nelcarp

We need a little help planning a vacation to Hawaii...first time. We have two daughters, 14 and 17. My wife and I are big on hiking...the girls less so. all of us love snorkeling and kayaking. Beaches are important to us too. All are intrigued with the volcanoes and obervatories on the Big Island. The girls like some shopping, but nothing too serious...they're mostly interested in local items, etc. So, which islands? We have 7 days. Right now we're thinking of 3 nights on Kauii and 4 on the Big Island. Should we focus on just one island and day trip to one other?

Appreciate some ideas!

martym

Sounds to me like everything you want to do is on the Big Island. I'd do 2 or 3 days on the Hilo/Volcano side and the rest on the Kona side. Great snorkeling at Kealakekua Bay and Honaunau Bay (i.e., Two Step)in South Kona. If you are all experienced snorkelers, there is an area with beautiful coral between the two bays in front of the local village of Ke'ei. (I can give you directions, if you want). Kealakekua Bay is good for kayaking also (rent your kayaks before you go down to the bay). Volcano National Park has some good hikes (be sure to do Kilauea Iki). Plenty of places to shop in Kailua-Kona for local stuff. Wal Mart is good for that stuff also. With only 7 days, I wouldn't waste the better part of one day going to another island and wouldn't day trip unless there is something specific you want to do/see on another island.

LittleWing

roll the dice and pick either island - they are both amazing and a week on either will just get you aquainted.

peterSale

The Big Island is great.

For the best Snorkelling experience EVER go on a night dive with Manta Rays go tobr /> http://www.jacksdivinglocker.com/cha...mantanight.htm

Kona Coffee is Great.
http://www.greenwellfarms.com/

Kayak to the Captain Cook memorial and go snorkelling. You may have to snorkel off your kayak as you now need a permit to beach a boat atthe memorial. What you need to get a permit I have no idea.
http://www.letsgo-hawaii.com/captcook/

The Painted Church near Captain Cook is lovely and has some great hand made craft for sale. Not a very big range as itis just a church charity. We got a little hand woven bird made by an 80yr old.Lovely.

Unless you are really into astronomy and volcanoes, don't do the tour to the top of Mauna Kea. Drive up to the info centre yourself and there are free telescopes to use.

There are also telescopes at the crater at Kilauea.

The volcanoes national park is fantastic.We spent three days there and could easily have doubled it. Do the Kilauea Iki walk and the Pu'u Huluhulu walk. Both have guide books available at the Park centre for $1 or so or you can download them. http://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/hikes_day.htm

If you go to the petroglyphs near Kona, near the marina, there is a petroglyph of Captain Cook's ship.It is off the track (about ten yards) from the first tree on the right.We also saw turtles at the beach there as well.

No idea about shopping. My wife doesn't like it, nor do I.

nelcarp

Is 7 days enough for a Hawaii trip? Two islands a push?

Placename

The general rule is one week per island. The Big Island is indeed, big, and you would be compromising something to split it with another island in one week.

voyager61

I agree, don't change islands if you only have 7 days...too much to do on each one. I think Maui has some of the best beaches (Napili, Kaanapali, Wailea), but Kauai also has good ones (Poipu, Hanalei). There is good snorkeling available from any of the islands. Keep in mind that Kauai is lush overall, but many of the Big Island beach resorts are surrounded by miles of volcanic rock. Normally I would recommend Maui for families with teenager girls because it has more shopping, but it sounds like that is not a priority.

peterSale

Remember you will lose the best part of a day packing/flying/getting to your next accommodation etc. A bit of a waste if you only have seven days.

A week on the Big Island will give you a really good taste of it.

I haven't been to Maui.

peterSale

Sorry should be Kauii. Haven't been there either.

nelcarp

This is helpful. Where to stay on the Big Island. Some recommend using two days to stay near volcanoes national park. Ideas on how to split this up?

martym

What type of accomodations do you want? Hotel, b & b, condo/house?

We usually stay in houses when we go to the BI-so my recommendations will be based on that.

There are some great houses to rent in Napoopoo, the little village on Kealakekua Bay. Here are just a few

http://www.vrbo.com/93958

http://www.vrbo.com/37479

http://www.vrbo.com/120417

http://www.maninipointhouse.com/Site...int_House.html

http://www.alohahouse.net/rates.html

On Hilo side, we usually rent the Lagoon house in Kapoho Beach Lots in Puna (about an hour from Volcano, 45min from Hio). It has less rain than than Hilo/Volcano. Here are few websites for rentals

http://www.lagoonhouse.com/

http://book.bigislandvacationrentals.com/

http://www.apoparadise.com/lagoon2.html

suze

Personally with 7 days I would do only 1 island. With teens my suggestion would have been Oahu or Maui, exactly the opposite of what you're considering (lol) since I think there's more to "see". My reason for not switching islands is that as mentioned of "losing the day" in transit when you have such a short time to start out with. I'd roll the dice and pick any one of the four major islands and find just one place to stay the entire week.

nelcarp

Someone has suggested Oahu over the Big Island to us...mostly for the teenage girls who like big cities and shopping (even though they have little money to shop with). So long as there are local shops on the big island, local artists, etc, they'll be happy.

In some of the posts, I'm getting a sense that the Big Island is short on nice beaches? Is this true? Beach time will be important to us as well. Benefits of Hilo vs. Kona side?

We'd like to stay in a condo so we can do some of our own cooking, but also be in a place close enough to some shopping, retail, ice cream, etc. so the girls can venture out on their own a bit.

hmmm

You might look at Turtle Bay on the north shore of Oahu. The resort has numerous condos for rent. The beaches are spectacular. Haleiwa, a 20 minute drive from Turtle Bay, has numerous small shops, restaurants that your children would enjoy.

You might also consider Maui, either Ka`anapali or Wailea which have good to great beaches and shopping within walking distance of many accommodations.

martym

If you are still considering the the Big Island--Kailua Kona is where you should get a condo. There are lots of them. Check out VRBO. The retail, restaurants etc are there. Kahalu'u Beach is great for snorkeling.

Hilo side gets the rain so it is very green and has the waterfalls. Kona side is lots drier-so has great beach weather. Best best beaches are along the northwest coast in the Kohala district--where the big resorts are.

Hapuna Beach and Mauna Kea Beach are two of the best beaches in the world--but you would have to drive from Kailua to visit them. Here's a website with a few of the BI beaches to give you an idea what they are like-- http://www.konaweb.com/beaches/index.shtml

suze

The reason I like Waikiki is not for the shopping. It's that it is a fair-sized city, lots to see and do (museums, historical sights, activities, excellent public transportation). Big Island, well it's BIG, so a lot more spread out. If you're staying in condos you may or may not have a small town close by.

Placename

The reason I don't like Waikiki is that it's in a fair-sized city. I went to Hawaii 15 times before I finally visited Waikiki. Four days was enough for me.

I couldn't wait to get back to Maui and Hawaii for the relaxing, quiet beaches.

suze

The reason I do like Waikiki is that it's in a fair-sized city (Honolulu). 4 out of my 5 trips to Hawaii have been to Oahu.

needsun

I agree with suze. I have a teenager and she absolutely loves Waikiki, all the action, street performers, the buzz of the Kalakaua Avenue, a city feel etc.
She did not like Maui as much as Waikiki. She said there was not much to do there after 6 PM for teenagers. Remember that it gets dark there pretty early- around 6 pm in the winter and 7:30 in the summer. That's when all the night fun starts in Waikiki.