to me it seems like you have a few too many activities planned to the point that you are gonna exhaust yourself
I went to Maui and Honolulu for my honeymoon. Landscape in Hawaii is prolly the best work of God imho. Beaches, mountains, rainforests, and city life all rolled into one state. I would like to retire there. First of all, you can't stay in one hotel the whole time. Each island you visit is gonna require to you stay at a local hotel. If you are thinking to stay in Honolulu and hope to different islands and be back on same day, forget it (if I'm wrong in assuming so, my bad). I would advise you to choose 2 islands to visit or you'll miss out on a lot. Book your tickets now or it'll cost you way more to do it closer to your trip. Since you have 7 days, I think you should stick to 3 days in Honolulu and 4 in Maui. Or you could go with 2 in Honolulu and 5 in Maui if you prefer more natural settings. And go to Maui first so you can burn your energy there sightseeing and then relax in Honolulu. 1) Rent a car if you are not on waikiki beach (http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/85/67385-004-B1A06FC9.jpg), we stayed at Waikiki Parc Hotel. Other than that, the hotel provided 2) Places to visit: hanauma bay (first time snorkeling in my life and I was blown away, unbelievable experience), Pearl Harbor, Boating (went to a yacht party which hung out close to the shoreline. See the sun go down and then fireworks at night) 3) Mostly you'll be wining and dining here, also some shopping from street vendors to nice mini-malls. There's a Ruth's Chris there that will treat you like a feckin king (comes at a price of course ). 4) Did not attend a luau. 1) Definitely rent a car 2) Places to visit: Ioa Valley State Park (easy climbing but great view), Drive the Hana Highway (just a long beautiful drive down winding roads into maui's rain forests with lots of scenic stops, long drive give it 5 to 6 hours), Helicopter Ride (probably the most fun thing I did in all of Hawaii) 3) Places to eat: Now this was the only downside of Maui. Good food was hard to find other than the luau feasts hosted by the hotel. I don't eat seafood so I was screwed. Honestly, the best food I had there was Pizza Hut lol. 4) This is the island you wanna attend luaus. We basically just attended the one hosted by the hotels (all hotels there were hosting them).
Thanks for all the advice. We arent really looking to lay out on the beaches or lounge around drinking too much. We are looking to take in as much beautiful scenery as possible, do a lot of activities; tubing, kayaking, zip lining, hiking, etc. Definitely looking to try a lot of the local cuisine; spam, musabi, sushi, saimin, coffee, macadamias, pineapple, sugar cane, etc.
Gummi, if you enjoy riding a bike, take the ride from the top of Haleakala (10K) to the beach on Maui. Fantastic views. If you're up, take the sunrise ride. You'd be atop of Haleakala at sunrise...so sweet. Oh, they have lots of tour guides for this.
This. Although it's a little pricey and to get your money's worth you probably want to spend the whole day there, so you might not be able to work it into your schedule.
Just a heads up, I just looked up Continental tickets to Hawaii, they are only $500, pretty good deal
We rode bikes down the volcano. It was below freezing at the top and 95 degrees at the bottom. It was great.
Went last year for three days and two nights. Only went to Honolulu and the entire Capital island. Our goal was to find cultural activities, get plenty of sun, and worked a day for resting in there. Don't try to do too much. If you're going to Waikiki Beach, you won't need a car in Honolulu. Most of the stuff to see and the shops are within walking distance. We rented a car at the airport for the 3 days and it was probably parking more than it was used. The Polynesian Culture Center was the best experience there besides the sandy white warm beach at Waikiki. It took us an entire day to enjoy. Make sure you get the lunch and dinner package and see all their activities and get a tour guide with the package. The guide talks and makes it fun. They pick you up and bring you back from your hotel. If I had some extra time, I would plan walking the streets and getting "caught" by one of them "timeshare" people to go see a talk about their sales, which should take about 4 hours to listen to their jargon, and get discount tickets or free tickets to the PCC. It's worth it. I really wanted to see the volcanoes and the Big Island, but you would need another plane ticket and much more time, which we didn't have. We are planning this for within the next 5 years. My kids also want to go to the observatories like I do. Have fun, and get plenty of rest. EDIT: I booked through ORBITZ and it was the cheapest at the latest time we thought and decided about it. They packaged airfare and hotel together, and it ended up being somewhere near 1100 per person (times four was OK).
we just spent 8 nights in maui in march for our babymoon and loved it! one hotel the whole time and enjoyed maui. that's my vote! we did whale watching, sunset cruises, snorkeling, hanging out at the pool, some shopping, lots of eating, road to hana, walking around lahaina, etc. you'll love it!
