Myself, my husband and 2 sons aged 18 and 21 are hoping to go to Hawaii in September 2003. We are abit overwhelmed by the various options available and would appreciate any advice going! Both boys want to surf (NOT windsurf) and are beginners/intermediates. My husband and I love to snorkel and surf with boogie boards. We are looking at Punahoa Beach near Kihei, but are abit underwhelmed by all the talk of traffic noise etc. Should we stay in 2 different places? We will be on the island for about 2 weeks. Is there a better option than Maui? None of us appreciate crowds of people very much! Thank you.
Suzi

My experience is that 2 weeks is a little to much for one island , you might want to hop over to oahu , or kauai, for 4-5 days.That being said Maui is the best island for activities, go look at activities on the internet ,like activity warehouse, they book all islands for activities.

Kaanapali pacifically the sheraton hotel beach is the is the best free snorkle area and there are shops and many restaurants. For surfing go to the wailia area and enjoy the beach , also very good snorkle beach.

kauai is less people and there are many beaches look for locals surfing. the best area is called kee beach ,but it can be very crowded, you can snorkle in a protected lagoon and mountain ridge hike.

Just remember this is hawaii and it is paradise, so everyone wants a piece of that. have fun relax nick

Message: Hi Suzi. We rented a house in S. Kihei and could watch surfers right from our patio. The beach is directly in front of the house. It has one bedroom, with a Murphy pull down bed in the living roon. Although in a busy section, there was no traffic noise and well secluded from the road. The entire living room wall was glass so you can see the ocean from all the rooms except the bathroom. They have all the beach equipment you need, including boogie boards (although not surfboards.) The website is: www.mywaii.com
If you want to see pictures, I have them posted at: http://community.webshots.com/user/maggiwun
It is within easy walking distance of the three Kama'ole beaches. Have a great time!


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Suzi, a lot of people visit Hawaii so there will be crowds. There are fewer people and tourists on Kauai but not much going on in the evening. I find that the Kaanapali area offers lots of things to do and the beach is pretty good too. However, there will be traffic. Oahu isn't much better either. The Big Island is really great for hiking and seeing the volcanoes, but the beaches aren't as nice as Maui. With two weeks, you could easily do two islands and maybe even three (4 days each on the Big Island and Kauai and 5 on Maui). Each island is unique but they are all beautiful.

Suzi,
We've been to Maui 4 times and always during the off season meaning not winter or spring break and never in the summer. We usually go in Sept or Oct though we did just go in Nov before the Thanksgiving break. We've never seen any crowds during this time. Even walking along the Kaanapali beach walk was fine. We did see the traffic really pick up on our last day which was the Friday as the Thanksgicing week was beginning so the crowds do exist it just won't be bad when you go there in Sept.

If you don't want to stay in Maui for 2 weeks your boys might like Kauai or the Big Island for one of those weeks. Way fewer tourists on both of those isalnds. But lots to see and do for the outdoors type.