Help with Hawaii Itinerary Next January
 

Travelling to HI next January from the East Coast with two small kids. We are meeting friends there and spending 7 nights on the Big Island in their condo. I am trying to decide whether to go straight to the BI (15 hour trip including layover in LA) or stop over in LA for a couple of days on the way. If I go straight to the BI, I am considering arriving a couple of days in advance of our friends. Is 10 days too much on the BI? Should I fly through Honolulu and stop there for a couple of days? Any help appreciated.

You can spend weeks on Oahu & not run out of things to do.

www.bigisland.org Free brochure

List of things to do on Oahu

These are some hints/suggestions for things to do and see on Oahu. Many of the websites listed are good for all islands.

Arizona Memorial: (free) get there early, preferably by 8am. Opens at 7:30am. If you get there after 10am the lines can get long and you may spend 1-2 hours in line. Battleship USS Missouri and Submarine USS Bowfin are in the same area. These are about $15 each so you can go or skip them. Look for coupons in brochures for two for one. You can take pictures of them from Arizona Visitors Center and the Arizona tour ferry. Go on the lawn behind the Visitor's Center (Circle of Remembrance) for great pictures. You can also walk around the Bowfin Memorial area for free without taking the tour. Its worth the time. The Swap Meet is only a couple blocks from here at Aloha Stadium.

Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC): www.polynesia.com General Admission about $50 or the luau buffet package ($80). The evening 'Horizons' show is the best Polynesian show in all of Hawaii. It comes with all ticket price options. The higher priced ticket packages get the better seating for 'Horizons'. Also the earlier you get there, the better the seating is for 'Horizons'. The Ali'i Luau Show that is part of the luau package is also a good Polynesian show. IMAX, Canoe Pageant, Samoa and Tonga villages and Canoe ride are the best other attractions (these are included with any type ticket). Plan on this as an all day event. Get there by 1pm (earlier if possible), leave around 9:30pm. When I take visitors, I try to keep on this schedule: IMAX 1:30, Canoe Pageant 2:30, Samoa 3:00, Tonga 4:00, Canoe Ride around 4:30, regular buffet or Ali'i luau buffet 5pm and 'Horizons' at 7:30. The other villages are nice also, but there is not enough time for all of them. You will have time to do some shopping or looking around between the buffet or luau and 'Horizons'. Closed on Sundays. You can go back for free for two days. Check with PCC employees for instructions before leaving the Center if you want the extra days.
Coupon in Entertainment Book to save $36.

Diamond Head Summit: Drive right into the crater and hike to the top. ($5 per carload or $1 each if you walk into the crater). I prefer to drive in. Awesome 360 degree view from the summit. Best time is around 8am or around 4pm. In between it can get hot walking to the top. Takes about 1 - 1 1/2 hours roundtrip.

Punchbowl (National Cemetery of the Pacific): (free) While you are there, drive to the overlook area. Short walk to the summit that overlooks the entire city. If you have time, take the Mt. Tantalus/Round Top drive through a rain forest. Stop at the Puu Ualakaa State Wayside about 2/3 of the way to the top of the mountain. It has an awesome view of the city from Waikiki to Pearl Harbor. Punchbowl is near the bottom of Mt. Tantalus.

Hanauma Bay: Snorkel. Its for any age. You can rent snorkeling equipment there or some places in Waikiki or bring your own. Closed on Tuesdays. Try to get there as early as possible. If you drive, the parking lot gets filled up by 9:00 or 10:00. ($1 for parking, $5 for each person). You can reserve snorkel tours with several companies. They provide equipment, transportation, etc. They seem to have better equipment than the park does. You can also take the city bus. But the first city bus doesn't leave Waikiki until 8:30 am. Website:

http://www.co.honolulu.hi.us/parks/f...ay/welcome.htm

Byodo-In-Temple (Valley of the Temples): $2 each. Just past Kaneohe. Haiku Gardens in Kaneohe is close by.

Chinaman's Hat: (free) Kualoa Regional Park is just past Byodo-In-Temple. Nice for pictures, picnic, swimming. Also nearby is Macadamia Nut Farm Outlet just before Kualoa Regional Park. Kualoa Ranch is across the street.

