Hawaii - need help...

[slk537]

I am not sure where to post this - it really has nothing to do with WDW so I thought here would be a good place to start...

DH and I are thinking about a trip to Hawaii in Oct 2007 for our #10. I am VERY excited about this - called the TA this morning. We are tossing around a tour, cruise, both...dunno.

I am a planning fool. I need to know everything about where we go and while I can plan a WDW trip in my sleep, I know very little about Hawaii.

So...do any of you know of websites, books, message boards, personal favorites of trips etc, that can make me know as much about the islands as I do about WDW?

I really appreciate any feedback - we have 18 months or so to plan so I want to make it really special.

TIA!!

 

[Patty3]

We just returned from 10 days in Maui. This was our third trip to Maui in the past 4 years. We love staying in Wailea at the Four Seasons. Hawaii is expensive, but we found booking a mountain view room at the Four Seasons very much in the price range of other hotels without going over the top in cost. The hotel has many freebies that you pay quite a bit for at other hotels. Complimentary cabanas at the beach and pool area, snorkeling for 1 hour each day, initial scuba lesson, gym, we just love this place. Maui is our favorite island. We have stayed twice on Oahu and once on the Big Island and loved these islands also. There is just so much to do and usually so little time. The best advice I can give you is to take 10 days to two weeks so that you can visit other islands and not feel rushed, or to just relax on the beach. You need down time to just enjoy the beauty of these islands.

 

[amarberry]

We're going to Hawaii in September for 2 weeks. It'll be my fourth trip to the islands. My favorite island is Kauai, followed by Maui. The Big Island is interesting, but not the type of scenary that you imagine with Hawaii (lots of volcanic rock, but also rain forests). Waikiki just felt like a big, busy city for us, so we did not care for it.

The website that has been the most helpful to me has been www.tripadvisor.com. Most of the reviews are for hotels. As far as books are concerned, my favorites are probably Fodors and Frommers. Another one that is mentioned on trip advisor a lot is Maui Revealed. I think that there might be a Kauai Revealed as well.

As far as the tour or cruise idea, I personally wouldn't do that in Hawaii. It's pretty easy to see things on your own and do you really want to be tied to the schedule of a tour when you are on a relaxing vacation?

 

[mookie]

Actually, if you do a search for Hawaii in the DIS Boards, you'll probably find a lot of help. There have been several threads on this subject.

Good luck and have a great time - it's beautiful!!!!!

 

[DizBelle]

I would definitely add 2 things to your list:
On Maui, go to the Old Lahaina Luau
snorkel at Molokini Crater

 

[amarberry]

We just returned from 10 days in Maui. This was our third trip to Maui in the past 4 years. We love staying in Wailea at the Four Seasons. Hawaii is expensive, but we found booking a mountain view room at the Four Seasons very much in the price range of other hotels without going over the top in cost. The hotel has many freebies that you pay quite a bit for at other hotels. Complimentary cabanas at the beach and pool area, snorkeling for 1 hour each day, initial scuba lesson, gym, we just love this place. Maui is our favorite island. We have stayed twice on Oahu and once on the Big Island and loved these islands also. There is just so much to do and usually so little time. The best advice I can give you is to take 10 days to two weeks so that you can visit other islands and not feel rushed, or to just relax on the beach. You need down time to just enjoy the beauty of these islands.

Not to hijack this thread, but I'm curious about what there is to do in the Wailea area. We stayed at the Kea Lani on my first trip to Hawaii (with my parents and brother) over 10 years ago when I was in college. On our honeymoon, DH and I stayed in Kannapali which we liked because it was close to Lahaina. I was pushing to stay in the Wailea area on this trip because it seems like the resorts were nicer, but my traveling companions (DH, DD, and my parents) are pushing for Kannapali because they are concerned that there won't be anything to do in Wailea. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this since you were just there! Thanks!

 

[DawnCt1]

I would definately check out www.fodors.com. Go to talk, then search Hawaii. Its a very active message board. Now for my opinion; The nicer the destination, and Hawaii is about as nice as you can get, the less opulent the accommodations need to be. Wailea and Ka'anapali are clearly the most popular areas of Maui but they aren't the most affordable. Reasonable, comfortable accommodations can be found in Kihei, Napili, etc. We have done the hotel thing and the condo thing. For Hawaii, we prefer condos. This summer we have a unit that sleeps six at the Ka'anapali Alii for less than we would pay for a room at the Hyatt. We found a 2 bedroom condo on Kauai for a reasonable price also. The hardest part about planning a trip is picking the islands. They are all different but equally as wonderful. I would suggest you pick up a travel book such as Fodors or Frommers for a good overview and then when you chose your islands, get the Blue books from Wizard Pub. Maui Revealed, etc. They are more detailed. I like tripadvisor for accommodation reviews. When you know you are going, get your air fare and rental car reserved. I found great rates by going to www.rentalcodes.com. If you can limit the weight of your luggage, Island Air usually has better interisland prices than Aloha or Hawaiian. They are prop planes and tend to be "slower". If you have a small mileage balance on United, you can use 5K for 2 segments on Aloha. We were able to get 5 RTs on Aloha with our miles. Our trip this summer will be 3 nights in Honolulu, 5 on Kauai and 9 on Maui. Our rental car (mini van) will be $801 for 18 days or $835 if I can't find one of my coupons. . So, in a nutshell; decide which islands,and how long, where you want to be on the islands (west Maui in the summer, Wailea in the winter), the kind of accommodations, hotel or condo and car.

