iceeu2

We are headed back to Kauai in March. We have never been to The Big Island and would like to go there for a few days??? If we go to The Big Island first for only a few days are we going to wish we had stayed longer. Would we want to do 1 week on The Big Island and the other on Kauai??? Or just a few days on The Big Island and 10-12 days on Kauai????
Isn't it grand having this type of dilema???
Hang loose.......
Does Aloha still offer the fly all over the place in 7 days???? If so, would we want to make Kauai home base and take some days trips or so to the other islands??

cindyne

The Big Island is incredible. There is so much to do and see on the Big island; I would allow 7 days to see it. We spent 3 weeks in hawaii last summer and allowed one week each on hawaii, maui, and kauai. Looking back we wish we would have eliminated one island and stayed on the B.I. two weeks. Check out Waipio Valley, the National Botanical gardens, and the four seasons or Hapuna Beach prince hotel. If you don't have the book, Big Island revealed, it will be helpful in making your decision.

Good luck planning!!

Cindy

pspercy

Sounds great; I believe inter-island fares and schedules have changed recently. Fares in particular have changed. This could affect your plans. Good luck. Paul

JohnD

I think the main difference between Kauai and BI is that you will do more driving on BI to accomplish activities, so it is good to plan ahead with blue bible (Hawaii BI-revealed).
We have stayed two to three days each year for the past few years and still have not seen as much as we would like to on the BI. So in answer to your question, if you go a few days you will want to stay longer. Suggest you pick a resort with its own sandy beach (e.g. Kohala coast), because there is a lack of usable sandy beaches especially in the Kona area due to the presence of lava. I would argue against a day trip to Maui, but a day trip to Oahu would be OK, especially if you connect through HNL on your return flight to the mainland.

iceeu2

We do have to connect through Honolulu. Always in the past...we have just stayed overnight in Honolulu and then on.
Can't talk the husband into doing Maui again. Kauai has him spoiled.
But, what I am wondering is.....
Should we do a week in Kauai...then on to The Big Island......or do The Big Island and then on to Kauai????
In all honesty, the beaches are not our thing. We mainly do sight seeing and hiking. We will sit around the pool or on the beach one day or so and kick back and read a book or whatever.
Just from what I have seen, I just have a feeling is we only plan a day or so on The Big Island, we are going to wish we had planned a week.
Plus, we have never had the pleasure of where they have the wonderful Kona coffee...of course, we have had Kona, but isn't it grown on Hawaii??
So again, John...Big Island then Kauai
or Kauai then Big Island???
The only thing is.....I must be in Princeville on a Friday night for the seafood buffet!!

JohnD

With regard to the BI vs Kauai/ Kauai then BI, I would look for any special activities on BI that are occuring when you are going, and plan the order accordingly. For example on the BI we have been fortunate enough to attend the Kona Brewer's Festival-delicious micro brews served up in paradise with good eats too!
Also, some flights go to Kona directly from the mainland, so that might influence the order you choose.
In general, I find a week on Kauai to be very relaxing, so I would choose doing that first, and spend the balance of time on the BI. If you like hiking, Volcanoes National Park will keep you occupied between the craters, steam vents, lava tubes, and actively flowing lava. Also recommend checking out "Place of Refuge"-has excellent snorkeling nearby, and for coffee plantations, they are there (have not done personally #39;( ) suggest you refer to BI-revealed guidebook. I also have seen on the Discovery Channel a company "Hawaii Forest and Trail" that looks to have interesting (though pricey) touring on the BI. Here is their website:http://hawaii-forest.com/adventures.html
Hope this helps.

Alohamom

Iceeu2, I can't help but laugh- you sound just like me when I am trying to plan my Hawaii time! My family thinks I am nuts but they are always grateful for the preplanning when we get there. As far as your dilema goes, I guess I would take into consideration that I find Kauai to be the most laid back of all the islands and plan to usually do no more than relax when we go there. There really is a lot do do on the BI if you want to so my inclination would be BI first, Kauai second and maybe split the time equally. You may find yourself itching to get to the BI and it could change how and what you do on Kauai if you stayed there first. I know that could happen to me. I don't think you can go wrong, I LOVE the Big Island and would spend 2 or 3 weeks at a time if I could! Using Aloha airlines like you suggested is a great idea if you can.

iceeu2

Alohamom...I had to laugh back when you said your family thinks you are nuts for all of your preplanning.
The DH always says there is no reason for us to go anywhere because I have already taken every virtual tour there is!! However, he is exactly as your family, packed and ready to head wherever!!
JohnD gonna check out that website right now!!
Thanks all! I'm sure there will be lots and lots of questions before time and I'm gonna go to booksamillion.com right now and order the Revealed Book for Hawaii.

