Hawai'i vs Maui vs O'ahu. Which Hawaii island is your favorite? (living, best)
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Kinda need Kauai for this. I love each island for its own reasons and could very easily live on any of them. With that said I still probably like Oahu the best because you got both town & country. If you can afford it properly and could avoid Honolulu traffic on a daily basis there’s probably no better place to live.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Maui no ka oi!
Oahu has too much concrete and traffic. That's not what I want to go to Hawaii for. Although I'm very glad I saw Pearl Harbor, I much prefer Maui. Maui has the best beaches, better resorts, the heavenly drive to Hana, and more room to roam and enjoy paradise.
Also honorable mention to the Big Island, roughly the same size of Connecticut, it has an incredible amount of biodiversity and varied topography from black lava rock deserts to lush rain forests with fern grottos and impressive waterfalls.
Kauai is my favorite of the islands, by far. It's the most nature-oriented and picturesque of the islands; most like what the average American's idea of the state is (aside from Honolulu/Waikiki on Oahu).
After visiting the Big Island, I found it interesting for the wildly different topography (huge 13,800-foot volcano in the middle), but other than that, it's not very scenic and the towns are largely run down and not very nice.
I'm going to Hawaii for the first time ever (for five nights)!! And did my homework and research.
I am in Oahu for three nights, and Kauai for two.
I wanted to go to TWO islands, and felt to get the feel for BOTH ends of the population spectrum Oahu and Kauai were great choices.
Oahu being populated and vibrant and Kauai being more wild and pristine, I will experience both sides. And the flight to Kauai is only about an hour.
If I were to pick only ONE island, I might pick Maui, as there are more amenities than Kauai, but not as built up as Oahu.
I would want to give myself longer time if I were to visit the big island, as there is a lot of diversity in environments but might need more time to see it all.
I've been to the islands (specifically Oahu and Big Island) several times over the years and have enjoyed them tremendously. I still have a love for Oahu even with the crowds and I tend to visit there the most. There is so much to do in Honolulu and Waikiki, but if you ever want to get away from the crowds, I recommend the drive around the island and specifically the North Shore via the Kamehameha Highway. Be sure to check out the shrimp trucks. I've also stayed at Turtle Bay Resort before and that's a pretty nice resort next to Kawela Bay - great location for watching waves and for beginning surfers.
If you were a fan of LOST, the island offers tours of the locales where filming took place. Mokuleia Beach (crash site beach) is beautiful and easily accessible since it's located right next to the Farrington Hwy. One location not on the tour I took, but that I sought out and loved was the secluded Papa’iloa Beach (Survivors Beach Camp) with its amazing waves (see attachment). It's been a few years since I visited the beach (and it's pretty windy there), so I'm not sure what the parking and marking situation is currently, but this offers pretty good directions: https://www.govisithawaii.com/2009/0...ost-is-filmed/
I also enjoyed the Big Island. Kauna'oa Beach, Manini'owali Beach (Kua Bay), and Hapuna Beach are nice for snorkeling and spotting sea turtles (and frisbee on the beach). Driving out to Volcanoes National Park and continuing through Chain of Craters road to hike and see lava flows was a blast (this a few years back) - the area truly looks like the end of the earth.
The only time I've visited both Kauai and Maui was when I cruised around the islands back in the mid-90's on the SS Constitution (American Cruise Lines) before it had been retired. Kauai was very exotic-looking and beautiful and I enjoyed the Fern Grotto, and Maui had some really great beaches. I also took a helicopter ride from Maui to Molokai and that was pretty amazing! I'd be interested in more suggestions for Maui since I look to visit there again in the next year.
I used to live on the island of Oahu from 2003-2007. I near Kapahulu district Honolulu Hawaii. I didn't live in the safest neighborhood however which brought some complications with being mugged and stolen stuff ..The weather was good, diamond head is nice to look at with the change of seasons. Waikiki is kind of touristy but its scenic... The Hawaiian islands are just not for me in the long run but it was experience that was good, bad and scary at times I will never forget...
Last edited by sidneyinmyeyes34; 01-26-2019 at 02:28 PM..
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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Oahu—at least Honolulu is a city with more to do. If I want to escape for more scenic, less congestion I would drive to the North Shore on a weekend.
I preferred the Big Island (Kona and Hilo) to Maui (honeymoon vibe) but could not live on either island.
I would get extremely bored and “island fever” living anywhere else after a month or two at most...I might even get island fever living in Honolulu after a few months.
HUGE difference between visiting for 1-2 weeks and living there.
Last edited by elchevere; 01-26-2019 at 03:40 PM..
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