Hawaii

probably ... they wanna make as much $$$ as they possibly can

We spent about a week each on Maui and Kauai. We stayed at the Hyatt on each island. The one in Kauai was breathtaking!

In Maui, we did jet skiing, snorkeling, parasailing and the Road to Hana. In Kauai, we did scuba, snorkeling, zip lining, helicopter tour. On Kauai, we also hired a photographer to take pictures of us on the beach near the hotel. We lucked out and got a rainbow while we were taking pics. Some of them are in my album.

We loved both islands and would go back in a heartbeat!

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Posted by meg922

We spent about a week each on Maui and Kauai. We stayed at the Hyatt on each island. The one in Kauai was breathtaking!

In Maui, we did jet skiing, snorkeling, parasailing and the Road to Hana. In Kauai, we did scuba, snorkeling, zip lining, helicopter tour. On Kauai, we also hired a photographer to take pictures of us on the beach near the hotel. We lucked out and got a rainbow while we were taking pics. Some of them are in my album.

We loved both islands and would go back in a heartbeat!

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what a great idea to hire a photographer ... those pics came out really nice! that rainbow is gorgeous! how did you find him/her?

We're planning on going for our honeymoon next year. We're hoping to do Kauai for 4 & Maui for 5 with a day trip to Oahu to see Pearl Harbor in between. We would like to stay at the Hyatt on each island- I have heard nothing but great reviews.

Hopefully have it booked before Thanksgiving! Can't wait!

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Posted by AwaitingAugust

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what a great idea to hire a photographer ... those pics came out really nice! that rainbow is gorgeous! how did you find him/her?

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Thanks! We were in Maui first and booked a session with the house photog. The session was free, but you'd have to pay for prints. I HATED how the pics came out, so I went to the concierge and asked if they could recommend any photogs in Kauai because we were heading there the next day. They gave me a few names and I called around to get pricing. Kilohana Photography had an opening that was convenient for us and their pricing was *relatively* reasonable. We bought the CD with all of the pics and the rights to the pics, but they also had options where you could just order a certain number of prints.

The photographer (Ryan Metzger) was really nice. He always made sure that my hair wasn't doing anything too crazy because it was breezy out and made us feel really comfortable.

i am going soon going to oahu for 4 nights and maui for 6 nights... we are staying at the hyatts at both islands b/c there was a special promotion that you get 1 free night at each plus free breakfast if you stay at both hyatts.... as far as tours we booked pearl harbor, the dole pineapple plantation tour on oahu, and in maui so far we booked the royal lahaina luau, other things i think we will just figure out when we get there since we have a car and pretty much can explore ourselves... good luck!!

DH and I just returned. We did 12 nights / 13 full days.
Oahu 2 nts
Outrigger Reef - loved it. Right on the beach and they have really good restaurants. The rooms are great and pretty big. We would have liked to have stayed longer here as Pearl Harbor was an all day affair.

Kauai - Outrigger Waipoili - 4 nts
Beautiful resort. It was a condo, so we had our own kitchen and it was a 2BR upgrade for us. The beach and the pool are great, but it is the windy side of the island. As great as it was, we would love to return and stay in the Poipu - the sunny side of the island. They are pretty close to everything and have great sunsets.
We did a Catamaran Snorkeling tour with Holo Holo Charters, early morning which was a lot of fun. We saw approx. 80 -100 spinner dolphins all at once - pretty sic, 2 Bottle nose dolphins later on, a mother and baby Humpback whale and quite a few sea turltes before we reached the Napali coast snorkeling site where the fish were. It is so beautiful.
We also did a helicopter tour which was breathtaking.
George Clooney was filming a movie on the northside as we were there. We drove to Hanalei which is great (LAND BY THE SEA - Puff the Magic Dragon) Weather on the northside is unpredictable though.
visit Bubba Burger - good burger.

Maui - Hyatt Regency Ka'anpali - 6 nts
This is the area you prob where you want to stay in. Calmer beaches, great sunsets and more Resort like. Let me say that although the Hyatt is gorgeous on the outside, the rooms have not been updated since the 80s. They still have stained wallpaper and popcorn ceilings. Our first room had a lot of ants. We complained and they were great to move us to a different tower and actually although not classified, a better room. They have great restaurants here, Macy*s in the lobby, a really great pool with waterfalls, etc. The have 2 shows to see onsite - I'd pass on Cirque Polynesia though.
Another tip, if you have a fear of birds, as some of my friends do. you may want to avoid this Hyatt. They house Flamingoes, African penguins, Swans, ducks, herons, etc. Some of them roam freely.

We did the Road to Hana by tour bus...12 ppl max. It was better for us so DH could enjoy it. Besides, you did get breakfast, lunch and a history lesson with a stop at the vineyard. Worth it.
Ziplined with Skyline Eco Adventure - highly recommend it.
Old Lahaina Luau was fun and food was good.
Warren & Anabell's was a great show to see - reserve at least 2 weeks in advance.

HTH!