Hawaii Honeymoon review, with pictures!!

Hope you guys aren't sick of me yet!

I wanted to post my review on San Francisco, Kauai and Maui while it was still fresh in my mind!

We spent two nights in San Francisco - we were exhausted by the traveling and all, but still managed to do some touristy things, like ride the trolley all over town, and ride mountain bikes over the Golden Gate Bridge! That was really cool. I almost chickened out, since I have a fear of bridges, but my dear husband insisted. It was a hard ride up to the bridge, but the views were gorgeous, and Sausalito (which is the town on the other side of the bridge) was adorable!
Here's a pick of the 'Most Crookedest Street in the World'! The picture really doesn't do the height justice, unless you take a close look at that couple and see how small they look!


Then we were off to Kauai for 4 nights. We stayed at the Hyatt, and all I can say is IT WAS HEAVEN ON EARTH! The island itself is very quiet, with lots of natural beauty. I think it took DH a day or two to adjust, but I LOVED it immediately. I've never met such friendly people - residents, hotel staff, everyone was truly sweet. The hotel was spectacular. You walk in the lobby, and immediately see greenery, and then the blue ocean 'framed' by the hotel architecture. Gorgeous. The rooms were great - each with it's own lanai. We were offered an upgrade from our mountain view room, but it overlooked the pool and we wanted a private lanai. The only bad thing was the bug problem Hawaii has - being that we were on the ground floor we had 2 visitors (I think roaches) in our bathroom the first night. I don't blame the hotel, it's the damp island that attracts the bugs!

While we were there, we lounged around the pool, which was amazing. (see pic) The pool was enormous, and snaked around for acres of property - at the end was a water slide They also had a man-made salt water beach, right in front of the regular beach, since it was so rocky and sometimes rough.

Here's a pic of the pool area:


I think I gained a few pounds just on those tropical drinks I had poolside!

We also attended a luau which was really cool and snorkling day trip. There we saw a lot of beautiful scenery on the NaPali Coast- that you can't get to by car. What's raved about on Kauai is helicopter rides to see the whole island, but I was too scared!

Here's a pic of the cliff right next to the hotel - this was the one that was used in 6 days and 7 nights! (When Harrison Ford and Iforgethename) jump off the cliff)


Down the road from the hotel was this rocky shore, where 'Spouting Horn' was - depending on the tide, the water would spray up to 20-30 feet in the air!


Hawaiian Sunset:


Before we knew it we had to check out, for our 6 day visit on Maui (6 nights).

more to follow

Teri - it all sounds wonderful. Your picture of Lombard Street in San Francisco has me missing my west coast home! Thanks for sharing your travel story!!

Before I forget, yes, Hawaii is so expensive! I was shocked at some of the prices, while other things weren't so bad. Dinners et al weren't too bad, since NY is expensive anyway. Since we stayed at the Hyatt on both islands, we got free breakfast each AM - we figured we saved at least $400 just on that alone! Yep, a buffet breakfast was $40 for the 2 of us!

So we arrive on Maui, and we were both taken back at first - it was so commerical and crowded! We had just left what we thought was heaven on earth, so our opinion was slightly tarnished!

We picked up our jeep, and found the hotel. The Hyatt was very nice, although everyone told me the one in Kauai was better and they were right. The one in Maui is still great, but you can't compare the two. The pool was a lot smaller, and the hotel was bigger, so on any given afternoon, the poolside was about 4 people deep with lounge chairs We didn't spent too much time at the hotel, since there was so much more to do on Maui than Kauai.

We visited the nearest town, Lahaina, a few times, which had a ton of shops and restaurants. Very cute village with a lot of history.

One of the most memorable activites in Maui was riding mountain bikes down the volcano, Haleakala. We rode a van 10,000 ft up - the air was so thin it was hard to breathe!
Don't you love our outfits? We look like astronauts! LOL


The views of the crater on top of the volcano:





The morning of this trip, it was POURING! It had rained almost each morning while we were in Maui Many other couples canceled at the last minute, since there was mention of mudslides, and boulders in the middle of the road! But DH wanted to ride down, and it was our last day available to do this, so I went. I was soooo scared! Then as soon as we started to go up the volcano, the weather cleared, and it was gorgeous! I was so happy!

DH also took a surfing lesson in Lahaina, which was cute to watch - there's no way I was trying that! Then poor husband got a nasty ear infection - probably something in the water


I don't want to bore anyone with smaller details, but if anyone has any questions or needs recommendations for restaurants, etc, just let me know!

