Hawaii

[Muzzer]

Thinking about Hawaii as a destination, possibly for next year.

I've always fancied going, as has the OH, but apart from episodes of Magnum and the odd documentary, etc we know very little practical things about the place aside from the fact that you get there via L.A.

When's the best time to go climate-wise?

Which is the best island?

We're not into flocks and flocks of tourists. It doesn't have to be deserted, but I don't want to be shoulder to shoulder with 1000 Americans..

Can anyone recommend a resort or anything?

TIA

[snotsnfarts]

Roughly same temp all year round about 85f/30c, most people start off in OAHU which has the capital Honolulu which is a concrete jungle with small beached Wakiki next door, not romantic think "dog the bounty hunter" rather than grass skirts and swaying hips, hotels over priced and small aimed at the US/Asian market, rest of the island pretty lush with surfin on the north shore, some great golf courses and some ordinary ones all expensive compared to mainland USA, partying with more than 3 budweisers will convince everyone your an Alccy as new laws state that only one person can buy one drink at a time.

Maui is the Jewel in the crown, hiking, great golf, whale watching, nice resteraunts and beaches in the south and west.

Big island is a sort of rain forest with a few beaches and has active volcano Kilauea which is a site to be seen rather eiery, great place for hiking.

Didn't do the other islands so couldn't comment.

As they are so used to a constant stream of tourists the service by American standards is pretty slack and overpriced, and having spent some time in the South Pacific I kept on compairing Hawaii and SP and always considered the latter to be better and more reasonably priced.

[Muzzer]

snotsnfarts said:

Roughly same temp all year round about 85f/30c, most people start off in OAHU which has the capital Honolulu which is a concrete jungle with small beached Wakiki next door, not romantic think "dog the bounty hunter" rather than grass skirts and swaying hips, hotels over priced and small aimed at the US/Asian market, rest of the island pretty lush with surfin on the north shore, some great golf courses and some ordinary ones all expensive compared to mainland USA, partying with more than 3 budweisers will convince everyone your an Alccy as new laws state that only one person can buy one drink at a time.

Maui is the Jewel in the crown, hiking, great golf, whale watching, nice resteraunts and beaches in the south and west.

Big island is a sort of rain forest with a few beaches and has active volcano Kilauea which is a site to be seen rather eiery, great place for hiking.

Didn't do the other islands so couldn't comment.

As they are so used to a constant stream of tourists the service by American standards is pretty slack and overpriced, and having spent some time in the South Pacific I kept on compairing Hawaii and SP and always considered the latter to be better and more reasonably priced.

Thanks Snots

Forgive my geography naivety but what's SP?

[snotsnfarts]

South Pacific

[Fezant Pluckah]

I'd agree with Snots. Oahu has very little to offer except Pearl Harbour, if you're interested in WW2 stuff. Waikiki is Benidorm in the Pacific. Yuk.

Maui is beautiful, but a little more expensive than the other islands, and is mainly where the very posh resorts are.

The Big Island is defo worth visiting for Kilauea volcano but also the Kona Coast, along the W side. Very dramatic forest clad mountains plunging into the sea:



I'd also consider Kauai. It is much less touristy and the scenery is mind blowing, especially the Na Pali coastline on the NW side of the island.

You can fly between the islands really cheaply. A one way fare from Oahu to Kona is about £35, for instance. And United Airlines have flights from Heathrow to both Honolulu and Kona (via LAX or SFO) so you can fly in to one place and out the other and just get domestic flights the way you want them.

Edited by Fezant Pluckah on Thursday 25th June 17:38

[Ynox]

Went in 2007 to O'ahu.

Long way to go - 10+ hours London to LA and then another 6 hours or so to get to Honolulu. Worth it though.

I'd probably suggest Maui for you if you want something a little quieter, I went with my brother so we decided to base ourselves in Waikiki, and yes, it is Benidorm-ish, Kakaluka avenue is really rather nice with affluent stores etc, go one block back to Kuhio avenue and it's dodgy as f**k with prostitutes, drug dealers, dog the bounty hunter etc We had flights booked to go to both Maui and the Big Island (Go airlines are cheap for flights, or try Hawaiian) but we figured that the last place we wanted to go back to was Honolulu International when we were there.

