Wow my first post ever on Fodors, Im so pumped!

My honeymoon is May 30th and we will be staying on Maui at the Westin Maui for 7 nights and then 3 nights at the Outrigger Waikiki on Oahu. After booking my trip (and then doing some researching)I really wanted to change my 3 nights on Oahu to 3 nights on Kauai but my travel agent said it would cost me $1000 which is totally out of our budget. So, Im wondering if a day trip to Kauai is worth it? Possibly staying over night? If anyone has done this or has some helpful info I would greatly appreciate it.

Our travel agent "talked" us into going to Oahu simply because she is a big city girl and likes all of the hustle and bustle that is found in Honolulu. My fiance and myself are more laid back people who crave the outdoors and Kauai just sounds alot more suitable for us. I would like to see it so I can plan a return trip for our 1 year anniversary.

Thanks,

TJ

Stick with Oahu and Maui this time.

Save Kauai for your trip next year. There are many places on Oahu to get layed back and away from the city.

Your topic mentioned day trip to Kauai while on Maui. I don't believe there are any direct flights from Maui to Kauai. If that is stll correct, them you would be spending a lot of time at airports if you would have to stop in Oahu both directions.

Here are my tips on Oahu that include the city, the beaches, hiking, etc. I made this up a couple years ago and all I have to do is copy & paste.

List of things to do on Oahu
These are some hints/suggestions for things to do and see on Oahu.

Arizona Memorial: (free) get there early, preferably by 8am. Opens at 7:30am. If you get there after 10am the lines can get long and you may spend 1-2 hours in line. Battleship USS Missouri and Submarine USS Bowfin are in the same area. These are about $15 each so you can go or skip them. Look for coupons in brochures for two for one. You can take pictures of them from Arizona Visitors Center and the Arizona tour ferry. Go on the lawn behind the Visitor's Center. You can also walk around the Bowfin Memorial area for free without taking the tour. Its worth the time. The Swap Meet is only a couple blocks from here at Aloha Stadium.

Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC): www.polynesia.com General Admission about $40, but I prefer the buffet package ($55) or the luau buffet package ($75). The evening 'Horizon' show is the best Polynesian show in all of Hawaii. It comes with all ticket price options. The higher priced ticket packages get the better seating for 'Horizons'. Also the earlier you get there, the better the seating is for 'Horizons'. The Ali'i Luau Show that is part of the luau package is also a good Polynesian show. IMAX, Canoe Pageant, Samoa and Tonga villages and Canoe ride are the best other attractions (these are included with any type ticket). Plan on this as an all day event. Get there by 1pm (earlier if possible), leave around 9:30pm. When I take visitors, I try to keep on this schedule: IMAX 1:30, Canoe Pageant 2:30, Samoa 3:00, Tonga 4:00, Canoe Ride around 4:30, regular buffet or Ali'i luau buffet 5pm and 'Horizons' at 7:30. The other villages are nice also, but there is not enough time for all of them. You will have time to do some shopping or looking around between the buffet or luau and 'Horizons'. Closed on Sundays. You can go back for free for two days. Check with PCC employees for instructions before leaving the Center if you want the extra days.

Diamond Head Summit: Drive right into the crater and hike to the top. ($5 per carload or $1 each if you walk into the crater). I prefer to drive in. Awesome 360 degree view from the summit. Best time is around 8am or around 4pm. In between it can get hot walking to the top. Takes about 1 - 1 1/2 hours roundtrip.

Punchbowl (National Cemetery of the Pacific): (free) While you are there, drive to the overlook area. Short walk to the summit that overlooks the entire city. If you have time, take the Mt. Tantalus/Round Top drive through a rain forest. Stop at the Puu Ualakaa State Wayside about 2/3 of the way to the top of the mountain. It has an awesome view of the city from Waikiki to Pearl Harbor. Punchbowl is near the bottom of Mt. Tantalus.