Swap Meet: You can buy almost any souvenirs here much cheaper than anywhere else. All items are new. Vendors wrap around the stadium twice. Located at Aloha Stadium near Arizona Memorial. Open Wed, Sat, Sun.

Hilo Hattie's: Nice place to shop. Higher prices than swap meet, but not too much more on many items. Has good selection of clothing, candies and souvenirs. Check brochures for coupons. Can take free Hilo Hattie's shuttle from Waikiki.

Ala Moana Beach Park: (free) Nice beach. Great sunset location in the winter. Walk all the way out to the end of Magic Island. Great view of Waikiki, Diamond Head, Ala Wai Boat Harbor (shown in opening scene of Gilligan's Island).

Hike to Manoa Falls: $5 for parking at Treetops. One mile one way. Short hike through a rain forest. Also small bamboo forest there. Treetops restaurant there (at the previous Paradise Park site) has a good Chinese buffet. Lyon Arboretum is nearby. It is a nice botanical garden. You can park there and walk a short distance to Manoa Falls trail.

Hike to Makapuu Point Lighthouse: (free) Great view from here. Easy one mile hike. In winter months (mid-November to mid-April) it's great for whale watching.

Other Hiking on Oahu:

http://www.hawaiitrails.org/ (good for all islands)

http://www.backyardoahu.com/

http://home.hawaii.rr.com/oahuhikingtrails/home.html

http://oahuhiking.com/

North Shore Beaches: Haleiwa, Banzai Pipeline (Ehukai Beach), Waimea Beach, Sunset Beach, Shark's Cove (Pupukea) & Laniakea Beach. Laniakea Beach has sea turtles. Other nice stops for pictures in the area. Can be huge waves in winter. Good snorkeling at Shark's Cove in the summer. Laniakea Beach is located about 1/2 way between Waimea Bay and Haleiwa.

Other beaches: There are close to 100 beaches on Oahu. Besides North Shore and Waikiki beaches these are some of the better ones: Makaha Beach (west shore), Waimanalo Beach, Waimanalo Bay Recreation Area, Lanikai Beach, Sandy Beach, Hanauma Bay and Kailua Beach (east/Windward side), Ala Moana Beach Park (south shore). All public beaches are free except Haunama Bay.

Dole Pineapple Plantation: On H-2 just past Wahiawa. Can visit on the way to or back from the North Shore. Nice gift shop to browse, but expensive. Go behind the center for pineapple exhibits, gardens and carp feeding pond.

Kualoa Ranch: Several movies have been set here: (Jurassic Park, Mighty Joe Young and others), ATV rides, horseback riding, tours. Located across from Kualoa Regional Park.

Waikiki: Beaches, shopping, dining, nightclubs, shows, some museums. Wide range in dining prices. $3-4 breakfasts, $6-10 lunch buffets, $20-$25 fine dining and anywhere in between. Best Waikiki shows: Creation: A Polynesian Journey, John Hirokawa's Magic of Polynesia, Society of Seven, Blue Hawaii (Elvis impersonator), many more to chose from. Many Waikiki shows offer cocktail show along with the dinner show. They seat you after everyone else has eaten. Regular price of shows around $40-$60. Cocktail show about $25-$35. There are several other short free hula shows and other demonstrations in Waikiki daily. Check the brochures for location, days and times. Check brochures & Entertainment Book for coupons for shows/dining/shopping, etc.

Downtown Area: Aloha Tower (take elevator to the top, nice view), Chinatown, Hawaii Maritime Center, Iolani Palace, Bishop Museum, other museums.

Botanical Gardens: Oahu has many botanical gardens. Most are free, the others charge a few bucks. Haiku Garden in Kaneohe is nice and is a nice stop if you are taking an island driving tour. Located near Byodo-In-Temple (Valley of the Temples).
Here is a nice site for gardens in the state:

http://www.hawaii.edu/sciref/botgarden.html (all islands)

Check brochures or get info on-line for others. Search: oahu botanical gardens

Other: Sea Life Park, Honolulu Zoo, Waikiki Aquarium, Children's Discovery Center, dinner cruises, whale watching cruise, submarine tours, parasailing, helicopter tours, horseback riding, Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park, scuba, surfing lessons, other luau shows (Germaine's, Paradise Cove). Many other attractions, things to do. Check the brochures.

