Hawaii HMer's

Lets talk about excursions and what you plan to do while your there.

Here are some definite tours FH and I plan to take:

Pearl Harbor - Waikiki
Diamond Head - Waikiki
Hanauma Bay - Waikiki
Maybe Surf - Waikiki
Outrigger Catamaran - Waikiki

Catamaran of Napali Coast - Kauai
Zipline Kauai - Kauai
Drive around see sights - Kauai
Spend a lot of time at Poipu Beach - Kauai

See sunrise at Haleakala - Maui
Snorkel Molokini - Maui
Luau - Maui
Drive to Hana - Maui
Drive around island snorkel random hot spots - Maui

Big Island - Helicopter Tour over active volcano

Maui - Trilogy Snorkeling Cruise (its a day trip to Lanai by catamaran, with a tour of Lanai and incredible snorkeling . I have done it before, its amazing.)

Maui - drive to Hana
Maui - the 7 sacred pools

Anyone staying on Maui should stop by the Honolua Store, its a cute little authentic Hawaiian store. I used to go there as a kid, so it could have changed, but I have heard it hasn't. Its so cool.

there is more, I need my book, I will respond again later.

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Posted by MLAngelo

Big Island - Helicopter Tour over active volcano

Maui - Trilogy Snorkeling Cruise (its a day trip to Lanai by catamaran, with a tour of Lanai and incredible snorkeling . I have done it before, its amazing.)

Maui - drive to Hana
Maui - the 7 sacred pools

Anyone staying on Maui should stop by the Honolua Store, its a cute little authentic Hawaiian store. I used to go there as a kid, so it could have changed, but I have heard it hasn't. Its so cool.

there is more, I need my book, I will respond again later.

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Have you done Molokini? We were in a major toss up between Molokini and Lanai and decided on Molokini since it's a shorter trip. We are taking the Kai Kanani which leaves right from the Maui Prince.

Oahu (this is what we have already done):

Pearl Harbor
Snorkeling at Haunama Bay
Shark cage dive
Punchbowl Cemetary
Hiked Diamond Head
Found Dog the Bounty Hunter's Office (I know it's corny ,but my sister loves the show so I had to go and take a picture of it)
Mai Tais at the Mai Tai Bar at the Royal Hawaiian

This trip, we plan on going back to Pearl Harbor (we didn't get to see the Missouri last time), we are looking into doing the underwater scooters up on the north shore and we are debating about whether or not to do the shark cage dive again because it was one of the best things I've ever done in my life.

Kauai:

Last time we were there we:

Hiked Waimea Canyon
Flew trikes/ultralights (like giant hang gliders but with motors)
Hiked the Kapalua Trail (very tough hike) down to a secluded beach and had a picnic in a cave - very romantic
snorkeled at Hanalei Bay
sunset cruise on Napali coast
dinner at the Beach House Restaurant
Fed the fish while snorkeling

This time we plan on:
Helicopter ride over Napali coast
tons of snorkeling
hanging out in Hanalei
dinner at the Beach House (I highly recommend this restaurant - especially at sunset it's amazingly beautiful - they will make reservations for you at the concierge desk at the Grand Hyatt)
zipline or ATV tour - haven't made up our minds yet

On Maui last time we:

Horseback rode into Haleakala crater
scuba diving off Kaanapali Beach
snorkeling at Black Rock
took ferry over to Lanai, rented a four wheel drive and explored the island (Garden of the Gods, Shipwreck Beach, etc.)
Old Lahaina Luau
hiked Iao Needle Park
Sunrise at Haleakala (we didn't do a tour - just drove up ourselves and it was way better)

This trip we are:
Doing the road to Hana
If the whales are in, we will be doing a whale watch cruise (Whale season officially starts 12/1 but when we were there at the end of October last time, they were already being spotted).

That's really all we have planned right now, we will be doing some of the same stuff we did back in '07 but we are on the lookout for new stuff too.

ETA: I forgot one thing on Maui which we will definitely be doing again...the Hyatt Regency has a Romance Tour of the Stars. You go up on the roof and there is a resident astronomer with a telescope and you look through it and drink champagne and eat choc. covered strawberries. It's couples only 2 nights a week and it is so romantic and beautiful. You have to make reservations for it. We absolutely loved it and are doing that again too!

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Posted by tanda826

-We're doing alot of the same excursions as you (we'll be in Maui and Kuaui), but we're doing Smith's Tropical Luau and quadding in Kuaui-BTW, are you booking everything now or taking it day by day when you get there?

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We booked the luau, the napali coast tour and the snorkel tour in Maui. We are going to wait to do the book zipline in Kauai because we want to make sure the weather will be good. We are doing Haleakala ourselves so we won't be booking that.

