Coming from the east coast..
Original plans were to go to Maui for a week but now we are thinking of possibly splitting up between Kauai and Maui. Planning on last week in May, I know its last minute but had a death in the family and we started to plan back in Feb and now we just want to go. We would love to go for 2 weeks but our vaction schedule doesn't work out and were using Memorial Day to help extend the trip.

Originally thinking of going to Maui and staying 4 nights at either the Hyatt or Sheraton first and then 2 or 3 nights at the Four Seasons. Is there enough to do and see for a week?

Then we thought fly into Kauai 4 nights at the Grand Hyatt and then 4 nights at the FS in Maui. Theres an interisland flight in the morning to Maui. I know the FS is expensive but will probably never be back.. think its worth it?

We like to explore, can only spend a couple of hours on the beach.

Which island is there more to do on? Can we do them both in 4 nights? If we had to add a night which island has more to do?

Thanks for your help...

Pick one island. Pick one hotel. I don't like moving around much when on Hawaii. Others like to island hop every 3 or 4 days so they can see more. That is not how I like to travel. I can't imagine spending just 3 full days on any of the islands you mention

Maui would be my sugggestion. There is plenty to do there for a week. Lots of exploring oppotunities and lots of diverse landscape.

There is that in spades as well on Kauai, maybe even more so, so it makes it hard to suggest between the two. Kauai is more dramatic in some ways and Maui is more grand in some ways.

Splitting your stay on Maui betweenn Wailea and Kaanapali might be fun, especially if you want a splurge at the end at the FS, which is a gorgeous hotel with all the bells and whistles.

I totally agree with NOT splitting your time between 2 islands. It is a long trip from the East Coast and changing Islands will take up a day. Maui is our preferred place to stay, but Kauai is beautiful as well. I wouldn't divide up my time between Islands unless I was staying 2 weeks.

Enjoy!

Theres an interisland flight that leaves kauai at 9:00AM and arrives in Maui around 10:00AM. So we could leave Kauai early and be at the hotel in Maui by 12:00.

My vote is Maui two locations with the last few nights at 4S. Have your bathings suits accessible in case your room isn't ready, you simply hit the pool and beach.

I totally agree with earlier posters that a week is too short to do 2 islands. Too much of your vacation will be used up packing, unpacking, getting to airports, sitting in airports, driving back and forth to hotels---and that all adds up to substituting lots of stress and time for the time and enjoyment you could be having enjoying Hawaii. I have been to the islands many times and 7 days on one island has always just been barely enough to really see and enjoy all that each island has to offer. Do yourself a favor and go to just one island this time and then "force" yourself to go back to see the other island on a future trip. Life is too short to go to Hawaii only once. I would pick Maui for your first trip.
Have fun.

So if we did split it up in Maui, staying at the Hyatt/ Sheraton and then the last couple of days at the FS, what area would we do most of our site seeing from?

I would use your time at the FS to chill and be pampered. There are some lovely beaches south of Wailea that would be worth seeing, and there are some fantastic restuarants in Kihei and Wailea that would be worth eating at, but if you're going to spend that kind of money on a hotel, I would milk it for as much as I could and get as much value out of it.

Agree with the others, with a week stick to one island, if you had ten days to two weeks minimum you could do both Maui and Kauai. I love Kauai myself but think Maui would work better for you. Also you usually cannot check into your hotel until 3-4pm so you would have to use courtesy room to change into bathing suits and have the hotel hold your bags, or else get into car and drive around and explore. Have a good trip and hope you can come back another time to kauai.

Both areas are good for launching sight-seeing trips. From the Hyatt (Kaanapali Area) you are in a good spot to see all the sights on the northwest side of Maui as well as Iao Valley State Park. The FS area is a good place to launch sight seeing trips to the Upcountry and Haleakela as well as the southern parts of the coast.

You will love the Four Seasons on Maui. We felt so pampered there, I never wanted to leave!

Don't know if you are using any rewards. Do the math on specials of 4ht/5th night free, bfast etc. That will determine if you'd rather spend a few hundred dollars more to stay at 4S for the 5th night free, or use it before and spend 3 nights at 4S. So many beautiful places to explore. Enjoy the West side drive and all the nooks and crannies it has to offer. You might spend the day between resorts exploring Paia and watching wind and kite surfers and a bit of upcountry or hana highway on your way to 4S. Then I'd chill and do Makena and the end of the road for a couple of hours a day, and savour the 4S, take a kayak, snorkle some and get up early and score a cabana for the day.

Yes, I would stay with the one island, Maui. We just did a 2 island trip (Maui and the Big Island) in 9 days a few months ago. I felt that was too much moving around. I like at least a week on one Island. FYI, I did two locations on Maui: Upcountry (Haiku) and Lahaina. A good contrast of a slow pace and a busy/ faster pace.

I would go to one island only. I'd pick Maui as the ones with most to "see and do". It's incredible. Especially coming from the east coast it's a long flight and big time change. Personally I'd also just pick one hotel but that's because I think it maximizes the experience, not spending time in one short week packing up and moving.

It's truly a personal choice though. If you have a big desire to stay in 2 hotels or also add Kauai, certainly any of your plans are do-able.

I've done multiple-island trips on many occasions, but I wouldn't do so with just a week. I'll change islands if I have 10 days.

According to Norwegian Cruise Lines you can do 4 islands in a week. You sleep on the ship so you don't have to worry about finding a hotel. http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/cm...S|p|7227968338

I split trips all the time. Spent two weeks in Panama and I think we were at five hotels. Just travel light.

If you think this might be your only trip to Hawaii, I would do the split between Maui and Kauai.

When you split trips between two somewhat different locations, it's like two vacations in one.

Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be able to come back.
Usually when were traveling and exploring we spend 2 nights here, 2 nights there.

Donna, when we went there we split our time between the big island and kauai. The air travel is a short flight, but you still have your bags checked and lost most of a day moving. On that note I'm glad we went to Kauai, I wish we would have spent all 9 days of our trip there. If you get an early afternoon flight you will still be at the new hotel well before sundown. On Kauai, we stayed on the southeast corner of the island at the Hyatt and I loved it, watching the sun rise over the ocean with a Kona cup of coffee in my hand, no one else around, relaxing.........

We'd want to stay at the Hyatt..
Theres a 9:00AM morning flight out to go to Maui.
We know we'd have to leave early to get to the airport...
Were just "flopping" back and forth and can't make up our minds. Meanwhile the airfare is going up, up and up...