We are planning our honeymoon for April 2009 and I would love any advice.

We should have 10 or 11 days for both travel time and time on the islands. My thought was to fly to Honolulu, Oahu and spend a few days there, then go to the Big Island of Hawaii. I have heard that Waikiki/Honolulu really has a city feel to it and I think we would something a little more low key, at least for the first few days of our honeymoon. We will be coming from the East coast, between jet lag and wedding stress, I think we will need to crash a bit!

Ideas for things to do on Oahu would be:
Pearl Harbor
Diamond Head Summit
Luau
sit on the beach and do nothing
North Shore

Ideas for big island:
Volcano National Park
green sand beach
black sand beach
hiking (not anything too difficult)

So here are my questions:
1. Should we try to visit Maui or Kauai as well?
2. How many days should we do on each island?
3. Should we stay at multiple hotels on each island?

I don't want to feel too stressed but at the same time, who knows when we will get back so I don't want to miss anything either! If you can give me general ideas of where to stay on the islands, I can choose the specific hotel on my own as we will probably be using frequent flier miles and credit card points for a lot of it. We have budgeted at least $10,000 for this trip already and can allocate more so I don't think money should be an issue when answering my questions. thanks for the help!

The common wisdom is that 10 or 11 days is OK for two islands, but too short a time for anything less. If you have 11 days, then two days are completley lost on travel. That leaves 9 days which is 8 nights in a hotel. Why do you want to pack/unpack/go to airport/spend half-day at airport/unpack and waste one of those precious 9 days?

Actually your first day will probably be a collapse-after-the-wedding day of lazing around and not sightseeing.

For the first few days to decompress, find a quieter place with a terrific beach.

If you could afford it, the Kona Village Resort on Hawaii, especially on of the beachfront units with a hottub would be very honeymoon-y.

www.konavillage.com

There is also a Honeymoon and Wedding branch here to review prior recommendations.

To answer #3: No, if you split the time between two islands, you only have time for two hotels. Packing and unpacking is just a major pain-in-the-okole.

Kona Village looks beautiful! It's not a bad deal considering it includes food etc. We will definitely check this one out!
Do you think we will be missing out any major Hawaiian experience by not going to Maui or Kauai?

We did a day trip to Kauai from Oahu, rented a car on Kauai and drove all around. I'm sure we didn't see everything, but it's doable if you're really worried about missing out.

Personally, I would have chosen Hawaii and Maui, or Hawaii and Kauai and skipped Oahu.

Don't try to do it all at once. Save a couple of islands for your anniversary.

I agree with those who say you should stick with 2 islands with that time frame. The travel from the East Coast really is significant, and the last thing you'll want to do once you're out there is do much more of it. I can't comment on Oahu or the Big Island (although they're both places I'd love to visit!), but I do know that the best thing about Hawaii is just BEING there -- don't give yourself too much to worry about in terms of shuffling from hotel to hotel or island to island.

For the sort of low-key honeymoon you're talking about, actually, I think you might be better off with the Big Island paired with Kauai or Maui. (We went to Kauai for our 7-day honeymoon and it was absolutely amazing and VERY relaxing -- which believe me, I needed!) But again, I haven't been to Oahu, and I've heard that there are beautiful, quiet beaches to be had there, too, once you go beyond Honolulu.

I just stayed in the Princeville Hotel and the views from the hotel were out of this world. The room I had was spectacular, also.

However, I do read that it is being closed in September for remodeling. I don't imagine that it will be finished by April 2009, sadly.

You might have a look at Hanalei Colony Resort north of Hanalei Bay.

Don't go to three islands. You would waste too much time checking in & out of hotels, and airports.

Don't skip Oahu. There is more to see & do on Oahu than any other island. There is much more to Oahu than just Waikiki/Honolulu.

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

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...1&tid=34812564

ok, we are booked! 3 nights at the Halekulani on Oahu, then 2 nights at the Volcano House on the Big Island and 6 nights at the Hilton Waikoloa on the big Island! Thank you to future brother in law for the 6 nights at the Hilton courtesy of his Hilton Honors points!

fossbomb, have you read the reviews on tripadvisor.com of the Volcano House on the Big Island? I really would not stay there on my honeymoon. Several people have told me that the only good thing is the view. I hope you'll consider Kilauea Lodge ( kilauealodge.com ) or some other place in Volcano Village as I don't think you'll be pleased with VH. Have a wonderful honeymoon!