 

[DawnCt1]

Not to hijack this thread, but I'm curious about what there is to do in the Wailea area. We stayed at the Kea Lani on my first trip to Hawaii (with my parents and brother) over 10 years ago when I was in college. On our honeymoon, DH and I stayed in Kannapali which we liked because it was close to Lahaina. I was pushing to stay in the Wailea area on this trip because it seems like the resorts were nicer, but my traveling companions (DH, DD, and my parents) are pushing for Kannapali because they are concerned that there won't be anything to do in Wailea. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this since you were just there! Thanks!

The beaches in Wailea are absolutely gorgeous BUT nightlife, except at the very expensive hotels is almost non existant. Its a good 45 minute drive to Lahaina town, and dining out within walking distance will be limited to a couple of places at the Wailea shops and very expensive hotel restaurants. I love being on Ka'anapali Beach. I love having lunch at Lae Lani's on the beach (fish tacos), happy hour at the Hula Grill, people watching, renting surf boards with DS#4 and the convenience of it when traveling with a family. If it were just DH and I, it wouldn't matter where I was. Also, if I were going in the winter, I would chose S.Kihei or Wailea because there is a greater chance of sun.

 

[DawnCt1]

I would definitely add 2 things to your list:
On Maui, go to the Old Lahaina Luau
snorkel at Molokini Crater

Old Lahaina Luau is definately a traditional Hawaiian luau. Most of the luaus at the resorts, Hyatt, Marriott, etc are Polynesian reviews. We loved the one at the Marriott. We went with DSs and its "not a luau without a fire dancer". Of course, Hawaiian didn't have fire dancers but that doesn't matter to the DSs.

 

[Patty3]

Not to hijack this thread, but I'm curious about what there is to do in the Wailea area. We stayed at the Kea Lani on my first trip to Hawaii (with my parents and brother) over 10 years ago when I was in college. On our honeymoon, DH and I stayed in Kannapali which we liked because it was close to Lahaina. I was pushing to stay in the Wailea area on this trip because it seems like the resorts were nicer, but my traveling companions (DH, DD, and my parents) are pushing for Kannapali because they are concerned that there won't be anything to do in Wailea. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this since you were just there! Thanks!

We chose Wailea because we always go in the winter and it supposedly is the sunnier, not as much rain, as other parts of the island like Kapalua. When we are at the Four Seasons we take advantage of the resorts amenities. Their beach is smaller than Kannapali, but quite beautiful. We like the fact that Wailea is more laid back. We really do not care much about the night life and our entertainment for the evening is usually fine dining. After dinner, we would go to the lounge for a drink and then head to the room. We are usually exhausted from the days activities. We take the Road to Hana trip which takes almost an entire day. We do sunrise or sunset at the Haleakala crater and then go to Hailmaille Country store for dinner. We take a whale watching cruise, hike the Iao Valley and do some shopping. If we want more of a night life, we usually go to Lahaina. The resort has so much to do, we like to spend alot of time just hanging out at the beach or pool.

 

[NCRedding]

We did a cruise around the Hawaiian Islands with a four night stay afterwards in conjunction with DH's convention. We chose the cruise in order to get a taste of the as many of the islands as we could. Then, if we decide to go back, we can pick and chose our favorites.

My favorite island was Maui, followed closely by Kauai. I agree that the big island is interesting, but not what I expected to see in Hawaii--the volcanos make for some arid looking land. Wakikki was just too busy for us, but the beach was gorgeous. Also, the north shore of Oahu was very pretty.

We loved our cruise, and thought it was a great way to get a taste of each place. We researched alot and focused our time of what we REALLY wanted to see. I know some of the cruises spend overnight time in port, which maximizes your sight-seeing time.

Have a great trip--Hawaii is so beautiful.

 

[slk537]

Thank you to all - this is exactly what I wanted!! I am really excited to start planning and learning as much as I can. We're not big nightlife people - we enjoy restaurants and entertainment, but not really clubs.

I love the idea of condos - we're DVC members and II members and love the extra space.

Thanks all!!!

 

[slk537]

oops - double post

 

[crz4mm2]

Just back from 8 days in Maui in feb. My first trip. It was great. We stayed in Makena at the Maui Prince.
It is the last resort Beautiful with a beautiful beach. But you have to drive to get anywhere. We didn't mind that so much, but if you don't like to drive, you might want to stay elsewhere.

We did the Lele luau and it was fabulous. You can have a private table and they serve you at the table. I would go again in a heartbeat. We truly enjoyed it!
We also did a tour of the road to hana. We were going to drive this ourselves (we rented a car) but at the last minute decided on a tour. I am glad we did as this allowed both of us to enjoy the sites. It does take a full day though.
We did a sunrise at Haleakala. We were not impressed with that. The clouds were very heavy that am and it made for a less than impressive sunrise....
We managed to see most of the sights in the 8 days we were there. But there is plenty to do. We wanted to snorkle at the crater, but, it was too windy the day we took the snorkle trip so we didn't get to go in. We did get to see plenty of whales though and that was fabulous!
Wailea has the fine shops and Ruth's Chris steakhouse is there if you want a great dining experience!

We did go to Buzz's Wharf restaurant and have the Tahitian shrimp (read about them here) and it was fabulous too!!!

I should have written a trip report! LOL.