French Polynesia or Hawaii
 

My husband and I are planning a tropical vacation next year. We enjoy beaches, snorkelling, volcanoes, waterfalls, and fishing. Would you recommend the Hawaii (Big Island) or French Polynesia?

I went to Maui and Kauai last year and I am going to Moorea in a few weeks. If you email me I will get back to you when I return.

Without question you want Hawaii (Big Island). Spend one night in the new section of Valcano House. It is an experience to watch the light change over the crater. Then another fun thing to do is to tour the island stopping at B&B's. The Big Island has a wide variety of scenery, climates and experiences. It is not over developed. If you want another option, the Cook Islands or Fiji have more to offer than French Polynesia since it is now over developed but you will not have the variety that you will find in the Hawaiian Island. An outstanding book is Frommer's "Bed and Breakfasts in Hawaii" which provided a selective, full-color guide to the best. Our copy is from 1995 and it may not be in print or up-dated. We just made reservations for arrival in the islands and then played it by ear after. That made it a real adventure. One B&B we both loved was Hale Malia in Kailua-Kona. Who knows what there is 6 years later. If you want a resort type experience in the more nature oriented form look at http://www.konavillage.com.

I've been to both in the past two years with my wife, and I can say both were enjoyable but completely different experiences. The Big Island was beautiful, stark, desolate, lush, all at different spots on the island. I loved the helicopter volcano tour. Great snorkelling with some very nice beaches. Moorea and Bora Bora were water experiences. Beaches were good, not as good as some on BI (like Hapuna Beach). Much more romantic feel to F.P. due to fewer people and the type of accomodations (bungalows vs hotels or condos). Lagoon of FP is an amazing sight. Didn't fish in either place, waterfalls on the big island were okay but not outstanding. I hear the best are on Kauai an Maui.

Have been to Maui, Kauai and Moorea. Loved them all. Best waterfalls will be Kauai. We hiked quite a while to see the waterfall in Moorea and never did find it. But Moorea is a wonderful, quaint litte island and I loved it best of all for a laid back, relaxing vacation. Out of the choices you gave, the Big Island is the only one you will see a volcano (active I mean). But I would return to any of them in a heartbeat.