Help Please with Hawaii

[undercoverbrother]

OK, so I have decided to take my wife to Hawaii for out 25th anniversary.

I know #### all about Hawaii.

Neither she or I are interested in big city and nightclubs.

We are down to hang by pool, snorkel, walk to restaurants (or drive) for dinners.

Looking for suggestions on where to go and where to stay.

[Locke]

First of all...'Where?'

Hawaii is actually a lot of places.

If its Maui, take the Highway to Hana, its a great, albeit difficult drive. They'll tell you that you need a Jeep, if you have any driving skillz you do not.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Locke

First of all...'Where?'

Hawaii is actually a lot of places.

If its Maui, take the Highway to Hana, its a great, albeit difficult drive. They'll tell you that you need a Jeep, if you have any driving skillz you do not.

Yeah that's the point I don't know where.

I assume that different Islands have different vibes, pluses/minuses.

All i know about Hawaii is that it is multiple Islands

[Dion]

Kauai is the perfect option if you want to visit a rugged and authentic Hawaiian island that won't ever feel overly crowded, even in the summer months.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Yeah that's the point I don't know where.

I assume that different Islands have different vibes, pluses/minuses.

All i know about Hawaii is that it is multiple Islands

I've only been to Maui so thats all I can help with.

[Sliver]

Maui is awesome.

The big island is boring af and totally not worth it.

Oahu is pretty neat with lots to see and Pearl Harbour is cool, but I really think Maui is by far the best.

[jwslam]

I've only done Maui, and Honolulu (Oahu).

I've done Maui 3 times now. I would go back again, but there's definitely way less to do than the other. Also, with the Lahaina fires, that's another one less thing to do.

Honolulu is just Los Angeles on an Island. Very touristy / citified. I was only there for 4 days and didn't get to see much of it, but I also wouldn't call those days "relaxing".

[Weitz]

Maui is also boring as heck.

[ResAlien]

Big island Kona side. Some touristy crap to keep the hoi polloi busy but the best hikes/walks/adventures IMO. Great beaches and laid back. Also: Volcano!

I guess if you’re wanting to only pool, snorkel, and eat just go to whichever island’s cheapest when you book.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

Big island Kona side. Some touristy crap to keep the hoi polloi busy but the best hikes/walks/adventures IMO. Great beaches and laid back. Also: Volcano!

I guess if you’re wanting to only pool, snorkel, and eat just go to whichever island’s cheapest when you book.

Yeah those were just quick hits.

An easy hike could be fun, but we travel light so I'm not bringing hiking boots.

[GGG]

I’d recommend Lahaina. It essentially describes what you are look for. Unfortunately it burned down.

[bizaro86]

Second on the Big Island. Whenever I suggest going anywhere my wife automatically says - "but what about Hilton Kings' Land?" (which is a resort in Waikoloa on the Big Island). Big Island has the best snorkeling, imo, and plenty of places with great pools. There are a few nice activities (water falls, volcano, black sand beach, green sand beach, tour coffee farm, etc) but if you just want to unplug and chill in Hawaii this is the place to go. We've seen sea turtles at A-Bay every single trip we've done there, and there are some great places you can snorkel from the shore (A-Bay, Two Step, etc). You can also hike into the Captain Cook monument (where he was killed by native Hawaiians) and snorkel from there, but it's about 2 miles so many people take a boat trip. Some of the best snorkeling in the world there (comparable to the great barrier reef, imo).
We're going again in March.

[MoneyGuy]

We’ve been to all of the major islands. If I was taking a newcomer I think I’d do Oahu then fly to either the Big Island or Maui. You might consider an islands cruise unless you’d hate cruising, then add a few days on Oahu.

[Nammer403]

We've always enjoyed Ko'Olina (O'ahu) -
You get best of both worlds of calm relaxing beaches you can walk around the lagoons and if you want to hit up Waikiki its 40 min drive but I tend to stay away from Waikiki as its a gongshow

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by jwslam

I've only done Maui, and Honolulu (Oahu).

I've done Maui 3 times now. I would go back again, but there's definitely way less to do than the other. Also, with the Lahaina fires, that's another one less thing to do.

Honolulu is just Los Angeles on an Island. Very touristy / citified. I was only there for 4 days and didn't get to see much of it, but I also wouldn't call those days "relaxing".

Ya, I did not like Honolulu at all. Seems to be for people who go to Hawaii to shop in malls. Go to vegas. North Shore is good but oppressively windy. You are military so Pearl Harbour might be of interest. Tourist things like that are hell on earth to me so I did not care for it.

Maui is the schit. If doing a Giggling Marlin experience like getting shooters while a guy blows a whistle in your ear, then it is not for you.

Hawaii will ruin those all-inclusive Mexican vacations though, because it is garbage in comparison.

Big island is cool. The lava field landscape is super cool to me. Volcano stuff is cool, but I doubt you are allowed to walk across that crater anymore.

Never been to Kauai but I bet its also awesome.

So Maui>Big Island>>>Oahu.

But if I had never been to Maui or Big Island I would probably love Oahu a lot more, if that makes sense.

[Flacker]

Prepare your wallet. Accommodations post-covid seem to be right out of control. Airfare is super reasonable, everything else seems to have gone up in price in the 2-3x range.

[Derek Sutton]

I would skip Oahu, might as well just go to San Diego, at least the traffic would be better. I would go back to either Maui or the Big Island in a heartbeat however.

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

I would skip Oahu, might as well just go to San Diego, at least the traffic would be better. I would go back to either Maui or the Big Island in a heartbeat however.

Yup, plastic surgery ridden ghouls carrying huge shopping bags with Prada written on them.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

I second a recommendation for Kauai if you want to get away from touristy things and do more outdoorsy things. Less developed overall, and quite beautiful. Also less high end places to stay or restaurants, but there's enough there all the same.

[Robbob]

We stayed at one of the resort villages north of Kona on the big island. I enjoyed the big island as it is pretty unique as there are like 15 of the 17 climate zones on that island. Did a guided excursion to the volcano national park. Only thing with these resort villages vs staying in a city is they tend to have you unless you have a vehicle and the prices are definitely reflected. So it may be worth while to see what amenities are near by if you decide not to have a vehicle for the entire trip, they all seem to be near some sort of shopping area that is walkable (20 mins).

The other thing we found a little too late while we were there, is that it isn't that expensive to island hop, even if you just want to go to a specific island just for a day.