iris1745

An overview of the plan. We will stay overnight at a hotel near the airport and they allow free parking for up to two weeks. Delta leaving Boston on Jan.27th at about 7:30am arriving in Atlanta at about 10am. Then leave for Honolulu at about 10:50am. We arrive at about 4pm.

Staying at the Sheraton Princess for 5 days, Jan 27th, departing on Feb. 1st.

The plan for Honolulu [no car rental] is rest first day. DAY 2 Pearl Harbor bye bus if possible and I have asked on another thread. DAY 3, walk Diamond Head. Probably will take half a day-no rush.
Then walk the beach a bit and then partake in liquid refreshments. DAY 4 not sure, but we could do an island tour, probably to Dole Plantation. Other suggestions welcome. DAY 5 Walk the whole day, downtown, Chinatown and anything else we can think off.

Plane to Maui on Feb. 1st We will rent a car for 3 days. We will rent a condo near Kihei and everything else is still to be decided.

Plane to The Big Island for 5 days on Feb. 4th and we will rent a car. Our hotel is the Sheraton near Kona and everything else to be decided. [Except visiting the volcano area]

Depart for home on Feb. 9th leaving the Big Island to Honolulu for a 6pm departure to Minneapolis arriving at 6:30am, then arriving in Boston at 10:30am.

No inter island flights have been made, but will be soon.

jamie99

Kind of rushed but it is your trip. Try and stay in the Kohala area, much less vog than in Kona and much better beaches.

iris1745

Thanks Jamie. This will be our only trip to Hawaii, so want to see as much as possible.

I have read about the vog, but we are using points. I will look further up the coast to see if there are any other Starwood Hotels.

Also I don't want to be too far from the airport

tom42

Are you asking for opinions on your itinerary? Or just letting us know about it?

iris1745

Hi tom; I did say 'other suggestions welcome' for Honolulu and I should have done the same for the other two islands.

lcuy

Your itinerary sounds fine to me, but I would rent a car on day 4 and do the circle island tour on your own. Half the fun of doing this is stopping along the way whenever you feel like it. The bus tour stops are never as satisfactory, based on the experience of friends of ours who do this (without asking for my input!). There are plenty of places in Waikiki to rent a car for the day, avoiding high hotel parking fees.

Dole plantation is just a tourist trap with a koi pond and some sample pineapple patches. I'd only stop there for a drink or pineapple whip to tide us over for the long drive home, as I prefer enjoy circling Oahu in a counter-clockwise direction.

You might also want to drive to Pearl harbor as well, or take a (long) city bus. Between the memorial, the museum, the Missouri and the Bowfin, the time that you want to spend there may be significantly longer or shorter than the tours allow.

lcuy

BTW, locally your hotel is called the Princes Kaiulani (kai-ooh-lah-nee) or the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani.

You could also combine Pearl Harbor with a circle island drive on the same day if you start very early. From there you're halfway to the North Shore and can do the drive counter-clockwise.

iris1745

An update; Thanks Jamie, but Starwood does not have another hotel on the Big Island and we are using points. Se we will stay with the Sheraton in Kona.

Icuy; How does this look. We arrive on Thursday at 4pm. That will then be just a day relaxing.

Friday; Walk Diamond Head in the morning and Honolulu Town in the afternoon.

Saturday; Visit Pearl Harbor in the morning early taking the bus, thinking?? that traffic might be much less that a weekday. Then spending more time in Honolulu Town in the afternoon.

Sunday; Rent a car for two days and for one day driving the coast to Ka'nea Point and perhaps going as far as Waimea Audubon Center and if it's getting late, double back a bit, quick visit to Dole, then pick up the H2 home.

Monday; Second day with a car, go south to Hanauma Bay, Makapu'u Point and then start back up that side of the island, at least as far as the Byodo-in Temple.
From there, double back a ways to Malunawili and rt61. Head to Manaoa Falls, Tantalus? and picking up the H1 to home.

Tuesday; Leave for Maui and perhaps take a cab or shuttle.
With traffic is an hour enough to get to the airport?

We are 5 months out, so nothing is cast in stone.

suze

I really enjoyed the Iolani Palace and Foster Botanical Gardens (could be included in your Honolulu day). I've yet to get there but Bishop Museum also gets high marks. I loved the Doris Duke ShangriLa Estate tour, thru Honolulu Academy of the Arts. I would do all 3 of these, but one might fit into you 'extra' time on Oahu.