All in all, we had a wonderful trip, and it will be hard to get back to reality! It was well worth the long flight and cost - when else can you take such a lavish vacation?

Ahhhh - Lombard street! I couldn't remember the intersection - I wanted to say Hyde and something!!!

Thanks everyone - we had such a great time, but in the same respect, it's nice to be home

you guys were very smart stopping in CA first...John hates long flights...and I hate listening to him complain lol...but I regress...

I loved haleakala...and the silver plants on top...

we had a picture perfect day...but they say that only happens 10 days out of the year...so I guess we were lucky!!

glad to hear you had such a terrific time!!

Me like-y alot-ey!!!

I second that Wedbabe
Everything sounds WONDERFUL Teri, I can't wait to go. 7 months and 9 days left for me (EEK !!!!!)

I am so glad you had a good time, and it seems like a luxurious one too.

QUESTION: Hyatt in Kauai:
Did you get any of the spa treaments we had talked about? If so, how were they? Were they worth the $$$$$ ?

Congratulations Teri! We went to Kaui and Maui to, in that order. I would recommend going to Maui first. Like you said, it's a bit of a culture shock going from Kaui to Maui. Not that we didn't like Maui. There was more hustle and bustle, and after Kaui's quietness (?), it was hard adjusting.

So happy to hear you had a good time! And I love your pics!

JenC

Teri- your pictures are so nice..I even showed them to FI last night. It gets me excited even more for next week. We are doing Maui first than Kauai (Hyatt in Kauai and Grand Wailea in Maui).

So what about little tips? Like what you packed? type of clothes? Things I may not thinking about being my main focus has been planning the wedding? I don't mind too much info. It is helpful to us that are going in a week!!! How was the weather?

So you did the bike thing? How was it? Are you a very athletic person? I know FI really wants to do it but he is athletic and works out like 6 times a week. I am thin but never work out. I use to be athletic in my youth but now not at all. I am afraid I won't make it!!! I also have slight asthma. I haven't had a bad attack in years but then again I don't go on long runs or bike rides. After seeing your pictures I really want to do it.

Sorry for so many questions but I have been polling all the Hawaiian honeymoon brides...with all the wedding planning you forget sometimes you are also planning on going on vacation. FI an I are planning on packing the Sunday between the wedding (Sat.) and our flight (Sun)!

Congrats Terri!
I enjoyed looking at your pics, scan more when you can!
Happy you had such a wonderful wedding and Honeymoon

Thanks everyone! I knew I'd forget a lot of details!

Erica - I saw those silver plants! One (I forget the name) is now an endangered plant, and only grows on Maui - I forgot to take a pic though

Liz - Of course - how can I forget to mention the spa??!! Both my husband and I had treatments on the first full day there. The spa is gorgeous at the Hyatt in Kauai - the men's and woman's rooms are all open air - complete with blue sky above! The showers are amazing - open air showers with lava rocks! The treatments are given fully indoors (unlike the optional outdoor ones on Maui) We both got massages, but mine wasn't the best - she was too light on my aching muscles - I should have said something, but felt stupid saying, 'can you press harder, wimp?!' LOL DH got an amazing massage. Then I got a full body exfoliant scrub, complete with mud wrap and lotion massage. Amazing!

When you pay for spa services, you can also take advantage of their gyms, so we both worked out and then took a class on toning abs The spa services were about average in price - not too bad, so IMHO, it was worth the $$$$ - and charging it to your room is just so easy! LOL

Hyatt on Maui also has a good spa, which was beautiful too (the gym machines overlook the ocean!) but we didn't have any treatments there.


JenC - I thought about the trip, and wondered if we should have gone to Maui first, and although your expectations aren't high yet, I still think Kauai was best for us - since all we wanted to do was relax and lounge by the pool. I knew we'd just want to chill out for a while and if we were on Maui I'd end up feeling quilty and wanting to go out and do something!

People warned us, so I knew Maui wouldn't be as nice, but it's hard when you come off that high in Kauai! I can't wait to go back

bridetobe - I didn't see Grand Wailea but heard it is FANTASTIC! They're spa is rated the best on Maui. I heard the pool is similar to the one at the Hyatt on Kauai.

Little tips: The weather is usually nice, but it had rained almost every AM on Maui - it would clear up to a beautiful day by 1 PM though. I usually wore a bikini during the day, with casual clothes depending on where you're going, but I noticed that people dressed up more that I thought in the evenings. Some were too dressy, complete with high heeled pumps and all, but I kept getting told it was so casusal, and I'm glad I had a few dressier outfits. Nothing crazy, but nice skirts, dressy capris, cute sandals, etc.