Aside from Waikiki, O'ahu has Pearl Harbor, the Dole pineapple plantation (sort of worth seeing), Haleiwa on the North shore, shrimp trucks on the north shore (awesome, awesome shrimp), Hanauma bay (some really good snorkelling) etc. I rented a soft top mustang and drove around the place a fair bit - Honolulu traffic is mental though and Waikiki has a fairly crazy one way system so worth watching out for if you're driving there.

[mdotd]

Fezant Pluckah said:

I'd also consider Kauai. It is much less touristy and the scenery is mind blowing, especially the Na Pali coastline on the NW side of the island.

Been there twice, can't stop talking about it when people ask; it's absolutely stunning out there. As the others have said, avoid the main island and go for one of the smaller ones; the restaurants, scenery and beaches are out of this world. Cracking little place to drive around in as well

[bennno]

went to maui island earlier this year, was interesting but probably wouldnt go back

the flights were so long and it wasnt as picturesque or as exotic as i expected, think shopping malls and large hotels

depends what you are after but i would return to mauritius or go to the maldives before going back to hawaii

bennno

[Muzzer]

Thanks all - good info

[Nitro...]

We've not long been back from a round world trip.
Started in Tokyo for 5 days, then onto Honolulu for 5 days, then Big Island (Keahou/Hilo) for 3 days, then onto Kauai for 5 days and then finally to San Fran for 3 days.

Out of all of it Kauai was my favourite place.
Very empty of 'tourists' and some superb beaches/surf, and some beautiful rainforests.

On Big Island we took a Heli tour onto the side of Kilauea and actually landed at a house belonging to 'Jack'. Only one company will land here - http://paradisecopters.com/tourInfo.php?TourNo=HFF... and the lava flow in the video is the bit we actually walked on.
Just after we landed on it there was a 5.1 earthquake!
The guide took us an hours trek over the lava field (6 months old lava) to a lava tube where you can actually see the lava flowing underneath you!



On Kauai we took a heli trip over the Jurassic Falls and around the whole island - it has to be seen to be believed, just stunning scenery that you'd never ever see any other way.


The Heli takes you right into the foot of the waterfalls and then slowly rises up through it. Just breathtaking.

The trips are quite costly but well, well worth it!

Honolulu is just a very big Blackpool with lots of singles and Japanese - I wasn't overly enamored with the place but you have to go there for connecting flights anyway so you may as well stay for a bit..

Hire a car on Oahu and you can go around the whole island easily in a day. The north is very nice with some great beaches and surf.

Any more info just mail me.

Edited by Nitro... on Friday 26th June 15:17

[Gareth79]

I visited Hawaii for a quick stop-over on the way back from the US. Waikiki underwhelmed me, the main beach was small and poor quality, I hope there are better ones!

Definitely do Kileau, there aren't really any other places where you can reliably get up close to lava. I did a hike out to the lava with Big Island eXcapes - www.bigislandexcapes.com I was the only person that day but we did a deal, and I got 1st class service, just one guy who does everything and AFAIK he is the only guide who takes people out there. It was about 6hrs round trip from the road and quite strenuous!

Edited by Gareth79 on Friday 26th June 15:26

[sidicks]

In 2007 we spent 3 nights on Oahu, 4 nights on Kauai and then 3 nights on Big Island - seemed a reasonable combination, and as others have pointed out, the islands are very different so you really need to got to more then one, preferably 3.....

It is a b*gger to get to though........

Sidicks

[paoloh]

mdotd said:

Fezant Pluckah said:

I'd also consider Kauai. It is much less touristy and the scenery is mind blowing, especially the Na Pali coastline on the NW side of the island.

Been there twice, can't stop talking about it when people ask; it's absolutely stunning out there. As the others have said, avoid the main island and go for one of the smaller ones; the restaurants, scenery and beaches are out of this world. Cracking little place to drive around in as well

Got married there on Shipwreck beach.