Hanauma Bay: Snorkel. Its for any age. You can rent snorkeling equipment there or some places in Waikiki or bring your own. Closed on Tuesdays. Try to get there as early as possible. If you drive, the parking lot gets filled up by 9:00 or 10:00. ($1 for parking, $5 for each person). You can reserve snorkel tours with several companies. They provide equipment, transportation, etc. They seem to have better equipment than the park does. You can also take the city bus. But the first city bus doesn't leave Waikiki until 8:30 am. Website: http://www.co.honolulu.hi.us/parks/f...ay/welcome.htm

Byodo-In-Temple (Valley of the Temples): $2 each. Just past Kaneohe.

Chinaman's Hat: (free) Kualoa Regional Park is just past Byodo-In-Temple. Nice for pictures, picnic, swimming.

Swap Meet: You can buy almost any souvenirs here much cheaper than anywhere else. All items are new. Vendors wrap around the stadium twice. Located at Aloha Stadium near Arizona Memorial. Open Wed, Sat, Sun.

Hilo Hattie's: Nice place to shop. Higher prices than swap meet, but not too much more on many items. Has good selection of clothing, candies and souvenirs. Check brochures for coupons. Can take free Hilo Hattie's shuttle from Waikiki.

Ala Moana Beach Park: (free) Nice beach. Great sunset location in the winter. Walk all the way out to the end of Magic Island. Great view of Waikiki, Diamond Head, Ala Wai Boat Harbor (shown in opening scene of Gilligan's Island).

Hike to Manoa Falls: (Free) You can drive right up to the trailhead and park for free. Or you can pay a few bucks in a nearby lot to have someone "watch" your car. One mile one way. Short hike through a rain forest also bamboo there. Treetops restaurant there (at the previous Paradise Park site) has a good Chinese buffet.

Hike to Makapuu Point Lighthouse: (free) Great view from here. Easy one mile hike. In winter months (mid-November to mid-April) it's great for whale watching.

Other Hiking on Oahu:
http://www.hawaiitrails.org/
http://www.backyardoahu.com/
http://home.hawaii.rr.com/oahuhikingtrails/home.html
http://oahuhiking.com/

North Shore Beaches: Haleiwa, Banzai Pipeline (Ehukai Beach), Waimea Beach, Sunset Beach, Shark's Cove & Chun's Reef. Chun's Reef has sea turtles. Other nice stops for pictures in the area. Can be huge waves in winter. Good snorkeling at Shark's Cove and Chun's Reef in the summer.

Other beaches: There are close to 100 beaches on Oahu. Besides North Shore and Waikiki beaches these are some of the better ones: Makaha Beach (west shore), Waimanalo Beach, Lanikai Beach, Sandy Beach, Hanauma Bay and Kailua Beach (east/Windward side), Ala Moana Beach Park (south shore). All public beaches are free except Haunama Bay.

Dole Pineapple Plantation: On H-2 just past Wahiawa. Can visit on the way to or back from the North Shore. Nice gift shop to browse, but expensive. Go behind the center for pineapple exhibits and carp feeding pond.

Kualoa Ranch: Several movies have been set here: (Jurassic Park, Mighty Joe Young and others), ATV rides, horseback riding, tours. Located across from Kualoa Regional Park.

Waikiki: Beaches, shopping, dining, nightclubs, shows, some museums. Wide range in dining prices. $3-4 breakfasts, $6-10 lunch buffets, $20-$25 fine dining and anywhere in between. Best Waikiki shows: Creation: A Polynesian Journey, John Hirokawa's Magic of Polynesia, Society of Seven, Blue Hawaii (Elvis impersonator), many more to chose from. Many Waikiki shows offer cocktail show along with the dinner show. They seat you after everyone else has eaten. Regular price of shows around $40-$60. Cocktail show about $25-$35. There are several short free hula shows and other demonstrations in Waikiki daily. Check the brochures for location, days and times. Check brochures for coupons for shows/dining/shopping, etc.

