Maui and Kauai
 

Hello all - My husband and I are thinking of going to Hawaii in January to both Maui and Kauai. Is there a better order to do this or does it really not matter? Just curious Thanks. And if 9 nights, we are thinking 5 on Maui and 4 on Kauai - does that make sense too?

Order doesn't matter. As for number of days on each, it depends on what you want to do on each. Maui is more developed, Kauai is more lush and outdoorsy. Maui has more good restaurants (there are enough on Kauai, but not nearly as many). You'll probably want to stay on the south shore of Kauai in January especially if you want to go in the ocean. The north shore is more beautiful and the beaches are gorgeous, but the weather is iffier in winter.

I was told for Kauai we had to stay on Popei (sp?) due to the weather, I hope that is the south shore :) Good to know, order might not matter. Flights are better with Maui first.

Any hotels you suggest on Kauai, i was told the Grand Hyatt is very nice.

Yes, Poipu is on the south shore. In addition to the Grand Hyatt, you might want to consider the Koh Kea.

The North Shore surf will be higher and the South Shore (Poipu)
https://poipubeach.org/ will be calmer. But the entire island is very small and you can easily drive to the other main areas of interest on the island like Lihue (don't miss Hamura Samin restaurant) which is in the middle on the island on the east side and Hanalei (which is lush, green, and stunningly beautiful) in the north.

Grand Hyatt Kauai is lovely in Poipu..it's my fave and the salt water lagoon is huge.

Marriott Waiohai beach club in Poipu (2 bedroom villas) is fab too...great snorkelling in front of resort with great palapa bar and grill.

Koa Kea hotel which is pricey boutique but done very nice...been many times to Red Salt...quite good.
Love Hamura Saimin..lilikoi pie is delicious!

Weston Princeville for North Shore..recently remodeled villas..like the location on golf course and mountain views with the ton of waterfalls is just beautiful.
January will be more rain but lush.

Maui..Honua Kai in Ka'anapali, Hyatt Residence club or West in Ocean Villas..
Andaz, Grand Wailea , Fairmont or Four Seasons.

Merrimans for happy hour, Paia fish and South Maui Fish Company for some of the best poke..divey food truck in Kihei.

Fly into Maui first for 5 days and puddle jump over to Lihue.

You must rent a car for both islands.

Both islands have a lot of Aloha.

Grand Hyatt is beautiful, beach in front is not swimmable but only a short drive to Poipu Beach Park or a bit further to Salt Pond.

The order doesn't matter. Do whichever works best for your flights.

just keep in mind 9 nights is really 71/2 days when you consider the travel time to get to Hawaii, get car, drive to hotel and settle in then you repack, travel to airport in time to be there 1 hour early and return car, fly to next island, pick up car at new island, drive to hotel, resettle.

Love Kauai and 3 days would be torture for me but if you have never been there you will get a great taste of the beautiful island.

Casual eats on Kauai go to Brennekes (not cheap but fun), Red Salt for nice but expensive dinner, Beach House has been remodeled and finally has really good food (also on expensive side) pizza in Koloa and for a drive toward Kapaa, Sleeping Giant for great Fish Tacos Also cheap bike rentals to ride the paved walk/bike road that goes along the ocean.....

I'd suggest you work on your itinerary for each island a bit more, to see which one has more that you want to try to do. Put the 'extra' day there.

Thanks all, so much help for the food especially. I am just really torn if the right move is one island. But we are trying to use points and Maui is just too pricy and so that is why I initially thought to split. Maybe we should just consider Kauai the entire time but a bit concerned about the weather. Really struggling...

I don't understand your comment " Maybe we should just consider Kauai the entire time but a bit concerned about the weather." What is your concern?

Do both islands. You have enough time. They are different enough so you will appreciate each experience. Lots of good advice here.

The only guarantee about the weather and what side of the island to stay on Kauai is there <i><b>IS</i></b> no guarantee.

However, chances are better for less rain on Kauai in the Winter in the Poipu area.

We usually stay in Kapaa area and find if it's raining there, we pack up and head for the South or Westside for some sun fun.
We used to "cheat" and call a business in Poipu or Waimea and ask "what are your hours?" and when they'd tell us we'd add "And how's the weather there today".

Our first trip over in '89 we did the first 5 days on Kauai, then 3 in Molokai then the last 2 days on Oahu. WRONG! All of the relaxed feelings we got after Kauai and Molokai went down the drain in Honolulu. LOL

After that, we did 7 on Kauai and 4 on Molokai...then after that and when I got more paid vacation we just got to Kauai, unpacked, unplugged and relaxed.

We also found that staying in the Kapaa area you're in the middle of the island so just about equal distances to No Shore, So Shore and Westside. Plus you only get half the "Kapaa Krawl" traffic jam.

I'd encourage you to seriously consider spending the whole time in Kauai.

Thank you all.

We decided to shorten the trip a little and do a week in Kauai and are very excited. If you have any MUST do's there please let me know.

Have a wonderful time!

<i>must dos</i>
If you can swing it, a helicopter or small plane ride around the island.

Other than that, the only other must do is RELAXXXXX. ;-)

And if you do get caught in The Kapaa Crawl just look around you. I'd rather be stuck in traffic in Kauai than anywhere else!