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Posted by geegee827

Oahu (this is what we have already done):

Pearl Harbor
Snorkeling at Haunama Bay
Shark cage dive
Punchbowl Cemetary
Hiked Diamond Head
Found Dog the Bounty Hunter's Office (I know it's corny ,but my sister loves the show so I had to go and take a picture of it)
Mai Tais at the Mai Tai Bar at the Royal Hawaiian

This trip, we plan on going back to Pearl Harbor (we didn't get to see the Missouri last time), we are looking into doing the underwater scooters up on the north shore and we are debating about whether or not to do the shark cage dive again because it was one of the best things I've ever done in my life.

Kauai:

Last time we were there we:

Hiked Waimea Canyon
Flew trikes/ultralights (like giant hang gliders but with motors)
Hiked the Kapalua Trail (very tough hike) down to a secluded beach and had a picnic in a cave - very romantic
snorkeled at Hanalei Bay
sunset cruise on Napali coast
dinner at the Beach House Restaurant
Fed the fish while snorkeling

This time we plan on:
Helicopter ride over Napali coast
tons of snorkeling
hanging out in Hanalei
dinner at the Beach House (I highly recommend this restaurant - especially at sunset it's amazingly beautiful - they will make reservations for you at the concierge desk at the Grand Hyatt)
zipline or ATV tour - haven't made up our minds yet

On Maui last time we:

Horseback rode into Haleakala crater
scuba diving off Kaanapali Beach
snorkeling at Black Rock
took ferry over to Lanai, rented a four wheel drive and explored the island (Garden of the Gods, Shipwreck Beach, etc.)
Old Lahaina Luau
hiked Iao Needle Park
Sunrise at Haleakala (we didn't do a tour - just drove up ourselves and it was way better)

This trip we are:
Doing the road to Hana
If the whales are in, we will be doing a whale watch cruise (Whale season officially starts 12/1 but when we were there at the end of October last time, they were already being spotted).

That's really all we have planned right now, we will be doing some of the same stuff we did back in '07 but we are on the lookout for new stuff too.

ETA: I forgot one thing on Maui which we will definitely be doing again...the Hyatt Regency has a Romance Tour of the Stars. You go up on the roof and there is a resident astronomer with a telescope and you look through it and drink champagne and eat choc. covered strawberries. It's couples only 2 nights a week and it is so romantic and beautiful. You have to make reservations for it. We absolutely loved it and are doing that again too!

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Wow you've done a lot!!! What are underwater scooters? How was the shark dive? I would love it but FH said he has no interest in this...grrr.

We saw the underwater scooter thing on Bridget's Sexiest Beaches on the Travel Channel. It's basically a scooter you sit on and there's a bubble over your head. Your hair never even gets wet! They looked really cool. I found two places on Oahu that do them. They are called BOBS (it stands for something but I don't know what) - google Oahu and BOBS and you'll find them.

The shark cage experience was just so amazing. We did it through a company called Hawaii Shark Encounters. They take you a couple of miles out, give you snorkeling gear and then you get in a cage that's moored out there. The boat pulls away and you hang out in the cage with the sharks swimming around. It was just so incredible to do. We saw 2 10-12 foot tiger sharks which was so incredible. The sharks are so used to being fed by the boat that when they hear it, they come around. Just amazing. I didn't want to do it at first and FH talked me into it - I am so glad he did! It was $100 per person and then they of course like every other place in Hawaii try to sell you the video of your excursion for another $100. We talked the guy down to $50 and got it.

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Posted by geegee827

We saw the underwater scooter thing on Bridget's Sexiest Beaches on the Travel Channel. It's basically a scooter you sit on and there's a bubble over your head. Your hair never even gets wet! They looked really cool. I found two places on Oahu that do them. They are called BOBS (it stands for something but I don't know what) - google Oahu and BOBS and you'll find them.

The shark cage experience was just so amazing. We did it through a company called Hawaii Shark Encounters. They take you a couple of miles out, give you snorkeling gear and then you get in a cage that's moored out there. The boat pulls away and you hang out in the cage with the sharks swimming around. It was just so incredible to do. We saw 2 10-12 foot tiger sharks which was so incredible. The sharks are so used to being fed by the boat that when they hear it, they come around. Just amazing. I didn't want to do it at first and FH talked me into it - I am so glad he did! It was $100 per person and then they of course like every other place in Hawaii try to sell you the video of your excursion for another $100. We talked the guy down to $50 and got it.

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Thanks for the info. Would you say the underwater scooter was worth it? Did you get to see a lot of fish? Tripadvisor only has one review so I'm not really sure about it.