Visiting Oahu~What OTHER Island would you suggest and why? (Volcano: condo, how much)

[gotjenks]

We are coming to Oahu in August and are looking at going to another island for 3 days.
What island would you recommend and why?
Thank you so much since looking at all the Hawaiian Island information on the internet is insane and so confusing. I would rather get a real persons advice.
Thank you.
**I thought that I heard that one of the Islands has a zip line in the rainforest. Is that true?**

[sunsprit]

Kauai. If you're into the native horticulture, a more "mellow" side of the islands. and fishing, snorkling & diving on the NE coastline. Down around the SW side, the "grand canyon of the islands" for your hiking through some spectacular country.

I've been more taken with Hawaii on this island, it's much less "touristy" and yet has a lot of the old native culture and outdoor activities, secluded ocean coves accessible through some of the old sugar plantations, etc. For the most part, it's easy to find secluded places of incredible beauty without the press of tourist crowds here.

I find that getting a condo on a beach works well for a base for the duration of my stays there ... we do our food shopping for a week of activity over by the airport and then have the freedom to have breakfast at our leisure and then pack a lunch and snacks for the day's outing. In a week's time, we might have dinner out only 2 nights.

If you're into golf and tennis and being "entertained" with "tourist" type activities ... the best that the Hawaii hospitality industry (hotels/resorts & restaurants) has to offer, there's better islands for that ... Maui, for example.

[KoaKine]

Could we get some more information about what you like to do, how many in your group and so on ? This would help I woul hate to sen a 75 yearold out to the Volcano hiking in the heat and not know it lol

[hothulamaui]

kauai or maui. maui has zip lines tripadvisor.com has tons of info on their forum with reviews

[whynot?]

Originally Posted by gotjenks

We are coming to Oahu in August and are looking at going to another island for 3 days. What island would you recommend and why? . . . **I thought that I heard that one of the Islands has a zip line in the rainforest. Is that true?**

I was on the zip lines at Kapalua in West Maui recently. These are on old farmland at about 700-1,200 feet, I think. Definitely not a rainforest. There is another set on the lower slopes of Haleakala that might be in a eucalyptus forest, but I don't think they're nearly high enough to be in the rainforest (close to 7,000 feet). Both locations have gotten great reviews from our guests.

I agree with KoaKine that it would be easier to make a recommendation if we knew a little more about what you might enjoy doing and seeing. Clearly, if you want to see the active volcano, it has to be the Big Island, but great beaches, snorkeling, swimming, hiking, scenic drives, etc., are available on Maui, Kauai, Lana`i, and Moloka`i, too.

How many people? What kind of accommodations? (Condo? Hotel? Resort? Proximity to beach and/or town?) How much do you like to/want to drive? Any of the neighbor islands can fill up three days quickly.

[husky422]

we just moved in august but we were here on vacation last may...we went to the big island for a couple days to do a helo ride over the volcano park (fave part) and then we drove to the volcano park and did a whirlwind trip (we got there late) and then hiked over the lava at night to see it enter the ocean...amazing! we went to maui a couple months ago and i wasn't overly impressed BUT we didn't get a chance to do hana. we were in wailea with all the fancy resorts...not my style. it's a lot different than oahu that's for sure

[gotjenks]

Thanks guys.
After looking at a few more websites I think I have fallen in love with Kauai.
There will be 3 of us (2 adults and my daughter who is 14~who is athletic and loves to run, hike and swim).
I am not a real outdoors person BUT we are in Hawaii and would love to see the beauty (esp. after spending the week on Oahu doing all the touristy things) of Kauai. I think it would be neat to explore the land, walk, go to the beach, zipline (found a site that showed these and my daughter would go NUTS to do this even though my husband rolled his eyes over the price and he sees no thrill in it since he is a Army Ranger).
Thank you again for any local/insider advice you can give me now about Kauai.
(We looked at hotels and saw Kauai Sands Hotel and it is cheaper than the Aston Kauai Beach at Makaiwa and the Sands had some really great reviews despite being an older hotel. I would rather spend a little less on the hotel and be able to do and see more on the island)

[Mar0]

Kauai has 2 very good zipline companies- Princeville Ranch Adventures and Kauai Backcountry Tours

[HankDfrmSD]

Originally Posted by gotjenks

Thanks guys.
After looking at a few more websites I think I have fallen in love with Kauai.
There will be 3 of us (2 adults and my daughter who is 14~who is athletic and loves to run, hike and swim).
I am not a real outdoors person BUT we are in Hawaii and would love to see the beauty (esp. after spending the week on Oahu doing all the touristy things) of Kauai. I think it would be neat to explore the land, walk, go to the beach, zipline (found a site that showed these and my daughter would go NUTS to do this even though my husband rolled his eyes over the price and he sees no thrill in it since he is a Army Ranger).
Thank you again for any local/insider advice you can give me now about Kauai.
(We looked at hotels and saw Kauai Sands Hotel and it is cheaper than the Aston Kauai Beach at Makaiwa and the Sands had some really great reviews despite being an older hotel. I would rather spend a little less on the hotel and be able to do and see more on the island)

I prefer the North Shore, because of the scenery and the beaches. Here is a page of links to things to see and do around Princeville:

Princeville Information (http://www.visitprinceville.info/Princeville_Information.html - broken link)

Hank