Lurker here hoping for some input on travel plans. We’re looking into a possible trip to Hawaii next year and I’d love to hear from anyone whose been to different islands. I went a few years ago to the big island and stayed outside Hilo. Very rainy but totally not touristy and I loved it. Other family is interested in Maui and while I don’t have anything against it part of me just wants to go back to what I loved so much last time. I know that the last eruption changed that area so I don’t know if that’s even possible? Any thoughts?
UPDATE Thanks for all the recs and info! We decided to stay near Kona on BI, Maui looks amazing but the prices are too crazy right now. I’m so excited to have something to look forward to and glad others got ideas too.
I’ve been to Maui and it was the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. I dream of returning one day. We stayed on Kaanapali beach right by blacken rock. There’s tons to do and I’m never once felt crowded.
We love Hawaii! We currently have tickets for late august and really hope we can go 😬 Are you going with kids? Maui IMO is the best with kids. We have stayed on Kaanapali beach twice (once at the Westin resort and once at the Hyatt) and had great experiences with both. It’s a super easy and lovely area with kids. Great to just walk to Whalers Village for restaurants etc. Lahaina is super close (and with it ferry to Lanai, snorkeling etc). We also have stayed at the Grand Wailea on the southwest shore. Wonderful resort.
Kauai is gorgeous. Much quieter, less in terms of restaurants and shopping, more for hiking/“natural Hawaii” beauty. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt there and really enjoyed it.
Oahu we only stayed on for 3 days so I don’t have much to recommend there. We haven’t made it to the Big Island yet. For this upcoming trip we decided to stick with Maui again because we can do a non stop/direct flight, and we want to avoid island hopping in Covid times
We are going to the BI in September/October for 2 weeks. Hilo wasn’t directly affected by the eruption but there is currently no viewable lava flow. We are staying 4 nights in Hilo and the rest in Kohala, north of Kona.
My personal favorite is Kauai. We were supposed to go last summer. It would have been DD’s first time to Kauai. I love the north shore! I wish we were going here this fall but the primary reason of our trip is to spread MILs ashes and she requested that be done on the BI.
We actually had a really nice trip to Oahu a few years ago. We split our time between a house in Lanikai and the Turtle Bay Resort. We were with family part of the trip; it was important to my DH and MIL that dd be able to meet extended family, visit the family home, etc. I enjoy Oahu and the dichotomy of city and country it offers but it’s not necessarily what people envision when they think of Hawaii. I was pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed Turtle Bay; we normally avoid resorts in Hawaii but this one was very relaxed, easy to come and go from, and the pool/beach set up was wonderful.
We are going to the BI in September/October for 2 weeks. Hilo wasn’t directly affected by the eruption but there is currently no viewable lava flow. We are staying 4 nights in Hilo and the rest in Kohala, north of Kona.
My personal favorite is Kauai. We were supposed to go last summer. It would have been DD’s first time to Kauai. I love the north shore! I wish we were going here this fall but the primary reason of our trip is to spread MILs ashes and she requested that be done on the BI.
We actually had a really nice trip to Oahu a few years ago. We split our time between a house in Lanikai and the Turtle Bay Resort. We were with family part of the trip; it was important to my DH and MIL that dd be able to meet extended family, visit the family home, etc. I enjoy Oahu and the dichotomy of city and country it offers but it’s not necessarily what people envision when they think of Hawaii. I was pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed Turtle Bay; we normally avoid resorts in Hawaii but this one was very relaxed, easy to come and go from, and the pool/beach set up was wonderful.
DH really wants to stay at Turtle Bay because it’s the resort in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and he loves that movie 😂
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What do you like to do? What kind of experience are you looking for? Any kids?
I live on oahu and have been to big island three times, and Maui and kauai once. I obviously love big island lol, and kauai. Maui was my least favorite and the most expensive, but lots of people love it.
I’ve been several times to all islands but Lanai. My young kids loved Maui in 2019 (mostly the pool slide and beaches) and it is a great island to visit for first timers. You may also like Kauai if you liked the less touristy area of BI. There are areas on Oahu that are less touristy but unless you want to go there for specific Oahu sites, I would pick another island.
We have plans to return to the BI later this year. We’ve been before and visited the volcano but we just plan to hang out at a house with a pool and visit the beaches.
We did Big Island and Kauai in 2015 right before we had kids, and I loved them both for different reasons. We had a very active vacation, with lots of snorkeling, cycling, hiking, and kayaking.
