wanted: travel advice for Hawaii

have you decided which Island you want to visit?

open to suggestions...oahu to see Pearl Harbor (history teacher, I am)
also thinking maui...possibly big island to see volcano national park

10 days so I need ideas from folks who've been

Four Seasons Maui

grayt time to go is may...no crowds

open to suggestions...oahu to see Pearl Harbor (history teacher, I am)
also thinking maui...possibly big island to see volcano national park

10 days so I need ideas from folks who've been

Okay. Certainly there is much to see around Honolulu history wise.
My favorite Island is Maui. So, my suggestion would be to fly to Honolulu do the history thing, and then take a small plane to Maui. There are great Five Star hotels, and there are wonderful bed and breakfast places, which are my preference. I love the Kuan Inn, it used to be the doctor's house on the Paia pineapple plantation... It is within walking distance of Mama's Fish House--a restaurant not to be missed; and also close for wind surf watching at Hoopku Beach--probably the best wind surfing in the entire world! It is amazing to watch.

Be sure and take a trip on the Hana Road.(http://www.gohawaii.com/maui/plan/things_to_do_on_maui/attractions/points_of_interest/hana). It will take all day or longer if you are a photographer. I would take a driver/small tour instead of driving. I've done both and if you drive you can not really enjoy the scenery--the road takes all your attention. Once in Hana you can visit Lindbergh's grave and see Hawaii the way it used to be. There are also helicopter tours to Hana.

Along the way there are interesting tropical flower farms. and the beautiful waterfalls and scenery as you twist and turn along the road are breathtaking.

The village of Paia is fascinating with shops and great restaurants of all kinds..Take a horsebike ride to the top of Haleakala to see the sun come up; or take a bike ride down the mountain...visit Lahaina, the first capital of Hawaii, and sit under the magnificient Banyan Tree...the list is endless.
Maui is so relaxing...see it with a local if possible. It is a magical place.
Have a wonderful time both planning the trip and once you are there. Anywhere you go in Hawaii is a real treat IMO. Aloha.

Our family of 4 visited Hawaii April 2002. 2 boys 12 and 14. We spent 4 days in Oahu and visited Pearl Harbor. I originally didn't want to miss out on beach time, but so glad that I went with them. Pearl Harbor was amazing. Flew to The Big Island. Spent 7 days there. At first I was a bit dissapointed at the black rock. Well, it was awesome. I snorkled with turtles right off the beach in Kona. We visited the volcano. It was breathtaking. We visited the Parker Ranch on the north shore. It is a 225 acre horse ranch. On the south shore we also walked through a rainforest. We took a plane to Kauai one morning and rented a convertible and spent the day there. It was spectacular. If I return, it will be to Kauai. I don't think you can go wrong wherever you visit in Hawaii. As long as you visit Pearl Harbor and then pick one or two of the other islands to visit you won't be dissapointed. Have a wonderful time!

Okay. Certainly there is much to see around Honolulu history wise.
My favorite Island is Maui. So, my suggestion would be to fly to Honolulu do the history thing, and then take a small plane to Maui. There are great Five Star hotels, and there are wonderful bed and breakfast places, which are my preference. I love the Kuan Inn, it used to be the doctor's house on the Paia pineapple plantation... It is within walking distance of Mama's Fish House--a restaurant not to be missed; and also close for wind surf watching at Hoopku Beach--probably the best wind surfing in the entire world! It is amazing to watch.

Be sure and take a trip on the Hana Road.(Hawaii's Official Tourism Site -- Hana, Maui). It will take all day or longer if you are a photographer. I would take a driver/small tour instead of driving. I've done both and if you drive you can not really enjoy the scenery--the road takes all your attention. Once in Hana you can visit Lindbergh's grave and see Hawaii the way it used to be. There are also helicopter tours to Hana.

Along the way there are interesting tropical flower farms. and the beautiful waterfalls and scenery as you twist and turn along the road are breathtaking.

The village of Paia is fascinating with shops and great restaurants of all kinds..Take a horsebike ride to the top of Haleakala to see the sun come up; or take a bike ride down the mountain...visit Lahaina, the first capital of Hawaii, and sit under the magnificient Banyan Tree...the list is endless.
Maui is so relaxing...see it with a local if possible. It is a magical place.
Have a wonderful time both planning the trip and once you are there. Anywhere you go in Hawaii is a real treat IMO. Aloha.

Maui no kaoi! I agree about Paia. What an awesome little town. Great people and a great stop if you are heading on up the Hana Road. If you are going up to Haleakala, you will hit the town of Makawao, a totally different landscape- very green. It reminded me of Kentucky- horses, grass.

The coolest thing about Maui is the change of landscape- so rain foresty on the Hana Road side, desert on the back side from Kihei over to Makena Beach and on around to Hana the back way (although your rental car company says you can't take your rental car all the way around), the isthmus area is farmland/cane fields, Lahaina/KaanapaliKapalua and beyond is lush- so much on one island.

Base out of Maui and take day trips to Hawaii, Lanai, and Molokai- there are small plane tours and boats. Take an aerial of Volcanoes Nat'l Park to get a real sense of just how much land the lava has taken away and added. Look for a boat trip from Lahaina over to Molokai across the channel- it is a whole different world over there.

Depending on what you like (full service resort or smaller more personal lodging), Maui has a lot of choices. I always stayed at Puuamana townhomes, on the edge of Lahaina, and visited the bigger resorts for meals and recreation.

Have fun- I am jealous!

Maui is great, so much to see and do. Watching the whales from shore or on a boat is great. If you drive to Hana, take lunch with you. We stayed in Kanapali, and was close to everything. It was very hard for to get on a plane to come back home.

Loooooooooooong flight going west. Typical jet lag sets in. I flew direct non-stop and if you have time to spend one night in LA or San Francisco on the trip out, I highly recommend it. Fabulous state and you will have a groovy time!

thanks for the great ideas everyone...daughters grown, educated, married...now it's time (not to mention $$$) for us!

my husband would leave tomorrow, but as I teach, our travels are limited to summer

still open to more suggestions...we sail some and really love the water so if anyone has any ideas for fun on the water, let me know

We honeymooned in Maui and stayed in Kanapali at a reasonably priced hotel that was really cool and throw back Hawaiian style, Kanapali Beach Hotel. My folks went the year before and stayed in Wailea-more upscale and pricey but soooo lovely. Kanapali is a bit more central and has many hotel options and a large stretch of beach.

We enjoyed dinner at Kapalua, do a sunset dinner at the clubhouse of the golfcourse for a great view!

We loved Hula Grill's ribs and fish and pork loin. We quickly learned the Hawaiians know how to cook a pig which surprised us as we really expected mostly seafood.

Had a great and beautiful lunch poolside at the Grand Wailea-amazing burgers and Maui onion rings-$50 for two, most expensiver burger meal we've eaten but worth the price!

On the way to Hana stop in Charlies in Paia for fabulous macadamia nut pancakes as big as a steering wheel. You can pick up boxed lunches to go a couple of doors down to take on the road to Hana, it's a long drive and there really aren't restaurants as it's remote and the road is freakishly narrow in places but such a lovely drive-be sure and pay the little extra fee to rent a convertible.

We toured a pineapple plantation, we packed a couple of picnics and drove the island with the top down and stopped at whatever beach looked good for a picnic and swim. We should have done the Old Lahaina Luau but didn't plan ahead for it-it's on our list for the next trip.

We considered a return trip this fall but decided to wait until we could go for 2 weeks and return to Maui and also see Honolulu and Kaui for a few days as well. It's a hella long flight so we'd like to make the most of it!!