Plan trip for June 2025. Would like 4 days on Oahu and 2 on another island. Will be my husband and myself (76) our daughter (52) her two daughters (20 & 18). Husband was stationed there in 1976 and want to show daughter where she lived. We were hoping to do cruise around the islands but that quote is $25,000 can’t afford that. Suggestions?

I don't feel it is worth switching islands for 2 days. Maybe if you can find direct
return flights home from OGG (Maui). You will need a car there, and its easier to find condos to accommodate 5 adults. Kauai is another option.

4 days on Oahu means 5 nights. 2 days on another island = 3 nights. plus flights mainland to/from the islands is another full day total. So is your total trip 10-ish days or are you talking a 6 or 7 days trip total? Me personally, I wouldn't plan a second island unless I had at least 4 nights there and could book open jaw into to Oahu and home from the other island (or vice versa)

Currently in Hawaii seeing 3 islands 1 week each. I think a week is a good amount of time to do a mix of beach/snorkeling time and driving around days. Getting to and settling into a condo takes time. Costco is your friend.

For a 2 night stay (?) I’d go to one of the fancy $1100/room/night places for Maui that’s Wailea for Kona that’s just north of the airport. Then you just shuttle to and from the resort no spending time renting a car or stocking up on food or looking for milk for under $11/gallon.

I am seeing the cruise ships and kind of perplexed why someone would want to get dropped in Kona, Kahului, or downtown Honolulu (not Waikiki) for an 8 hour visit— and do what/go where? It looks more frustration than relaxation.

Editing to add: Famous Oahu sights like USS Arizona, Diamond Head climb, Iolani Palace, and Shangri La estate ALL book up and require advance reservations.

I think it also matters if this is a major haul for you. Consider adding days to make 2 islands more satisfying, like 11 nights minimum.

Thank you.

Thank you. I will check with Costco. I am a member.

Thank you. Yes probably 10 days. I seem to remember when we lived there you could take like a ferry to another island. Everyone may be right and trying to go to another island may be a stretch.

No, no ferries other than from Maui to Molokai. And I'm not even sure that is running any more.

What had you wanted to do on another island? While anyone could spend a week on each island, people often do go on one or two-day trips to see specific sights.

If you could do 4 nights on Kauai, that would be another good choice. I think you have to settle on what you wanted to do on any island. Beach time can be done on Oahu at Waikiki. No need to visit another island for that. Maui and the Big Island have the two national parks (Volcanoes and Haleakela).

Kauai is my favorite island and there are also many condo rentals there. Being a smaller island and very nice in June, flights from Oahu are short. On my May visit last year, I was there for 4 nights.

In October we did a circle cruise but it was part of a longer repositioning cruise. For one day on the Big Island, we went up to Volcanoes NP as my friend had never been there, on Maui we went to Haleakela, on Kauai we went up to Kokee State Park and the Kalalau lookout, after visiting Salt Pond Beach. Many of the circle cruises will spend an overnight at some of the ports so you have at least a full day there, with no hotel or breakfast/dinner hassles.


An unusually clear day on Kauai in October (Kalalau Lookout)

I think a Maui beach is a substantially better experience than busy Waikiki with its rocks just under the surface, unless you intend to surf.

I’m curious how this works. From Kahului does one take a cruise tour from the dock and is a packed lunch included (no food in the park)? What does that cost? Or do the rigamarole with getting to a car rental place, renting a car, buying sandwiches and then heading up before returning the car and getting back to the boat?

In Maui we were cleared to disembark at 7am (at the pier early). There is a taxi queue right at the exit from the cruise port. There was a van leaving with another group going to the airport and they said we could share with them. I think I gave him $5 for our share.. It's about 3 miles between the port and the airport dropoff. You then take the little tram car between the terminal and the consolidated car rental area. Alamo has drive up and go so no standing at the counter waiting, just walk to a car you want in your rental class (nice Corolla), show your license and QR code at the exit. Dropoff just as easy, took Uber back to the ship. None of this qualifies as a "hassle". We were on our way from the airport at 8AM. Car was under $60, Uber maybe $15. So total all in with taxes under $80 for two people. We don't take ship tours when car rentals are so easy and we like to do our own thing.

