[discobay]

I am thinking of stopping off in Hawaii on the way to the west coast of the U.S. and wondered what you others think?

[HKfornow]

Discobay, we love Hawaii, and use to go there almost every year, until we moved here to HK, and realized that there is no direct flight from any airlines.

Which island are you planning to visit? If it's just honolulu, then I would say give it a pass, since Asian resort probably offer better values for what can be seen & had there. But if you are planning to go to the other islands, ie: Kauai or even Maui, then definitely go for it, because these islands' natural beauty are indeed spectacular.

[discobay]

I haven't given any thought to which island but your advice is gratefully received. How many days do you think we should stay as a minimum and what is the transfer time from international airport to island?

[paulmears]

I would definitely look to get to other islands, I was in Hawaii for about 8 days in total, 3 on Honululu which I must say did not really enjoy that much, really a combination of it being a shoppers paradise designed for the endless flights landing from Tokyo with all branded shops right on the beach in Waikiki (very disappointing compared to my idea of wide beaches with sun and surf, its more like TST) and a fair few bars cater for the large US military presence in the good locations where bars are waterside so are pretty crowded and definitely not suitable if you are with kids. Nothing wrong with Japanese tourist or American military, but not an ideal place to relax which is what my plan was in Hawaii.
We flew (20 min hop) to Maui and then stayed 5 days in Laihaina (may have spelling bit wrong) and it was absolutely great. Its a relatively small old fishing town/village. Very reasonable hotels/guest houses, good choice of eating and drinking places and close to the water (lots of surfing going on). We hired a jeep and went around the island a few times, there are really some amazing sites and coastlines and if you golf it is heaven with numerous well priced courses.
For sure I would not go there and stay on Honululu and I was also hearing teh Big Island is something special as well. I think you can also boat it between islands but takes few hours rather than the hop on plane

[HKfornow]

Inter-island flights are short & pretty efficient. Usually about 30 minutes to 1 hour flight would get you to the other islands from Honolulu, with the usual airline caveat of 2 hours minimum connect time, we have ocassionally been successful going standby on earlier flights than we book, but it has gotten harder.

Minimum per island I would think would be 3 days each, it is possible to do it for less, but I think that looses the whole Hawaiian laid back approach to a vacation.

[tsuiwah]

Are you planning to do a return trip or a one way trip to the West Coast?

If you want to keep costs low, you basically have two airline choices: United or Northwest, both via Tokyo.

A stopover in HNL usually adds about US$100 to the return fare (at least this is the case ex-USA).

Another option is to redeem an award ticket, and get the stopover included in the cost of the award.

[penguinsix]

I think you can also get there via Guan and maybe Manila, but it has been awhile. Korean air and china air have flights there as well (remember you can often use your miles 'in-alliance' to get tickets). Aussie and NZ flights as well.

Hawaii to SFO is like 4 or 5 hours, by the way. 8 hours to ORD/Chicago.

The airport is pretty small. The international is in the main terminal I think, but there are some gates farther away from others. I think most of the island flights are in one wing, then mainland US (big planes) and then international flights. There is a shuttle bus between them all, but it is also walkable.


Honolulu is striking in the sense that it is just like every other US city. They have drug stores and car dealers and traffic and big buildings and well, it's really like an American city. Of course there is Waikiki, which is a very crowded touristy area, and the North Shore of Oahu (past the pineapple farms) is kind of pretty. If you do stay in Honolulu get out to Hanauma (sic) bay where you can snorkle with the fish, which is fun. Pearl Harbor is also a visit that you may be interested in.

Maui is also a popular choice, being the second most developed island. It's a bit prettier than Oahu, but in the tourist areas is it pretty built up. I would recommend a drive out across the northern side of the island (326 curves road) to see some of the beauty, and you can even go around the South side but note the roads there are not passable for rental cars (or really most cars). Lindberg is buried on the South side of Maui.

The Big Island is the newest and largest island. At times it feels like you are on the moon. Huge lava flows over the last couple hundred years have made these massive expanses of nothing but black lava. It's really impressive. If you head down South, you can see the lava hitting the ocean and or flowing, which is pretty cool. But it is a big island. Many hours to drive from one place to another. But definitely isolated.

Kauai, the garden island, is the lush and tropical escape. I know many who have been to Kauai and found it the most relaxing of the islands. I haven't so I don't have much to say, but really consider it--it is very pretty.

Moloaki is considered 'old Hawaii' with no buildings over 2 stories high. Some horse ranches if you want to go riding.

Lanai is very small. 30 miles of roads. Pretty isolated, but you might want that.

Niihau is forbidden to foreigners. It is kept for Native Hawaiian people and they live according to their own traditions (they speak Hawaiian there). Kahoolawe is/was a military bombing range so you won't have much fun there.

[HKfornow]

Penguinsix did a good summary on the islands. If I may just add the following:

Lanai is the place for you if you really want to unwind with nothing to do, but golf. There are 2 world class resorts, now handled by Four seasons I think. If this fits your profile, then it should be enjoyable.

Kauai, has a little more variety than Lanai, but the natural beauty I think is unsurpassed, you have Bali Hai, in the Princeville Area, the spouting horn in the Poipu area (south, better weather), the beaches, and the abundance of waterfalls to look at. This island is not as developed as Maui or Oahu, but that is precisely the charm of the place, remote enough, but not in the boondocks.

[discobay]

Phew that's a wealth of very useful information! Thanks to all of you. I'm now starting to get prices for flights to the various destinations you've suggested.

[sylvesterjay]

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