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Please help - Hawaii itinerary - big island and Honolulu

Please help - Hawaii itinerary - big island and Honolulu

Old Oct 27th, 2017, 01:57 PM
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Please help - Hawaii itinerary - big island and Honolulu

Hi Fodorites
I am overwhelmed with info and need to make some decisions about WHERE to go please! I am in Australia and my Husband has booked the two of us to fly to: Honolulu for 5 nights, then to the Big Island for 5 nights, then 4 nights back on Honolulu.
I am trying to work out WHERE on these islands we should go and where to STAY when we get there mid January.
I am happy to spend the first few days in a hotel in Oahu preferably on or close to the best beach and do the city thing. Then thinking three days at Turtle Bay or thereabouts.
A couple of nights in a hotel maybe Waikiki then three nights SOMEWHERE beachy and laid back.
Back to Oahu for 4 nights I would love some advice where to go that is not high rise, city living please.
I am trying to find a good combination of city and less urban/off the beaten track stuff.
I am finding the hotel costs rather high so have started investigating condos so I can mix it up, but I am failing as there are so many options and I am not sure about locations and I really would be grateful for any advice PLEASE...
Cheers .
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Old Oct 27th, 2017, 02:23 PM
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I was a little confused by your post. Are you aware that Waikiki is on Oahu? It's actually part of Honolulu.
Oahu:

Pick a hotel in Waikiki - you will be able to take The Bus to any sights in Honolulu.
Things to see in Honolulu:
Pearl Harbor historical sites - The Arizona Memorial, the battleship Missouri (I highly recommend it).
Iolani Palace
Bishop Museum
Diamond head - do the hike up - it's not hard and views are great

Turtle Bay would be a good choice for quieter beachy stuff - although Waikiki Beach is quite interesting and Ala Moana beach is good. Turtle Bay is on the North shore - so you could rent a car and do the whole north shore thing.

The Big Island:
Must do: Volcanoes National Park. Hilo is the closest major town.
We stayed at a small B&B in the countryside - near The Black Sand beach - However this area is not as tourist oriented as Kona or Hilo. The problem with the Big Island is - IT is BIG. Rent a car you will be doing a lot of driving there

Get some good guidebooks - they will give you lots of ideas for Oahu and the Big Island.
Have a great trip!
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Old Oct 28th, 2017, 11:21 AM
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I wouldn't stay at Turtle Bay resort..
I like to stay in Waikiki at either the Royal Hawaiian hotel or the Sheraton Waikiki..

Big Island, I Like the Four Seasons but this is very pricey..
Hilton Waikoloa resort friends love and its reasonable.

Eating in O'ahu/Waikiki is fantastic...

The Bus takes you all around the island but we head up to Enterprise on Lewers street and online HotWire.com rent a car for the day..no wait and about $35+ day for mid size..

Have a great time!
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Old Oct 28th, 2017, 08:01 PM
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That's a good start. Sorry for the confusion and thankyou both!
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Old Oct 29th, 2017, 10:00 AM
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The Waikoloa Beach resort (not village) on the big island has many reasonable condo complexes, and the Marriott there (on "A-Bay" has a nice beach (the Hilton is larger and pricier). There are many restaurants, a food court, lots of shopping, and you are short drives from several great public beaches. Try vrbo (we like fairways villas and the colony).
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Old Oct 29th, 2017, 10:03 AM
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Btw, the drive to the other side (Hilo and volcano national park) is @1.5 hours, a very doable day trip. But the glow at night is worth the overnight stay (in the park or in volcano village).
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Old Nov 4th, 2017, 05:54 PM
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Thanks sylvia3. Good tips!
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Old Nov 5th, 2017, 05:00 PM
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Might also check into B&Bs -- we stayed in one in Volcano and another just outside of Kona some years ago. Not beachy, for sure, but BI's sights are pretty diverse.
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Old Nov 5th, 2017, 11:53 PM
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Oahu is where Honolulu and Waikik are and is essentially a modern city with all that entails for 70% of the geography. The suggestions on Diamond Head hike, Pearl Harbor and Ala Moana beach are all good. As a local I have done all those tons of times with friends and family visiting and still enjoy them. I would suggest doing PH with a tour as it gets you there faster AND guarantees you get in due to preference given to tours (even though that is officially NA). Roberts Tours does a good job. I worked for them years ago and they are the biggest. Star Tours also does well. The Bus runs out there from Waikiki but it is slow. Car rentals are all over the map but parking is pricey in Waikiki. Taxi from Airport to Waikiki is about $25. Number of shuttles to grab which work pretty well. In Waikiki, check out the Outrigger Hotels website. They are the "value" guys in the area. Their portfolio covers all sizes and classes of property most of which are off the beach. Sheraton Waikiki is right on the beach and a great hotel. I cant tell you today what it costs. There are lots of ABBs out here but most are illegal and I have never used one. the few times I did BBs were before I moved back 25 years ago, pre Internet. I would check their website and do your homework for lots of users and raters.
Hawaii is more an Asian influenced culture than Western so lots of good Asian food, the real deal from Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, etc. Conversely, we are limited for good Mexican, Italian, pizza, French. Seafood generally means fish not local clams or crabs or lobster. Lots of good coffee as its grown here. Increasing number of breweries. Checkout the North Shore for rural Oahu. To get out of Waikiki, better to go to Ko Olina for hotels than out to North Shore/Turtle Bay. Its very quiet out there and in January water could be rough. You NEED a car to travel efficiently on Oahu unless you are just going to hang at your hotel in Waikiki.

