Vaycee

Would like some help with what to see and do on a short stay in Hawaii.

Arriving on 25th wedding anniversary after cruising from Sydney to Honolulu. Then I want to use our time to best advantage and see the Big Island and Maui. Would like to visit usual sights on Oahu - Pearl Harbour, north shore surf, Diamond Head. Have read about some spectacular scenery on Maui, but have a yearning to see volcanoes on the Big Island too.

We will probably have about 9 days to try and do as much as possible, but Island hopping may take too much of our time. How easy is it to fly between islands?

We like scenery, happy to drive, but hiring cars on different islands could be costly ??? Enjoy walking and soaking up local culture.

Any suggestions on a good luau would be much appreciated as well as somewhere to do the special dinner on our night of arrival in Honolulu for the 25th celebrations.

Our travel agent has suggested a hotel which seems to be the sort of place that would suit us - the Waikiki Parc - does anyone have any local knowledge please?

We arrive on 28 April and need to be back in Sydney by 8 or 9 May 2009. Itinerary suggestions as well as recommendations for modestly priced accommodation on other islands would be much appreciated having spent up big on cruise and 25th dinner.

martym

Congratuations on your 25th!

To answer some of your questions--It is easy to fly between islands—just arrive at the airport with enough time to clear security. The flights themselves are about ½ hour. Hawaiian Airlines http://www.hawaiianair.com and go! airlines http://www.iflygo.com/ are the two airlines I know of.

As far as renting cars on several islands, we always use Discount Hawaii Car Rental - http://www.discounthawaiicarrental.com – they have good prices, pier pickup for those arriving on cruise ships, you can arrange for cars on several islands. Their website is somewhat confusing—but just go to the left hand column, click on the type of car you want and send them an email. They will get back to you by email with a confirmed reservation, which you can cancel with no obligation if you don’t want it or change your mind later. I doubt if they have the 2009 rates yet, but if you email them they will tell you.


With only nine days, three islands is a bit much to do. Anyway you can add some days?
Otherwise I would do 3 days on Oahu and 6 on the Big Island, since you want to see the volcanos.

As far as activities and places to stay on the Big Island—I suggest splitting your time between Kona side and Hilo side (where the volcano is). Don’t know what you consider modestly-priced and don’t know whether you prefer hotels, B&B’s, cottages, etc.-but I’ll tell you some of the places DH and I have stayed. We prefer cottages away from the hustle and bustle of resorts and/or resort towns (i.e., Kohala Coast and Kailua-Kona).

In south Kona
http://www.hawaii4two.com/ lovely cottages, great view of the ocean
http://www.konaweb.com/middle_keei/ clean, nice lanai, 10 minutes from Kealakekua Bay

In Hamakua
http://www.hawaiicliffhouse.com/
http://www.waipiowayside.com/

entire BI island rentals
http://www.alternative-hawaii.com/accom/bivac.htm#x

Puna rentals—Kapoho is about 45 minutes from Volcano, we like it because it is sunnier there than in Volcano, which tends to get more rain, and as of now it is closer to where the lava is entering the ocean (who knows what it will be doing next May)
http://www.hpvacationrentals.com/
http://www.apoparadise.com/

Activities

In South Kona
Puuhonua o Honaunau http://www.nps.gov/puho/ also good snorkeling there at Two-Step
Painted Church http://www.thepaintedchurch.org/
Visit coffee farm we like Greenwell Farms http://www.greenwellfarms.com/
Kona historical society http://www.konahistorical.org/directions.html

Visit Holualoa http://www.holualoahawaii.com/ art galleries, have lunch at Holuakoa Cafe

In North Kohala
Hawi, Kapa’au http://www.gokohala.com/
Take the drive up highway 270 to Hawi/Kapa’au and Pololu Valley overlook then return via highway 250 up over Kohala Mountain to just west of Waimea.

Visit Waimea Parker Ranch http://www.parkerranch.com/ historic cattle ranch, with lovely homes, nice art collection

In Hamakua
Waipio Valley http://www.hawaiiweb.com/hawaii/html...io_valley.html
Akaka Falls http://www.hawaiiweb.com/Hawaii/html...tate_park.html
Hawaiian Tropical Botanic Gardens http://www.htbg.com/

In Puna
Tide pools in Puna http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/~csav/field/ahalanui.php http://www.hawaiiweb.com/hawaii/html...ide_Pools.html

Drive from Puna/Volcano around the south end of the island and stop at
Puanluu Beach http://www.konaweb.com/features/punaluu/index.shtml

Volcano National Park http://www.nps.gov/havo

Some restaurant recommendations for the BI--
in Hilo-Hilo Bay Café--in the strip mall by WalMart--so no view--but great, fresh food--reasonably priced; closed Sunday I think http://tinyurl.com/3mptju

IN Pahoa in Puna--Paolo's - an Florentine chef's restaurant in Puan??--BYOB--menu not extensive--but wonderful specials

