Between Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island. whats best for a couple?
Peanut Butter asked:
My husband and I would like to take a trip (about 5-6 days) to hawaii, and I noticed there is a price difference between each island.
My husband and I would like to take a trip (about 5-6 days) to hawaii, and I noticed there is a price difference between each island.
Does anyone have any good advice on which would be best for us? We just want to go and spend some much needed time together, nothing fancy required… just want to be by a pool, beach and have fun.
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January 16th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
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Maui
January 19th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
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You can find secluded spots and beaches in all of them… of course Oahu is the one with more tourists, because it’s cheaper compared to the others. The Big Island gets a lot of visitors too, so the two left are Kauai and Maui. I’ve also heard that Lanai is the most desolate and less tourists.
January 22nd, 2010 at 9:29 am
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You can fine some of the more reasonably priced places to stay on any of the islands. The more they offer in beaches or view the more they cost.
Kauai is quiet, offers some nice places and gets about 80 inches of rain each year. Next is Maui. It offers more to see and drier days. Next is Oahu. More congested IF you stay in Honolulu. There are several nice places away from the city center with better beaches. It does offer a variety of places to shop and eat. Evening entertainment is much better than the other two islands. To make the best out of Oahu, rent a car. Many thing to see and do are not in Honolulu.
January 24th, 2010 at 10:30 am
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MAUI ! i live there and its beyond the best.
January 27th, 2010 at 4:46 am
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Maui. Much less crowded than Oahu, yet still things to do should you care to. Many unique outdoor activities and abundant lodging of every kind.
January 27th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
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The island you select depends on what you are looking for, Oahu has the most hotels and the most competition, so you are going to get the best price for the same quality hotel on this island. However, it is the huge number of 5-star luxury resorts on the outer islands that make it seem a LOT more expensive, but there are some good buys on them if you know the area. What is much more expensive on the outer islands are rental cars…perhaps double the cost of Oahu, I don’t know why. And if you don’t stay on Oahu, you will absolutely need to rent a car. I have provided links to resorts that are not too expensive but in great locations:
If you like to go out to eat at unlimited restaurants and like the hustle-bustle of an urban beach with its dinner shows and nightlife, then Waikiki on Oahu is for you. But Waikiki is a few miles long, so there is variety here. You can choose a mega-resort like the Hilton Hawaiian Village on the west end, to a quiet low-rise right on the beach at the New Otani Kaimana Beach Resort (small rooms however, the cost of being affordable right on the beach) in the Gold Coast residential area near Diamond Head. The Royal Hawaiian and Moana Surfrider (both owned by Starwood) are in the center area of Waikiki, right on the best (and most crowded) part of the beach. If cost is an issue, the Park Shore is in a perfect location at an amazing price in the best part of Waikiki (rooms are clean, many have unimpeded views of the beach…the great price comes from being an old BUT CLEAN hotel). The great thing about Oahu is that if you tire of the urban scene, there are plenty of deserted beaches if you need to get away. Because there are the most hotels on Oahu, prices tend to be lower for the same quality hotel than the outer islands. Honolulu, the only major city in Hawaii, means you will get the best food and shopping here. Oahu also has the most tourist sites to visit.
Maui was the first island to build planned communities specifically as resort areas (Kaanapali, Wailea/Makena, Kapalua), where 4 and 5-star resorts line the best beaches. Because these areas were “built” as planned resort areas, they feel more artificial and have less international/informal flair than Oahu. But they understand impeccable SERVICE and have it down to a science to make you feel like royalty. The Kaanapali Beach Hotel was the first planned resort built on Maui, has never been updated so is affordable (older but clean, still glamorous, friendly service and right on the best part of the beach). The Kaanapali planned community is also right next to the old whaler’s town of Lahaina which is chock full of shopping. A lot of artists also live in this area. If you want to get away from it all to a isolated, tropical south seas hideaway in the jungle, you can drive (takes a few hours) along the famous winding sea-cliff road to the town of Hana (means “flower” in japanese). There is a famous resort, the Hana-Maui with bungalows along the shore, but there is a less-expensive condo alternative called Hana-Kai.
The most exotic island is the Big Island of Hawaii. It has live volcanoes, tree fern forests, black sand beaches, and even the weather is hotter. But since the island is almost solid black lava, there are much fewer beaches if that “white sandy beach with coconut trees” is important to your trip experience, and less coral reefs (the island is too new). But since there are no coral reefs to block sea life from the greater Pacific, animals you can’t see elsewhere are visible here: you can swim at night with manta rays for instance. Or go on a catamaran cruise and see flying fish or spinner dolphins. Most of the resorts are on the Kailua-Kona (west) side of the island. Resorts north of the airport in the Kohala area are almost all isolated, 5-star luxury mega-resorts, and are far apart from each other. This area is (strangely to my mind) solid black lava fields in a dry area…I don’t understand why they built the luxury resorts here! Each resort in Kohala has created a small man-made beach, but they have built mega-pools where most of the people lounge around…not the ocean. Resorts south of the airport are in the town of Kailua Kona itself, or in the suburb slightly further south of Keauhou. I recommend the Keauhou Resort (next to a rare white-sand beach!) if you are on a budget or the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort (glamorous setting on a solid black outcropping of black lava overlooking Keauhou Bay, but no beach).
If this is your first time to Hawaii, then I would not recommend Kauai. It is amazingly beautiful (looks the most like Bora Bora or Moorea in French Polynesia), and is very quiet, but in my opinion the other islands are a better intro to Hawaii.
January 29th, 2010 at 10:43 am
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Here are some sites to brouse. if it is your first time, I would say just stick to Oahu. (the gathering place)
City and county of Honolulu, click on tourism at top of page
mag
Live cam Waikiki beach
Go Hawaii all Islands
Hawaii hand greeting
I like this Hotel a good compromise on location and price.
January 29th, 2010 at 10:18 pm
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Hands down, it’s gotta be Maui. If you stay in Waikiki on Oahu, that’s not the “Hawaii experience”. To me, that’s like going to any other beach oriented resort area, like Cancun.
I’d recommend any place on the Kaanapali beach area. Plus you’ve got Whaler’s Village for shops and eating close by and Lahaina is just south for more places to eat and stuff.
Check Pleasant Holidays and similar package deal companies, plus the airlines to see if you can get a bundle deal. American and Hawaiian are two that come to mind that my family flies to Maui most often. I have flown United in the past but they seem to cost more. However on my last trip I got to fly first class on United (frequent flyer miles) and it was awesome - I’m flying coach in November and I’m probably going to be missing that first class treatment.
February 2nd, 2010 at 4:22 am
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It depends on what you want to do. My wife and I just got back from Kauai. Kauai is good if you like nature. Lots of walking trails and you can really enjoy the scenery. There are helicopter rides and lots of waterfalls. We really enjoyed our time in Kauai. What I did was request a travel brochure from each island and see what they have to offer. Kauai has Hanalei Bay which was voted best beach in the U.S. That beach is in the northern part of Kauai.
Oahu can be very touristy. Lots of people go to Honolulu. I was there in 1988.
Maui I heard is really nice as well. That is good for those who are into adventure and sports.
Hawaii is all right as well. That is where there are lots of volcanoes. I was there in 1988 and we took a tour around the big island. I slept through most of the tour.
February 4th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
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Maui
February 5th, 2010 at 11:03 pm
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Maui, Lahaina or Kapalua.