My husband, myself and my two boys ages 15 and 11 are planning a trip to Hawaii this summer. I do not know anything about it and would like some insight, as it is extremely overwhelming. Our itinerary looks like this. New Jersey to San Francisco to Hawaii to Seattle to New Jersey. How long would you suggest in Hawaii to see and do all the "must sees", which of the island, what to do? the only thing I know is that my husband would like to see Pearl Harbor, the kids a volcano, and I would like to spend time on the beach. Please help!

For me, Pearl Harbor on Oahu was a must for our first trip to Hawaii.

Obviously, your going to do some island-hopping (volcanoes on the big island, pearl harbor on Oahu) so when you book your flights across the country, also book interisland flights.

Oahu is a good base if you island hop the whole trip. However, I do not think AT ALL that one or two days per island gives Hawaii justice.

If you instead want to stay on one island, my island of choice is Kauai, as it is probably the most unspoiled of all the islands.

I can't give a lot of info, as I do not know exactly what you want, but I hope this is a start.

We spent 2 weeks in Hawaii, our first trip, this past May.We also left from NJ- but flew Non Stop.
We spent 2 nights in Oahu- the night we arrived we were beat, they next day we did Pearl Harbor, and the battleship Missouri, it was a great tour, and I highly recommend. We used points and stayed at the Marriott on Waikkiki. We then flew to The big Island, spent 6 nights there. Highlight was the Blue Hawaii 2 hour Helicopter tour- A life changing trip- circling over the Volcano, unbelievable! We spent 4 nights at Wiakola (sp) Beach ( a bit commercial and far from the fun town, but good for kids) and the 2 nights in Volcano NP- a must see.
We then flew to Maui, spent 6 nights at the Hyatt, the best ever.....We did not have kids with us, but Kids would love this resort.
We loved the entire trip. The time in Oahu and The Big Island were action packed, Maui very laid back. We had a car on each island, we were on our own- no group tours, we had a blast. Get the 'Reveled" series of guide books- they were our bible and never steered us wrong.
It can be overwhelming, but a little researh lead us to a trip we would do again and again, and again....

The first task to breaking it down is figuring out which island(s) you want to go to - Oahu, Big Island, Kauai, and/or Maui.

Where does your flight arrive & depart (Honolulu?).

Pearl Harbor is on Oahu and to see a live volcano you have to go to the Big Island. You can spend time on the beach any of the islands!

If you had two weeks and spend one week each on Oahu and Big Island would be fun.

Do a search on this forum under Pearl Harbor, Arizona Memorial and Oahu. Dusty's posts have a lot of links for all islands.

Oddly enough, there are many guidebooks about Hawaii. This free posting board is even sponsored by a company that produces a guidebook or two, Fodors.

A trip to your local bookstore could be invaluable in planning your trip.

Or the public library? Some guidebooks are set up for one island only, but several series offer a single publication that covers all the islands.

My first "recent years" trip to the Islands was planned mostly with a single guidebook on Hawaii. In my case I decided on Maui and Kauai. In your case based on what you've said, I'm thinking Oahu and the Big Island. How many days do you have on the Islands?

After reading what everyone has written, it seems like we may need 2 weeks in Hawaii, rather than one week. Instead of flying non-stop from NJ to Hawaii, we thought we would stop in San Francisco for a few days, then go to Hawaii, then fly to Seattle to spend a few days and also go to Vancouver and then fly home, but it may be too long of a trip. If we were flying directly from Newark to Hawaii, which island airport would be the best to fly in to. Which islands have the most to see and do and can you do day trips between islands?

