[Anonymous]

[Binman62]

For all my years of travel I have never visited Hawaii ( though stopped once en route to OZ) and so this summer was looking at having the family holiday there.

The question is where?

Big Island looks nice but I would welcome the input of anyone who has been, indeed I seem to recall one of our number lives in Hawaii.

I am not interested in Waikiki other than a day trip.

I will probably rent a condo and would consider 2 centres as I am likely to there for around 3 weeks.

Essentials are:-

Sunshine. Travel will be in August so expect it to be sunny most of the time though I understand micro climates can create a lot of rain in some areas.

Peace and quite with access to sandy beach and pool.

I do remote…. ….. Wife and kids less so, but I will have a car so remote bordering on Robinson Crusoe would be good for me. Internet access would however be a must if family were to join me.

Access to activities for the kids and a decent Spa for my wife.

Happy to travel by car and see sights but would like to come back to somewhere with glorious sunsets and decent family friendly places to eat within a short distance. ( not generally a problem in the USA in my experience)

Jet skis, paragliding and club 18-30 environments are not what I am looking for.

Suggestions please!

[NameRemoved-18/12/14]

Binman

I haven’t been unfortunately, but would love to visit one day….

I have the most recent Rough Guide and will quite happily send it to you tout de suite.. I am forever trying to offload books!

Here’s my e-mail:

<a href="mailto:[email protected]“>[email protected]

[Senator]

Binman62,

Just wanted to give you a heads up that BRU-HNL and CPH-HNL can be had for around £1800 per person in Club across all three Joint Ventures and Alliances. Book before 1 Feb, and travel before 30 Sept.

[Papillion53]

I have been only once about 20 years ago, and after the work bit in Waikiki, we spent a few days in Kauai, and Maui. I much preferred Kauai as less commercial and more like what I Imagined Hawaii to be like. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt, courtesy of a pal of mine who was DOS in the UK at the time, and we had a fantastic room. The resort was huge but not crowded at all, and I remember we had just got ourselves a drink and settled down on a sun lounger, when the heavens opened! All we could do was laugh! Oh yes it rains, but only for a short time!

We hired a car – open top sports of course! – and drove around – I was fascinated by the pineapple fields! The only pineapple I ever had when I was young came in tins, so to see them growing, and growing “upside down” was amazing!

I do know someone who runs holistic workshops in Hawaii and I’m sure she goes to the Big Island for the dolphins and whales. I will try and find out where because I would almost guarantee she would stay in your desired remote, not at all commercial location.

Other than that, you can always watch BigDog, the Bounty Hunter on Pick TV for an insight into the parts of Hawaii you most definitely would not want to visit! 😉
Jokingly and being a naughty girl, that’s why I always ask our Big.Dog if he lives in Hawaii! 😉 🙂 he has never answered me, so I guess he has no idea what I was talking about! Story of my life! LOL!

[NTarrant]

Mrs T and I are also doing Hawaii in April/May, although we are doing it on a cruise from LAX. We will have one day in each island so would be interested to hear what are the best things to see in a day.

[Papillion53]

NTarrant – have a look at http://www.cruise.critic.co.uk, if you haven’t already, you will get lots of tips, some useful, others not so, but they do have a ports of call section which may throw up something interesting for you.

Which line are you sailing on? I imagine that will be just wonderful with all those sea days, relaxing, eating, drinking, relaxing, eating, drinking …. Aaaaah wonderful! :-)))

[Binman62]

Well firstly thanks for the replies till now. Very kind

Alexpo1…many thanks for the offer but like you I am myself always trying to de clutter.

Senator, yes I had seen that. If you route via JFK it is possible to get a silver card before you come back!!! For 4 it is about £6800, not a bad deal even for BA club. However they do prevent any stopovers but that may not be such a big deal as I can’t see us wanting to tackle Disney or Universal in August. Some AA fares from Europe do allow stops though.

Papillion….Of course a convertible…I had not even though of that……I can however see lots of bad hair days for wife and image conscious 11 year old daughter…..while I would just burn.

[canucklad]

Hi Binman62

Definately recommend a 2 island hop…..

You can’t go all that way and not do the Oahu touristy stuff

Diamond Head
Pearl Harbour
North Shore
Waikiki…..Live the Magnum experiance for a couple of days !!

Papillions convertable has to be a errari testarrossa

My preffered 2nd Island would be Molokai….although I agree with Papillion , Kauai would also be on my Radar…..

The big island also has the volcanic experiance,!!
Mmmm So many choices…..Don’t fancy your decision making task…

As a beside….. First time I flew to HNL was when I was a young pup en-route to Austaralia…travelling on employee passes, we had to catch the daily 747 and wait a couple of days for the weekly DC-8 to take us the rest of the way..

