October 2016 Hawaii trip help please

Old Jul 19th, 2016, 11:38 AM
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October 2016 Hawaii trip help please

So I have read many of the forums on HI. My dilemma is the time on each island. Opinions welcome. We have 12 days and 11 nights. We want to go to Kauai. Big Island and end on Maui because we fly home from there. Kauai 4/5 nights; sunset Napali cruise, tour a rum factory, hiking, waterfalls, etc. Big Island; 2 nights/3'day, volcano Ntl Park, luau, coffee farm, waipio outlook. Maui, 4 nights/4.5-5 days; snorkel tour, Lanai day trip, beach, golf, spa, road to Hana, Haleakala crater, falls. Original plans were to fly out of each island 6am now considering late evening. Wondering if BI time is ok. Recommendations welcome. This is a trip to celebrate 41 years of marriage and probably the only trip to HI in our lifetime. Flying from SW USA.
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Old Jul 19th, 2016, 12:14 PM
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Stick to just two islands, I would drop Big Island this trip much as I love it as you really need at least 7 days there or more.
Maui has better luaus, go to Old Lahaina Luau or Feast at Lele.On Kauai, the morning tours of the Na Pali are best since the seas are calmest. Swells pick up in the afternoon. What time of year is your trip? Na Pali boat tours from the North Shore are seasonal, but go year round weather permitting from the west shore. Be sure and visit North Shore and Waimea Canyon.
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Old Jul 19th, 2016, 12:54 PM
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October (in title of thread).
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Old Jul 19th, 2016, 01:32 PM
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I, too, would drop the big Island for this trip. You can take a coffee plantation tour on Kauai (Kauai Coffee). Jamie's suggestions (above) of Waimea canyon and the north shore (Hanalei) are good ideas. The rum tasting (which is not a factory tour) that you mention is well worth your time.

You really don't have enough time for the Big Island - you have double counted some days - 2 nights is never three days (except in tour company brochures), 2 nights is one full day and a few hours on each of two other days. If you have 11 nights, you have 10 full days.

Enjoy Hawaii - it is wonderful!
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Old Jul 19th, 2016, 02:26 PM
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If you don't think you will make another trip to Hawaii and you really want to see Volcano National Park, go ahead and do it. I see on Google that there is a one-day, small-group tour you can take or just rent a car.

The Big Island is my least favorite (I especially like Oahu), but it is certainly interesting and different.
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Old Jul 20th, 2016, 12:46 AM
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Thank you guys for your input. My hubby insists on the volcanoes on BI. I think because it was erupting when my daughter was there. So...that being said I have been told I am over thinking it, it can't be perfect, there will always be something we wish we would do differently. (Hard for a type A) we have included all three with a golf day on the BI before we fly out that night. We are taking either late night or early flights so we don't miss a day. I was going to nix BI but was overruled. At this point it is 4-4-4 days on each and 11 nights. Red eye to LAX last night. Think I will need a vacation when I get home.
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Old Jul 20th, 2016, 05:38 AM
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Where are you golfing on BI? We love upcountry (cooler,lush, cheaper).
You CAN do the volcano national park as a day trip from the west side. Over hw200 (in great shape) to Hilo, up to the park. Lots of short hikes available if you drive down Chain of Craters Road. Terrific vistas, amazing volcanic landscapes.
If you want to stay overnight for the crater glow, lots of lodging in Volcano, or even "camp" in the cabins at Namakanipaio.
The best snorkeling is on BI too. Good choice not to cross it off your list.
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Old Jul 20th, 2016, 08:06 AM
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Yes, if Big Island is a must because of VNP, and snorkeling is better there than on any of the other islands, you might consider nixing Maui. You really only have time for two islands, and IMO Kaua'i and Big Island make the most sense in terms of contrast, while together offering the best of Hawaii.
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Old Jul 20th, 2016, 08:59 AM
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Good idea.
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Old Jul 20th, 2016, 11:17 AM
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You are going to see a lot of highways and airports. Each transit between islands will eat 4 - 5 hours, door to door. It's 30 minutes in the air, but you have to get TO airports and get there in time to do the TSA lines. There are sometimes lines at car rental agencies, too. Are you doing carry-on only?

What is 'set in stone'? You say you are flying home from Maui.

I would 'do' whatever island you fly IN to, plus Maui. Period.

People don't visit Hawaii to check things off a list of 'sights'. They come to get on Island Time and soak in the Aloha.

