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Tenbatsuzen

12-07-2006, 09:20 AM

I tried searching for the old Honeymoon thread I posted, but I couldn't find it. OK.  Who has been to Hawaii?  What islands have you been to?  What do you recommend for and against?Too much information, not enough time and money to do it all.

Tall_James

12-07-2006, 09:36 AM

<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6dc03b3127cce970db09ad10f00000015108IZuWzFo0ag" border="0" width="268" height="400" />Stay out of the caves and avoid Vincent Price.

Tall_James

12-07-2006, 09:40 AM

<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6dc03b3127cce970db09f503a00000015108IZuWzFo0ag" border="0" width="268" height="400" />Make sure Lizzy takes hula lessons.  And post the pictures.

A.J.

12-07-2006, 09:42 AM

I was there in 1989.  We stayed on Oahu (Honolulu) but went to Maui for the day and played golf at Kapalua.  It was pricey then so I suppose it's the same.  It's an island after all.

Judge Smails

12-08-2006, 07:34 AM

The wife and I went to Hawaii for our honeymoon back in 1995.  We spent a week in Honolulu, Oahu and a week in Maui.  Everyone we spoke to told us how much we'd hate Oahu and love Maui.  But I guess it's all a personal preference, because my wife and I felt the other way around.I guess we're just city folk at heart because we liked the idea that once we left the beach we had all these options of hitting stores, restaurants and clubs.  Maui is a far more rural island.  Much more naturally beautiful than Oahu; less commercialized.  You definitely need a rental car to get around Maui not Oahu (plenty of public transportation.)It all depends on what you're looking for: lots of options or more seclusion.  If you do choose Oahu, I definitely would look into staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.  It's a little off of the main strip of hotels so the beach is less crowded.  Also, the way it's landscaped gives the illusion that you're in the middle of nowhere even though you're in the middle of a large metropolitan area.If I had to do it over, I'd also choose to stay at one or the other, rather than switching islands.  We sat through a twelve hour flight including a one hour lay-over in Chicago.  When we got there we were beat.  Our internal clocks were also screwed up.  The first day were there we were wide awake at 4:00 in the morning and fell asleep in the middle of the afternoon.  Just when we started to get settled in, it was time to pack up again and head to the airport for the flight to the next island.  It was just a hassle more than anything else, and you don't want that on your honeymoon.

Tenbatsuzen

12-08-2006, 07:51 AM

We are actually planning on breaking up the flight into two segments on the way out - a stopover in Vegas, stay in Vegas for a few nights, then taking a puddle jumper to LAX and going LAX-HNL. We are also considering stopping in San Fran on the way back, depending on how long we stay out there... I'm thinking Oahu more and more, along with Kauai.  A friend of mine, who's been there 5 times, said that we'd like Oahu for our first time, and then Kauai to relax.

PaulF

12-08-2006, 07:02 PM

I've been to the Big Island. There are a lot of things to do, or nothing at all if you please. Black sand beaches, Volcano National Park, hiking, golf, the observatory (depending on when you go, skiing is possible). You would definitely need a car to get around the island, and a 4x4 would be recommended because some roads are restricted or the rental companies themselves prohibit you from taking regular cars to certain area.I stayed at Mauna Lani which is a more self-contained resort. Kona is the more tourist-y area. The northern part of the island is the largest ranch in the US. Hilo, which is on the eastern side of the island, is more rainforest -like. They warn you not to leave your car windows open there because it seems to rain everyday, if only for a couple of minutes.One day, I started out snorkeling in the morning, where it was about 78F, then took a ride up to Mauna Kea (where the Keck Observatory is located over 13000 feet). On the ride up, you break through the clouds and the temperature drops. When we stopped at around 1000 feet, the outside temperature was about 40F. The view was incredible.For comparison, I've been to Jamaica and Atlantis (Paradise Island), and at both of those places, I was bored after two days, something I definitely was not on the Big Island.

Fezticle98

12-10-2006, 08:58 AM

Judge Smails wrote: The wife and I went to Hawaii for our honeymoon back in 1995.  We spent a week in Honolulu, Oahu and a week in Maui.  Everyone we spoke to told us how much we'd hate Oahu and love Maui.  But I guess it's all a personal preference, because my wife and I felt the other way around.I guess we're just city folk at heart because we liked the idea that once we left the beach we had all these options of hitting stores, restaurants and clubs.  Maui is a far more rural island.  Much more naturally beautiful than Oahu; less commercialized.  You definitely need a rental car to get around Maui not Oahu (plenty of public transportation.)It all depends on what you're looking for: lots of options or more seclusion.  If you do choose Oahu, I definitely would look into staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.  It's a little off of the main strip of hotels so the beach is less crowded.  Also, the way it's landscaped gives the illusion that you're in the middle of nowhere even though you're in the middle of a large metropolitan area.I lived in Hawaii twice, for a total of 5 years. I lived on Oahu and visited the Big Island, Maui, and Kauai. I would generally agree with what the judge says above. There is plenty to do on Oahu as Honolulu is a major city. A lot of people find Waikiki too toursity. It is a nice beach, great view of Diamond Head, but is chock-full of cheesy souvenir shops and Japanese tourists. If you want a break from the tourist trap in Waikiki, but want to stay on Oahu, try the North Shore. The Turtle Bay Hilton is nice, but expensive like everything else in Hawaii.Golf, beaches, and snorkeling are things you can do on any island, if interested.Oahu has more museum/park types of things like Sea Life Park, Polynesian Cultural Center, and Arizona Memorial.The outer islands are a little less crowded, but will have nice restaurants if you're near a town and offer more natural sight-seeing than Oahu.Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Damn, I miss that place.