We're talking about going back with friends in 2022 for our 40th birthdays. If we go in 2022, we'll have three 2-3 year olds, and two 6-8 year olds between the 3 families. We're mostly talking about Maui/Oahu to make the logistics easier.
I’ve been to Maui and it was the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. I dream of returning one day. We stayed on Kaanapali beach right by blacken rock. There’s tons to do and I’m never once felt crowded.
Legit, word for word. It was spectacular! Word of caution, heed the warnings at the beach, H and I got caught in a riptide near the black rock, it was very scary.
We also stayed in Honolulu, which we enjoyed but Maui was much quieter and more quintessential Hawaii for me.
We're planning a trip to Kauai for late 2021 (fingers crossed)!
Post by goldengirlz on Apr 18, 2021 15:32:49 GMT -5
We go to Hawaii for a week every winter. (Hawaii was actually our last vacation in February 2020. We’re hoping to go back again in December.)
Maui is the second most developed (after Oahu), which could be a pro or a con. More development = more amenities but also more tourists/less authenticity. It’s a beautiful island though and probably offers the most quintessential tourist experience, in terms of what most people envision when they picture a Hawaiian vacation.
Kauai might be a good choice if you want an island experience that’s more rural and lush. On the Big Island, we stayed on the Kona side, and spent time at Volcano National Park — we didn’t make it all the way to Hilo, but the landscape around Kona felt completely different from the other three islands. The north side of Oahu is also less developed than the Waikiki area, but the water isn’t as calm if you’re looking to swim.
You really can’t go wrong; it just depends on what appeals to you.
Post by RoxMonster on Apr 18, 2021 15:46:42 GMT -5
We spent our honeymoon on Oahu. Though we stayed on Waikiki Beach, if I went back, I would probably find a house or something to rent on the North Shore. I absolutely loved the North Shore! Hale’iwa is a really cute town up there. There is the Turtle Bay Resort up there too. We loved hiking and beach going on the North Shore and eating at the shrimp trucks.
Other activities we did included hiking Diamond Head and visiting Pearl Harbor.
What do you like to do? What kind of experience are you looking for? Any kids?
I live on oahu and have been to big island three times, and Maui and kauai once. I obviously love big island lol, and kauai. Maui was my least favorite and the most expensive, but lots of people love it.
My kids will be 10&12 and are pretty active. They love swimming but I don’t know if I’m super comfortable with them in the ocean there, it’s no joke! What didn’t you like about Maui, or was it just not as awesome as the other islands?
I’ve been several times to all islands but Lanai. My young kids loved Maui in 2019 (mostly the pool slide and beaches) and it is a great island to visit for first timers. You may also like Kauai if you liked the less touristy area of BI. There are areas on Oahu that are less touristy but unless you want to go there for specific Oahu sites, I would pick another island.
We have plans to return to the BI later this year. We’ve been before and visited the volcano but we just plan to hang out at a house with a pool and visit the beaches.
What activities are you hoping/planning to do?
I’m more into swimming/snorkeling and some easy hiking. Before, I went to places like champagne ponds and warm ponds(I think) and I’m afraid they’re gone now after the lava flow. So I don’t know if I can even do some of the things I’d like to again! I love the beach but my husband can’t sit all day long without getting fidgety. We wouldn’t stay at a resort, hopefully rent a condo or house instead.
I know I can breakdown the costs myself - but does anyone have a sense on if the Costco Multi-island trip packages are worth it? I would just be me and DH, so while we like AirBnBs we don't feel like we need them.
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I’ve been to Hawaii 2 times. The first time was with a tour company and we did 4 islands. Maui was my favorite.
The second time we did Oahu and the big island. The big Island was my favorite of that trip but the person I was going with had wanted to see Oahu. Otherwise I would have skipped it. You can’t go wrong with Maui or doing 2 islands. Lots of people says they don’t want to island hop but that wasn’t a problem for us. Although I would have gone for longer than we did. In terms of swimming in the ocean, all of us wore life jackets while snorkeling. It was so much easier although you can’t dive down. The only time we didn’t was when we were at a swimming beach where they said 100% good to swim and shallow type thing. For 10 and 12 year old I would absolutely do that again.
