First Trip to Hawaii

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by Mark.ca

want to see the island you need to drive...alot! I would suggest to include at least a hike to one of the many falls...you will want to see the others after that for sure.

Unless we get a huge tropical storm, Op isn't going to see a lot of falls in early September.

[Mark.ca]

Laie, Manoa probably are almost dry but maybe Waimea has some water. The trails are worth seeing evan if there is no water.

[yoyo1223]

There are a lot of beautiful sites to see in Hawaii, what I think is the best thing to do is to hire a tour guide. We went with Daniel at Howzit Trailz. He does private tours and basically you tell him what you want to see and he plans your day and makes it happen. He took us to see ruins, swim in a waterfall and then to a great beach (that wasn't crowded like Waikiki) for some boogie boarding. He provided transportation and all the gear.

Howzit Trailz - Honolulu - Reviews of Howzit Trailz - TripAdvisor

Have fun!

[MauiPartTimer]

One other thought about the Big Island. I've only been there once and drove around a lot of it, but it's really huge. If you're short on time and less short on money, you could take a day trip to the island, then do a helicopter tour. We did that our last day on the island and it was definitely a highlight of the trip. You fly over the volcanos, mountains, the ocean, into canyons, see waterfalls up close.

[ltai0001]

Aloha
Mahalo for all the feedback. I just got back and here is what I did each day

1) Saturday
Landed and picked up the rental car (this is a must if you are planning on drivingaround). the car was very helpful for me and gave me flexibility in when and where I wanted to go.

I got a place one block from Waikiki through VRBO.com .This saved me a lot of money compared to what I would have paid for hotels.

I didn't like Waikiki beach right away so I knew I had to change plan for Sunday.

2) Sunday I spent time at Diamond head beach park, nice little beach down the cliff and a lot of surfers and even a seal lion swimming by. then in the afternoon I drove to hanauma bay for some snorkling and had a poke bowl (Raw Tuna) for Dinner.

3) Monday I spent my day in Lanikai Beach and Kailua. Both have gorgeous beaches and Kailua the town is so nice.

4) Tuesday I headed to North Shore. I stopped at Shark Cove for some incredible snorkeling (just 1 hour). Then went to Sunset beach. On my way back I spent a couple of hours at Waimea valley and then between 5:30 and 7 pm at Waimea bay (incredible calm water) where I also got to watch the sunset.

5) Wednesday I drove around the south/east coast. hiked to Makapuu point, spent an hour at Makapuu beach park then in the afternoon I did the impossible: I hiked to Maunawili falls (I thought I was in the movie Jurassic Park and I am not joking)

6) Thursday I went Kualoa Ranch then to Sunset Beach and a later afternoon stop at Waimea Bay for a late swim and sunset camera shots.

8) Friday I went to Pearl Harbor, then hiked to Manoa Falls, and drove Round Top drive with some unbelievable view points of the city/waikiki/Diamond Head.

9) Saturday I hiked Mountain head early in the morning then headed to north shore. I spent time in Sunset beach then stopped by Haleiwa for a shrimp and rice plate and shaved ice. After that I hiked to Kaena Point (the top west tip of the island) for some nice sunset camera shots.

10) Sunday I shopped for gifts and flew back

All in all it was a great time, but also a lot that I feel like I didn't get to do. There is definitely a lot more hiking to be done and I would have liked to go one more time to Lanikai beach but. I also didn't get to see the west side of the island especially the lagoons, the dole plantation and the polynesian cultural center...I leave that for my next trip

Aloha

[Kayekaye]

Wow, good job! You know how to plan. I too like to have a car go where I like, being able to stop at any given moment when it strikes my fancy. Glad you had a good time.

Now comes the hard part, waiting for the next trip!

[MauiPartTimer]

Originally Posted by ltai0001

Landed and picked up the rental car (this is a must if you are planning on drivingaround).
Aloha

Not pick on you, but this cracked me up. It could have been from one of hotels.com's "Captain Obvious" ads.

Glad you had a fun trip and that you felt like there was still more to do. That's the type of feeling that makes people return. I've been to a lot of places where I've said. "OK, I've done and seen everything I want to do there.", but I've never said that about the islands.