Day trips between islands are not really effective. First, you have to get the airport in each direction, so you need to spend the time driving to the airport, dropping off your car, going through security and flying, picking up a car at the other end, and doing the same thing in reverse at the end of the day. You'd at most end up with half a day on the "other" island, and no island in Hawaii is worth only half a day! Much better to split up your stay. If you have less than a week, 1 island. A week to 10 days - 2 islands. 2 weeks - 3 islands. Which islands you go to depends on what you want to do and see; they're all different. Kauai is known for spectacular beauty, nice beaches, great hiking. Maui is more "touristy" with gorgeous but more highly developed beach areas. The Big Island has the active volcano. Oahu has Waikiki (talk about developed!). HTH!

I would not combine San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver with a trip to Hawaii!! That's way too much imo.

Just fly as direct as possible (Honolulu on Oahu has the most flight options) and enjoy your entire vacation, the longer the better, on Hawaii. If you can get two weeks, you can fit in 2-3 islands.

Sure it's possible to do day-trips, for example there are organized tours that take you from Oahu to BI just for 1 day to see the volcano. Or you could go on your own but it's a lot of time, effort, and money, just for a peak at a different island imo.

Every island has plenty to see and do. You could spend a week on any of them and barely hit the most famous highlights.

From the east coast with 14 days, I'd do the following:
3 nights in SF
4 nights on Oahu
5 nights on Big Island
2 nights in Seattle
I can see why you'd want to do a couple west coast cities, since you are flying that far anyway. I'd pass on Vancouver this trip.

I was pretty much thinking that timeframe in each place, but now maybe just might split the whole trip and make Hawaii a separate trip since there is so much to do there and it can get a little hectic adding everything on to it. Thanks for all the information.

My reasoning for skipping the stopover US cities was all the extra logistics involved. Adding at least two more airport landings & departures, transfering from & back to the airports cost and hassle, two more hotels to check in & out of, two extra cities to plan activities in, etc. It just seems a little unfocused to me especially with kids in tow. And on top of this plan 9-10 days on 2-3 islands in Hawaii?

Two weeks in Hawaii:

3 nights Oahu
6 nights BI
5 nights Maui OR

7 nights Oahu
7 nights BI OR

7 nights Maui
7 nights BI OR do what we do:

14 nights Kaua'i

My husband and I did two weeks in March last year. We flew from Newark to Honolulu. We originally thought of breaking up the long flight by stopping in San Fran or LA each way. I didn't think I could handle 11 hours on the plane. I am glad we decided against it. Flying direct was a good decision for us. We did an inter island flight from Honolulu to Maui. That took about half a day due to all of the security requirements. We stayed in Waikiki for 5 days and the balance in Maui (Hana and Wailea). I really liked Waikiki and think teenagers might enjoy that area also (especially if they like to surf or other water sports). The North Shore is also a beautiful area of the island. I didn't want to go to Hawaii without doing Pearl Harbor. We spent our first morning there (Up early due to the time change.) Too much island hopping between the islands and you will end up spending too much time at the airport. The guidebooks mentioned in the post will provide invaluable information. Let you boys help with the planning so that they will feel a part of the process. Have a great time!

Rule of thumb for Hawaii:

7 nights or less - 1 island
8-10 nights - 1 or 2 islands
11-14 nights - 1, 2 or 3 nights
15+ nights - 1, 2, 3 or 4 islands

The only way to see live lava on Big Island right now is by air, either helicopter or fixed wing. The lava flow is in an inaccessible area in the park. But you can still visit Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

There are craters on all islands.

On Oahu there are three popular craters: Diamond Head which you can drive into & climb to the top. National Cemetery of the Pacific and Hanauma Bay are inside of craters.

Bishop Museum has a really nice Volcano House where you can virtually create "lava" & tidal waves.

On Maui there is Haleakala. It is still considered an active volcano though it hasn't gone off in 200 years.

Big Island has the only live lava. There are several accessible craters in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

More to see & do on Oahu than any other island.

Lots of info including sites with free brochures for all islands:

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...1&tid=34812564

Just have to thank everyone for the valuable information. With your help we have decided to do Hawaii as a separate trip next year and tour the cities we want to see (finish our baseball stadiums) this year without including Hawaii. Thanks so much.