If you MUST see/do more, there is the NCL cruise that departs Honolulu every Saturday afternoon. You'd see the highlights of Kauai, Maui and Big Island in a week.
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Old Jul 20th, 2016, 11:34 AM
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"People don't visit Hawaii to check things off a list of 'sights'."
Speak for yourself.
Some of us look at our vacation time as precious, and an opportunity to do things and see "sights" that we won't see at home. Hawaii is not necessarily a place to slow down and "soak in the Aloha" (lots of places where that isn't even in existence anymore, unfortunately), but for many a place to have a VERY active vacation, filled with many enjoyable activities.
Many of us who spend a lot of money to enjoy limited time off do not care to be told how to spend that time, particularly if that place is far away and expensive and difficult to get to, and might consist of only a single visit.
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Old Jul 20th, 2016, 11:40 AM
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cin cin slyvia3

mozel
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Old Jul 20th, 2016, 12:03 PM
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I have to agree with Sylvia. On our last visit, we spent 10 nights on the BI and barely sat down. We only lounged on a beach for two hours...and I was bored the entire time. We were otherwise on the go the entire time--and loved it. Now, I'm sure many people go the islands just to relax, but it's not for everyone.
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Old Jul 21st, 2016, 08:36 AM
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OK, maybe people *return* to Hawaii to 'go with the flow'. LOL My family 'did' four islands in two weeks -- back when it took you only an hour to 'island hop'. We never did that again, but today's NCL cruise is one way of doing the same 'sampling'. (On future trips we decided that two weeks per island was best return on the long and expensive flights there and back.)

I find a lot of Aloha in Hawaii. Even if you don't agree about Aloha, Island Time is indisputably in force, and it is not conducive to checklist travel. Hours 'in transit' do steal disproportionate time from a visit.

indyhiker -- Ten nights is perfect for a first visit to Big Island. This poster wants to visit FOUR islands in eleven nights. Nobody has to spend hours snorkeling. However, if you are always 'moving on' you risk experiencing nothing -- and remembering a blur. A checklist visitor will also be frustrated with Island Time.
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Old Jul 21st, 2016, 09:08 AM
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"Island Time" is a false construct.
People go to work, children go to school, all on schedules like the rest of the U.S. (and probably most of the world). Grocery stores, the DMV, libraries, Home Depot, Target, Safeway all open at regular times, and close on time; restaurants keep regular hours. Hospitals, car rental places, airports, airlines, churches...all have business hours.
Do people speed on the highway as much? Maybe not (you can't, in Honolulu). But that's not "Island Time."
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Old Jul 21st, 2016, 11:13 AM
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sylvia3 -- I'm not sure where you stay or live in Hawaii where you don't experience Island Time. We own on Maui. We experience Island Time. There is a limited labor pool. There are many transients. Work is never as important as family demands for a true Hawaiian. Things break/deteriorate in the tropical climate; replacements are not available on island. (Practicing Aloha takes time.)

A tourist smiles at the various tradesmen's trucks parked at the beach. The property owner waiting for the plumber/carpenter/whatever learns to accept Island Time. Two hours (or a day) late isn't 'late'.
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Old Jul 21st, 2016, 11:37 AM
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Sorry, this is nonsense, much like the mass migration off island of people with lung problems whenever there's vog. If you see company vehicles at the beach, it's probably for a lunch of malasadas; on the Big Island, jobs are taken seriously, and serious people work and raise those families.
Really, I read many of your comments as patronizing (toward both citizens of Hawaii AND visitors/tourists/vacationers)in the extreme.
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Old Jul 21st, 2016, 08:52 PM
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I have been to Hawaii many times, although perhaps not as often as Sylvia, and not yearly or for as long per trip as chisue. I definitely think "island time" existed but has changed - everything used to be slower, including getting through the line at the supermarket. But on our last trip we definitely noticed a difference, that things were more "on time" like at home. Probably an unfortunate shift.
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Old Jul 22nd, 2016, 07:32 AM
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Like other tropical isles, Hawaii is a place where we feel we get the best bang for our vacation buck when our only itinerary is the airline flight schedule, and we allow serendipity to dictate the rest. So I've always thought of "island time" more as my state of mind vs. that of those who live and work there. And I might argue that the noted changes over the years are more a reflection of the numbers and kinds of travelers visiting Hawaii today than the islanders themselves changing.
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Old Jul 22nd, 2016, 09:00 AM
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"things were more "on time"...Probably an unfortunate shift."

Maybe. But perhaps it's better for the folks who work and live their lives in the state. Everyone likes a little extra free time with the family, and nobody likes waiting in line or for a service call (my cousin's nephew in law is an appliance repairman, and laughed at the idea of someone putting up with him being 2 hours late for an appointment, let alone not showing until the next day).

Anyway, I think we can agree that if someone wants to go,go, go, see, see, see, and pack as much (as possible) into their vacation as they can, it is their prerogative, and they should not be admonished for that when they come for help on a travel forum.
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