Absolutely stunning scenery.

Honolulu is a sthole.

[SeeFive]

Stayed at Wailea resort and Spa on Maui. Very nice hotel, but I would not have wanted to pay the bill (firm's Club trip). There is a half-submerged volcano out to sea that is great for scuba, and fantastic sunsets in the evening.

We did a lot on Maui, horse riding from a ranch half way up the volcano down to the sea and back again, heli trip around the island and down into the volcano, and a bike ride DOWN the volcano on the old Star Wars defence roads. All well worth it.

Also hired a car and did the "road to Hana". I'd seen people wearing tee shirts saying "I drove the road to Hana and survived" so I had to have a go. We went there along this coastal cliff road switchback, taking our time, stopping now and again to look at the ocean, buy pineaapple or banana cake from the raodside sellers, or to go and swim in/under one of the many waterfalls in the forest. The road is no big deal really, no US freeway, so perhaps they were the tee shirt wearers.

Hana itself was a small fishing port style place with not much but an ice cream shack, so don't plan on staying too long. We were hungry, so came back in much more of a hurry, hanging the unloaded front wheel of the Mustang over the edge of the cliffs as we cornered hard - to the screams of my wife who just happened to be on that side of the car!

There was also a more commercial side to Maui as we drove up the coast north from Wailea. There were one or two areas where there were more shops and chain style restaurants - bubba gumps etc but I cannot remember the names of the towns.

I didn't play golf (my wife doesn't) but the courses looked traditionally American. One of my colleagues played, and on one hole (yeh, right, many I reckon !!), his ball went into the semi-rough. He wandered in looking for his ball, and within a radius of 10 yards found over 20 that were not his. Evidently, if the rich folks hit a ball, and it doesn't land in the fairway, they just hit another, so there are lots of one-hit balls lying just off the fairway!

We were there in early July, the weather was consistently hot, and windy on the beaches in the early afternoon, sandblasting your legs quite nicely. Wailea Resort and Spa was amazing - take a look at their website, but if you stay there, get a reasonably high sea view room for the sunsets over the ocean and semi-submerged volcano.

I'd go back, but would need a reasonably sized lottery win first.

[fieldl]

Don't forget Waikiki Cheeseburger

[srebbe64]

We went to The Big Island and Kauaii a couple of years ago – we loved it. I love all things volcanic so we flew over the volcano in a helicopter – which was great. Similarly, we flew round Kauaii, which was great.

Stayed at The Marriott on The Big Island – it was very nice.
Stayed at The Hyatt in Kauaii – which was a little too big and impersonal but okay. Will stay somewhere smaller when we next go (and we will). Here’s some pics:

As close as we could get to the crater on foot:



From the air:



A waterfall on The Big Island



Kauaii from the air (they call this the ‘Mini Grand Canyon’)



The North Shore of Kauaii – some huge waves here (couldn’t really capture them on camera):



My missus (she hates this photo!):



In short, Hawaii is probably the nicest place we've ever been to. If you have a chance to go then do it.

[Dr John]

Been to Kauai twice. It is utterly stunning.
The climate is perfect; sunny most days with light rain most nights.
Not too touristy but lots to see and do. The scenery is spectacular which is why many films have been made there - South Pacific, Blue Hawaii, Jurassic park, Raiders of the lost ark, Six days and seven nights etc.
The west coast is only accessible from the sea, the north and south coasts are quiet and beautiful while the east coast is where the major towns and airport are. In the centre are two extinct volcanic peaks Wai'ale'ale and Kawaikini (5,243 feet) and 3,000-foot-deep Waimea Canyon. A helicopter trip over the Na Pali coast and to see the volcano is a must. The Polihale State Park is fantastic with the most beautiful beach. We stayed on the south coast at the Hyatt which was beautiful, but there are many other great hotels.
Next time I visit I would like to see the volcanoes of the Big Island and I might visit Maui, but I wouldn't touch Oahu with a barge pole.

John

Edited by Dr John on Sunday 28th June 23:56