Island Hopping

Island Hopping

Should you try to fit another island into your trip or stay put in Oahu? Tough call. Although none of the Islands are more than 30 minutes away from another by air, security hassles, transport, and check-in all swallow up precious vacation hours. If you've got less than a week, do Oahu well and leave the rest for the next trip. With a week, you can give three good tour days to Oahu (Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, and one rural venture), then head to a Neighbor Island for some serious beach time and maybe an adventure or two.

If you do decide to island-hop, book in advance; you'll get a better fare by packaging your travel. If you want to get along on the Neighbor Islands, don't compare them to Honolulu and never call them "the outer islands"—that's insultingly Oahu-centric.

At the time of writing, the Superferry offers routes between Kahului Maui (daily) or Lihue Kauai (6 times weekly) and Honolulu. Beginning in 2009, the Superferry will offer service between Kawaihae on the Big Island and Honolulu and a second daily service from Kahului Maui. Because the ferry has been the center of much political discussion and environmental debate, to the extent that service has been suspended in the past, be sure to check the Web sitewww.hawaiisuperferry.com for current information regarding sailing routes and times.