I'm looking at Hawaii as a possibility for my honeymoon. Anybody know the good places in Hawaii to go to and the fun activities to try out. I'm looking at going to The Big Island or possibly Kauai, as I have heard that these are the best islands to visit as a first timer to Hawaii. I need to know: 1. Assuming money is no problem: What is the best mega-resort to go to? 2. Assuming answer to #1 is only for millionaires, what's the next best alternative? 3. What are the best activities to check out? 4. What are the best restaurants around #1 or #2 to check out? 5. If I were not a tourist and knew of the cool, little places to go to, where would they be? 6. Are there any all-inclusive resorts that are kind of like the Sandals resorts in the Caribbean? 7. What is the best airline to fly from Houston to Hawaii, and do they have direct flights?, I'm assuming Continental does. 8. Any tips or anything an experienced Hawaii traveler or resident has for me. 9. Is it easy to travel from island to island to check out the sights, or is it worth it to try?
AMerican Airlines has a Netsaver fare right now for a round trip ticket to Hawaii from Dallas/Ft. Worth for $359.00.
Wow. That's a great deal. I'll look into that as I have relatives in Dallas I can leave me car with if we fly from there.
I used to live on Oahu, the most populated island and i remember taking a short trip to Maui. The flight was only like 20 minutes. And each island has views worth seeing.
Oh Yeah! We booked our flight to Maui for early November! Let me premise my responses by saying that we've been to Maui(and its neighbors), Kauai, and the Big Island. Phooey on Oahu. No, Maui is the best for first-timers, couples, and honeymooners. (everything is geared toward tourism) Kauai is great for enjoying natural beauty. Big Island is good only for the volcano. The desert side is ugly, and people are mean on the garden side. Oahu is for singles, surfers, and city slickers. It really pays to plan your trip beforehand, so buy a book or just go to Borders/Barnes&Nobles, get a stack and read. We always have luck planning our packages through the American Airlines travel website since they get travel agent deals as well. So we book our flight, hotel, and car through one site. If you like to go places on your own (which I recommend) be sure to get a four-wheel drive vehicle. It's worth it since you never know when it'll rain. Depending on which island you choose, there are some really nice places to enjoy (like waterfall fed pools, awesome beaches, great scenery) but I won't talk about them till you pick an island. Don't worry too much about the hotel. Since you're in Hawaii, enjoy Hawaii. If you're going to just "stay in your room" there are better places to go to. And spend at least a week per island if you do go to more than one. Anything less is a crime and a waste. (You'll waste a whole day of just travelling from one island to the next) This will be our second time to Maui. We're going more for the golf than tourism this time. So pick an island already. I'm ready to talk about Hawaii some more.
Well, we are on our honeymoon, so I'd like the room to be pretty nice Anyways, after to talking to a couple of other people I think your right about going to Maui. Where's the place to stay there, and what should we do?...we'll have 7-10 days for the whole trip.
I'm not sure what your price range is, so I'll tell you the general areas. Then you can pick an area, look for hotels in your selected price range, and then I can try to remember which hotel I would recommend. West side (Kaanapali, Lahainia, etc.) Tourism central. This is where all the shopping, restaurants, and night life are. South side (Makena, Wailea, etc.) Golf Central. This is where most of the all-inclusive resorts are. About 40 min to the west side. East Side (Hana) Tropical boonies. Very beautiful over here, just no good hotels or restaurants. It takes 2.5 hours along the very curvy "Road to Hana" aka divorce Highway. Slow going, but worth it if you spend the night. I suggest spending a majority of your vacation at either the west or south side exclusively, then spend one or two nights on the Hana side in a house rental. (You might have to cook for yourselves, though.) Defining Maui Moments: -Seeing the sunrise above the clouds on Haleakela, and then riding down the volcano to the ocean on a bike. -Old Lahainia Luau (best one) -snorkel/ beach trips to turtle town(Molokini) and Lanai(place where Bill Gates got married) -discovering the hard to reach places on Hana side (Blue pool, Venus pool, red sand beach, Lindbergh's grave (man, I want to be buried there, too.) -Black sand beach/ seven sacred pools on Hana side. -Playing golf and seeing whales breech. (Wow) -the Dolphin bay south of Makena -sunsets on the beach
The south side sounds like what we would want. I'm not sure how much golf we would get in, but the all-inclusive resort sounds like that's the way I want to go. My reqs: Beach, good food, relaxing, easy access, maybe a day spa for wife, maybe golf for me. Price: 4,000-5,000 not including air fare.
I just got back from my honeymoon in Kona, Hawaii on Sunday. Had a great time. Stayed at a place called Kona Village. It is a little more expensive than some other hotels, but then again, everything in Hawaii was expensive. It was on the big island. All meals were included, you just had to tip for service and the food was amazing. Assuming 15% tip, it ran about $7 for breakfast, $12 for lunch, and $20 for dinner. You stay in your own private hut, or hale as they called it. The one we stayed in had a hot tub on the front deck and was right on the beach. I know Continental flys from Houston to Kona International, and those tickets were running about $800 per a few weeks ago. I'm not sure what they are at now. If you want to check out their website, its www.konavillage.com. Let me know if you have any questions. Hope this helps.
I went to Hawaii a few years ago. I *LOVED* it. But many people will talk about Maui or the beaches, however there is a ton to do other than that. My favorite is the big island. There is a coffee farm there that you can go walk around at. It's nothing spectacular, but it's kindof interesting. The Black Sand beaches on the big island are really awesome. The Volcano national park is AWESOME. I love hiking, and there's a really neat hike there. You walk around the outer crater of this HUGE, inactive volcano, then down into it, where you can walk back through the hardened crater. In some ways, it's like walking on a giant parking lot because it's mostly flat in the crater, but there is so much to see and enjoy down there. IMO it is something you cannot miss. Another thing to do on the big island is to hike the high-point. It's really easy. You can drive most of the way up there, to the observatory on the mountain. Then it's a short 30 minute hike to the peak. On your way down from the observatory, stop at the visitor's center and wait until nightfall. Then look at the stars from there. It will be incredible. I mean, you have NO IDEA how awesome it is. When I went with my family, I was angry that we were going to just sit and wait there for 4 hours just to see some stars. But I would wait 40 hours just so see that, it was so incredible. It was a white blanket of stars, more spectacular than any you will have ever seen before. They have some guides come out and they'll talk about the stars and stuff as well. On Oahu, you can go see Pearl Harbor, which is worth making the trip for. There are a few more things over there as well related to the battle, some of which are intersting, like the Punch bowl. There is a lookout there on Oahu called Diamond Head. It's got an INCREDIBLE view of Pearl Harbor, and much of the island. Really spectacular. It's about an hour hike, maybe 2 hours. There's also this point there where it is REALLY, REALLY windy. Nuuanu Pali State Wayside. It's just off of a highway. You can walk up to it, and the wind is unbelievably strong. Very cool. The Dole plantation is neat too. I dunno if this is the kind of stuff you're looking for. A lot of it is the stuff most people don't go see. But it's really awesome. And we stayed at a place in Volcano, Hawaii on the big island that was really nice. It was a small house that was inside a rainforest. Hawaii is a spectacular place. It's got everything all year round. Snow, desert, rainforest, mountain forest, beach, hot, cold, wet, dry, whatever. It's got it all. Someday I hope to go back.
