Hawaii excursions

Jax430 Posted: Jan 04, 2004 11:22 PM

Hawaii excursions

For those of you who have been to Hawaii, what excursions and activities would you reccommend on Kauai and Maui? Which ones need to be booked ahead of time? I know this has probably been posted before, so I'm sorry for the repetition!

peabody Posted: Jan 04, 2004 11:23 PM

Re: Hawaii excursions

Actually, I am glad you posted this, because I want to know too!!

kimmie Posted: Jan 04, 2004 11:24 PM

Re: Hawaii excursions

me too

june262004 Posted: Jan 04, 2004 11:25 PM

Re: Hawaii excursions

me three.

juju Posted: Jan 04, 2004 11:34 PM

Re: Hawaii excursions

Well, we are going to sign the contract with our Travel agent this week. We are going to add a bike tour. They take you up in a truck to the Top of the Volcano and you ride down on a bike and you can also watch the sun rise. I know it sounds grueling but my friend who went said she loved it!! It's a 9 hour tour though! Yikes! Im going in February so I will let you guys know.

We are also going up in a glider and possibly the helicopter ride. My FH is a pilot and if they allow him to fly the small planes we will probably fly around the islands. Also, I heard that it might be a good thing to book a luau ahead of time. We are also going snorkling or scuba diving. I ll find out from our TA which ones we have to book ahead of time. Plus, my FH likes to take control on this so I might just have him look into it.

peabody Posted: Jan 04, 2004 11:43 PM

Re: Hawaii excursions

Posted by juju:
'We are going to add a bike tour. They take you up in a truck to the Top of the Volcano and you ride down on a bike and you can also watch the sun rise. I know it sounds grueling but my friend who went said she loved it!! It's a 9 hour tour though! '

This is right up our alley. We would ove to do that.

Would you recommend your TA? If yes, can you please FM the contact info?

juju Posted: Jan 04, 2004 11:57 PM

Re: Hawaii excursions

The funny thing is that we just went to some random travel agent. We heard wonderful things about LibertyTravel, so we just went there. Hopefully, we did not get screwed! LOL We had already booked our flight b/c my FFIL had a lot of miles and donated them to us. So we just booked the Hotel with them. And we are going to add the exursions. We are staying at the Hyatt- 2 nights in Ohahu, 3 nights in Maui and 4 nights in Kaui and on the way back 2 nights in San Francisco. Included are transfers and car rental and they upgraded us to a Convertible. So I am really excited! The womans name is Laurie. I went to Liberty Travel in Hicksville ...near broadway mall. Is that Broadway or 106/107? I don't have her number off hand. Also, my GF told me that they went to a Restaurant where there is a large aquarium and he paid the scuba diver to dive by their window with a sign that says 'Monica, I love you' I need to find out where they went to eat b/c I need to make reservations so that I will have them write 'Greg, I love you!'

juju Posted: Jan 05, 2004 04:37 PM

Re: Hawaii excursions

are there any other activities out there that we should know about?

Niecey Posted: Jan 05, 2004 04:47 PM

Re: Hawaii excursions

I didn't book anything in advance - I booked all my tours and excursions when I got there based on the Fodors guide and advice from locals and the concierge. I had no problems with booking there. A few of the fancy restaurants I had to be flexible with my time for dinner and also with the helicopter tour I had to go with what time they had available but it was no problem at all. For us it was easier to book when we got there and got a feel for everything to do and the schedule there. It was different than any other vacation I took - here everything starts so early and you do mind getting up and going at 7am for some reason!! If we would have booked tours we would never have thought that in advance...not usually our style.

I highly recommend a helicopter tour. I did mine in Kauai and it was just gorgeous. I also did a snorkel trip and swimming with the turtles - very nice.

We didn't do the bike thing - no way were we getting up at 3am or earlier - plus I have asthma and never exercise so I was scared. But I wouldn't miss out on the drive up Mt Halekelea (sp?) in Maui. We did drive the volcano - and it is gorgeous from up top and the driving is pretty crazy. We wanted to hike some of the crater but too much horse poop on the trail - but the horseback riding thru the crater looked really cool and wish we did that.

