Which island should we go to? (Princeville, Poipu: beach, vacation, best)

[Ultimatetruth]

ALOHA :-)
we were wondering which island/area would be best to travel to for vacation in November 26-Dec 5th. We'd like to stay in 1 island...

we are 28, adventurous we care about:

-hiking
-snorkling
-beach
-least amount of rain


please advise.

[hothulamaui]

rain here is different than on the mainland. kauai might be the best for hiking, beauty. but maui hana side is excellent for that as well. all islands have great beaches. each island a bit different. tripadvisor.com has a forum and lots of info on all the islands. you will have a great time no matter which one.

[Ultimatetruth]

THANK YOU :-)
my definition of nice beach is clear blue water, white sand, no rocks in the beach (only sand inside the water).

Does Kauai have this?

[Ellwood]

Originally Posted by Ultimatetruth

THANK YOU :-)
my definition of nice beach is clear blue water, white sand, no rocks in the beach (only sand inside the water).

Does Kauai have this?

Yes Kauai has those qualities. The Poipu area tends to be more sunny than Princeville, which can get quite a bit of rain. Hana in Maui also meets your criteria. I found beaches on the BI very limited.

[whynot?]

Originally Posted by hothulamaui

rain here is different than on the mainland. kauai might be the best for hiking, beauty. but maui hana side is excellent for that as well. all islands have great beaches. each island a bit different. tripadvisor.com has a forum and lots of info on all the islands. you will have a great time no matter which one.

I agree about the beauty of the beaches and hiking in/around Hana, but Hana also gets a lot more rain than most of the rest of Maui. I respectfully suggest that any number of places in South Maui or West Maui meet the general criteria for hiking, snorkeling, and great beaches with a lot less rain.

[hothulamaui]

Originally Posted by Ultimatetruth

THANK YOU :-)
my definition of nice beach is clear blue water, white sand, no rocks in the beach (only sand inside the water).

Does Kauai have this?

oh yes, as does maui oahu and big island too

[hothulamaui]

Originally Posted by whynot?

I agree about the beauty of the beaches and hiking in/around Hana, but Hana also gets a lot more rain than most of the rest of Maui. I respectfully suggest that any number of places in South Maui or West Maui meet the general criteria for hiking, snorkeling, and great beaches with a lot less rain.

true hana side does get more rain but most of the good hiking I think is on that side isn't it. south maui and the west side has the best beaches for sure. (IMO )

[whynot?]

Originally Posted by hothulamaui

true hana side does get more rain but most of the good hiking I think is on that side isn't it. south maui and the west side has the best beaches for sure. (IMO )

I guess it depends upon what one means by "hiking." A lot of people mean walking in the woods. Some actually mean walking anywhere -- even on, say, the new beach path at Kapalua. In our experience, most of our guests consider the old golf cart paths up at Kapalua (Village Course, which was converted to greenspace a couple of years ago) to be more strenuous than they are up to, even though they are paved.

I love the trails at Haleakala, Polipoli, and Waikamoi, but only a few of our guests have been willing to do those kinds of trails. I need to spend more time hiking Kipahulu side, but I get distracted by the peace of just being in Hana. Seems most hikers expect some kind of drive to a trailhead whether it's a "walk" or a "hike" technically, so I just imagined the OP would use the drives to explore more of the island en route to their hikes.

The reason I mentioned rain in Hana is that the same poster was very interested in the amount of rainfall on Kauai (Princeville v. Poipu) in another thread.

Aloha.

[Summering]

Kauai was always my favorite.........Just so lush and awesome. All the islands are nice......
I don't like the rocks "inside the water" either. That was a big surprise to me. The rest was wonderful.

[Ultimatetruth]

Originally Posted by Summering

Kauai was always my favorite.........Just so lush and awesome. All the islands are nice......
I don't like the rocks "inside the water" either. That was a big surprise to me. The rest was wonderful.

Oh wait! are you saying that there are rocks in the water in Kauai (especialy the Poipu area)?