Continuing the trend of using the Off Topic forum for vacation advice...

Anyone have any tips on the best way to visit our island state?

I've never been, I've got no idea which island is the best to see, what the best time of year to go is... No clue. But I've just made a bargain with SWMBO that involved booking Hawaii sometime this year.

Criteria:

- Tourist trap type stuff is not something we necessarily have to avoid so much. We actually don't mind touristy stuff as long as it's not too overt.

- Sightseeing is big with us. Especially places where I can get a lot of pictures.

- Passive activities like relaxing on the beach are good with us. Some active stuff is fine, too, as long as it's not exertion. Bicycling tours=Out, Snokeling=In.

- Avoiding crowds is good if possible.

- Small boats=Bad.

- Airplanes=Good.

Anyone have any tips along those lines? Anyone got a suggestion as to the best time of year to go?

Not been yet myself, but when I do a helicopter trip is definitely on the books. Volcanos and big waterfalls are apparently worth seeing.

Okay, cool. Noted.

First off, make sure you eat at Roy's- and when you do get the Chocolate Souffle. This was actually the first piece of marital advice we received from our pastor, and it was on the money.

Looking at their website I see that Roys now has resturants ouside of Hawaii (even in California) so I suppose the experience isn't uniquely Hawaiian anymore, but the chain certainly started there.

Maui is the most touristy Island for sure. If you go there you won't be hunting for stuff to do. The minute you get to your hotel you'll have people right in the lobby with brochures for everything there is to do on the Isalnd wanting to hook you up. This is typical and everywhere you go. They really aren't that pushy, but they are available.

Our strategy was this: we mostly just sat around on the beach and enjoyed the view and weather, however we planned one special thing every day. We didn't Island hop and stayed on Maui the whole time. That worked out pretty well and didn't keep us too busy to enjoy ourselves, and we still didn't do everything that was recommeded to us.

You WON'T want to miss the Luau- it's a greaet experience and the one at the marriott is really well done.

We also did a sunset boat ride/dinner which was OK, but sort of forgettable- a sunset horsback ride, which was REALLY neat given the view and terrain. There was some flower garden we went to that Angel really liked, but it didn't make much of an impression on me (not a big flower guy). There's a long winding drive up around the edge of the island we didn't do and I hear mixed things about whether it is worth it- it's apparently gorgous but takes a long time.

On Maui, at least, all of the hotel beaches are open to everyone, so you don't have to worry about finding a nice beach. At most you'll have to pay for parking.

We paid for an upgrade to a convertable and got a little sunfire- I would HIGHLY recommend this. Cruising around the island with the top down is one of our best memories.

And be prepared to spend some money. Everything is VERY expensive. Even essentials like food and gas. We figured we'd save money buy buying some groceires and cooking some stuff at our hotel (we had a kitchen area)- we spent $250 on what would have normally cost us about $50- yikes!

Hope that helps- I've been three times, but most of this is coming from our Honeymoon. We found the best strategy was not to over book activities and to leave a LOT of room to just lay around and enjoy the beach- but that fits our personalites well.

Everybody (for good reason) says to get away from Honolulu and visit the *real* Hawaii on practically any of the other islands.

That said, your inbound flight will arrive at Honolulu, and you will likely spend a night there before departure at the end. And possibly more time in the middle.

So.. walk to the top of Diamond Head and enjoy the view (and the exercise). We walked it from our hotel, and took the LONG way (ocean side roads). Much shorter is the back (inland) way up. Of course, practically everyone else was clever and took a bus to the crater, and did the half hour walk from there.

Cheers

Having never been, I have no advice to offer. However, I will be there for about a month in October. On a whim my friend and I decided to go. We aren't booking any hotels or making any big plans. We intend to show up and see what happens. Hopefully a good time will be had.

My father's business has taken him to several trips to Hawaii, and I know my parents' favorite island is without a doubt Kauai (sp?). They very much dislike the touristy and crowded main island.

All I know is that I had a chance to travel with them when I was in college, and due to some damn mid-terms, I couldn't go and stay in their giant suite and take a helicopter ride over the volcanoes. I can't even remember what classes I was taking at the time, but I'm pretty damned sure I could remember a helicopter ride. Stupid school.

