We (two adults, mid-40s) are looking to visit Hawaii for two weeks in September. Which island (or islands) is/are the best for first-timers? Any advice would be helpful. We love natural beauty (the great outdoors), sunshine, top resorts (including great pools and beaches) and we are, at this point, thoroughly confused. We'll be traveling from the East Coast, and just don't know where to start. We like to keep reasonably busy on vacation (meaning that we don't want to spend a week by a pool or on a beach), but we don't want to be in a city environment. We love national parks and natural wonders, sightseeing and culture.
Thanks so much for your input!

This is a good place to start. Go to your local elemetary or high school and ask if anyone is selling Entertainment Books (you may already know someone, they are big fund raisers). If not, go to entertainment.com and order the Hawaii Entertainment book. There are more coupons than you'll ever be able to use up. The 2 for 1 at the Polynesian Village alone paid for the book.

If you really only want to stick with one island I think Maui would be a great choice. It has been voted top island of the world over and over by conde naste readers for a reason. You said you like to keep busy, yet you don't want a city atmosphere. Maui is perfect. There are so many beautiful parks including Iao Valley and Haleakala (spelling) crater and the road to Hana is an adventure (I recommend going to Hana and staying at the Hana hotel for one or two nights to make the trip easier). There are a few resort areas to consider, and while some of the nicest resorts are south on the island in the wailea area, I prefer the Kaanapali area myself. This area is just north of Lahaina. Lahaina is a sweet little town that has a lot of open air restaurants, a mall, and tons of art galleries. It is also host to probably the best luau in the islands the "old lahaina luau". Maui is absolutely beautiful and I will always remember my vacation there as one of my very favorites.

Another vote for Maui, for all the reasons mentioned above. It is absolutely gorgeous and plenty for you to see and do. Definitely rent a car. Perfect first trip.

Give Honolulu a miss. I just got back from Waikiki yesterday and while personally I really like it, it's not what you're after.

Kauai, Maui, Kona. Kauai is just so different and the Na pali coast wow. also hiking there. Maui, seemed busiest to me but laid back at the same time, explore the road to hana. (be adventuresome and drive around the whole island, the road is fine for rental cars) Kona, well that volcano is just facisnating. go see it at night! snorkle there, coffee plantations, macadamia nut plantations. you don't need 4x4 unless you are really planning to do something remote, spring for the convertible, you won't be sorry! esp. on maui! have fun.

We loved Maui. We snorkled an Honolua Bay - it was fantastic. The Atlantis Sub cruise in Maui was wonderful and we loved the drive to Hana. We did it as an overnight trip and had the waterfall closest to Hana to ourselves the next morning. There is the Haleakala Crater - which is a national park.

Khy,
If you have not done so yet, get a couple of good guide books and read about the islands and see which ones appeal to you. I like the Lonely Planet guides and the "Revealed" books and have learned a lot about the islands from them. I'd also suggest using the search box on this forum. There are a zillion threads that address your questions. You will find lots of opionions and mostly useful information. Have fun planning!
-Bill

With TWO weeks at your disposal you could easily choose two islands. - I like a week per island minimum. Maui is a must IMO. Think about adding any of the other major three (love them all), but I guess my second vote would be for the Big Island. (Lava still flowing - cool!) There are those who would vote for the boredom and bugs that is Kauai (LOL - Kal).

Maui is such a great place, but with two weeks, you have time to enjoy more than one. I'd go to Oahu first. Spring for 2 or 3 nights at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. It's like a different world there. Walk down Waikiki Beach, rent a car and drive to Pearl Harbor, and around the island, then go to one of the other islands relax and enjoy. They all have their strong points, but it's hard to beat Maui.

My vote would be for one week each in Kauai and the Big Island. You mentioned natural beauty first in your list, and while Maui (especially eastern Maui) is certainly spectacular, Kauai is even moreso. And the Big Island offers a diversity of environments not found on any other Hawaiian Island.

Everything about Maui is nice, which is my biggest problem with it. The resorts are nice. The roads are nice. The shopping malls are nice. Lahaina is nice. Etc. It's all just too heavily landscaped, upscale and tourist geared for my taste (although it's still a far cry better than Honolulu).

My husband and I spent two weeks in Hawaii last fall speding 2 nights in Waikiki to see Peral Harbor, 5 nights on Kauai and 6 nights on Maui.

