hawaii hm help...i know anotherrrr one! lol

i know there have been a milllllion posts on hawaii hms but im not finding the exact info i need by doing a search

ladies who have gone

please tell me what islands to see
how to see them
and where to stay!

FH & I want some adventure but a little relaxation too, we are doing mexico for one week, so we will be laying on the beach a lotttt, so id like to do more things once in hawaii

i know i def want to go to the island that is an old volcano, i forget which island it is lol! but i heard you can do that island in one day

thanks girls, much appreciated, please help me out!

FM my sister norajo, she's been a bunch, her ILs live there and she honeymooned some islands other than where they live

it really depends what you want to do ... we did a cruise so we saw a bit of every island ...

Kauai is the least developed and most lush ... but it also means that there's not TOO much to do. We did a bicycle ride down the volcano here.

Maui is probably a great choice to visit because it has the undeveloped areas AND is developed enough that it's not boring. If you go to Maui, you must rent a car (convertible preferably) and drive the road to hana (the road itself is gorgeous). You should also do a luau here.

Big Island was nice but we didn't do much here - we walked around the port and did a jet ski excursion. can't really much about the island itself.

Oahu (the main island you fly into) was meh, IMO. It's too over-developed, like a small city. The beach is nice there, though. One of the days, we took the bus and hiked up the Diamond Head crater ... it was nice but not really worth it (and it was VERY hot so if you go, prepare to sweat A LOT ... and def bring water with you). There's also the pearl harbor memorial here, but we aren't into history so we didn't go there.

ps: i think all (or at least most) of the islands have volcanos ...

We did 2 weeks in Hawaii- 6 nights in Kauai, 7 nights in Maui and 2 nights in Oahu.

Kauai is very tropical- lots and lots of greenery. We did a helicopter tour and a kayak/hike tour to the waterfalls along the cost. Its so gorgeous.

Maui- we drove up the volcano, did the road to hana, a luau, beaches, snorkeling. everything. lots of driving here.

Rent a car in both of these places if you go.

Oahu was very city like- so we basically walked everywhere and did the Pearl Harbor tour.

I have pics and hotel info in my review, so FM me know if you have any specific questions.

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Posted by sjr385

The Hawaiian islands are all volcanic islands. The Big Island is the only one with a still-active volcano... I'm guessing that the 'old volcano' you were referring to Haleakala on Maui.

I've been to three of the islands:

Oahu -- like AwaitingAugust said, that's the main island. It's where Honolulu is (you can fly direct to some of the other islands too though). Waikiki is the big tourist area... that's WAY overrated. It's filled with lots of tourists and lots of shopping. It's also where much of the the nightlife is. If you spend time on Oahu, go to Kailua (the best beach on Oahu, IMO. Lanikai is also really nice). We kayaked there. The North Shore is more laid back, less populated, and really nice. Lots of surfers and sea turtles. There's a fantastic garlic shrimp truck on the North Shore. And Pearl Harbor is always worth a visit. Go early in the day. There's also the Polynesian Cultural Center on the North Shore. It was interesting to learn about the other traditional polynesian cultures, but you probably won't miss it if you skip it.

Maui -- Kahului (OGG) is the main Maui airport... I've flown direct there from LAX. The island is split into four main regions. Most people seem to stay on the west side, which has good beaches, snorkeling, shopping, etc. You can visit the old whaling village of Lahaina and take a daytrip to snorkel/scuba at Molokini crater and to the islands of Molokai and Lanai. We stayed on the south shore. There are tons of condos to rent in Kihei. Wailea and Makena, further down the same beach, have very upscale hotels.