On Maui my favorites were going up Haleakala (we didn't go up for sunrise because no one wanted to drive in the dark, we went mid-morning after breakfast out in Lahaina). I also like the town of Lahaina. It's a little honkey-tonk and touristy but fun with shops, galleries, historic walking tour, etc. And shows available like Old Lahaina Luau, Feast of Lele, U'lalena at Myth & Magic Theater.

aloha, suze

dusty56438

I don't get on this forum much any more.

If I was to rent a car on Oahu for only two days, I would take the driving tours mentioned on this thread. Though it is an old thread, the driving tours are still good as are many of the websites & blogs.

Take Driving tour #1 one day & take Driving tour #2 the second day.

You can add National Cemetery of the Pacific & Tantalus Drive/Roundtop Drive on one of the days.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...trip-to-hi.cfm

Not sure what you mean by Honolulu town.

Friday, after Diamond Head, explore Waikiki. You can walk the entire length of Waikiki & go as far as Ala Moana Beach Park & Magic Island.

Saturday, after Pearl Harbor, you can stop in downtown Honolulu to stroll Chinatown/Historic Honolulu & go up to the viewing deck at Aloha Tower. Then go back to Waikiki.

lcuy

Are you thinking of going around Kaena Point? I don't think you can get permits for that, and you'd need a true 4wd vehicle if you can. For your trip, i would even hesitate going to the west side of the island at all. It is, to say it nicely, kind of a rough area and most of the features you might want to see can be found on the more typical island circle tours Dusty has posted.

Dusty's link has just about anything you could want to do on the island in it. You will get a good feel taking one of his tours. If you add in your early am pearl harbor trip it may be a long day, but you will control the flow of time!

Suze's suggestions of Iolani Palace (downtown Honolulu) and Shangri-la on the ocean near Diamond head are great.

For Shangri-la, you actually depart by min-van from the Honolulu Art Museum (formerly Academy of Art) at Ward Avenue and Beretania street, about 4 blocks from Iolani Palace.You could combine both these (Advance reservations a MUST) plus wander chinatown or go up the hill to Punchbowl Cemetery of the Pacific. Views and the murals depicting WWII pacific battles at Punchbowl are very interesting.

Downtown Honolulu is the Central business district, roughly the area inland from Honolulu Harbor to Punchbowl.

Waikiki is the main hotel/tourist area that runs between the ocean and the Ala Wai Canal from Ala Moana to Diamond Head. Your hotel is pretty much dead center of Waikiki.

iris1745

suze, dusty, icuy---my head is spinning with all this great information. Thanks much.

So it will take me awhile to absorb everything.

I have registered with the gov for Pearl.

Maui; We like to try to figure out the best location for seeing the island and being close to the airport.

I had bookmarked many condo's near Kihei, but the more I look at the map, it seems like Pa'ia would be much better location, especially since we intend to visit Hana.

However, my Eyewitness Guide is 10 years old.

Question; The road from Ulupalakua to Ripahulu--is it still a dirt or four wheel drive vehicle only road? If that road had been paved in the last decade, Kihei would still work.

.

ChiSue

Could we start over? You say nothing is set in stone.

Can you fly nonstop out of JFK or Newark to HNL instead of making a connection?

Two weeks is adequate to *enjoy* Oahu plus both sides of Big Island. (Most people fly into one side and out of the opposite side to avoid driving across the island twice.) Kohala has the sunny, vog-free beaches and the VNP is near Hilo. You will want to spend at least one night AT the volcano to see any red glow. Don't plan a daytrip there from Kona -- too much driving and too little time at the park.

You could also stay three days Waikiki, then have short stays on Maui and Kauai, or do one of these plus only Volcano. *I* would do Waikiki plus Maui OR Big Island in winter for better weather and to see the whales.

Day One in Hawaii is adjusting to the time change. Every transit between islands will eat half a day, door to door. Things do not move a warp speed in Hawaii...ever.

People come to Hawaii and keep coming back to get on Island Time and soak up some Aloha. It's not a 'checklist' kind of place. Seeing MORE is not seeing Hawaii.

My DH and I are on Maui most winters. You could easily spend your whole two weeks there. South Kihei is nice. Wailea is nice. Paia has little to offer in the way of lodgings and would only save you 20 minutes over staying Kihei for Road to Hana or Haleakala. Kihei is also only 45 minutes from Lahaina in West Maui. (You use 4-lane highway from Kihei to Kahului, where you pick up roads to Hana and Haleakala. Few car rental contracts allow you to drive the 'backside' of Haleakala -- and you end up back in Kahului anyway.)

