Hawaii Honeymoon Part 2

B

BOSS

100+ Posts
Several months ago I began planning a Hawaiian honeymoon and asked everyone on the board about which islands to visit. After careful consideration, we are going to try three islands in 10 days. This was against the advice of many who responded to the original thread, which I cannot find now.

My questions are now these:

1. Given 3 days in Oahu, 4 days in Maui and 3 days in Kauai, what would you do in each? Keep in mind that this is a honeymoon and I don't want to be running myself ragged.

So far, I think I have decided that I am doing Pearl Harbor, Road to Hana, Haleakala Bike Ride, some boat off of Kauai, and snorkeling at various places, which all lead me to question #2.

2. Do you guys have any suggestions about who to use for the bike ride, the boat ride, and any other tour type outings?

I'll hang up and listen
 
Oahu-take a surf lesson on Waikiki. It's like fishing in Louisiana, skiing Vail or eating BBQ in Texas. It's the best place in the world to learn to surf. Pearl Harbor-definitely. Pay homage to my uncle who served on the Arizona. See the Punchbowl. It's a U.S. military cemetary, similar to Arlington National. Hanaumau Bay is good snorkeling on Oahu. Go to the north shore and check out the swells at Banzai Pipeline. Dole Pineapple plantation.

Maui-Maui Mountain Tours is the group I went with for the bike tour. Good group. That's a cool thing to do. Your best snorkeling on the 3 islands will be Maui. Many options. Molokini Crater, Fish Bowl, etc. Wailea Beach. Shop in Paia. Cool little surf town. Great non-tourist shopping. Last town before you get to Mamma's Fish House. Do it.

Kauai-drive up to Pali Point. Unreal view. Also, either drive up to or better yet, helicopter Waimea Canyon. Deep sea fish along the NaPali coast. Beautiful. It's the coast in the opening helicopter scene in Jurassic Park and many other movies (South Pacific, I think). Kauai is great for just driving. Not a huge island, but very green. The wettest place on earth is on Kauai. Rains 365 days a year in the area, forget the name. Fern Grotto isn't bad. Stay on Poipu Beach if you like sunsets (south/west side of the island).
 
Helicopter tour on Kauii. It's simply unbelievable. You start over Waimea Canyon (aka grand canyon of the pacific) and then fly over to the Na Pali coast. You continue down the coast seeing the beaches and coral reefs. My favorite is tunnels beach (spent two days there). You fly up the wettest place on earth and see many waterfalls of several hundred feet while hovering over a mountainous, lush, tropical landscape. Oh yeah. There's no doors on the chopper either and everyone has a window seat. The pics I took could've come out of a magazine. It'll blow your mind.

interislandhelicopters
 
Another vote for Helicopter tours in Kauai. Simply amazing.

Also, for sunsets in Kauai, try Hanalei Bay on the North Side on past Princeville.
 
I have heard very mixed reviews about the Road to Hana. Long, narrow winding road that has been known to create car sickness and general unhappiness on many a honeymoon. Can't speak from experience as I have never done it, but we skipped it on our honeymoon to Maui for the above reasons.
 
I've been to Maui and Kauai several times. 4 days in Maui is good as is 3 on Kauai to do alot of things. Make sure like hell you buy the Maui Revealed and Kauai Revealed Guidebooks.

Reccomended things...

Maui:

1) Road to Hana is on your list. Leave very early in the morning at least by 7:00AM. This will make your day MUCH easier as you won't be behind all the tourist buses. If you leave later in the morning, you'll regret it...trust me. Stop at a waterfall if you like but there are several you can just see from your car. Try not to get caught up in all the waterfall mystique. Stop at the Black Sand Beach before Hana, and go find the Red Sand (nude) Beach in Hana. The Red Sand beach is awesome. Once past that, drive to the Oheo Gulch (7 Sacred pools) and see the 7 waterfalls there. If you have time, climb the badass trail that leads above the Oheo Gulch. Awesome, awesome trail. Lots of waterfalls, deep jungle valleys, bamboo forests, and a 180 foot waterfall at the end. IMO, this is one of the best hikes (and relatively easy) hikes on the Island. Keep driving around that side of the island...the road is perfectly fine. Do NOT go back up the road to hana.

2) If you like to snorkel: The best place on the Island bar none is the "Aquarium" right before LaPerouse Bay. You probably have it to yourself as it is tricky to find. Bring good shoes and garden gloves to wear as you have to scramble some rock lava a little. Clearest water on Maui and huge fish count. Use the guidebook to find it. Molokini Island is kinda overrated but it's a cool 1/2 day trip and the water is clear all the way down 100 feet. The coral life and fish count is only so-so though. If you do Molokini, then take the boat tour that leaves from the Maui Prince Hotel. It's 1/2 day and inexpensive....plus you can snorkel right at the Maui Prince beach when you're done which has a ton of turtles. Black Rock is also a good snokeling spot.