We went to both Big Island and Maui for our honeymoon, 13 years ago! We’ve also been to Maui another time. I really love both. I don’t think you can go wrong. My favorite is the Big Island. I felt like it had this more old-fashioned charm to it and felt more wild. We really enjoyed driving around and exploring. We did a few days in Hilo, did the volcanoes park, and then drove across to the Kona area, doing the Hawaii Botanic Garden on the way. That park was beautiful! Then we did all the sunny beach stuff in the Kona area. I loved it!
That said, Maui is absolutely gorgeous, too. With kids, I might choose Maui. We stayed in the Ka'anapali Beach area twice (more central/more action, but more crowded), and in Wailea for a few nights (a little quieter, a little more high-end). You can easily snorkel by Black rock by the Sheraton in Kanapali Beach, you can do a snorkel excursion, you could do Haleakala if you wanted, and some other sightseeing fairly easily. The little whaling museum is free, at the Whaler shops, I think, and there are a lot of restaurants. Everything is more built-up but that also means very accessible, which is a plus with kids.
ETA: We were there in March. Beach conditions vary based on time-of-year.
Every beach is different. Conditions and safety can really vary. If you aren't familiar with the beach and want to swim, seek out beaches with lifeguards and pay attention to the flags. You can also talk to the lifeguards for tips (sometimes one side is better than another, etc). It's important to really do your research and to respect the ocean.
Got married on Maui in 2019 - loved it! We stayed at the Fairmont in Wailea. The area was beautiful and relaxing! We also drove to Lahaina a couple times, which was fun and more touristy.
We island hopped to Oahu for a couple of nights because I wanted to do a LOST tour. Waikiki Beach was wayyyyy too crowded for me.
We honeymooned on the big island in Waikoloa (plus 2 nights in volcano) and loved it. To me it was perfect because we could relax at the beach or pool but also got to go hiking, eat good food and have other fun adventures. I want to go back in a few years for our 10 year anniversary and maybe take the kids with us because I think it'd be fun for them, too!
What do you like to do? What kind of experience are you looking for? Any kids?
I live on oahu and have been to big island three times, and Maui and kauai once. I obviously love big island lol, and kauai. Maui was my least favorite and the most expensive, but lots of people love it.
My kids will be 10&12 and are pretty active. They love swimming but I don’t know if I’m super comfortable with them in the ocean there, it’s no joke! What didn’t you like about Maui, or was it just not as awesome as the other islands?
Oh ok those are great ages! I have a toddler so we always stick to the real calm beaches which you can always find. So part of Maui was that we went when my baby was 5 mo old, so we didn't do Haleakala or Road to Hana. But I had a really hard time finding things to do in Maui. To this day I still look it up and don't find a ton that I'm interested in. I also just felt it was super touristy driving around it's just resort after resort. Parts of it are gorgeous, but all the islands have gorgeous views. We're planning to island hop in July and are trying to decide between big island or kauai to return to again.
I can't wait until DS is able to tolerate the flight and we can return to Hawaii. I have not been to the Big Island but will definitely go. Maui felt more touristy but still spacious and so beautiful. It's not as packed as Waikiki was. We did the Road the Hana and I would think a 10 yo and a 12 yo would enjoy that. So many beautiful spots to stop and see.
Post by cricketwife on Apr 18, 2021 18:51:50 GMT -5
I’m here to represent Maui, lol. al dente, had her own experience and we are all entitled to our opinions, but we spent 15 days on Maui for our honeymoon and never ran out of things to do! Horse backing riding , dolphin boat tour, aquarium, natural parks, beaches, kayaking, snorkeling, Haleakala, road to Hana, etc. (i will say we did NOT enjoy the road to Hana, but it’s such a pumped up destination that I always recommend that others do it and decide for themselves. ). And much of what we did would not have been fun with a 5 month old, but I don’t even find the beach fun with a 5 month old so I’m not sure which island I would like with a 5 month old.
I’ve only been to Maui. We honeymooned there and H didnt care which island but he only wanted to go to one island. We plan to return in a few years and I want to go back to Maui because I know there’s so much for our kids to do, but I’m going to push hard fro another island as well, which based on the feedback here, I would probably pick the Big Island (which is my mom’s favorite).
Maui is one of my favorite places on earth. We've been twice. We were hoping to go back this summer but it's just not going to happen. We are planning on a 10 day trip next summer though splitting time between Maui and Kauai.