One thing I didn't bring was a pair of warm up pants or sweats - this is definitely needed for the volcano ride, as well as any other activity like that. The company you ride with does provide you with windbreaker pants and jacket, gloves and those ridiculous helmets.
I knew to bring sneakers, but I brought walking shoes, and cross-training would have been better for my workouts at the gym and the bike rides.

I brought 2 pairs of jeans which I didn't need! It's a comfy temperature, but I was too hot in long pants at night.

As for the volcano trip, I was first scared but it was fine. I'm not too althetic, although I've worked out heavily this summer. I too have asthma, and it was hard to breathe at the top of the volcano. I got a little light headed and made myself think of something else so I didn't pass out - I could have though! We went through Maui Mountain Cruisers, which were awesome. The guides were laid back, yet fully competent. Long story short, there's a van that follows you down the mountain, so it's not like cars as whizzing by you - he's blocking the traffic. You need to know what you're doing, but as long as you use common sense and can turn the handle bars, you're fine! LOL You barely have to pedal, but you're not flying down the hill either.

I hear you about focusing completely on the wedding - I didn't pack for HI until the night before we left! Let me know if you have any other questions.

Also answering Sirev's questions in case anyone else might benefit:

Dinner on Maui - avoid Maui's Taco's! LOL I ate their my first night and was sick for a few days - DH didn't get sick, but I still would avoid it!

Our absolute best meal was at The Bay Club, in Kapalua, which was 15 mins north of our hotel in Ka'aanapali. It's not touristy, has AWESOME views, so reserve a table for sunset, and has amazing food. It's pricy, about $120 for both of us.

We also ate at BJ's Chicago Pizza (twice!) in Lahaina, which is awesome, cheaper, quick food.

Longhi's in Lahaina is also great - homemade pasta, great Italian dishes and it's not too expensive.

I heard Mama's Fish House was good - that's near the road to Hana, but we didn't have enough time for that. (neither the restaurant nor the road to hana!)
I heard Bubba Gump's was overrated and overpriced, so we didn't bother.

Pathetically enough, we never went out after dinner any night - we were so exhausted with our day time things that we crashed early. There are a few breweries though that I think were popular.

I wanted to go on a horseback riding trip, but DH wasn't too thrilled about the idea, and I couldn't see it being too pleasurable in the heat - if you do go, maybe do it earlier in the AM?


Hopefully I answered everyone - let me know if you guys have any other questions!

Teri,
Glad you enjoyed Hawaii. I stayed at the Hyatt in Maui also. We were a little dissapointed that they were doing one side of the pool over. It should of been done when you got there. We enjoyed dinners every night. We went to Lhongis too. Did you get to David Pauls or IO's at all? Great dinners!! I took a couple of pilates classes on their exercise floor and it was a balcony overlooking the ocean outside. It was the best! Glad you enjoyed

No, that's the other thing - they weren't finished with the construction, and the swim up bar was closed I was sooooo ****ed! I had really been looking forward to that! The slide area was separated from the regular pool, so maybe that's why it was so much smaller - not sure.

I didn't hear of those restaurants - where were they located? Roy's was great - we went to the one in Maui. Great service and great food.

Teri,
We were so dissapointed that the swim up bar was closed too. They are always fun. They had a sign that all of it would be finished by mid sept. We went to Roys too. David Pauls and io's is in Lahaina. We actually went to David Pauls twice. Glad you enjoyed!! Do you miss the planning a bit? I felt a bit down afterwards, but I am back in the swing of things now.

Do you mean Pacific O's?

I actually don't miss the planning at all! I thought I'd be a little depressed when it ended, since it's natural when you spend so much time focusing on something, but I'm REALLY happy to start back with my life again! It sounds so stupid but I let the wedding take over our lives, so now I'm catching up.

We're all going away for Thanksgiving - I can't wait for that, and we're already talking about thowing a Christmas party

Maybe the key is staying busy - we still have to look through our proofs, plan the album, send our TYs, etc., so we're still dealing with the wedding!

How about you? What are you focusing on now?

Thanks for the pictures! I'm glad to hear that you had a happy h-moon!!

They brought back memories of my trip to Hawaii. Did the volcano, but drove. It was quite a challenge...I may have been better off on a bike

We also did a helicopter tour...awesome! I'd recommend it highly.

Welcome home Hope to see you on the boards sharing your usual good advice, but now as an old pro!!