Brochures: (free) Can be found in the airport baggage claim area or at hundreds of news stands throughout Waikiki, in hotels, in stores, and at some attractions. These are excellent "things to do and see" guide books (maps, attractions, beaches, dining, night clubs, etc.). There are a lot of coupons in these for dining, shopping, etc. The best brochures are: 'This Week on Oahu', 'Oahu Gold', '101 Things Oahu', 'The BEST of Oahu'. Some of these brochures can also be found for other islands (Maui, Kauai, Big Island) unique to that island. Most of these brochures also have on-line versions.

Websites:

www.thisweek.com 'This Week On Oahu' They will send up-to-date brochures for a few bucks. Also This Week Maui, Kauai, Big Island.

www.spotlighthawaii.com 'Oahu Gold' They will send up-to-date brochures for a few bucks. Also Maui Gold, Big Island Gold, Kauai Gold.

www.gohawaii.com This is the official site for Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau. They will send a free brochure.

www.101thingstodo.com (all islands)

www.visit-oahu.com Oahu Visitors Bureau, for free brochure 1-877-525-6248 (toll free)

www.hawaii.com Good site for comparing hotel locations, prices, etc.

www.hawaiiweb.com (all islands)

www.alternative-hawaii.com (all islands)

www.portaloha.com/SecretsOfHawaii

www.alohatower.com

www.chinatownhi.com

www.honolulu.hawaii.edu/tours (driving and walking tours)

www.driveguidemagazines.com Good island maps including many detailed maps. Also good restaurant guide. Good for all islands

www.discoveringhawaii.com Free (pdf) circle island tour map. Also free (pdf) download Oahu movie location map.

www.hawaii-hotels.com Compare hotels

www.bookit.com Compare hotels

www.alohafriends.com

www.alohafriendshawaii.com

www.honoluluadvertiser.com one of two main Honolulu newspapers, has dining and entertainment guides, TGIF calendar

www.starbulletin.com one of two main Honolulu newspapers, also has dining and entertainment guides

Automobiles: Oahu is the only island that you can get around by bus. Oahu has a good bus system, but a rental vehicle gets around a lot better. Parking in Waikiki can be a problem at times. If you plan on renting a car, make sure your hotel allows parking at the hotel or in a nearby lot or garage. Get the parking pass at the hotel registration area. Probably $8-$14/day to park at the hotel. You can get city bus passes at any ABC store in Waikiki for $20 for 4 days ($40/month). Or you can pay $2.00 per trip. There are also many shuttles, tour buses and vans and trolleys that go to many places (some are free). Also 1 or 4 day Waikiki Trolley passes available.

www.thebus.org

www.waikikitrolley.com

Internet Search Engines: Use Yahoo, Google, Dogpile or any other search engine to find information on any thing else on Oahu (or other island) that may interest you. Type in: hiking hawaii, hiking oahu, bed and breakfast oahu, condominiums oahu, botanical gardens oahu, oahu hotels or any other terms that will get you information.

Hotels: Most hotels (or hotel chains) have their own 800 numbers and/or websites:

www.outrigger.com

www.sheraton.com

www.ohanahotels.com

, etc. Or you can use a search engine to find the website or use the search engine's yellow pages for the phone number.
also try www.vrbo.com for more options

Entertainment Book
Entertainment books for Hawaii and many other locations can be purchased online at:

www.entertainment.com.

They cost around $35-$40 plus shipping or if you wait until mid-March, the price is reduced to about $25 (or less) with free shipping, $15 after mid-May. Expires November 1.

Coupons include half price tickets for John Hirokawa's Magic Show. Hundreds of other coupons for reduce price luaus, shopping, dining, movies, attractions, etc. The Hawaii book also has many mainland coupons for hotels, car rentals, Universal Studios, Sea World, etc.

