hawaii 1st timers
 

We are planning to visit Hawaii for the first time in 2008 with 2 children aged 11 and 15. We are thinking we will have 2 weeks. We will be flying from Oz. We love surf, natural surroundings, adventure. Not into glitzy high rise. Any suggested activities or islands to visit would be appreciated.Also best time of year to visit.

Surfing is good on Oahu, Maui, Kauai, but not generally Hawaii.

October and November are low-season months, when accomodation rates are lower. Water will still be warm.

I think a couple of days on Oahu and some days on Kauai would be a good option to investigate.

We went to Hawaii in 2005 with a bunch of kids of mixed ages.
We spent 1 week on Oahu and 1 on the Big Island. We had a great time snorkelling at Hanauma Bay and hiking up Diamond Head.
The Big Island was a stand out for all of us. We stand in condos in Kona. At Kahalu Beach we had unbelievable snorkelling and I swam with green turtles- one of my most memorable experiences. We hired a car and went to the Volcanoes National Park which was brilliant but even better we flew over the area in a light plane.
The best thing we did was take a tour(not cheap) up to the summit of Mauna Kea. Save up because it is one of the best things you will ever do. The landscape is like you'd imagine the moon would be and you are above the clouds. The sunset here was breathtaking.
We went in October.
The shopping was also great and hopefully the dollar will still be good for you (It was lousey for us)

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

Rule of thumb:

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

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

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34812564

I would do a combo of the Big Island and Kauai. I wasn't expecting to like the Big Island as much as I did, but we loved it. Standouts were Volcano National Park and Akaka Falls, which is over 400 feet tall and amazing to see. We stayed at the Hapuna Beach Prince, and the beach there was quite nice. Kauai was the most natural and beautiful of all the islands to us; surfing would be good there, as would hiking. We loved doing a catamaran tour and a helicopter tour of the Na Pali Coast - so gorgeous.

We liked Maui, but given your parameters, I'd probably skip it if I were you - it seemed more posh, more developed, etc. than some of the other islands.

Forgot to mention, we stayed at the Kilauea Lodge near Vol. National Park and really liked it - good restaurant on site too.

Thankyou for your suggestions. I will do some research on info from you. Will more than likely be going November - any other suggections welcome.