torker

12-10-2006, 09:10 AM

Tall_James wrote: <img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6dc03b3127cce970db09f503a00000015108IZuWzFo0ag" border="0" width="268" height="400" /><img src="http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/june/images/HawaiiMap2.jpg" border="0" width="350" height="207" />

OldGravyLeg

12-14-2006, 02:54 AM

Spent a week on Maui, diving excellent, snorkeling with dolphins was great, do not waste time on the Road to Hana,  I will send you the audio disk.  Had one afternoon in Honolulu.  Pearl harbor was incredible.  Need more time there.  Good Luck

Chip196

12-14-2006, 03:31 AM

The Wife and I stayed in Kauai and Maui on our Honeymoon this summer.  Maui was definitely more comercialized and we would have done better by renting a car.  Kauai was perfect for us ... much more naturally beautiful and relaxing in our opinion.  All in all though, you're really splitting hairs because a couple days in any of the islands is better than any day in the office.

Freakshow

12-14-2006, 07:13 AM

http://www.kikman.de/Logos-Signs/SI-Clancy-Wiggum.gif
 
Stop saying Hawaii in there.

Fezticle98

12-14-2006, 11:10 AM

Freakshow wrote: <img src="http://www.kikman.de/Logos-Signs/SI-Clancy-Wiggum.gif" border="0" width="295" height="256" /> Stop saying Hawaii in there. <img src="/messageboard/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/clap.gif" border="0" width="28" height="30" /><img src="/messageboard/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/clap.gif" border="0" width="28" height="30" /><img src="/messageboard/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/clap.gif" border="0" width="28" height="30" />Awesome! I was waiting for someone to say that.

aceofspades7

12-14-2006, 11:22 AM

there's not a ton to do in kauai - it's a beautiful place though.  when i was there we were supposed to go fishing a couple of days (one of the main reasons we went) but the ocean was too rough to go out (so rough that the day cruise ships from oahu were not landing in lihue all week).  so we needed to find stuff to do - went on a no-door helicoptor ride over all the movie sets (cool but scary), went surfing, went skateboarding at a pretty nice free skatepark, ate mahi mahi burgers, checked up some nice waterfalls, went swimming and snorkeling (not a ton of visibilty due to roughness), did some shopping in hanalei, and that's about it. all that being said, i would recommend going to oahu and maui for your first trip.

Furtherman

12-14-2006, 11:34 AM

torker wrote: <img src="http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/june/images/HawaiiMap2.jpg" border="0" width="350" height="207" />What's wrong with Lanai that it's shaded like that?Leper colony?

Tenbatsuzen

01-04-2007, 07:44 AM

My paranoia runs deep. I've decided, for our first trip, to scratch Kauai all together and focus on Oahu and Maui.

yomudder21

01-04-2007, 07:51 AM

I have been to Hawaii and it is a borefest.  If you are under the age of 30 you are going to want to rip your hair out how lame the night life is if you are on a small island.  I say go to the some island in the tropics or mexico.And the flight is a damn day long both ways.  yuck.

TooCute

01-04-2007, 09:44 AM

I've been to Hawaii a bunch of times, always to Oahu (got friends there).
There's lots of touristy stuff to do, lots of shopping, but also plenty of other
things if you just want to get away. It's not a very big island so driving
around and finding somewhat less touristy places is easy enough. Don't go if
you're looking for a real, "exotic" getaway... but given that you seem to love
AC and plan to stop in Vegas on the way over, I'm guessing the whole
touristy thing is hardly a problem for you.

Tenbatsuzen

01-04-2007, 10:28 AM

TooCute wrote: I've been to Hawaii a bunch of times, always to Oahu (got friends there). There's lots of touristy stuff to do, lots of shopping, but also plenty of other things if you just want to get away. It's not a very big island so driving around and finding somewhat less touristy places is easy enough. Don't go if you're looking for a real, "exotic" getaway... but given that you seem to love AC and plan to stop in Vegas on the way over, I'm guessing the whole touristy thing is hardly a problem for you. Correct... I want stuff to do... I figure since it's our first time there, we are tourists.  Although I'm gonna avoid staying in Waikiki like the plague.  I think you can get the best of both worlds.