1st family trip - dazed and confused!
 

Planning trip for our 25th anniversary w/ 17 * 8 year old. I gave been pouring over guides for weeks-still no clear direction. It is all wonderful! Traveling from Canada mid March for 10 days. My plan(?) Oahu 3 days (hotel) balance in Maui, looking for condo with nice pool areas/close to beach. Or should we pass on Oahu and just visit Maui. Our budget is approx $250 per night. night. Ka'anapali/Kihei/Lahaina?
Any direction you can provide will help, this is a once in a lifetime for us-and like all of us- really want the best experience. Thanks!!

I suggest doing both islands. You will have a really great vacation no matter what you do. Hawaii is just such a treat!

Have you searched on this forum for more ideas? There are lots of Hawaii and Maui posts. And Big Island.

We stayed at the Maui Kai on Maui a few years ago. That's a pretty decent place on the beach with all oceanfront condos.

We just returned from Oahu and Maui last week. As you've probably read on the board, what you do and see really depends on your personal tastes.

Here are some generalizations we found while there:

Water sports: you can do these on any island. Yes, some will say that some activities are better here or there, but in the end you can sail, snorkel, surf, etc anywhere you'd want. (Things seemed more expensive in Maui.)

Attractions: Oahu is better for this, as it provides the more touristy things like Pearl Harbor, Waikiki, Dole, etc. The closest thing Maui has to 'attractions' are the Crater and the Road to Hana. "Action" and nightlife is Honolulu, although you can find it in Oahu in Lahaina, for example.

Nature/Outdoors: Again, you can do both on these islands. We explored both islands indepth, and there are plenty of hikes and sights on both. But, as nightlife is better in Honolulu, scenery is a Maui strength. We had a car and drove both islands - great stuff to see everywhere, but Maui was more spectacular. (You'll also hear that Kauai trumps them both).

In summary: we found that much of Oahu was developed and you can to seek out the rest. Maui was the exact opposite.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your trip planning!

We stayed in the Kaanapali area in May at the Kaanapali Royal. We got our condo through vrbo, and it was a beautiful, remodelled two bedroom, two bath condo for $250 a night. This is the link:

http://www.vrbo.com/47529#morephotos

We liked staying in Kaanapali. The beach is beautiful, and we could easily walk from our condo to the beach. If we were carrying more gear, we drove and parked in the Sheraton public beach parking lot.

We also liked being so close to Lahaina. It was easy to run to the grocery store if we needed something essential (like beer). :)

We also liked being closer to the Kapalua area. We found some great boogie boarding beaches near Kapalua.

Have a great trip!