You are late planning for a very popular season in Hawaii. First to go are the rental cars; get yours reserved ASAP.

ChiSue

Could we start over? You say nothing is set in stone.

Can you fly nonstop out of JFK or Newark to HNL instead of making a connection? Could you make Maui your last stop and fly home from there? (I look for nonstops on wide-body aircraft and avoid 757's.)

Two weeks is adequate to *enjoy* Oahu plus both sides of Big Island. (Most people fly into one side and out of the opposite side to avoid driving across the island twice.) Kohala has the sunny, vog-free beaches and the VNP is near Hilo. You will want to spend at least one night AT the volcano to see any red glow. Don't plan a daytrip there from Kona -- too much driving and too little time at the park.

You could also stay three days Waikiki, then have short stays on Maui and Kauai, or do one of these plus only Volcano. *I* would do Waikiki plus Maui OR Big Island in winter for better weather and to see the whales.

Day One in Hawaii is adjusting to the time change. Every transit between islands will eat half a day, door to door. Things do not move a warp speed in Hawaii...ever.

People come to Hawaii and keep coming back to get on Island Time and soak up some Aloha. It's not a 'checklist' kind of place. Seeing MORE is not seeing Hawaii.

My DH and I are on Maui most winters. You could easily spend your whole two weeks there. South Kihei is nice. Wailea is nice. Paia has little to offer in the way of lodgings and would only save you 20 minutes over staying Kihei for Road to Hana or Haleakala. Kihei is also only 45 minutes from Lahaina in West Maui. (You use 4-lane highway from Kihei to Kahului, where you pick up roads to Hana and Haleakala. Few car rental contracts allow you to drive the 'backside' of Haleakala -- and you end up back in Kahului anyway.)

You are late planning for a very popular season in Hawaii. First to go are the rental cars; get yours reserved ASAP.

I hope you will decide that 'less is more' in this case!

iris1745

Hi CheSue; Airfare has been booked on Delta with one stop.

We couldn't resist the R/T fare of $663 pp.

Boston to Atlanta to Honolulu.

But I appreciate the comment about staying in Kihei--that seems like 'cast in stone' along with good driving suggestions.

suze

I think your plane tickets are OK, Richard. Atlanta's an easy airport to transfer then nonstop for your long haul from there.

Lcuy, Thank you for the name correction, I keep forgetting that (Honolulu Academy of the Arts is now called Honolulu Art Museum).

That's where you pick up the Doris Duke tour (they show a short video about her life before you go). Two smallish vans (maybe 20 people each?) only go at a time. But the Museum itself is very pretty with Asian-styled gardens, art work, a nice café.

And yes Hawaii can make your head spin! But mostly all options are very wonderful!!

iris1745

suze; My only concern was making the connection in Atlanta, with only 50 minutes.

It is a Delta hub and I hope landing and take off gates are close.

I like the suggestion about a honkey-tonk town.

We are both touristy and honkey-tonk people. lol

ChiSue

An hour from Honolulu to HNL is not enough time.

I hear you on those cheap tix. Good call. We have miles on AA; buy coach and use miles to upgrade, thus earning miles on the purchase and on miles flown. (Rinse, repeat. haha)

I don't know if you can still do this, but IF you have your last island-to-HNL on one ticket you can check your luggage through from that island to home; sit at HNL for two hours; board your flight for home. If you do NOT have these on a single ticket and you have luggage, you will have to claim it at HNL and re-check it with Delta -- possibly paying a second luggage fee. (If you are doing carry-on only...nevermind.)

I'm laughing about Lahaina. Yes, it's typical cruise ship port style. Now tacky? That would be Kona Town.

FaceInTheCrowd

If you really think this will be your only trip to Hawaii, you really should see Kaua'i, which probably most closely fits your mind's eye view of what a tropical island looks like. It's also smaller than the others islands so you can see more of it in the same amount of time, without having to spend an entire day for just one "must do", like you would on the Road to Hana. So consider switching out Maui for Kaua'i, and using Sheraton points on the Sheraton in Poipu, then renting a nice condo on Kohala Coast of the Big Island.

iris1745

Hi ChiSue; I have not made any inter island plane tickets yet.

I think on the last inter island flight, if I book a single leg, you are suggesting no matter what airline I chose from Kona to HNL, they will direct our luggage to boston on our Delta flight. Even with another change of planes in Minneapolis.

FTC; We originally were going to Kaua'i and not Maui.

But my wife changed her mind and now will stay with Maui. But Thanks.