Maui is a pretty big island... I'd recommend renting a car, although you can get around by booking various excursions as well. The north shore has the road to Hana. It's well-worth the drive. Hana, at the end, is a sleepy town... the point is the pretty drive, not the destination. You can get a guide that'll tell you where to stop to see tons of waterfalls and pretty overlooks. It rains much more on the north shore than the rest of the island. We spent a night in Hana and then drove the 'road to Hana' PAST Hana, around the back of Haleakala (the big volcano, the fourth part of the island). That was, by far, the best thing we did on Maui. It was absolutely stunning. As a caveat, though, there's a section that's unpaved, where your rental car contract probably isn't valid if you break down. Haleakala is definitely worth a visit. It's a drive up a long, windy road. The top is cold (dress warmly!) and other-worldly.

Kauai -- Kauai is known as the Garden Island. It's relatively less built up. It's beautiful, but there's not much night life. We did lots of hiking there. The sunset is gorgeous to watch from around Princeville. We took a zodiac ride around to see the NaPali cliffs and snorkel... you can't get there by driving.

A lot of the best things we did were less popular, off the beaten track things. Check out the Hawaii guide books by Wizard Publications. They're fantastic.

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this was so helpful! Thank you! We're planning on doing a week in Kauai and a week in Maui

thank u so much ladies!!!!!!

ur the best!!!!

One of my good friends went there and i know she said she went to three islands. I will let you know when I talk to her!!!


Lucky girl two honeymoons!!!

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Posted by AlexandMike2012

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Posted by sjr385

The Hawaiian islands are all volcanic islands. The Big Island is the only one with a still-active volcano... I'm guessing that the 'old volcano' you were referring to Haleakala on Maui.

I've been to three of the islands:

Oahu -- like AwaitingAugust said, that's the main island. It's where Honolulu is (you can fly direct to some of the other islands too though). Waikiki is the big tourist area... that's WAY overrated. It's filled with lots of tourists and lots of shopping. It's also where much of the the nightlife is. If you spend time on Oahu, go to Kailua (the best beach on Oahu, IMO. Lanikai is also really nice). We kayaked there. The North Shore is more laid back, less populated, and really nice. Lots of surfers and sea turtles. There's a fantastic garlic shrimp truck on the North Shore. And Pearl Harbor is always worth a visit. Go early in the day. There's also the Polynesian Cultural Center on the North Shore. It was interesting to learn about the other traditional polynesian cultures, but you probably won't miss it if you skip it.

Maui -- Kahului (OGG) is the main Maui airport... I've flown direct there from LAX. The island is split into four main regions. Most people seem to stay on the west side, which has good beaches, snorkeling, shopping, etc. You can visit the old whaling village of Lahaina and take a daytrip to snorkel/scuba at Molokini crater and to the islands of Molokai and Lanai. We stayed on the south shore. There are tons of condos to rent in Kihei. Wailea and Makena, further down the same beach, have very upscale hotels.

Maui is a pretty big island... I'd recommend renting a car, although you can get around by booking various excursions as well. The north shore has the road to Hana. It's well-worth the drive. Hana, at the end, is a sleepy town... the point is the pretty drive, not the destination. You can get a guide that'll tell you where to stop to see tons of waterfalls and pretty overlooks. It rains much more on the north shore than the rest of the island. We spent a night in Hana and then drove the 'road to Hana' PAST Hana, around the back of Haleakala (the big volcano, the fourth part of the island). That was, by far, the best thing we did on Maui. It was absolutely stunning. As a caveat, though, there's a section that's unpaved, where your rental car contract probably isn't valid if you break down. Haleakala is definitely worth a visit. It's a drive up a long, windy road. The top is cold (dress warmly!) and other-worldly.

Kauai -- Kauai is known as the Garden Island. It's relatively less built up. It's beautiful, but there's not much night life. We did lots of hiking there. The sunset is gorgeous to watch from around Princeville. We took a zodiac ride around to see the NaPali cliffs and snorkel... you can't get there by driving.

A lot of the best things we did were less popular, off the beaten track things. Check out the Hawaii guide books by Wizard Publications. They're fantastic.

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this was so helpful! Thank you! We're planning on doing a week in Kauai and a week in Maui

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This IS definitely helpful- great question and AWESOME responses!!