Hawaii: when to go? where to stay?
 

My husband and I want to go to Hawaii in either late February, March or April. Does anyone know when it is a good time to go weather wise?
Also we are interested in doing 3 islands and were thinking of Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. We want to stay away from Oahu as I have heard it's commercialized.

Does anyone know the best areas to stay on these three islands?

Try using the search function and scan for information. Type "weather" and search for Hawaii. Type "when to go" and search for Hawaii. Type "where to stay" and search for Hawaii. These questions get asked and answerd all the time, so there is a huge amount of useful information that already exists.

There's no one answer. Each island has its wet and dry sides. And would depend what you want to see and do where would be best to stay.

I disagree that Oahu is "commercialized". Certainly Honolulu is a major city but there is more to Oahu than Waikiki.

How long do you have for the trip? For three islands I would want at least 2 weeks (3 weeks even better).

I would vote for April, Kaua`i's((R)) north shore, Maui's west shore from Wailea to Kapalua, Big Island-west shore from Kona to Kohala coast.:S-

Don't discount Oahu. Only Honolulu is commercialized.

There is much more to Oahu than Honolulu.

Lots of Oahu info. There are many websites on the list good for all islands:

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

Also:

www.bigisland.org Free brochure

www.visitmaui.com free brochure

www.mauihawaii.org

www.kauaidiscovery.com Free brochure

www.kauai-hawaii.com

Oahu is only commercialized if you never leave Honolulu. Or worse, if you only see Honolulu from a bus tour. Ugh.

You haven't mentioned what you want to do or what makes an area the "best." Do you want to be beachfront? Close to hiking? In the lap of luxury? Close to shops and restaurants? There's no "best" spot on any island, so you may want to give more info. Also, if you google "hawaii which island", you'll find some websites that break it down based on your interests (adventure, romance, nature, beaches, etc).

Oahu commercialized....whoa Nelly!!!!

Only Honolulu and that is a very small part of a very big beautiful Island.

We spent a few days in Maui on the last visit, and my wife and I were crawling the walls to get back to Oahu.

As someone mentioned, each Island has its own vibe.

Hi, swissmiss - we've visited the three islands you're interested in. On Maui, we stayed in Wailea and had great weather for our entire trip (in April). On the BI it rained on us the entire time we were in Hilo (September), and then we had great weather on the Kohala coast. In Kauai, we stayed on the south shore (I think the north shore seemed more posh, but we had free hotel points) and got very brief showers each day, but nothing that stopped our plans. We thought Maui was the most romantic - also expensive, sophisticated dining, more development; the BI seemed the most diverse and adventurous; and for us, Kauai had the most natural beauty - just our take. Three islands is a lot to see in one trip. We did Maui for a week for our first trip and then a second nine day trip splitting time in Kauai and BI. How long do you plan to be in the islands?

Hawaii is not the Caribbean. The later you go, the better, as the winter Pacific stroms wind down and the water warms up a little. At that time of year the warmest driest weather is on the leeward sides of the islands. Kauai on the south shore around Poipu, on Maui in the Wailea area (not Kaanapali/Napili/Kapalua), BI on the Kona/Kohala coast.

If Oahu was that bad, would so many people love it?

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34515901

Wow
Thanks everyone for your help/responses. We are planning to be in the islands for at least 3 weeks.
We are active people and want to explore the islands (hiking, biking, snorkelling etc.) But we also have to have a beautiful beach (would like to be on the beach but it's not necessary. And we love luxurious hotels but 4 stars are also fine for us.

Thanks again for your responses.

I recommend March because the whales will still be here and February can be chilly on the Big Island at certain elevations.
It's not the commercialization on Oahu so much as the stand-still, mainland style traffic. But North Shore in March has great waves.
Make sure you allow adequate time when visiting the Big Island - it lives up to it's name and to see it all you really need more time than the other islands.

My 23 year old niece just finished her honeymoon in Hawaii. She spent 6 days on the big island then 3.5 on Oahu. One of the things she said when she got to Honolulu was that she wished they had had scheduled more time here and less on the Big Island. Better dining, more shopping and nightlife, better beaches.

BTW, Maui may have less people, but I find the areas with the hotels a lot more "commercialized" than much of Oahu. Not to mention the killer traffic there too!

The Oahu-Big Island is my favorite combo. My next trip to Hawaii I plan to spend a few days on Oahu first, play in Waikiki some and spend more time on the North Shore than before, and then head back over the the Big Island.

They are my favorite two islands.

I have to agree with lcuy, my wife and I split one of our Hawaii trips up to stay a few days in Maui, because we heard all the "stories", and I know this sounds silly, but we did not like it at all, and were crawling the walls waiting to get back to Oahu.

It really depends on the type of person you are.

To us when we ended up at our resort, it remided us of our gated communities in Florida, such as in Weston...ughhhh....(another unpleasant experience in our life!)

If you like a lot of diversity, and culture, then Oahu is it. It combines both the beauty and solitude of the beaches on the North Shore, with a bit of the sophistication of the city.

And it is NOT like any other big city....it is as clean as a whistle!

The strip in Waikiki is so clean, I swear you could eat of the sidewalk!

Once you are in your resort, you would never know that a big city is just over the landscaping.

Just my two cents

You said it well, mark99. I've not been to Lanai (yet) but Maui is my least favorite of the islands, for the reasons you described. I don't plan to return - unless it's a free trip :-)

Well, hopefully you will change you mind about Oahu, if not, I'd stick with your original plan. Have a great trip.

Aloha,
February and March are high season, if you can wait until April you will save on your hotel/condo. Feb and March are a tad cooler and less humid than April, although April is still not HOT HOT. July and Aug are the hotter months, but the water is calmer.
How much time you are traveling will answer your how many island questions. I would spend 4 nights on Maui, 4 nights on Kauai, and 5 nights+ on the Big Island doing Kona side for 4 nights and Volcano for 2 nights. I agree on your thoughts for Oahu, it is like Miami. If your plane is going through and you are doing 14+ nights maybe do one night.

I agree with Mark99. if you want seclusion, pick the small areas in the kauai

AlohaAdeline, Oahu like Miami??? Have you visited Miami? I live there, and there is NO COMPARISON!!!

Miami is fun fun fun to party in South Beach, but it is a big dirty city with spots of commercial beauty here and there. There is NO scenery that can even come close to Oahu or any island for that matter, and the people (God Love them) in Miami are as superficial and big city rude as they can get, not to mention the 24*7 bad traffic!

I don't mean to cut it down, I love the city for South Beach and business, but there is no way in the world you can compare the two. Even people who come from Latin America comment on how Miami is so dirty and lack of scenery....well unless you are including the beautiful and enhanced South Beach women...then we have scenery!