Sally30

I am planning a trip to the Big Island and Kauai. We definitely want to go to both because we have never been to Hawaii (state) before. We have decided on 7 nights on the Big Island followed by 6 nights on Kauai. I was hoping someone could help with some specific BI and Kauai questions.
1. We are planning to stay at the Mauna Kea on the Big Island. This resort looks a bit farther north on the Kona side than some of the other resorts. Are there casual restaurants, coffee shops, food shops, etc. close by the Mauna Kea in case we get sick of the resort food (or spending resort prices for a quick breakfast or lunch)?
2. We want to enjoy visiting the volcanos so we are heeding the advice of this board and the BI Revealed book and planning to stay one night on the Hilo side. any specific recommendations for where to stay for a night or two that gives easy access to the Volcano Park?
3. The plan is to drive to Hilo early one morning, spend the day in the park then fly to Kauai the next day from Hilo. If we end up having to take an early afternoon flight to Kauai is it worth staying overnight in Hilo? How far is Hilo airport from the park.
ICEEU2 - I looked on the aloha airlines website and found a one way fair from the Big Island to Kauai for $70/person. I don't know what the prices used to be but that doesn't seem too bad.

chicgeek

We spent a week on the BI, and put about 1,000 miles on our rental car! There is so much to see and do. I have to laugh, because the first night we were there we started chatting with a couple at the next table in a restaurant in Kona. They told us that 3 days there was too much, and that there isn't much to do on the island! We kept thinking of them all week, wondering what island they had been on! We stayed on the west side of the island, and went to the Volcano National Park one whole day (and saw the black sand beaches on the way). Then on another day, we went to Hilo, and took the helicopter to the volcano. You don't need to spend the night there. The Botanic Gardens in Hilo are beautiful and interesting. For your Beach Day, the beach at Hapuna is one of the most beautiful anywhere. Food-wise, my best memories are dinner at Merrimen's and shave ice everyday at a place right in the middle of downtown Kona. We are the opposite in terms of the way we would plan the trip. We would start on the BI, where there is lots of activity since we start off in hyper-active mode. Then as we wind down, we would head to Kauai, where we would be more relaxed for our second week.

hobojo

My family & I did this trip last year. 7 nights on the BI and 6 in Kauai in that order. The order was fine, but I thought 6 on BI and 7 on Kauai would have been better. Leave Kauai last, because it is just so beautiful. For the Kona side- of the BI definitely go to Hapuna Beach for a swim. If you snorkel, visit Captain Cook's monument via kayak. Then maybe one day to veg. out in the sun. On the Hilo side- VNP is a MUST. The reason to stay over is to see the lava at night-but I'm not sure what's going on there now. Two days for the park would seem about right. We stayed in Hilo at the Hilo Hawaiian-supposedly one of the better hotels in Hilo but I cannot recommend it. There are some B&B's near the park, I would recommend staying there. Hilo looked like a ghostown after 9pm on a Sat. night. It was also kind of creepy. My advice is just to use Hilo for the airport instead of driving all the way back to Kona. I thought Kauai had more to do-better beaches, better hiking, and just a lot prettier.

Corgie

Just returned from both!! I will post a trip report soon but here is my opinion:

BI first... stay one or two nights at VNP (we did two) to enable you to see the lava @ night(incredible), do a bit of hiking and check out the crater rim trail. Drive onto Leeward side via Hilo, stop at Waipio Valley, maybe hike down. and then stay on Kona side for 3 or four nights. We stayed right in Kona because we like easy access to pubs and causal dinning and there really isn't much up in the resort area (except for a food court at the Outrigger) The beaches are heavenly up there though and if I had the $$ and wanted a beach escape I would stay at the Prince or the Mauna Kea.

We took a Kayak to Captain Cook for some of the best snorkelling I have ever done. Visited the "place of refuge"
and did a bit of beach bumming. Both islands are wonerful but I found Kauai a bit more relaxing and laid back that is why I suggest BI first and then Kauai second.

Gotta run but if anyone has any questions, please ask. I just got home yesterday!