We did the Road to Hana - drove it ourselves and took in the sites - pretty but a little boring and a long day - but on of those things they say you can't miss in Maui. We bought a cd to play in thw car which navigates the drive (rather than a tour group) for $20 and it was pretty cool to go on our own pace.

Also, drive the whole island of Kauai on your own - very nice.

sun86moon Posted: Jan 05, 2004 07:31 PM

Re: Hawaii excursions

Thanks for the advice ladies!

peabody Posted: Jan 05, 2004 08:21 PM

Re: Hawaii excursions

I am bumping, because I want see if anyone else more input...

so far this thread has been a big help to me...

merf99 Posted: Jan 05, 2004 11:00 PM

Re: Hawaii excursions

Like Niecey we booked most of our stuff when we got there except for the Old Lahaina Luau - I think we booked in a week in advance or so. But we did a helipcopter in Kauai too (I got sick), the Road to Hana in Maui, a Fern grotto boat tour in Kauai (skippable). Someone recommended to me the BEST Hawaii book - it was one of those dummy guide's to Hawaii - it really is the best book. Every tour, good restaurants and all the numbers you need. I would highly recommend getting that book!

juju Posted: Jan 05, 2004 11:51 PM

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Can't wait. NOt until recently that I am now very excited about our honeymoon. After all this wedding planning, I am so ready!!

cw0904 Posted: Jan 06, 2004 09:44 AM

Re: Hawaii excursions

We booked both of our helicopter tours for Big Island and Kauai through NCL Excursions. We are taking the NCL Star as part of our honeymoon and will do the helicopter tours while on the cruise. Also in Kauai we are going to book the horseback riding through NCL because they booked all the slots the day our cruise arrives. We are doing the Old Lahaina Luau traditional style seating and I already reserved that. I hear it books 1 month in advance and we wanted to make sure to get the first row so I booked about 2 months ago. This isn't a paid excursion but we are going to see the sunrise at the Haleakela State Park one morning. That does require being up at 3 am but I hear its worth it. And its safe. We opted to do this over the bike tour.

Juju, I completely agree, I am getting excited just writing about it. I have 2 months left!!

2003fallwedding Posted: Jan 06, 2004 09:51 AM

Re: Hawaii excursions

In Maui I highly recommend driving to the top of Mt. Haleakala for the sunrise. You have to get up early but it is really worth it!! Make sure you bring a blanket from the hotel, its really cold up there. You can drive the road to Hana but we took a tour. It was nice for DH to be able to look at the scenery and not have to drive. My friends who went before us, bought a cassette tape to play while driving the road to Hana. It tells you when to stop and what you are looking at.

In Kauai, Fern Grotto is not worth the money, don't bother. I got a ton of mosquito bites there. I didn't get to take a boat tour on the Na Pali Coast, I heard that was really beautiful. There are 2 beautiful waterfalls you should look for. They are in the Wailua area. One is Opaekaa Falls and the other one is Wailua Falls (they are the ones that were in the opening credits of Fantasy Island)

When you get into the airports, look for the books '101 things to do'. They have them on every island. (They do have a website and I think you can buy the books before you go but in the airports, they are free).

Have a wonderful time!! I loved it!!!

Betty Posted: Jan 06, 2004 09:55 AM

Re: Hawaii excursions

Definately buy the tape for road to Hana. Although it was beautiful and we loved it, we found out that we missed some things along the way b/c we didn't get the tape. We also took a submarine tour in Maui. It was a little cramped but pretty under the water. Helicopter tour in Kuaui was beautiful!! We also took a tour to Oahu to see Pearl Harbor and all the sights over there.

Icey Posted: Jan 06, 2004 10:03 AM

Re: Hawaii excursions

I highly recomend Kauai Sea tours, they take you out for the day showing you the Napaali coast ,then snorkling and Lunch the crew was wonderful and lots of fun.From what we could gather we were the only boat out there having a blast! I don't have the number handy but def. look the up when you get there!

Jax430 Posted: Jan 06, 2004 10:16 PM

Re: Hawaii excursions

Thanks for all the info and advice girls!!

merf99 Posted: Jan 06, 2004 10:20 PM

Re: Hawaii excursions

You will have so much fun- I would go back to Hawaii in a second and I am not one for going back to a place twice. It is the most beautiful place I have ever been to!