the 2 islands you most want to see.

[mdgirl]

Is the Ritz the only reason you want to go to Maui? It gets so-so reviews (some people don't like the area where it's located), and I'm personally not that crazy about Maui. It's beautiful, but it's my least favorite of the Hawaiian islands. There's a really nice JW Marriott on Oahu -- it's where the players stay when the Pro Bowl is there. It's also fairly close to Pearl Harbor.

I'm mentioning that because I think 3 islands is too much for 10 days. You're going to do a lot of checking in/checking out, picking up and dropping off rental cars, and packing and unpacking. Is there a reason you're so dismissive of Oahu? It really does have a lot to offer (I'm biased because I used to live there though!).

[sent]

We did 3 islands in 9 nights. 5 Oahu, 2 Maui, 2 Kauai. It was good to get a taste of the islands, but we went back the following summer to do 2 nights Oahu, 6 nights Maui. I wouldn't mind a packed itinerary with 3 islands in 10 days if it was my first time there.  

We didn't have tickets for Pearl Harbor. We got there by 5 am and were 8th in line and got same-day tickets for the first boat.

[Deleted]

I wouldn't do 3 islands no way. I've been to Hawaii 3 times...
Oahu/Mail 7 days
Maui 7 days
Big Island/Kauai 9 days (got married on Big Island)

Kauai and Maui are my favorites. I'd recommend the Four Seasons over the Ritz on Maui

[preppy]

Dec 26, 2014 19:22:43 GMT -5 flygirl said:

I personally would not go to 3 islands for 10 days. I don't know where you're flying in from but most of the flights in pretty much kill the first day and going to the airport and traveling to another island is going to kill at least 4 hours of those days. I would pick the 2 islands you most want to see.

We are flying from Boston so pretty far. I am concerned about three islands:/

[preppy]

Dec 26, 2014 20:19:58 GMT -5 mdgirl said:

Is the Ritz the only reason you want to go to Maui? It gets so-so reviews (some people don't like the area where it's located), and I'm personally not that crazy about Maui. It's beautiful, but it's my least favorite of the Hawaiian islands. There's a really nice JW Marriott on Oahu -- it's where the players stay when the Pro Bowl is there. It's also fairly close to Pearl Harbor.

I'm mentioning that because I think 3 islands is too much for 10 days. You're going to do a lot of checking in/checking out, picking up and dropping off rental cars, and packing and unpacking. Is there a reason you're so dismissive of Oahu? It really does have a lot to offer (I'm biased because I used to live there though!).

Not just for the Ritz, but a coworker just stayed there on her honeymoon and said it was amazing so we were hoping to hit it. I was checking out the JW when we are on Oahu! I am being a little dismissive of Oahu because I have just heard that it's busier and more city like than the other islands. I like quiet beaches:)

I am def concerned about the three islands in 10 days. Do you think 7 nights in Kauai and 3 in Oahu would be a better plan? What are some great things we can do on Oahu? I shouldn't be so dismissive until I do more research:)

[preppy]

Dec 27, 2014 0:39:09 GMT -5 @bk said:

I wouldn't do 3 islands no way. I've been to Hawaii 3 times...
Oahu/Mail 7 days
Maui 7 days
Big Island/Kauai 9 days (got married on Big Island)

Kauai and Maui are my favorites. I'd recommend the Four Seasons over the Ritz on Maui

Where did you stay on Kauai?

I would love to stay at the Four Seasons but with points and status with Marriott we can do the Ritz or Marriotts free:)

[Deleted]

Dec 27, 2014 10:11:39 GMT -5 preppy said:

Dec 27, 2014 0:39:09 GMT -5 @bk said:

I wouldn't do 3 islands no way. I've been to Hawaii 3 times...
Oahu/Mail 7 days
Maui 7 days
Big Island/Kauai 9 days (got married on Big Island)

Kauai and Maui are my favorites. I'd recommend the Four Seasons over the Ritz on Maui

Where did you stay on Kauai?

I would love to stay at the Four Seasons but with points and status with Marriott we can do the Ritz or Marriotts free:)

We stayed at the St Regis Princeville in Kauai 
It was really nice and a great location

[mdgirl]

If you stay at the JW Marriott the good news is that you're pretty close to very quiet beaches. That side of the island is much more local so the beaches aren't as popular with tourists. Or you could hop on H3 and be on the Windward side where the beaches are gorgeous and quiet, like Lanikai or Kailua. And really Kauai is so quiet you might find yourself wanting a little action. The shopping and food on Oahu really can't be beat. I think 7 nights on Kauai is a lot, so I'd be more inclined to do a 6/4 split with Oahu. I have a whole bunch of Hawaii posts in my blog, and here are some pictures:

Lanikai:

[preppy]

mdgirl those pics are beautiful! I will check out the blog when I am not on my phone:)

[sent]

From what I recall reading and seeing on our trips -

Kauai has a north shore (not as sunny but so beautiful, somewhat rocky beaches) and a south shore (more sunny, more sandy beaches). The St. Regis is on the north shore. (We stayed here, amazing!) There are no Marriotts on the north shore. There is a Marriott on the south shore which is where a lot of the other major resorts are. The Kauai Marriott Beach Resort you wrote about is in Lihue which is kinda on the eastern part of the island and where the airport is. I don't recall the Lihue area really being targeted as a go-to destination in Kauai unless you were looking for the Costco.

If you are going to base your trip by Marriott hotels, I would read up on all of them and plan your itinerary based on that.

The JW Marriott in Oahu is not located in the bustling Waikiki section of Honolulu but IMO this is a good thing if you are looking for more relaxing beaches though I think this area is technically a lagoon.  The beach at Waikiki is way too crowded.  The JW would be quiet and relaxing so I wouldn't dismiss Oahu so quickly. The Ritz is located way at the northern part of Maui and this is also not an area where the majority of hotels are like Wailea (Four Seasons, Grand Wailea) or Lahaina (Tons of hotels here).

[Susie]

We're doing 6 nights on the Big Island + 7 nights on Kauai later this winter.   I would have enjoyed seeing Maui too (I have previously been to Oahu) but I think packing a 3rd island into that time, and definitely into 10 days or less, would only give the kind of superficial view of each island that you'd get from a cruise. Not my preference.

[preppy]

Ok based on the feedback here we are not doing 3 islands and are nixing Maui. We are going to do 7 nights on Kauai and 3 nights on Oahu. A coworker who just took her honeymoon (also on marriott points) did Maui and Kauai and said she would go back and just do Kauai and sold me on nixing Maui.

We are just finalizing dates and should be booked before end of month! Woo!