Downtown Area: Aloha Tower (take elevator to the top, nice view), Chinatown, Hawaii Maritime Center, Iolani Palace, Bishop Museum, other museums.

Botanical Gardens: Oahu has many botanical gardens. Most are free, the others charge a few bucks. Haiku Garden in Kaneohe is nice and is a nice stop if you are taking an island driving tour. Located near Byodo-In-Temple (Valley of the Temples). Check brochures or get info on-line. Search: oahu botanical gardens

Other: Sea Life Park, Zoo, Aquarium, Dinner cruise, whale watching cruise, submarine tours, parasailing, helicopter tours, horseback riding, Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park, scuba, surfing lessons, other luau shows (Germaine's, Paradise Cove). Many other attractions, things to do. Check the brochures.

Brochures: (free) Can be found in the airport baggage claim area or at hundreds of news stands throughout Waikiki, in hotels, in stores, and at some attractions. These are excellent "things to do and see" guide books (maps, attractions, beaches, dining, night clubs, etc.). There are a lot of coupons in these for dining, shopping, etc. The best brochures are: 'This Week on Oahu', 'Oahu Gold', '101 Things Oahu', 'The BEST of Oahu'. Some of these brochures can also be found for other islands (Maui, Kauai, Big Island) unique to that island. Most of these brochures also have on-line versions.

Websites:
www.thisweek.com 'This Week On Oahu' They will send up-to-date brochures for a few bucks. Also This Week Maui, Kauai, Big Island.
www.spotlighthawaii.com 'Oahu Gold' They will send up-to-date brochures for a few bucks. Also Maui Gold, Big Island Gold, Kauai Gold.
www.gohawaii.com This is the official site for Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau. They will send a free brochure.
www.101thingstodo.com
www.visit-oahu.com Oahu Visitors Bureau, for free brochure 1-877-525-6248 (toll free)
www.hawaii.com Good site for comparing hotel locations, prices, etc.
www.hawaiiweb.com
www.alternative-hawaii.com
www.hawaii-hotels.com Compare hotels
www.bookit.com Compare hotels
www.alohafriends.com
www.honoluluadvertiser.com one of two main Honolulu newspapers, has dining & entertainment guides, TGIF calendar
www.starbulletin.com one of two main Honolulu newspapers, also has dining & entertainment

Automobiles: Oahu is the only island that you can get around by bus. Oahu has a good bus system, but a rental vehicle gets around a lot better. Parking in Waikiki can be a problem at times. If you plan on renting a car, make sure your hotel allows parking at the hotel or in a nearby lot or garage. Get the parking pass at the hotel registration area. Probably $8-$14/day to park at the hotel. You can get city bus passes at any ABC store in Waikiki for $20 for 4 days. Or you can pay $2.00 per trip. There are also many shuttles, tour buses and vans and trolleys that go to many places (some are free).

Internet Search Engines: Use Yahoo, Google, Dogpile or any other search engine to find information on any thing else on Oahu (or other island) that may interest you. Type in: hiking hawaii, hiking oahu, bed and breakfast oahu, condominiums oahu, botanical gardens oahu, oahu hotels or any other terms that will get you information.

Hotels: Most hotels (or hotel chains) have their own 800 numbers and/or websites: www.outrigger.com www.sheraton.com www.ohanahotels.com, etc. Or you can use a search engine to find the website or use the search engine's yellow pages for the phone number.

Entertainment Book
Entertainment books for Hawaii and many other locations can be purchased online at www.entertainment.com. They cost around $35-$40 plus shipping or if you wait until mid-March, the price is reduced to about $25 (or less) with free shipping. Expires November 1.
Coupons include half price tickets for John Hirokawa's Magic Show. Hundreds of other coupons for reduce price luaus, shopping, dining, movies, attractions, etc. The Hawaii book also has many mainland coupons for hotels, car rentals, Universal Studios, Sea World, etc.

