We (2 adults 2 children 15 and 11) have just booked airfares from Oz to Honolulu Oct school hols 2008.We will have 12 days excluding travel. Do you suggest Oahu and maybe one other island or would it be best to stay only on one island? I like the look of Turtle Resort ? or somewhere on the northern end. Waikiki doesn't appeal except maybe a day trip. Any suggestions welcome. We prefer surfing, snorkelling, nature walks with some touristy things without the hustle and bustle.

With twelve days I would do one other island. The kids might like the BI--it has Kilauea volcano http://www.nps.gov/havo. South Kona has great snorkeling at Two Step near Place of Refuge http://www.nps.gov/puho/ and at Kealakakua Bay. Go to Parker Ranch http://www.parkerranch.com/to check out the Hawaiian cowboys (paniolos); take a tour of Waipio Valley http://www.waipiovalleywagontours.com/. Snorkle the tide pools in Puna http://www.hawaiiweb.com/hawaii/html...ide_pools.html. Lots to do.

Absolutely, you can't go that close to real active volcanoes without visiting them: the Big Island and Volcano National Park are musts.

There's a lot more to Honolulu than Waikiki, including climbing up Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay's lovely beach, and a couple of excellent cultural museums; my kids enjoyed the Bishop Museum and Iolani Palace, which bills itself as "the only official state residence of royalty in the United States".

Whrere the North side of Oahu is nice, I was there first time as a teenager. You couldn't tear me away from Waikiki area.

Turtle Resort is a nice location although we haven't stood.

Second island definitely.

There is more to see & do on Oahu than any other island.

Turtle Bay Resort is nice. There are also some less expensive condos in the area.

www.turtlebaycondos.com

Maui or Big Island would be a good 2nd island.

Lots of info including sites with free brochures for all islands:

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