Please help with First Timers to Hawaii
 

Hi,
I've read many of the posts about Hawaii to get some information about where to go on vacation and here is what Ive come up with.
My husband and I (mid to late 20s)are going on vacation to celebrate our 3rd anniversary next summer. We are planning to go late June and early July for about 11 days. We are looking for primarily a beach vacation. We like to sit at the beach for most of the day, enjoy the scenery and relax and have great dinners at night. We would probably do some half days sightseeing in Hawaii since there seems to be many things to do. We dont really need a big nightlife, but it would be nice if we coulk walk to some areas for dinner or a drink or two after or before dinner. Here's the plan so far. Please let me know what you think.

Maui for first half of vacation, staying on Kanaapali Beach, somewhere close to Whaler's Village.

Kauai for second half of vacation, staying on the South side, which Ive head has more dining and shopping areas.

Do these islands sound good for what we are looking for? Oahu just seemed to busy for us and seemed that the beach would be packed. We're not really looking for a Miami beach environment.

Do we need to rent a car on the islands or is it better to just take taxis.

Are the beaches mentioned wide and expansive? Are they close to little shopping or dining areas?

Should we split the time in half equally between the two islands?

Any hints on the transportation from island to island?

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate it. I always learn so much from all of your advice.

Hi - I can provide a little bit of help.

First of all, you will NEED a rental car on any of the islands.

There are a few interisland airlines to take you from one island to the next. You can either get a major airline such as American to book that for you or just go straight to the individual web sites such as Hawaiian Air (my recommendation). The web site is easy to navigate.

On Maui, anywhere near Whaler's Village will give you close proximity to eating and drinking. Lahaina is really the area for fun although I don't recommend staying in that area. I've always stayed in Kapalua or Wailea (love both).

On Kauai I highly recommend the Grand Hyatt.

I think any of the islands have exactly what you're looking for. The only hard part would be having your hotel be on the kind of beach you have in mind. That brings up a question for you - what kind of place/budget do you have in mind (for your stay)?

You definitely need to rent a car on both Maui and Kauai.

Oahu, is the only island that maybe you can get away without having a rental car.

I'm not trying to talk you into Oahu, but want to point out that the entire island is not "busy" only the Honolulu/Waikiki area.

Just got back from Hawaii for my honeymoon! I'm in my late 20's, don't really care about nightlife... We stayed here in Maui:

http://www.vrbo.com/82545

This condo was really nicely remodeled, and the resort was ultra low key. There are so many resorts to choose from- you pretty much can't go wrong. This one was a nice location (about 10 min from Lahaina) and you could take a walk to get to the ritzy hotel zone.

We loved Maui and thought it was so beautiful. The beaches aren't big, but they are nice. Lots of the beaches actually had grass more than sand, but it was fine. Being from Oregon, I was just happy that the water was warm. But the beaches don't even compare. Honestly, I could easily have spent 11 days in Maui. We only spent 6, and then went to the Big Island.

In Maui, I would recommend a few things:

1) a little restaurant called Java Jazz (across the street/hwy from the Papakea resort). It had tons of character, a great menu, and awesome live music. We also liked restaurants I'O and Kimo's.

2) Zipline tour- super fun

3) Old Lahaina Luau. This is supposedly the best luau in all of Hawaii. It's more expensive, but it's definitely worth it (if you even care to do the Luau thing...).

4) Helicopter tour to Molakai. I didn't really even want to do this and thought it was too expensive, but it ended up being the highlight of our trip.

Definitely do rent a car. It's relatively cheap (I got one for $15/day on priceline for a convertible)

I haven't been to Kauai, but I generally don't recommend the big island. I also think that it would be better just to get settled and stay on one island. With that said, Kona Village on the Big Island would be a great place to stay if you really do just want to hang out and relax. Don't bother going to the big island and driving all over the place!!!

If you do want to island hop, the cheapest way is the superferry. Plane tickets in between run about $50-70 one way.

Have fun!

I was so pleased to see that worldtraveler recommended Papakea. My late husband and I used to spend the entire month of October there every year for many, many years (I'm quite a bit older than you!). It was the happiest, most relaxing place I've ever been! I now live on the windward side of Oahu, and love it, but there's not a lot for visitors here. If I were planning the vacation you describe, I'd split it to spend 7 days on Maui (Papakea), and 4 on Kauai. But I'd really prefer to spend all 11 days on Maui! It is so beautiful! You will love it. There are a number of Papakea units available for rental, but be sure to get one on the ocean front. There's nothing like falling asleep and waking up to the sound of the ocean. Have a great vacation!

