Aulani help (we are back and need help with island hopping) page 5

[DenLo]

They are all great for different reasons.

Maui is the most touristy, but the flip side of that is it has the most restaurant choices. There's Haleakala (which is other worldly), Road to Hana, snorkeling at Molokini.

Big Island has Volcanoes National Park, night snorkeling (or scuba) with manta rays, snorkeling at Captain Cook's monument was great. It's different though, coming out of the airport you will only see barren lava fields. It's the one I keep wanting to go back to, I think because it's so big, I still haven't gotten to everything I want to after 2 trips (full week each).

Kauai is the least touristy, most lush, and smallest. You can see waterfalls just next to the road driving around. Waimea Canyon ("Grand Canyon of the Pacific") is beautiful.

Personally, with 2 weeks, I would do 1 week Aulani and 1 week another island. But if you're set on 3 nights only, then I would either do Kauai (smallest), or Volcanoes National Park (fly into Hilo and stay in Volcano Village).

We had a local on the Big Island tell us something similar. He was in his early 20's, and he had traveled through the islands working as he though the Big Island was boring for a young person like himself, this is what he said:

I first went to work on Oahu, but found that it was too much city for me. The north shore was nice but the work was in the city and that is a long drive.

Then I went to Maui and it was too touristy.

I next started work on Kauai and I thought is was perfect, then after 3 months I got bored.

So now I am back to Hilo, where I have the beauty of the island with a lush forest, volcanos, and a desert landscape on the leeward side (Kona) and a small city life and if I want the tourist life style with that night life, I can go to the Kona Coast.

At first I thought it was strange for him to tell us tourists that, but when I thought about my experiences on the islands and my reactions to the islands I found I agreed with his opinion. However, I think Maui with all it's beaches, and the beauty of Haleakala it might be a good spot for a family to visit a second island for the first time.

 

[QuiltTeddy]

We are planning on going in April 2016 also!

When are you going?

 

[blondietink]

When are you going?

We are planning on Waikiki April 6-10, then move to Aulani 10-17, then go to Kauai for the 17th - 26th. What about you?

 

[QuiltTeddy]

We are planning on Waikiki April 6-10, then move to Aulani 10-17, then go to Kauai for the 17th - 26th. What about you?

We are going to Aulani from (hopefully) 04/15/16 to 04/25/16.

 

[Amw1064]

Well we have been back for a little over 2 weeks and I am still having withdrawals. I can't help but think about our perfect trip. My daughter made me this "flipogram" with 150 of our favorite pictures and put it to my favorite song they played at Aulani and I just sat here with tears in my eyes.

 

[Amw1064]

I am waiting to see who might be joining us (family & friends) if we island hop before I make any decisions. We will fly into Honolulu and do our stay at Aulani but do most people island hop to whichever island then fly home from there or island hop back to Honolulu to fly home. Meaning, should I start looking for round trip tickets to Honolulu or one way to Honolulu and one way from whichever island? My friend was telling me they went back to Honolulu to fly home. It all seems so confusing.

 

[carissa1970]

I am waiting to see who might be joining us (family & friends) if we island hop before I make any decisions. We will fly into Honolulu and do our stay at Aulani but do most people island hop to whichever island then fly home from there or island hop back to Honolulu to fly home. Meaning, should I start looking for round trip tickets to Honolulu or one way to Honolulu and one way from whichever island? My friend was telling me they went back to Honolulu to fly home. It all seems so confusing.

We are going to island hop in 2016, after our Aulani stay. I think it depends on the airport, and where you need to fly home. We fly out of San Diego, and if I look at flights out of Hilo to SD, they all take me back to Honolulu first. If I look at flights out of Kona, they fly straight to SD. Since I hate flying, we decided we need to fly out of Kona so we can just go straight home. I would suggest looking at all the options from whichever island you plan to hop to.

 

[wanderlust7]

I am waiting to see who might be joining us (family & friends) if we island hop before I make any decisions. We will fly into Honolulu and do our stay at Aulani but do most people island hop to whichever island then fly home from there or island hop back to Honolulu to fly home. Meaning, should I start looking for round trip tickets to Honolulu or one way to Honolulu and one way from whichever island? My friend was telling me they went back to Honolulu to fly home. It all seems so confusing.

Ideally, you can fly into HNL and fly out of whichever island. But sometimes the flights don't work out (too many stops) or the price is a lot more. If you do end up with separate HNL roundtrip and island hop roundtrip, just make sure you allow enough time from the island hop arrival time to your HNL to home flight. Personally, I would want to see at least 2 other flights after the one I book that would get me to HNL in time (if my flight is cancelled, at least I have 2 other options).

I hate waiting for friends and family to decide when I just want to plan! I usually just decide and then see who wants to join us.

 

[Amw1064]

I give everyone until November for me to decide since that is the 7 month window and they should all know by then. Personally I think I would be just as happy doing an Aulani/Oahu stay again. The island hopping seems confusing with all the flights but then again do I need to stay at Aulani for 12 days? (we did 11 this past June and loved it) I don't know. Airlines don't have flights up this early anyway so I can get an approximate price but I can start looking in the next few weeks.