3 weeks in Hawaii
 

My husband and I are traveling to Hawaii as part of our winter trip this year. We fly to Honolulu from San Fransicso on 1/6 and fly to San Diego on 1/31 What islands can we hit in this time frame. We're interested in history, scenic beauty and seeing the sights in general. We don't really do snorkeling or water sports except maybe a beach day here and there. Any itinerary suggestions? a CRUISE is possible for part of the time.

Oahu, Maui, and Big Island would be the islands I would suggest.

A week on each would be good.

I'm not a fan of cruises, but with that amount of time, you could do one and still see some particular islands in more depth.

Some might suggest more time for the BI as it is...well...big. Some will suggest more time on Oahu as there is so much to see.

If you are interested in history, a short trip to Molokai to see the leper colony would be and interesting adventure.

Buy a good guide book that covers the main islands and see what sounds the best to you.

We have an efficiency we can rent in W. Maui (Napili Bay) for a week. How is this in January? We would like to stay in Oahu for a bit. We like condos but may have to go with a hotel. What area is better weather wise in January? If we go to the BI, what region is central? The cruise is NCI and is 7 day. It goes to Hilo, Kona, BI, Maui, Kaiui. Maybe if we do the BI Honolulu, Maui, then we can just do a day trip or an overnight to Kaiui and skip the cruise?

As to the Big Island, most people spend some time on the west side (Kona/Kohala) and some time on the east side (Volcano.

NCL doesn't get rave reviews but if you're simply looking to just touch each island and not explore in-depth, maybe that's an option.

You could spend two whole weeks on the Big Island and still not do everything. Same for Oahu, for the reasons iamq mentions.

If you did an overnight trip to <b>Kauai</b>, you could theoretically do it but I'm not sure that you would get a lot out of that for the time &amp; expense involved.

A cruise one week would be a great idea to see the islands. Please choose Princess or RC line if possible. If you do choose NCL go with the newer ship. Do not go with Pride of Aloha.

Princess and RC only sail from the mainland. NCL is the only one that sails from Hawaii. I did the NCL pride of America last year. Bad food and service, but seeing the islands was great.

A couple of responses from your other message:

Author: dusty56438 ([email protected])
Date: 07/07/2007, 12:02 pm

Lots of info:

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34812564

http://www.visitmaui.com/ Free brochure

http://www.mauihawaii.org/

http://www.bigisland.org/ Free brochure

http://www.kauaidiscovery.com/ Free brochure

http://www.kauai-hawaii.com/

http://www.visitlanai.net/ Free brochure

http://www.molokai-hawaii.com/ Free brochure

http://www.travelsmarthawaii.com/ (Travel tips - all islands)

http://www.hawaiidiner.com/ (Restaurants - all islands)

http://www.hawaiiinfoguide.com/ (All islands)

http://oceansafety.soest.hawaii.edu/ (Safety tips)

Author: volcanogirl
Date: 07/07/2007, 02:02 pm

Hi, p - do you have an idea of what you'd like to do or see? For example, if you want to see an active volcano, hit the Big Island. Do you want to be near a large city or on a beautiful beach - helicopter tour, luau, etc.? If you give everyone an idea of what your interests are, you'll get a lot of suggestions. We've done Maui, Kauai and the BI - enjoyed them all and would still like to do Oahu.

We'd like to see the scenery we've heard so much about. An active volcano would be great especially at night. We would do a beach just for a short break. We'd like to get the &quot;feel&quot; of Hawaii and see as much as we could. Boating is o.k. but I'm not big into water.

Our favorite things were hiking out to see the lava flow at night on the Big Island; we stayed at the Kilauea Lodge in a little cottage and ate dinner in their restaurant in front of a big stone fireplace - very charming. Then we spent a few days at the Hapuna Beach Prince on the Kohala Coast - very nice, relaxing hotel on a great beach. Another BI highpoint was seeing Akaka Falls - over 400 feet tall and really amazing.

On Kauai, our favorite thing was seeing the Na Pali coast from a helicopter and then doing a sunset sail and seeing it from the sea.

We also went to Maui - very nice, but seemed more expensive than the other islands. We did the Old Lahaina Luau, snorkelled Molokini, did a whale watching tour, watched the sunrise at Haleakala, and drove the road to Hana. If you do a search on any of these topics, I think tons of info. will come up for you.

Just like the above post, we also went to Old Lahaina Luau. I would highly recommend it. Make sure to make reservations well in advance. You won't be dissappointed.

We just returned from Hawaii and this was the first time the lava wasn't flowing down the mountain. It is in the tunnels. I was so dissapointed.

Kauai is must see for scenic beauty. It will steal your heart forever. A helicopter ride is a must on this island. On Hilo go the volcanic state park. Very interesting.