3) I personally think the Bike Ride down Haleakala is a crazy waste of time & money but that's just me. You have to get up damn early to get there and it's cold and rainy half way down. Oh yeah...watch for cars as you speed down and they drive up. People have died. did I mention it's usually cold and rainy? IMO, the best thing to do is just to drive up to Haleakala crater on a clear day to see the crater itself. Then you can drive down at your own leisure while all those bikers freeze their asses off. Remember to go on a clear day or you won't see ****.

4) Eat at Mama's Fish House...make reservations. If you're in Waimea, eat lunch at Peggy Sues!

Kauai:

1) You said you were doing a boat tour? I can only assume that means a boat tour of the Napali Coastline? Make sure you take the tour that leaves from Hanalei Bay...very important to do this! I think there's only one company that leaves from there. Anyways, that one's the best because the boat ride is the shortest to get to the Napali Coast line and they take you snokeling at probably the best spot on the island. If you leave from the southern part of the island, the boat ride is DAMN LONG and you miss alot of the better coastline parts! Avoid that.

2) Waimea Canyon...a must! Don't miss it. Rent a car and drive up there....it's great!

3) Tunnels Beach or Kee Beach. Remember why you came to Hawaii...to relax! Tunnels is my favorite as it is not very crowded, has a jungle/mountain setting behind it, and has good snorkeling. Poipu beach on the southern part of the island is nice as well but gets crowded and the snorkeling sucks. I think the northern part is cooler looking in terms of beach setters

Let me repeat: BUT THE MAUI AND KAUAI REVEALED GUIDEBOOKS!!!! Only a fool wouldn't buy them before going to Hawaii.
 
Hanauma Bay is a great place, but it is almost always crowded with buses of tourist. Try very early or very late in the day. Dole Plantation is dull. Kailua is a great beach to go hang out on in Oahu, as it is typically not crowded and is beautiful. The drive on 1 across the island is pretty cool as well..
 
All good ideas. One word of caution about "Maui Revealed" and other "Hawaii Revealed " guidebooks. Do NOT show those to the locals or you'll receive the stink eye. The guys who wrote these books are in deep trouble bc many of their "gems" go over private land. Apparently they've received death threats over this. One B&B owner we stayed with said the local news had these guys on but had to black out their faces and distort their voices during the interview so folks wouldn't lynch them. She was pretty adamant that we not have the book out in public - or at least in front of the locals.

A National Park Service ranger said the NPS couldn't sell the books bc of the content of some of them.

That being said, we used the book last week in Maui and had a great time. I'd suggest checking online for any updates regarding their books (their website). It helped us avoid pissing off local land owners.

We also used the books on the Big Island a few times and it was great there, too.

The road to Hana was easy. We spent the night there, and as others have said, the black sands and red sands beaches were great. I had to temper the photography on the red sands beach, though. Lots of nudists... some not so desirable!

Good luck!
 
Kauai:

Definitely take a boat trip up the Na Pali Coast. If you like it laid back, look up Captain Sundown. They run a sailboat tour out of Hanalei Bay, and it's a great trip.

Also consider hiking the Na Pali Coast. Anybody can hike the first 2 miles without a permit, and the views are spectacular. The hike is somewhat strenuous, but it's a blast. Pack a lunch and bring water, and you can picnic on the beach at the 2 mile mark, then turn around and head back. Definitely bring a camera.

I really loved Maui, but after spending 4 days in Kauai pretty much all we did in Maui was lay around the pool and beach at the resort and drive into Lahaina to shop and drink. The concierge told us that since we'd been in Kauai, the road to Hana might be less impressive. Next time I'd do Hana anyway, but I wasn't sorry we skipped it.
 
I too used the Revealed books for Oahu, Maui and Kauai. I began calling the guy who wrote the book, "Sensei." For example, I would say, "Sensei says there's good banana bread at this shack." His recommendations are spot on. I went last August and toted that book everywhere without any problems at all. But I'm pretty low key.

As for the road to hana, the rental car companies will tell you not to drive the south side because the road is bad. Don't believe them. Drive the north side going to the 7 sacred pools. The traffic that I encountered was between hana and the pools. I decided to drive the south side on the way back and found it very easy. The terrain is completely different as well. Desert terrain with great vistas. It probably saved me a couple hours driving back on the south side since the road straightens out as the elevation rises and lack of traffic.
 
We used Trilogy to snorkel at molokini crater. We really enjoyed it. They also to us to a spot over near Wailea (not sure if it has been mentioned) where we swam and snorkeled with many turtles. They provided homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast and also lunch.

If you can take the boat to NaPali coastline in Kuaui, do it. We could not because the seas were too rough and boats were not allowed. We did the helicopter tour and it was tremendous.

Princeville was beautiful. Keep in mind that the northern side of the islands typically has more clouds and chances of rain. Still not very high.

You will probably be run pretty ragged with the island hopping but you will see some very cool stuff.


hookem.gif
 
Hey sooner,
We tried to drive the southeast route from Hana back to the airport, but the road has been closed bc of an earthquake - happened a while back. We could not go through. Dang. I wish we'd got to do that drive!
I heard it was pretty different terrain.
 
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