I would recommend Maui and Kauai as both have all the attributes you want. I have written a 9 page trip report that I hope to have up on my web site by this weekend. If you woudl like to read it send me your eamil address [email protected] and I will le tyou know when it is up

Kay

The first time we went to Hawaii, we spent one night on Oahu just to see see Pearl Harbor and split the rest of our time between Maui/Kauai based on advice of friends. I have now spent significant time on all islands and I agree with a previous poster that Maui is probably the "nicest" one stop shop island. It has a bit of natural beauty, big resorts, towns, etc etc. which is precisely why it is NOT my favorite. I feel like it is the "in-between" island of Hawaii that comes in handy when you can't decide where else to go - of course, just my opinion (and probably not widely shared by those who like to have a bit of everything). If I want natural beauty, I think no one can honestly contest the north coast of Kauai which is so incredible (think scenes out of South Pacific and Jurassic Park which were filmed there). Of course, with all this lushness comes frequent rain (one of the wettest spots on the planet is on Kauai) but to me, a little warm rain is worth seeing the mountains and waterfalls from the balcony of the Princeville resort or Hanalai Bay condos plus you can drive to the south sunny side of the island within an hour. I got my 50+ parents to hike the NaPali coast trail which was quite a feat given that my Mom rarely hikes and they thought it was one of the best hikes they had ever done (this is coming from Montana which is a great hiking state). On the flip side, if you want sunshine and something on the other end of the spectrum, the Big Island is amazing as one one side, you are in gorgeous resorts (we like the Orchid) plopped down in the middle of big black lava fields and when you drive to the other side, you cross over green pastures back into more lush areas and finally down to the Volcano Nat'l park which is quite interesting. Given your preference for natural beauty, national parks and natural wonders, I would really recommend you spend a week each on Kuaui and the Big Island because the combination of those two islands will provide everything you are looking for without compromise as both of those islands have plenty of splendid resorts to choose from (although not as many as Maui). Specifically, I would recommend staying in the Princeville area on North Shore of Kuaui or perhaps the Hyatt on the south shore if you want more of a guarentee of sunny days (but you MUST drive and spend time on the North shore in the Hanalai Bay and Napali coast area). On the Big Island, there many great resorts to choose from. You'll love your trip no matter which islands you visit....

Khy, I am right with NorCal_Jo. My husband and I were in Hawaii last September. We are Mid-40s, we like to get out and do things. I did at least 300 hours of research (internet, books/ magazines) Part of that time was planning my wedding there but we loved Hawaii. The hike that NorCal_Jo was talking about was to die for. We went to Kauai, BI, Mauai, Molokai and Oahu - spent 23 days in Hawaii.

If I had 2 weeks, I would stay one night (at the end of the trip) on Oahu. The planes all leave there at night so if you come from another island at say 2-3pm and hang out at Waikiki that day and then take the Pearl Harbor tour the following morning. In September (when we went too) we went to PH around 9 am and walked up Diamond Head around noon. It wasn't bad. Not TOO hot and a nice breeze when you get to the top. Coming all the way from the East Coast (we're from Florida) you've got to put your toes in the sand of Waikiki Beach!!!

On our Sept visit we had NO rain during the day and not much rain during the night - even on the Northshore of Kauai. If you go to Kauai in Sept - do stay on Northshore - it's wonderful.

If you are interested in my trip report it's here:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34534736

There is a link to my photos from my trip also.

We really liked Kauai the best and then Maui, but to get the most from your trip in 2 weeks, In my opinion - I would do Kauai and the BI.

Kauai for the most beautiful coasts and BI for the active volcano and most unusual lava landscape. All the islands have nice hotels, beautiful waterfalls, snorkeling is better someplaces than others but each island has some prime spots. Mauai outshines the rest with it's restuarant choices because there are sooo many, but you won't have any trouble finding good food and service anywhere.

Have fun and Happy planning

fyi if you go to pearl harbor be careful there are thieves in the parking lot, they watch what you leave in your car and they can break in and you can't even tell, i lost my luggage and the folks next to me lost theirs. the police said it happens constantly. esp. in the farther lots. although this is an amazing place to see, 8 months after it happened there was still no police report from the base. so much for security. I only post this because someone suggested just a day on oahu to do this before your flight home, that was my exact scenario so all my luggage was in the car as i had no room on the island. good luck.

THE BIG ISLAND

We've been to Maui and Kauai, and actually preferred Kauai.

Maui was too overbuilt and touristy for us, although we did enjoy the beautiful Hana side of the island of Maui. The Hana side is lush and green and there are beautiful waterfalls, natural pools, etc. to discover. We spent 2 nights in Hana and wished for more. (Loved our searanch cottage at the Hotel Hana maui.)

Kaui isn't as overbuilt as Maui, and we loved the entire north side of Kaui the best. If you love natural beauty, I'd vote for Kaui.

If you don't want to feel like you are in a city environment, avoid the Kaanapali area of Maui! Over-built and overcrowded, with parking problems. Took us 30 minutes to find a spot to park our small convertible on our day-trip to Kaanapali.