loverly7

Hi everyone! Before you all tell me I'm totally nuts, at least hear me out first. My husband and I are considering a trip to Hawaii next year, somewhere in the June-November range, and we could use some feedback. I have purchased the Maui Revealed, the Ultimate Kauai, and Hawaii: The Big Island Revealed, and I have looked over all these books in great detail. Here's what I'm considering:

Fly nonstop from Chicago to Maui, spend 5 nights sightseeing and relaxing.

Fly from Maui to Kauai for 4 nights of sightseeing and relaxing.

Fly from Kauai to Hilo, BI for 2 nights for exploring Hawaii Volacanoes National Park.

Fly from Hilo, BI to Oahu for 2 nights. Here we would drive around the island a bit, and most important, see Pearl Harbor.

Fly from Oahu nonstop to Chicago.

Am I crazy? I know we are doing Maui and Kauai for sure. I REALLY want to see Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (I have no interest at this time in going to the other side of the island), and we both want to see Pearl Harbor, plus Oahu is convenient for our flight home. We would have all interisland flights for early in the morning, so it would hopefully not eat up an entire day. The expense of going to Hawaii means that we don't know when or if we will be able to return, which is why we would really like to be able to see what we want on the 4 main islands. While I would love to be able to stay longer, we only get 2 weeks of vacation, so this is it. Any ideas and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for all your help.

JohnD

We did a similar trip (5days Maui, 4days Kauai, 2days BI) to what you are proposing back in 2001, except we did not visit Oahu, and it was a wonderful experience.
Suggest you schedule your interisland flights as early in the morning as possible to save the daylight hours, and if your interisland flights connect through HNL, try to get a flight that stops rather than connects at HNL to save time and having to reboard.
You might also consider a roundtrip ticket from Chicago to HNL (then connect on to Maui) as sometimes roundtrip tickets to HNL can be lower in price, though it takes longer.
If you are considering a condo rental for your 4 or 5 day stays on Maui & Kauai to save on cost, they may be harder to find for a stay of less than 7 days, and a Hawaiian travel agency might be helpfull for shorter condo stays.

Good luck with your trip, you will love Hawaii!

Gellers

It sounds like a great trip to me! We do multi-island trips every time we go to Hawaii. Interisland flights are not the big deal people seem to think they are. It's good you scheduled them early, though--that's important.

The only suggestion I'd make is to spend more time on the Big Island...it's a truly spectacular place and very underrated. If you are a resort-type person, the resorts there surpass even the best of Kauai and Maui. But if you already have your itinerary planned and can only spend two days there--do Volcanoes Park one day, and then drive through the Puna region the next day. The east side of the Big Island is, IMO, the most beautiful part of Hawaii (the entire state). It beats the road to Hana hands down--more lush, more gorgeous, and LESS TRAFFIC.

JMM

Yes this can be done but a couple of suggestions:
One less night in Maui
One more night on the BI - it really is big and takes longer to get around and there are other things to see besides Volcanos National Park
Also suggest a slightly different order:
1. Maui - OK but one less day as suggested above
2. Big Island - very short flight between Maui and BI and lots of flights between Maui and BI. -
3. Kaui - your most time consuming flight will be from BI to Kaui because you will probably have to switch planes in Oahu BUT then you will be relaxing on Kauai for 4 days
4. Oahu (very short flight from Kauai)
Yes this is all doable. We did 4 islands in 15 days and did not regret it - like you we do not know when we will get back.

Kaymit

Hi

We are doing the same sort of trip next Sept. We will be flying into Maui for 6 nights, then to kaui for 5 nights, then to Honalulu for 2 nights (to see pearl Harbor on the day we return home as our flight does not depart until 6:45 pm and do a day trip to the Big Isalnd to see the Volcano national Park)

So I think your trip is doable too. We aredoing the Home of the Brave Tour whlich not only does Pearl Harbor but does all the military stuff on the island and they have WWII and maybe Pearl Harbor Vets to make appearances too. We plan to arrange a late check out on the day we leave. We like you ony want to see the volocano so we thoght a day trip would do the trick.

Kay

Kal

Yes. You're crazy. But I can't think of a better way or place to BE crazy!
You GO girl!

gyppielou

Yup, Kal has it down. My only possible suggestion would be to do Pearl Harbor andBI first and then melt into the rest of the trip - the other way seems to hectic to end a vacation. It's all good, and there is always something more around the corner. I'd go for the WOW at BI volcano, the emotional at Pearl Harbor and then chill and explore as much at a slow natural pace as possible. Best wishes! G

patg

I'm with gyppielou. Something mysterious happens in the islands where, after a few days, you lose your motivation to see and do a lot. Start on Oahu because you need to get to Pearl Harbor early, and you'll definitely be waking up with the birds the first few days. Then go to the BI; your plan of just seeing the Hilo/volcano area is doable in two days and two nights. Can't comment on Kauai, but Maui is a great finish, specifically Mama's restaurant before a 9 p.m. flight home! Airline connections from Maui to Chicago are pretty convenient.

loverly7

Thanks for all your responses! I think we'll be changing the order of our islands around some to begin on Oahu and end on Maui. It actually turns out to be a couple hundred dollars cheaper to do it that way! Thanks again for all your help!