Parent's 50th Anniversary in Hawaii- Please help with ideas.
 

Need some help. We would like to take our parents to Hawaii this summer to celebrate their 5Oth anniversary and are requesting some help on ideas- Where to go, stay, visit etc.
Here are the particulars:
- 4 family's from SF, Boston and DC
- 6 kids, all boys ranging from 8-18 years old.
- None of us have been to Hawaii before so we would obviously like to see Pearl Harbor and other significant sites.
- Timing is mid-July.
Any advice in helping us kids plan and organize this trip would be GREATLY appreciated.

How many days? And do you want to stick to one island or visit two? (With four families, an island-hop might be kind of...adventurous!)

I'd recommend making Oahu your base -- it gets a bad rap for being too busy, but we LOVED it. Stay in Waikiki, visit Pearl Harbor, and take day trips to Hanauma Bay (great snorkeling, close to Waikiki), the North Shore (the crazy 25-foot waves will be completely calm in the summer), and Kailua or Lanikai beaches.

I highly recommend the Perillo Hawaiian Island tour, especially if you haven't been. We LOVED it! www.perillotours.com

They have in 2009 7-day and 10-day tours. Food is included and baggage handling is wonderful.

I suggest you stay in Waikiki and rent however many 7-passenger vans you need to make the drive around the island. Kailua beach will be wonderful for the children to run on--not many people and lots of beach. Waikiki Beach has an area with rock walls to make a calm place for kids to play in the water.

My grandson loves to eat at Cheeseburgers in Paradise on the main drag. We like to go to St. Germaine's bakery for yummy baked goods for breakfast.

Paradise Cove's luau has early activities and is fun for children. The food is fairly good, as is the entertainment.

Expensive for a group, but a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center is interesting.

You might want to check out Great Hawaii Vacations. With this large of a group it might help to use an agency. I've used them in the past and booked condos, interisland air, and rental cars all for one package. Prices they quoted for comparable to what I found myself, and it was just easier to have someone else book everything for me.
http://www.greathawaiivacations.com/

7 nights - 1 island
8-10 nights - 1 or 2 islands
11-14 nights - 1 or 2 or 3 islands
15+ nights - 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 islands

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

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34812564

All of the responses so far are full of cool things for the kids to do; snorkel, beach, etc. I'm sure you are going to have to cater to the younger crowd, but how about suggestions for things for the people this trip should be centered around; the couple having their 50th anniversary. I really doubt they will want to hang ten at the beach.

:-)

We did a similar trip three years ago with 4 families and six kids. The kids were a little younger. We did one week on Oahu and one week on Maui.

Yes, it is Grama and Grampas anniversary, but expect they will want some time to themselves. (As may each family - too much time together can be hard to manage and hard to take).

On Oahu, I would stay at Waikiki in a hotel, eat out for your meals and plan trips to other parts of the island.

Pearl Harbour is something all of you should see. Note that you need pretty much a whole day for this now, as tickets are first come first serve (three years ago, you may want to look it up), and it takes some time to get there and back if you are staying in Waikiki. You could plan to visit Punchbowl Cemetery on your way back as the two places really make an impression together.

My experience was that people shouldn't feel like everyone has to do everything together - including meals.

The boys and dads (and moms!) should all take a surfing lesson. If you can stand, you can surf on the long boards at Waikiki. The beach is great and those who don't surf can swim, play in the ocean or relax on the beach.

Go to Hanauma Bay -- all of you, and snorkel. Again, a great adventure for the whole group to do together.

A traditional Luau is also a great experience. There are many on both Oahu and Maui, so I would suggest research depending on where you stay.

There is a Sunset ceremony at the Hilton Hawaiian Village (not sure if this is still every night) that is open to the public and really good entertainment.

Surf Culture in Haleiwa on the North Shore, including the beauty of spots like Waimea Bay, and the roadside fruit stands really give an opposing experience to Waikiki.

I would also recommend Maui for a family visit. There are more condo options on Maui where you can stay in a home-like setting, often on the beach and always with a pool. You can choose to do some cooking here if you like. If not, there are many restaurants. You will need rental cars to get around here.

I would stay in south Kihei, Wailea, or Kaanapali on Maui. Things to do: Haleakala Crater at sunrise, drive to some amazing beaches (Baldwin, Fleming, Kamaole Beach Park, Big Beach) where you can always boogie board and sometimes surf.

I could go on and on. Bottom line is you will love it.

My sister did a 3 generation trip last year to Maui and she did something very special. Before she left she booked a local Hawaiian photographer to do a family photo shoot for the entire group.

They did individual, couples, small family groupings and then the whole group. The photographer she used suggested which beach she thought would be best and they met about an hour before sunset. Everyone wore nice clothes but went barefoot, the pictures came out really cute.

She searched on google and then hired the photographer she got the best feel from. She kept the negatives so reprints and enlargements were cheaper. When they got home each family created their own album.

Definitely consider staying in condos. It's so nice not to have to go out to a restaurant for every meal. Muffins, fruit, with milk or juice or cereal for breakfast is nice because then not everyone has to get up and get going at the same time. Teenagers especially don't usually like to get up and going early, but your parents may be early risers.

It's so nice to have a living area as well as bedrooms, especially with a group.