Help me decide!

[136368]

Between a late holiday in Hawaii and one in Fiji. Pros and cons include:

Hawaii, Waikiki Beach

• Ideal sandy beach
• Perfect temperatures
• Chance to swim with dolphins, rays and sea lions
• Much cheaper to get to, meaning I can spend more on my hotel and still have plenty of spending money
• Less time in the air

Fiji

• Even better beaches!
• Less people, tourists
• Even more amazing scenery, much nicer for beach enthusiasts!
• Similar climate to Hawaii
• Less commercalised

Any help! It goes without saying, this will be a once in a lifetime thing and I recognise this!

 

[CrazyDuck]

If you go to Hawaii, don't stay in Waikiki! It is not what you expect "Hawaii" to be. It is a mess... Traffic, Crowded Beaches, and all the other major problems that plague other big cities... If you are going to Hawaii go to Kauai. It is more what people expect "Hawaii" to be. If this is truly a "once in a lifetime" trip I'd also consider Bora Bora and Bali! In order of my personal preferance:

1 Bora Bora
2 Fiji
3 Bali
4 Kauai
.
.
.
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10,256 Waikiki

 

[princessnoelly]

My parents went to Figi several years ago and said it was the most expensive place they have ever been. They are big international travelers.

 

[Katieinwonderland]

DH and I have been to Hawaii twice, and we love it! Fiji and Bora Bora are on our list of must see places in the near future, but I still want to go back to Hawaii too!

We've been to the Big Island, Oahu, Kauai and Maui - our favorite was a toss up between Kauai and the Big Island. Kauai is how we imagined Hawaii would be; lush, tropical, amazing scenery. The Big Island had the beach aspects we were looking for - we saw dolphins swimming in the wild, walked along beautiful beaches, watched the most beautiful sunsets...

The only reason we weren't keen on Maui was that it rained the whole time we were there! But we'll be back to give it a second chance one day!

Oahu was OK - we saw Pearl Harbor, which was a must see for DH and ate at the best Thai restaurant we've ever found - but it was just like any big city in the States. Maybe stop over for a couple of nights to see it, but I wouldn't stay there.

I am totally envious BTW that you are having to make this tough decision!

 

[wvjules]

I'm still trying to talk DD into Fiji, or some other exotic island, over Hawai'i but she has her heart set on Hawaii.

We plan on staying on Waikiki on Ohau (because DD would enjoy that part of the island the most) but not sure where to stay on Kaui or Maui. We're thinking quieter!

 

[PixieDustandEeyore]

Id choose hawaii but a nice hotel and cheaper to get to our selling points for me. We chose Hawaii for our honeymoon. If you want less commercialized I wouldnt go to Oahu however (yeah we're going there but i want to do some of the tours etc) Molokai is a really quiet island and not many people opt for Molokai so its far less commercialized. Kauai, Molokai, Maui etc are going to be totally less crowded and have more of an island feel.

 

[IdesOmarch]

OMGOsh you are so lucky. I would pick Fiji, if you can afford it, I've priced these and Fiji is so far and a lot more than Hawaii, I was pleasantly surprised to see that plane tickets to Hawaii are really cheap right now. For me (central US) they were only like a little over 700, I thought that was really cheap, I think Fiji is probably going to be at least double that if not more. Its almost all the way to New Zealand. But I am dying to go. One of my bucket list vacations is to do a extended cruise/tour of a bunch of pacific islands including Fiji, Tahiti, Palau etc., and do a bunch of WWII wreck diving and explore islands they used during WWII. Have fun, you will either way, Hawaii is great too.

BTW I hear Fiji is like one of the coolest, most exotic, beautiful relaxing places you can go for any island vaca.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Hawaii because everyone I know who has gone there has come back babbling about paradise. I'm sure Fiji is nice too but I prefer US soil.

Every time I try to get to Hawaii something somewhere comes up & throws a wrench into the works.