Want to help me plan a trip to Hawaii?

[expatjen]

Personally, Iʻd do the Big Island and Oahu. Kilauea is erupting at the moment, so hopefully, youʻll get to see a bit of it when you go to Volcano. Donʻt forget to drive through Waimea (between Kona and Hilo).

On Oahu, you could rent a condo or rooms at Marriott Ko Olina (next to Aulani, but with better pools IMO) or at the newly renovated Turtle Bay Resort (on the North Shore). Youʻd at least be away from the hustle and bustle of Waikiki, but still be able to drive into town. There is a ton to do on Oahu from Pearl Harbor to Kualoa Ranch to the Polynesian Cultural Center and the Doris Duke Shangri-La homee/museum. Also, I think the beaches are more family-friendly vs the ones on Maui (from Magic Island to Kailua to Kahala). The Kahala Hotel is also a great choice (and not in Waikiki, but closer than Ko Olina or Turtle Bay).

I live on Oahu and grew up on the Big Island.

[badgerwrangler]

Just to piggy back on this, we are also planning Hawaii next summer. Definitely going to Oahu but would people recommend the Big Island or Kauai for the second island? Family likes hiking, general outdoor activity, museums. They are pretty much happy to do anything but my husband appreciates natural beauty and a less manicured type setting.

[expectantsteelerfan]

Tacocat, I sent you a PM.

We ended up booking a condo on Big Island in the Waikoloa Beach Villas community for the first week, and the Hilton Hawaiian Village resort on Oahu for the second week (where workers are currently on strike...I'm sure it'll be resolved well before this summer, but I hope the workers get the outcome they are looking for!).

As much as I think I would enjoy Maui more, there were just too many things on Oahu I wanted to experience with the kids. Even though we won't ever do a 2 week family trip to Hawaii again, maybe dh and I can do an adults only trip to Maui in the future!

[luckystar2]

Sept 25, 2024 18:00:11 GMT -5 expectantsteelerfan said:

Tacocat, I sent you a PM.

We ended up booking a condo on Big Island in the Waikoloa Beach Villas community for the first week, and the Hilton Hawaiian Village resort on Oahu for the second week (where workers are currently on strike...I'm sure it'll be resolved well before this summer, but I hope the workers get the outcome they are looking for!).

As much as I think I would enjoy Maui more, there were just too many things on Oahu I wanted to experience with the kids. Even though we won't ever do a 2 week family trip to Hawaii again, maybe dh and I can do an adults only trip to Maui in the future!

We did a similar trip. We stayed in Kona for a week. We did trips around the island and saw the black sand beaches, akaka falls, took a boat ride to see lava flowing into the ocean. We did a lot of driving but the drives were really cool. Interesting scenery and at times we were literally driving through clouds. We also had a beach day at Hapuna beach which doesn’t look too far from where you are staying. I loved Hapuna and we got to see whales from the beach.

Then we stayed at the Rainbow tower at the Hilton Hawaiian village. Yeah the area is very touristy/commercial but it was still beautiful. After spending a week on BI which was much less touristy/busy it was nice to have something different. I loved walking on the beach everyday and being able to stop for meals and have tons of options. We also had things we wanted to do on Oahu too and that’s why we chose it. We hiked Diamond head, went to Ko’Olina Lagoons, went to luau. drove to north shore and stopped and saw turtles at Laniakea beach, watched surfers at sunset beach and visited the dole plantation. we snorkeled at Hanauma Bay and of course went to Pearl Harbor.

[vmars]

We did Maui and the Big Island for our honeymoon. Maui was the best part of the trip. Even my husband who isn’t a beach person thought it was amazing. We did surfing lessons, snorkeling at Molokini crater (although we liked Captain Cooks monument on the Big Island more), sunset sail, explored many beaches, etc. Big Island was also great. We did one day at volcano national park and that was good for us, we loved snorkeling at captain cooks, that was the highlight. We stayed at a resort on the big island where we could snorkel with the sea turtles. We also checked out the waterfalls and did some hiking.

[stinkyfeet]

Sept 19, 2024 12:45:02 GMT -5 orval said:

I like the Big Island and Oahu combo.
We stayed in Waikoloa on the Big Island. We drove around the island and nothing was really to far with that as our home base. I don't think you need to stay in two different places.
On Oahu, we have stayed in Ko'Olina. It is where the Disney resort is, but there are other resorts. It is not super close to Waikiki but not a bad drive. We did Pearl harbor, Diamond Head, Dole Pineapple Plantation, North Shore -- all from Ko'olina as our home base.
Maui was my least favorite island (we have been to Kauai too).

eta: koolina.com/

I agree with this 100%!