luvtheduck
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2005
- Messages
- 18
Thought I would put my two cents in. Our family went to Kauai about 6 years ago, and Maui 4 years ago. We are going back to Kauai this August, first vacation in 4 years. Yeah! Having said all that I would really recommend reading as much as you can. The tripadvisor website, gohawaii and even going to the library to read up. I am very anal when planning a trip so I really love doing the research. Each island is different and that will dictate what kind of trip you want. We really enjoyed Maui, there was a lot to do but when we decided we were going to go back to Hawaii we all four picked Kauai again. Kauai is very laid back, slower pace, not as crowded. Now that might be the opposite of what some people would like but that is what we enjoy. When you decide on an island I would highly recommend getting Ultimate Handbook for that particular island. We have both books and it really helped us plan the things we wanted to do. Budget is another consideration. We don't get to go on many vacations so that is our time to splurge.
We stayed at the Marriott in Kauai and the Renaissance in Maui. This trip I found a beautiful beach front condo in Kauai (off of VRBO) which I am looking forward to just for the space. My kids are both teenagers and it isn't a lot of fun sharing one bathroom. There won't be a whole lot of cooking but it will be nice to have soft drinks and breakfast food. One last note, when we went the first time we deliberately had a 12 hour layover in Oahu to see Pearl Harbor, which I loved. We ended up eating in Waikiki that night before getting on the plane. I was about to jump out of my skin by the time we got to the airport. After spending 8 days in probably one of the most laid back places on earth and then all the traffic, and stores and people of Waikiki made me nuts. I hope I haven't offended anyone but that was not my cup of tea. So after all of my rambling I will agree with the other posts in that you should decide which island and your budget. Flying to different islands can get a little expensive and I personally wouldn't stay on more than 2 islands unless I had at least 9 days. (I hate packing). Good luck and have fun.
We stayed at the Marriott in Kauai and the Renaissance in Maui. This trip I found a beautiful beach front condo in Kauai (off of VRBO) which I am looking forward to just for the space. My kids are both teenagers and it isn't a lot of fun sharing one bathroom. There won't be a whole lot of cooking but it will be nice to have soft drinks and breakfast food. One last note, when we went the first time we deliberately had a 12 hour layover in Oahu to see Pearl Harbor, which I loved. We ended up eating in Waikiki that night before getting on the plane. I was about to jump out of my skin by the time we got to the airport. After spending 8 days in probably one of the most laid back places on earth and then all the traffic, and stores and people of Waikiki made me nuts. I hope I haven't offended anyone but that was not my cup of tea. So after all of my rambling I will agree with the other posts in that you should decide which island and your budget. Flying to different islands can get a little expensive and I personally wouldn't stay on more than 2 islands unless I had at least 9 days. (I hate packing). Good luck and have fun.