My wife and I spent two weeks there a few years ago: one week in Kauai and one week on the big island. First, check out the pictures. We decided to do everything in bed-and-breakfasts rather than hotels. It's a little hit-or-miss, but I can specifically recommend a b&b in Poipu, Kauai with a killer view. I can also recommend a small place in the hills over Kauai. Good view, friendly cats. Links are on my page, above.

Kauai factoids: Kauai is the oldest island in the chain. That means more green stuff and less lava. It's got spectacular hiking. Also, you only need one hotel or b&b. Nowhere on the island is more than 60-90 minutes drive away. The south-side of the island, Poipu, is where all the big trophy retirement homes are and where you'll find most of the fancy restaurants like Roy's (a nice restaurant, but there are better restaurants in the same price bracket). If I could go back to Kauai again, I'd want to do an overnight hike on the north side of the island. The full hike is 12.5 miles to get all the way in. We only did the first three.

Big Island factoids: I had no choice but to visit the big island. I wanted to see red, hot lava. I wasn't disappointed. The west side of the island is where most of the tourist hotels are. The island is big enough that, if you want to spend a couple days poking around Volcano National Park, you're going to want to stay nearby rather than driving from Kona. In terms of spectacular waterfalls, you're not going to do much better than Akaka Falls, which I seem to recall is somewhere on the northeast side. That's also where I found the best aloha shirts, made by the woman running the store.

A couple other random thoughts:

- Hawaii has fanastic hiking, but many of the attractions are easily accessible by car. Even a short hike away from the parking lot can get you away from the crowds.

- Convertibles are sweet, but you should also think small. If you can parallel park somewhere that bigger cars won't fit, you'll get a better space near some choice beach.

- On the flip side, you'll see lots of Jeeps that you can rent. Some travels really require four-wheel drive. In particular, if you're planning to drive across the big island or to the top of Mona Kea to see the telescopes, then a Ford Focus isn't going to get the job done safely.

- I don't think there's a bad time of year to visit Hawaii. However, every island seems to have a sunny side and a rainy side. Make sure you pay attention to these issues when booking your stay.

- Get a good guide book. They'll clue you into restaurants, oddball stores, and everything else. My favorite clue concerned Volcanoes National Park. They have a deliberately under-publicized lava tube tour. It's low impact, beautiful, and only costs you a pack of AA batteries, but you have to sign up in advance. It's worth planning a trip around the schedule for that tour (which I think only happens once or twice a week).

This is all fantastic information, everyone, thanks so very much! Keep it coming! I'm taking notes.

I was there about 8 years ago so the memories are fading but…
We went straight to Maui. Right off the plane we took the drive to Hana, on the so called “Hana Highway”. Due to fatigue the ride there was just OK, the ride back much better! The town of Hana was great and seemed "authentic" it seems that most people just drive there and then head right back. We stayed for a couple of nights, really peaceful. On the way back we stopped at one of the small “surfer” towns and I had the best Mahi Mahi that I have ever eaten. Damn if you like fresh fish I don't know if Hawaii can be beaten. (Especially true if you like salt water fish as opposed to the fresh water varieties.) I just can't recall the name of the town, but I'm sure there are many such types around the islands.
Our next stop was the Haleakala National Park. We stayed with a friend who was working as a ranger at the top of the volcano which would have been nice, but due to personal problems he was having it wasn't. But there are many hikes that you choose from depending on how much “work” you want to do. There are also bicycle trips to the top of the volcano and back down. If you down want to pedal all the way to the top, you can take a tour that drives you up in a van and then you can just coast all the way down! ;-)

After that we spend the rest of the time in Lahaina, which was a bit too touristy for us. But if you’re not averse to that type of setting it can be fun. We stayed in a hotel/condo, so our “room” was actually someone’s one-room condo. We liked that, although I don’t think that I’d ever want a “condo” like that for myself. Over all I’d say we really enjoyed the Hana side of the island much better. As for picture taking, you can never have enough film, or these days memory (sticks, cards, whatever!). I’ll ask my better half for her memories and fill in some of the details.

I've not been to Hawaii, but I have been listening to some Israel Kamakawiwo'ole recently (the Facing Future CD). Get it, it will put you in the right state of mind.

-Zeke