What an adventure,1st time to Oz, 1st time on a plane with movies….

Freaked out when i discovered we were getting off in HNL for 3 days…….Convinced my family were in grave danger….Did not want to leave the aircraft………..

Why…..My only point of reference when it came to Hawaii, was Hawaii 5-0 …..Victim walks off the plane, a lei strung over their neck and then brutally bludgeoned until the classic phrase “ Book him Danno, murder 1”

My family all survived and flew safely onwards to Sydney.

[DontTurnRight]

Just on the way back to Malta from Vancouver, having spent nine days in Maui. Great for whale watching, swimming with turtles, golf and of course beaches/surf. Some good places to eat too! Have in the past done Oahu, which is worth visiting for Pearl Harbour alone, though we enjoyed around five days there, 10 years ago.

This time, flew from Vancouver to Maui on Westjet (Boeing 737-800 for six hours!!). Great 34″ pitch for economy (There is no other class), friendly flight crew, seat back TV/films, or films via tablet and ability to run a tab to order drinks/Food. European budget carriers have a lot to learn here!

[Communipaw]

I would definately look at Kauai if you are serious about making the trip.

[NTarrant]

Papillion53 – many thanks for the website, there are simular but it is good to see something different.

We are going on Princess Cruises, we have been on P&O many times, all Carnival. We are looking forward to the four days at sea outwards and inwards

[BobSchwartz]

Hana, at the far eastern end of Maui, is a bit off the beaten track (especially in the evening). You can fly in, or do a very curvy but beautiful three hour drive from the main airport at Kahului. This road, on the north side of the island, is great in a convertible. Very lush.

The road on the south side (just don’t tell the car hire people) is unsealed in parts, has only one shop for its entire length and is as dry as the north side is wet. Here you are in the lee of Mt Haleakala, a 10,000 ft (give or take) extinct volcano that dominates this part of the island.

There is a good beach at Hana and some other swimming holes/waterfalls nearby, but it’s not exactly a happening place. That’s a big part of its charm. There is the old Hotel Hana Maui, an old Rosewood property, that is now called the Travaasa Hotel Hana. It has a spa and a restaurant. Otherwise, you can self cater or get some groceries (but shop early, as closing time is not late and supplies can be a bit limited). http://www.travaasa.com/hana/

On the Big Island, look at Hilo. There is no beach to speak of and there is usually some rain every day of the year (maybe a bit of an exaggeration but at least you’ve been forewarned). Old Hilo downtown is a real throw back to the days when this part of the world was heavily influenced by the Japanese. We stayed in a terrific house here (http://www.reedsisland.com/Index.html), just don’t spoil it by telling anybody else. You have your own private waterfall that you look out on (no swimming in the river, however). The pictures on the website don’t do it justice. In Hilo, you are about an hour away from the Volcano National Park, which is a must. There are some good walks in the Puna district. Because there aren’t many beaches and it does get some rain, this is not a very touristy area. And because of that, we loved the area a lot.

Do stay in Honolulu for a few days. The Bishop Museum and the Royal Palace are worth a look. Get up into the hills above the city and have a wander. The Kahala Hotel is on the non-Waikiki side of Diamond Head and is a good place to stay.

[svallis]

Traveled many years ago to Hawaii visiting the islands of Oahu, Kauia Maui and Hawaii. Oahu and Hawaii were the least inspiring but the smaller islands of Kauai and Maui were worth the trip on their own. We rented motorbikes and toured Oahu including Pearl Harbor and played some beautiful golf courses. If I returned I would spend less time on the bigger islands and more on the smaller.

[RussellCruickshank]

Excellent suggestions from everyone. Hilo indeed is a great throwback (and must visit the simple Tsunami museum) but be prepared for light rainshowers. Then again Waikiki is also a must for things like Pearl Harbor, walking up Diamond Head (early – before the hoards of japanese tour busses arrive at 9) with a flashlight for the tunnels – the view is literally out of this world. For serenity Kauai and Lanai, or even Molokai but Maui is the most popular for what’s being sought since it accomodates all requests: beautiful sunsets on the Ka’anapali coast, condos, restaurants but peace and quiet. Don’t forget to add the fun adventure of an organised bike trip down Haleakala volcano. (Don’t fall for the need to do it at sunrise as it’s often clouded over. Any time of the morning will be fine. A truly fun family adventure.)

On the flight thing: although I’m in Canada my family from the UK has flown J to/from and found it tremendously difficult due to extreme time zone jet lag. Suggest finding a way to spend a night or two in NYC in both directions and then fly (even Economy) on the new nonstop A330 by Hawaiian Airlines to/from JFK and HNL. Well worth it to get yourself in the Hawaiian mood from the start and it’s long enough red-eye on the return to make sleep worth while. Avoid United like the plague these days.

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