Hawaii advice
 

Hey everyone! Okay so my fiancé and I have been thinking about traveling lately. We wanted to go to Hawaii (Honolulu and maybe Maui or Oahu) for like two weeks after I graduate in October with our families. We wanted to go for Whale season in November.. I know I talk a lot, but my questions are.. Where would be the best place to go in Hawaii Maui or Oahu? We are for sure going to Honolulu, but I don't know if we should stay in Honolulu for the two weeks or go to another island for the last week there.. My other question is what is the best airline to take to Hawaii or what website is the best option to buy tickets from... I have done some research and yes it is expensive especially for everyone going, but is there a best option?? For people wondering it will be my fiancé, his mom and dad. Me, two kids under the age of 12, and my mom... Another question is what would be the best things to do in Hawaii? We have heard about the stairway to heaven, black sand beach, zip lining, cliff diving, snorkeling, diving with sharks or was it Dolphins?, submarines, and hula dancing... Let me know.. I guess my main concern of it all is for whoever has gone do we need visas, passports, and how much money we would need (roughly speaking) thank you all (:

Also sorry but what would be better car rental or taxis or hotels or apartment/house rentals thank yoi

Re: visas and passports ... where are you coming from?

If budget is an issue, renting a house would probably cost less than hotels.

Thailand, then China, then Japan! Where next?

<i>We wanted to go to Hawaii (Honolulu and maybe Maui or Oahu)</i>

Honolulu is a city on the island of Oahu.

Best airline - depends on what airport you are flying out of

Seems like you need at least 4 bedrooms - so a house would make the most sense.

2 weeks in 1 location seems like a long time. I would want to do 2 islands. But that means an intra island flight, so another thing to think about.

IF you change islands - flying into 1 from your home airport, then fly to 2nd island and then fly home from THE 2nd island. Do not book a round trip from your home to and from the 1st island. That will mean an extra flight from 2nd island back to first.

Between airfares, house rentals, meals, excursion etc. this is going to be a pricey trip for 7 people. Maybe just 1 week on 1 island??

catspajamas I know I wanna go to a lot of places if I could delete those other ones I would mostly because they are places I considered going but unfortunately can't. Thailand is for my honeymoon next year so I'm preparing myself and saving up. If you read they my china or Japan one I mentioned how I thought I would have time to go to Japan/China while I was in Thailand, but I had many people tell me not to over do my honeymoon and just stick to one. Now for this year I'm graduating from college and I would like to go to Hawaii. I know I might sound stupid, but I was just hopeful for advice.

Songdoc I'm from Nebraska but I had a couple of girls at work mention that we needed "visas" to travel to Hawaii even though I thought id's would be sufficient.

DebitNM thanks you are right I didn't think about that so I will consider that.

" I'm from Nebraska"

If you [and your family] are all US citizens, you don't need anything but government issued ID's to go to Hawaii. Sorry, your co-worker are very wrong.

It's okay DebitNM that's why I always come on here for advice so thank you

It sounds like you need to take a look at your budget and how much it will cover. Hawaii is an expensive destination, not just getting there and lodging, but rental car prices and food prices (even if you are cooking in your rental) are high.

The best place to buy plane tickets is from the airline you are flying. Most of the big airlines have flights to Hawaii - like United and Delta and American, but Alaskan Air and Hawaiian Air are also good options, depending on the connections from where you live.

I always book all of my arrangements for Hawaii (and most places I travel to) directly with the airline, hotel, car rental company. Occasionally, you may find a package that is slightly less expensive - check with Costco and with AAA. You will need to be e member to book, but can look into the prices, etc even without a membership.

But you should start with a good guidebook or two. We can't tell you which island(s) to go to, but if you read about these places, I expect you will have a sense of what you want once you've read about these places. Likewise, for activities.

While your co-workers were wrong about the need for a visa to visit Hawaii, they were right about not adding China and/or Japan to your Thai honeymoon. Come back and ask about your honeymoon planning on the Asia board once you are ready to tackle that.

Kathie you are right! Thank you so much and yeah that's why I felt bad that I couldn't delete them cause it feels like people are going to think I'm undecided which I may be lol but no I won't go until November 2017 or sooner but it sucks because I was hoping I had enough time for all and thanks to this site I realized I was trying to tackle more than what I needed to be tackling and thanks again I can't wait to tackle that part but the only thing I'm tackling about Thailand right now is my budget lol. I really do appreciate everyone giving me advice I will go and read more about Hawaiian islands and see which one I like more to go visit and I'll go to the airline here and go purchase tickets everyone always said they were more expensive in person then through Expedia or kayak ect

Okay, I get it. If you are a US citizen, you do not need a visa to travel to Hawaii....it is a state! And it is a wonderful vacation destination. No matter which island you go to, there is a lot to see and do. My DD lives in Honolulu and I am very fortunate to be able to travel there frequently. Japan too since my DIL is Japanese. Keep planning! Some day you will get to all the wonderful places you think about!
And let me know if you ever come back to Guatemala!

Catspajamas sounds good and thank you! Yeah I was disappointed when I found out it wouldn't be the best choice to go to Japan/ China for like a few days since it's such a beautiful destination and it should be fully enjoyed. Hopefully I can leave Japan/China for another time. I would love to go back to Guatemala my mom is from there is wonderful to learn the culture and see where my ancestors came from (:

For car rental, try discounthawaiicarrental.com and keep checking rates between when you book and when you travel as the price often drops.
With that many people, look into multiple condos.

Yessi! He vivido aqui en Guate desde 1987. Su pais es incredible!

I cannot tell you how many trips I have planned in my head and when I have taken one of them, it has been wonderful! Keep dreaming, keep planning, and keep asking questions! You Go Girl!

Yo eh ido a guate solo una vez y me encanto ojalá y que dios me ayude a regresar!

Thanks girl I was so disappointed because we have the majority of our Thailand money and I was hopeful to flying to China for two days and people were like no choose one because they are both beautiful places and China can't be explored in just two days I was appreciative don't get me wrong or else I would've wasted some money but I was also sad cause I wish I could do it all but time and money limit me!

<best place to go in Hawaii Maui or Oahu? We are for sure going to Honolulu>

You need to look at a map of the islands!

If you ARE going to Honolulu then you WILL be on Oahu :-)