Phone Cards: If you don't have a cell phone, the best phone cards right now can be found at Costco or Sam's Club. Right now they are only $.03/m, 24 hours a day, seven days a week with no monthly charge. Can be used from pay phones ($.25 or eight units surcharge from pay phone), hotels, homes.

I flew from Maui to Kauai a few years ago--direct, not much of a hassle, but would still be more moving around on a honeymoon than I'd care to do.

I'd press your travel agent on the change fee. Sometimes travel agents don't like to work as hard as they should. Especially if she has already received a commission on your Oahu booking that she'd have to return. Maybe if she explains that it's your honeymoon, the outrigger would show you some mercy. Then it's a matter of a few flight adjustments. Even so, $1,000 sounds excessive (although maybe not at this late date). All that being said, Oahu has its quiet parts, and everyone should see the Arizona. After seeing the Arizona, I'd try to go see the North Shore and other less crowded parts since that is obviously your style. Have fun!

The poster asks a simple question on Kauai (their first post) and they get a very lengthy response on what is great and wonderful on Oahu. Go figure!

About 6 weeks ago, my wife and I took a non-stop IslandAir flight from Kahului to Lihue, where we were staying for the next week, and while we were on just a Dash-8 prop plan, it was a very enjoyable little ride. We flew in the morning, and everything worked out fine.... once we figured out that we had to go to the "commuter terminal", way down past the end of the main terminal. A long way to drag golf clubs and luggage, but still worth it. It seems to me that non-stop flights only go in the morning (both airlines are on the Aloha schedule on their web-site). Our evening flight back to Maui on Aloha Air stopped in Honolulu for about 45 minutes, which was no big problem, even though it was the only time we were on Oahu, this trip, which was fine with us. If you are so inclined, you could hit Kauai for a day or 2, we sure enjoyed ourselves!

IMHO a day trip to Kauai would only be worth it if there was some family event or something like that - a specific paid excursion perhaps. Otherwise it's just too much bother IMHO. You're in Hawaii, who wants to rush around, you do that the rest of the year

Rusty, I copied and pasted the Oahu response because the question was, "Is it worth it to change 3 nights on Oahu to 3 nights on Kauiai" and also the writer talked about the "crave" for the outdoors.

Granted there is a lot of info in my post that was not asked for. But there is a lot there that explains why they need not try to change their plans and go to Kauai.

The biggest reason why all the info is there is because all it takes is a couple of seconds to copy and paste something rather that to pick and choose items that exactly match the questions or comments.

If the person asking the questions finds some thing or some things that do not pertain to the question they can skip over that part.

My question is why did you make the stupid comment you did?

Dusty56438,

Thank you for your response. And thank you to everyone who replied. I think we will just stick with our plans of 7 nights on Maui and 3 on Oahu. I think if I try to stick in a daytrip to Kauai that it will just lead to a crabby day for both of us. It is our honeymoon and we certainly need to unwind and this sounds more stressful than relaxing. Next year(if we can afford it) I will be gunning for a trip to Kauai.

Another reason I wanted to switch my trip from Oahu to Kauai was because of all the negatives I am hearing about Oahu. I had recently spoken with a native of Hawaii(who moved here to Wisconsin..does that make any sense lol) and she said that Waikiki has gone way downhill in the past 10 years so this made me very leary. I would like to spend 1 day exploring Waikiki but after that I want to stay as from from the city as possible. Does anyone recommend renting a car? I really want to see the entire island but those circle island tours wont do it for me. I like to explore way way too much. So, are there car rentals close to the Outrigger Waikiki Hotel?

Thanks,
TJ

Rent a car. It will allow for a lot more freedom. There are many places in Waikiki to rent cars, including from most major hotels. Some have cars in Waikiki. Some you have to take a shuttle to the airport to pick up the car. Some offer free shuttles.

But you may want to rent the car for all three days in case you want to avoid the hassle of taking a shuttle to get a car or if you decide to leave early to tour the island. Also if you go to the Arizona Memorial, you would want to leave early.

Let me know if you want suggestions for a one day island tour.