10 and 12 are great ages! We went with my kids when they were 12 and 7 last time (and 10 and 5 their first trip). Since we only did maui with kids I only have suggestions for there, but things we did: surf lessons, snorkeling trips (we used Pacific Whale Foundation tours for these - highly recommend), parasailing (only available in summer/not whale season), a day tour of the island of lanai (ferry leaves from Lahaina), Haleakala (we went up for sunset instead of sunrise and it’s still amazing), road to Hana (a tour of volcano tubes near Hana was one of my kids’ favorite things ever), my little one loves a submarine tour you can do in Lahaina, a luau (the old Lahaina luau is supposed to be great and is authentic, but I admit we did the non authentic touristy ones at resorts because the kids wanted to see fire dancing 😬), and helicopter tours (we have used Blue Hawaiian each team - always great). Then lots of pool/beach time and lots of eating (Monkey Pod Kitchen, Merriman’s, Mama’s Fish House , and Pais Fish market are all insanely good. Also mama’s fish house has my favorite mai tai ever)
I live part of the year on Oahu (in Waikiki) and spent my high school years on the Big Island (Hilo side). I would not recommend Waikiki for families - it’s too crowded and the beach is ok, but I’d stay either on the North Shore or in Kailua (on the east side of Oahu) if you want better beaches. The best beaches IME are the ones on the east / northeast (Kailua beach, Sherwoods in Waimanalo, and beaches near Ka`a`awa/ Hau`ula near the Polynesian Cultural Center). There is a lot to do for your kids age group on that side as well (Kualoa Ranch, PCC, MacNut Farm, Haleiwa town, etc.)
I am not a fan of Maui mainly due to the beaches. I find them really dangerous (even as someone who grew up swimming in the ocean and who is fairly comfortable with our waters). Also, most of the shark attacks in Hawaii are on Maui beaches. 😬
I love Kauai for its very laid back, country feel. To me, it the most genuinely Hawaiian island.
The Big Island would actually offer you a nice mix of country/ local Hawaii (on the Hilo side) and resort life (on the Kona side). You could easily spend 7 days on the BI and make your way around the island (from Hilo to Volcano to Kona - even Waimea is beautiful - paniolo (cowboy) country!)
Let me know if you have any other questions - I’m happy to give you more recommendations!
What do you like to do? What kind of experience are you looking for? Any kids?
I live on oahu and have been to big island three times, and Maui and kauai once. I obviously love big island lol, and kauai. Maui was my least favorite and the most expensive, but lots of people love it.
My kids will be 10&12 and are pretty active. They love swimming but I don’t know if I’m super comfortable with them in the ocean there, it’s no joke! What didn’t you like about Maui, or was it just not as awesome as the other islands?
We took our 9 and 12 year olds to Kauai last March before the world shut down and stayed at the Grand Hyatt and it was awesome. They loved the pools and the slide and they did surfing lessons and we did a luau and we also did a lot of sightseeing. It is gorgeous there.
I adored both Kauai and the Big Island - both were such a good mix of touristy and quiet, and so beautiful. Maui, not so much - too touristy when we were there. That being said, I feel like I didn’t give it a fair shake and we’re going again in September. I don’t think you can go wrong, honestly!
We have been to Kauai 3 times. My husband loves Kauai because of the amazing hiking. He would love to purchase a home there. I like Kauai but I did not find the beaches and the snorkeling to be the absolute best. I really want to see all the islands before we make a decision on if we want to move there.
We are going to Maui this in June so I can give opinions here soon. But with all the research we have done we think it will be amazing. I think Maui will have more snorkeling options than Kauai. Also the direct flight from DFW is pretty awesome too.
Also we never stay in resorts when traveling to Hawaii. We always try to find a vrbo away from the touristy areas, make a costco run for the basics, and rent a car. It makes it feel more like living like a local.
Since there have been some recommendations based on comparisons between more remote resorts on other islands and staying in Waikiki, for all that don't know, Waikiki is a neighborhood of high rise hotels that is part of a large city. Of course it is crowded. There is much more to Oahu than Waikiki (hell, there is much more to Honolulu than Waikiki). Now, Oahu is definitely not my favorite island for vacationing but you can have a relaxing Hawaiian vacation on Oahu. If you've only stayed in Waikiki, you've missed out on some great experiences. Oahu has it's own beauty and quiet spaces, just like all of the islands. We've stayed in Lanikai/Kailua area on 2 different trips (family is mostly in Manoa Valley) and on the north shore for one. The north shore is especially nice since the majority of tourists don't make it up there all that early and clear out in the late afternoon.
While Oahu would not be my first choice, it's also unfair to judge the whole island based on a stay in Waikiki if a city experience wasn't what you were going for.