We flew through Honolulu and spent two nights in Waikiki and then onto the big island for 7 nights. You can fly direct from Newark to Honolulu on Continental. We flew from VA to Atlanta and then straight to Honolulu.
Your kids will take several days to adjust to the time change. Ours are 12 and 13 and we arrived at night in Honolulu and went to bed on Hawaii time. We still got up early and went to bed early most of the trip.
Buy the portable DVD for the kids. Our kids are girls close in age that can watch the same movie. It worked out great. The plane showed three movies and one of them was not really appropriate. They watched only one plane movie and then watched their own. It would make a good christmas present before the trip.
It is a long flight, so if they are real young and nap, you may want to get the flight that flies mostly in the afternoon. I also recommend that if they are real young to stop in LA and then on to Honolulu. There is only so long the kids can sit.
The flight home is through the night so hopefully they will sleep!!
We enjoyed the big island. Hopefully you will too.

I would really suggest you island hop, at least to one other island. My personal preference would be Maui.

Ten days is not too much time on the Big Island IMHO. You'll still leave feeling like there were things you missed. Especially if you build in ANY down time. I come from the midsouth and I love to have a night on the west coast going and returning. That "red eye" coming home especially wipes me out!

tttt

Hi Htrav04,

My family and I will fly to Honolulu for 3 nights in June. We will then fly to the BI for a 7 night stay a a home we have rented at Kapoho. It is our third trip to the BI and our fifth to Honolulu. Each island is different. We love the activities, shopping and nightlife of Oahu. The BI is a place to relax, snorkle, visit the volcano and veg.

If I were travelling that far, I would visit two islands. Just a thought.

I think Barb has the right idea: 3 nights on Oahu and 7 on the BI. And doing Oahu first is a good way to go. :-)

hi-I live in honolulu. I agree with the person who said -ou're coming so far, see 2 islands rather than LA. Honolulu and oahu have alot of beautiful areas and beaches. The kids would love hanauma bay, or a visit to the waikiki aquarium. If you're in honolulu over a friday night the Hilton Hawaiian village has a wonderful hula show followed by fireworks every friday. You can stand and watch free , or buy a drink at the pool for a seat. Its fun and kids love all the dancers and costumes, even boys will like the fire dancers. The big island is BIG, with lots to see and distances to drive. Check out the "flumin da ditch" website too-its a fun family thing to do. You'll have a great time.
heidi

Thanks very much for the thoughtful responses.

We were just in Oahu and the Big Island. We really loved Kailua Beach. The water is really gentle because it is totally reef enclosed. We saw families with very young children there because it was safe and beautiful. There are neat things for children to see on Oahu. You could do an island loop tour in one day. Drive through Kahala, past Chinaman's Hat and stop at Hanauma Bay. If your children are old enough to snorkel, I would stop and snorkel. It is one of the best snorkel spots in the state. Then you can continue along a stunning cliffside drive to Halona Blowhole and stop and check out the views. From there, we went to Kailua Beach and swam and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery. Before Kailua Beach is the Aquarium, which should be neat for kids. We did not go to the aquarium, but I hear that it is nice. We backtracked to the Nanuu Pali lookout, which is also stunning. Continuing north, you could stop at the Byodo-In Temple. Kualoa Ranch is further along, and is fun for kids. I think that they filmed Jurassic Park at that ranch. Further north are the North Shore Beaches to watch surfers brave huge waves. There is a phone number to call to see if the waves are good. The Polynesian Cultural Center is close to the North Shore Beaches and looks like a Disneyfied experience, but maybe it would be fun for kids. We stopped at the Audubon Society, and there seemed to be a short nature walk available there. We stopped at the Dole Plantation and hated it. It is way to commercialized for my taste.
On two other days, we spent one half day at the Bishop Museum, and one half day at the Arizona Memorial. I am sure that you know that you have to arrive by 7 am at Pearl Harbour if you plan to see the Arizona. It is, however, well worth it.
I also really enjoyed the Bishop Museum. It houses the largest collection of Polynesian artifacts in the world. I would visit, depending on you children's interests.

Finally, I enjoyed the Big Island. But, we hardly left our resort. We stayed at the Kona Village, which, btw, has beautiful landscaping. We did visit the volcano, but we did not see any lava. We did go down the Chain of Craters Road, but the land shifted so that one would need to hike for two hours over dried lava (very treacherous) to see the lava enter the water. I would have preferred to take a helicopter, but my travelmate is afraid of them.