Hawaii/Big Island. You definitely need a car to sight see with any efficiency and effect. There is no public transportation of any consequence. As to where to stay it depends on what you want? Nice resort, stay on the Gold Coast/Kohala Coast. SOme great hotels there like the Prince, Waikoloa. None are cheap especially in January. BI is very driving intensive if you want to get a good handle on it. I will give you ideas on that if you can give me more of an idea of what kinds of stuff you want to do, e.g. golf, volcanos, outdoor, hiking, shopping for ??, food types?, visit coffee growing area, historical....
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Old Nov 9th, 2017, 09:50 PM
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Wow Kona Joe thats very helpful thankyou so much. I am still getting a handle on where we are going to be staying and will certainly get back to you once we have that sorted. thanks
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Old Nov 21st, 2017, 12:17 PM
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Waikiki is a district within the city of Honolulu which is on the island of Oahu.

For the first part of the trip there are only 7 hotels actually ON Waikiki Beach, so the list is fairly short of those to look into.
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Old Nov 21st, 2017, 08:11 PM
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We loved the Big Island. Because you will be doing a lot of driving, I highly recommend getting a comfortable rental car, not the biggest bargain; it will be money well spent. I am not a SUV person but there are big advantages in sitting up high when you are driving in such a beautiful space.

You need to stay in at least 2 places to circumnavigate the island. If your budget allows, I would highly recommend the Mauna Kea Hotel (get an ocean view), with its gorgeous beautiful and museum quality art. The hotel is much more beautiful when you are near it than it appears on the website.

We stayed in Nohea Cottage near the Volcano National Park; I cried (literally) when I heard it is no longer being rented (the co-owner moved in). However I can highly recommend our experience with the owners and they have other cottages
Carol Morrison Straforini <[email protected]>
Nov 9 (12 days ago)

I messed up copying their website but their name is Volcano Places. You can google them.
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Old Nov 29th, 2017, 05:48 AM
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If you are looking for off the beaten path on the Big Island...Sea Mountain Condos next to Punalu'u Beach is about as off the path as one can get.

This is our condo...there are about 35 or so that are available through the usual sources for rental besides ours...
https://beachwoodhawaiicondo.wordpress.com/
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Old Dec 1st, 2017, 09:02 AM
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This is too much moving around for me. I would arrive HNL and press on to Big Island. I'd like nine nights there: A condo on the South Kohala Coast (NW) and two nights at Volcano (SE). You can fly into KOA and back to HNL from ITO -- or the reverse. You need rental car reservations.

You need to be near HNL for your return flight, so stay Honolulu last. January is cool and windy, with rough ocean conditions on Oahu's north shore; surfing championships are scheduled there in winter. Stay Waikiki without a car while you do historic and 'city' things. Rent a car for a day to tour Oahu's shores, driving counter-clockwise against commuter traffic. Return the car that day to avoid parking fees.

If you cannot change your flights, just stay Kohala Coast on Big Island. A daytrip to the volcano from there is four hours of driving, round trip.You will not even see any 'red glow' from the volcano without staying overnight. (Or...there are helicopter trips over the volcano from KOA.) Do not drive Big Island after dark except on the straightaway from KOA to the Kohala resorts.
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