Hi everyone,

My husband and I are trying to plan a trip to Hawaii in Aug,Sept or Oct. We really would like to rough it. Camp, hike,fish, scuba dive, spend a few nights in a cabin or loft. We are not interested in tourist type hotels, mainstream activities, etc. Does anyone have any ideas? We're going through a travel agent and want to get more information from others before booking the trip. We thought going through the travel agent would be a safe bet since this will be our first time there.

Also, do you need a passport to travel there?

Thanks for your time!

If you are a US citizen with a gov't issued ID (e.g. license etc) you do not need a passport to visit Hawaii.

My wife and I appreciate nature but are not much into "roughing it", and have found the guidebooks @www.wizardpub.com to more than exceed our "mainstream" activities. Another source of info. may be http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinat...merica/hawaii/

Hi Gel! I saw your email and was so happy to finally come across someone else who isn't into the touristy stuff! I'm not sure where in Hawaii you are going, but my fiance and I are spending part of our honeymoon in Kauai and will be staying in The Jungle Bungalow! Here's the website and hopefully it's something that you are looking for!
http://www.junglebungalow.com/

P.S. - also search for tree houses - there was this one place we were really tempted to stay in that is a very cool looking tree house but we decided to go a different route. Good luck!

Check out the website for Arnott's Lodge on the Big Island. It has camping accomodations, along with hostel and individual accomdations.
http://www.arnottslodge.com/SCROLLER_HOME.HTML Have a great visit!

You don't say what island you're interested in, but this summer we did a fantastic all day kayak trip up the Na Pali coast on Kauai, a May-September only activity. It was a terrific adventure, and I describe it in detail (along with some hikes we did...you may also enjoy the Alakai Swamp hike, devoid of people and spooky) in my trip report here: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34508517

I don't know for sure, but I would think a travel agent would know more about condos and hotels, not camping and roughing it. Hawaii is actually VERY easy to plan yourself. Let us know what islands you might be interested in and we can direct you further. There's lots of camping all over the islands, along with some often highly coveted cabins, and little rustic houses for rent.

love
roxy

We stayed in a treehouse near Hana - on Maui. Here's the link: http://www.maui.net/%7Ehanalani/

Good campgrounds all around the Big Island and Kauai, many on the beach with showers. Also A-frames on BI, cabins at Volcanos and cabins in Kokee Park on Kauai. Trails galore with great backpacking. There are better books than those listed geared more toward the outdoor experience (I don't have the names right now). This is the only way to truly experience the islands -- you will feel much richer than all those poor tourists staying in the expensive resorts. Enjoy!