Two restaurants in Waimea--both pricy, but we have always had excellent meals at both
Merrimans
http://www.merrimanshawaii.com/
Daniel Theibaut's
http://www.danielthiebaut.com/

If you take a drive to North Kohala and Hawi--a couple of good places there
Sushi Rock
http://tinyurl.com/3scpbh
and Bamboo Restaurant. http://www.bamboorestaurant.info/

In South Kona—Ke’ei Café—lovely fresh food—always eat there when we’re in Hawaii

In Kailua Kona--Fujimama's and Kona Brewing Company (good pizza)

Another good site for Kona and Hawaii information
www.konaweb.com

carolyn

The Big Island is my least favorite, so my recommendation would be four days on Oahu, three on Maui, and two on Hawaii.

The volcano area is very interesting, but I don't find the scenery on Hawaii to be as lovely as the other islands. Oahu is my favorite and has lots of things to do. Look on other Hawaii threads here for Dusty's list.

Vaycee

Thanks martym for that comprehensive reply.

Carolyn I found Dusty's extensive posts after I posted, so have that too.

Hmmm - lots more research ahead.

I've done a holiday to NZ over the net and have just finished booking our trip to UK and Ireland in Sept/Oct on the net. Now it's Hawaii's turn. Aussies are embracing internet travel bookings more readily, but I'm still hesitant.

However, I'm sure it's quite common place for US travel to be organised over the net so I'll get to it.

Martym you mention 2009 rates will probably not be available yet (for car rental). I expect I'll be looking at making firm arrangements after we return from the UK in mid October. I'm presuming the timing would be OK for car and accommodation bookings. Cottages/B&Bs away from the hustle and bustle sound good.

I've read on some posts that a car is not necessary on Oahu. Can tourists get out to north shore easily on public transport?

I may be able to extend by one day, making ten in all (excluding day of arrival and departure) so could I fit in 3-3-4 and include Maui for 3 if I can keep my daily living costs down? I try to allow A$150-200 p/n. Am I likely to have to budget higher for Hawaii?

dusty56438

Waikiki Parc Hotel is a nice hotel, but rather expensive.

You can get a condo like Resortquest Waikiki Banyan or Resortquest Waikiki Sunset for 1/2 - 2/3 the cost of the Waikiki Parc Hotel. There are many other decent hotels and condos available for around $150.

What you save on a hotel or condo will help pay to go to other islands.

With nine days you ought to stick to two islands. You could also include a day trip to Big Island, Hilo side if you want to see Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Lots of info:

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

Vaycee

Thanks Dusty. I've downloaded your other threads which I found after my original post. You really do have the good oil. Are you a local?

We are only semi independent travellers (booked cruise through travel agent and will do so for return air) and stepping out of the comfort zone to mix and match our travel and accommodation is a bit scary (despite it seems all you Americans do it online quite freely). We are always hesitant something won't go quite right. It is unlikely we will head up that way again so want to do what we can using our time the most efficient way. We are a small market here and don't have the same resources as you I feel but the internet does open things up.

Have taken on board what you say about saving on hotel in Waikiki, but it is our 25th wedding anniversary and we haven't had a real splurge since our 10th!!!

Decisions, decisions!! I think we'll have to take a holiday to discuss our options there's so much to work out

martym

The car rental rates through the discount site are probably not available yet. In these situations, I always book the best rates I can get at the time I'm planning the trip through the individual rental company website. Then with the discount site have the rates available, I ask them to better the price. Sometimes they can and sometimes they can't. If they can beat the rate I already have, I cancel it and take what the discount site gets me.

I've booked many vacations entirely on line including 5 weeks in Australia and New Zealand in 2002 and have never had a problem. So have courage.

chepar

You can get to the North Shore by bus, but plan on it taking a long time - I would imagine around 2 hours from Waikiki, at least.

Getting around the downtown Honolulu area by bus is ok, but for trips further out, I would recommend renting a car.

suze

I think 3 islands in only 9 days is too much. You'll lose so much time checking in and out of hotels, going to and from airports, etc.

Vaycee

We have now decided to use FF for our return from HNL to SYD and then we will do the full day flight over to the Big Island and have our 4 nights on both Oahu and Maui with one spare before we return to Sydney.

Thanks for all your input, I'm now digging through the layers and getting to some really good stuff.

One last question should I stick with Hawaiian Airlines for our inter island flight or is Go Airlines a reliable alternative? After the collapse of the other airline we heard about down here ...???

chepar

Sticking with Hawaiian Airlines is fine.

Go! is still facing the lawsuit filed by Aloha Airlines regarding their unethical business practices, I believe. If the outcome is similar to the almost identical lawsuit filed by Hawaiian Airlines, they will be paying a very large amount of damages soon.

Vaycee

Thanks Chepar will stick with Hawaiian. They seem to be price compatible. Shades of our two airline situation here and cut price cheaper alternatives arriving are threatening the majors. Cheap is not always the best option.