We ate breakfast on the ship. Didn't eat lunch, we had water and I had a packaged protein bar and some "emergency chocolate" if needed. I don't recall if they scanned bags when disembarking but I would never take items that are normally prohibited such as produce. No one said anything about my snacks. Seems mostly to be an honor system. If anyone had wanted to carry lunch, we could have stopped at McDonalds or Whole Foods on the way out of Kahului since we weren't needing to hassle with stocking up a condo. On Kauai we had a full day so ate lunch and had shave ice in Waimea before heading into Kokee. Most of the circle tours spend longer in Kahului than our cruise did (I think Pride of America might overnight there).

We overnighted in Lihue but the hassle there was limited taxis or rideshares back from the airport later at night. We were lucky to get a taxi after 9:30 pm. We could have shared at ride back with other cruisers who offered but my friend was afraid he would get hit with a cancel fee from Uber. When it was obvious we were being ghosted, I asked a taxi doing a dropoff if he could take us which was probably less than the Uber ($17 cash). The alternative would have been a 2-mile walk in the dark.

The drive up to Haleakela Summit takes about 1.5 hours each way and is easy (paved road the whole way). We first went to Hosmer Grove campground which has an easy nature trail, then continued on up to the summit with a stop at Kalahaku lookout. After driving back down, we had time left in Kahului so went to the Kahana Pond for half an hour.

As you can see, we were also lucky with the weather in Maui!


Haleakela Crater

So some serendipity with the shuttle then some VIP privileges with Alamo. Still can’t personally make the cruise thing ever work for me. Looks like four times the daily cost of a condo and a strategized rushing around certain days. It’s the kind of strategizing people do to make Disney work, not interested in either.

Nothing serendipitous about the Maui experience, there was a string of taxis in line at the port on disembarkation and easy to Uber back. Anyone is eligible for the expedited service at Alamo, and at some airports other companies have it. We were able to use it in HNL with Thrifty (surprise!)

This was a combination of a late season Alaska tour starting in Vancouver. with the usual ports and Glacier Bay included, then the crossing, then the Hawaii loop which had overnights in Kauai and in Honolulu. After the cruise we added two more nights in Waikiki.

Cruise cost was $2300 for a single inside for 17 nights, that is $135 per night, including lodging, food, transportation, port fees. There were a few other onboard perks too. Not sure where anyone even finds a Motel 6 and meals for $135 per diem. We each had our own cabin and wound up with the larger family insides since on a longer cruise there are not many families. This particular ship (NCL Sun) is a smaller ship with a covered walking deck. We met on the NCL Sun on a last minute Cape Horn cruise from Santiago to Buenos Aires so it was also a nostalgia cruise for both of us.

We have both been to Alaska multiple times. For us this was a "best of" or things that my friend had not seen when stationed on Oahu for a few months courtesy of the Navy. He was able to see some of his friends from his time on Oahu. In return I got the free military VIP tour of Pearl Harbor, and a tour of the north/windward coast around Kahuku and access the Marine base (good prices on the Honolulu Cookie Co gift packs).

PS you do know that there are other beaches on Oahu beside Waikiki, right?

My favorite island is the Big Island but that is way too big for only a two night stay, as it would limit what you can see and do as the road system for the most part with the exception of immediate areas around Honolulu, is a two lane road. Road services are limited because of the volcanos and needing to go around them. Maui is the same but possibly more doable. Haven't been to Kauai but everyone I've known who visited there has loved it.

You will need a half a day for Pearl Harbor which is so well done and the memorial is very moving. I was on Oahu for a convention that my husband was attending which was at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. At the time the hotel was quite lovely, large but many different areas, pools and you never felt like you were in a big convention hotel. The beach was very nice with an outstanding view of Diamond Head.

Volcano Park on the Big Island is what we’d like to see.

Thank you.

Thanks

Lots of information. Thank you.

Thanks. I will check to see if veterans get special tour of Pearl Harbor.

Thanks for time comment on Pearl Harbor. I probably would have only allowed 1 1/2 hours for that.