Hi everyone! Thank you sooo much for all of your help. Many of you wrote about beaches and parts of the island we had in mind already for ourselves. Here's our tentative plans...

Fly into Maui's OGG airport, either get a taxi or shuttle or rental car to drive to West Maui to our hotel. Staying at ResortQuest Mahana at Kaanapali. This one is a mile from Whaler's Village and has a shuttle every hour to there. Very excited about this one because it was rated #1 on trip advisor. Spend 6 days, 5 nights here. Fly to Kauai.

Stay at the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort for 6 days, 5 nights. Our flight leaves at 9 pm so we will pay for that extra night but leave after dinner. Fly home.

For rental cars, I saw that a couple of you said that they were necessary. We tried to pick areas that we could walk to the shopping and dining areas at night so we wouldn't need a rental car. We were thinking that we would walk to a few places to eat at night, stay around the hotel fof breakfast and lunch, take taxis to other places for dinner that were further, and plan any day trips from our hotel. If thats the case, is it feasible to get by on both islands without a rental car? We could get one for a couple of days if it is necessary but we'd rather not.
Again, thanks for all of your help and recommendations!

Update to my itinerary:
Instead of staying at the Resort Quest Mahana at Kaanapali we are also thinking about Kaanapali Beach Hotel. The Kaanapali Beach Hotel seems to have a better location (closer to Whalers Village), better swimming beach, and better pool. We need a pool that has access to shade. Thoughts on the two hotels?

If you pick the Kaanapali Beach Hotel, pick it for its location. It is an older, average hotel that really is a pleasant anomaly in Hawaii these days. Low key, and a bit old fashioned funky. In my opinion it has the best location of any hotel on that beach. I have stayed there twice and if I didn't like the Wailea area so much more I'd stay there again.

If you just want to stay at your hotel and relax on the beach every day, I guess perhaps you could get by without a rental car.

Most people want to do some sight seeing out & about on the islands they visit, and for that a car really is required (except on Oahu where you can get by on public tranporation and organized tours).

If I understood your post correctly, you said that you would be leaving Kauai at 9 pm and therefore pay for that night at the hotel but not actually stay there? That really isn't necessary. We stayed at the Hyatt in Maui and they were willing to extend our stay until I think 2 pm for free but we could have stayed later for $100/hour, but we checked out at 2 and just drove around doing a bit more sightseeing before our dinner reservations at 6:00. By the time dinner was over, it was time to head to the airport (and our flight wasn't until 10 or 11). So you could definitely save a good bit of money by not paying for an extra night in a hotel that you won't be using.

And you definitely should get a car in Maui (never been to Kauai). Things are pretty spread out, and there are a lot of things on the other side of the island from Kaanapali that are worth seeing, and I would not want to pay a cab fare every time. Even to get to Lahaina, it isn't within walking distance to Kaanapali, and that is where most of the restaurants in that area are, except for the hotel restaurants and places like Leilani's. Keep in mind that Hawaii is a US state, so the driving will be just like it is here in the US. Roads are fine, same laws, same side of the street, so its super easy. Not at all like renting a car on Caribbean islands.

We stayed on Maui for 10 days and never ran out of things to do. It is such a fun place. We are saving Kauai and Oahu for our next trip. If you want, click on my name and you can read my trip report. We were there in May. You're going to have such a good time!

And if you have a free night, try to go to Warren and Annabelle's! It was a highlight of our trip! Warren is hilarious...

mandyb1229, don't pay for an extra night! You can check out at regular time; then the hotel will hold your luggage for you in a secure place until you need to leave for the airport ... :)

I would definitely rent cars on Maui & Kauai. By the time you get taxis for this and that, you will probably spend as much as you would have on a car. I think you miss out on seeing what's best about the islands without a car ...

The Hyatt is lovely in Kauai (we stay at the Marriott) but at the time of year you will be there, I would recommend the North Shore instead. Maybe Hanalei Beach Resort.

Yes you need a car.

As far as the superferry being cheaper than flying after you add on the fuel surcharge it's about even and currently only goes between Oahu and Maui but service to Kauai is suppose to attempted again.
Most of the flights between Maui and Kauai require a stop on Oahu but they are fairly short layovers.
I also agree with renting a car because the cost is so little when compared to what it allows you to do.
I fully agree with Suze about Oahu and the beaches are always on the Travel Channel Kailua/Lanikai on the windward side and Banzai, Sunset and Waimea on the northshore.