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My wife and I are going to finally take our honeymoon and have decided to spend around 10 days in Hawaii.
We are after a mix of relaxing and cultural activities over the 10 days, but not too much rushing about.
I guess a couple of day's shopping, about 4-5 beach days and the remainder doing things such as the key tourist activities, and maybe something a bit different.
So, my questions are:
1) does anyone have an itinerary plan or ideas for what we can do
2) where do we need to stay? I am presuming we'll need to stay in a hotel on Honolulu, but any other suggestions (eg 6 nights in Honolulu and 4 nights elsewhere)?
3) any recommendations for hotels?
Thanks for any feedback - we are in the initial stages of planning this trip - nothing is booked yet!
Yes, 3 or 4 days on 2 islands is a good idea, but don't try to do more than that. You can easily spend 10 days on either Oahu, Maui or Big Island and not see 1/2 of what's available. Snorkeling tours, volcano (Big Island), Waikiki, various luaus, helicopter sightseeing tours, many t hings to do!
Do you want a hotel or a condo where you can have a kitchen?
It sounds like we'll be spoilt for choice on what to do. The key is to get a good balance so we are relaxed but also able to partake in activities.
We are looking at going in June. The main reason is that it is (in my opinion) the month of the year that is best avoided here (start of winter and quite rainy). We are lucky from an Australian perspective in that our dollar is almost at parity with the US dollar which will mean it'll be great from a costing perspective.
We'll stay in a hotel, mainly because it is our honeymoon and that is a treat for us .
In my area (Hilo side of the Big island) June is a great time to visit. It's the reverse of the Australian cycle, the start of the dry sunny part of the year.
I recommend you spend some time browsing through the back posts here. There's a wealth of information to be found.
I also recommend you save your shopping for the end of your holiday, so you don't have a lot of stuff to drag around if you decide to change hotels or head out to the bush for a while... for something different!
If you want the 6 in Honolulu / 4 elsewhere split, I suggest you think about Kauai as the other island. It's a quick trip, really different from Honolulu, and you can do a lot there in 4 days. The question is if you want more city time or more "away from it all" time. You could easily spend 6 days relaxing on Kauai and then just a few in Honolulu soaking up the culture and more touristy stuff.
Where to stay depends on who you are. Waikiki is the obvious choice, but I'm not personally a fan of the area. It's not the nicest beach, you'll have lots of crowds, and everything is a little more expensive and not as nice as elsewhere (food in restaurants, e.g.).
Resort options outside of Waikiki (big fancy hotels with lots of amenities, and who will help plan outings you want): Turtle Bay on the North Shore and Ko'Olina. You could also think about finding a B&B in Kailua... that would be more my style.
Kauai and Maui have similar options... big resort areas, and then more away-from-it-all areas where you can find a B&B or something quieter. Depends on your taste.
Anyway, here are some rec's for Oahu:
Beaches:
Get to Kailua or Lanikai for sure. If you like to snorkel, get to Hanauma Bay and/or some other places depending on where you stay (there are good places near both Ko'Olina and Turtle Bay as well as near Waikiki, so your hotel can point you in the right direction). If you like to kayak, do that in Kailua or do the eco-kayak tour at Turtle Bay. Lots of fun.
Shopping:
Waikiki has high end stores. Ala Moana is nice, as malls go. Chinatown is ... well, Chinatown. Lots of crazy stuff you won't find anywhere else. You might check if there's a craft show around while you're in town. There are also boutique shops in Kailua... arty places, Muumuu Heaven, etc. There are lots of shops along the main street of Haleiwa on the North Shore... you could spend a day just wandering through them. If you do spend a day shopping on the North Shore, make your way to the more out-of-the way shops at Waialua Sugar Mill.
Other:
Drives around Tantalus / Round top or to the Pali lookout. Hikes up Diamond Head or to a waterfall. The Bishop Museum or Iolani Palace for some local history & culture. If you like art museums, I'm a fan of the Honolulu Academy of Arts, and they often run cool special programs. (You can tour Doris Duke's house through them, if you like Islamic art.)
Update on our trip. Firstly thanks for the feedback! I've been scouring through the back posts plus bought a good guide book.
Anyway, today we booked our flights and hotels. We decided on Kauai as our second island and will have three days there and a week in Oahu. We are very interested in the big island, but will save that for another trip.
We almost paid too much for our airfares. I arbitrarily chose a date around the end of June - the return flights from Australia were around $1,800 return (note that the Aussie and US dollars are basically at parity so no conversion necessary .). However we were talking to our neighbours who go three times a year. They advised us to go a week earlier and guess what - return airfares for $900 each! That was a close one .
We'll get rental cars for both islands and will do a combination of water sports, exploring, relaxing and shopping. Can barely wait
One suggestion:
I created this one day itinerary for a mainland friend and copied/pasted it here, they liked it and i think you would too.
Spend a day to drive the entire island of Oahu. Weekday is better because you avoid the bad traffic, tourists, and general population out on the weekend.
-If you are in Waikiki start early like at 7-8am-ish and head east past Kapiolani park.
-Drive up diamond head road and park along the side at the lookout to take in the south waters.
-Continue on east past Kahala where the ultra rich live, pass by the mega mansions then onto kalanianaole hwy. Don't worry because you will be driving against traffic so it should be smooth sailing.
-Drive past Hawaii Kai then up to stop at Hanauma Bay for brief photo opportunity. (Dunno if you should go snorkling here because it won't compare to your great reefs.)
-Continue on to the winding roads of the coast where you pass sandy beach a popular local surf spot, then onto Makapuu bay. You can park and trek to the lighthouse. Great photo opps. If lucky you might spot some whales breaching.
-From here go North along the coast, pass by Waimanalo where Hawaiians call their home, up past the polo fields by the military base.
Stop off at Kailua and eat at Boots & Kimos. Mac nut pancakes with their special creme sauce and monster omletes.
-Continue on North driving along the coast, the beaches become less pretty, to Laie (sounds like la-ee-ay) and visit the Polynesian cultral center.
-Kamehameha Hwy takes you inland, pass through Kahuku, then lunch/snack at the shrimp truck on the side of the road. Shrimp and prawns are grown in nearby farms.
-Pass by Turtle Bay and the roads come closer to the coast and the beaches become prettier. You are now at the famous north shore.
-Stop of at Waimea Bay, if the winter swells calm down then take a dip and jump of the rock!
-Wash off then head into Waimea valley to the botanical park for a stroll.
-Continue on to Haleiwa (sounds like ha-lay-ee-va) to the small town and shop around. There is a small bakery there that have killer m&m cookies. Also get some shaved ice at Matsumoto's (think snow cones) with different flavored syrups. Take home a souviner shirt. (Caution tour buses drop off japanese tourists here and huge lines can sometimes form)
-Return south on Kam Hwy, you are now at the central part of the island.
-Visit the Hawaii's plantation village in Wahiawa. It is a museum that took the various ethnic plantation homes and located them here for preservation. Tours would be great, otherwise it would seem like you're visiting a bunch of old houses without understanding the nuances of old hawaii plantation history.
-Head south to Pearl Harbor then return in the afternoon to Waikiki.
Note, you should do research for hours and tours in the places in interests and schedule your time, but I think you can do all this in a day.
Also some places to visit near Waikiki requiring car:
Rainbow drive inn - get a plate lunch with slushi float
Catch of the day - try the 30 types of poke (think chevice) order the furikake salmon (poached salmon with aiole sauce - to die for!)
Also check out yelp for places of interest especially food!
Last edited by lost_traveler1; 02-15-2011 at 02:57 PM..
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