My husband and I never had a honeymoon, so four years later we%26#39;re planning a trip to Hawaii (the first time for us both). We%26#39;re planning on about 10 days during the first half of October 2009. I think we%26#39;ve narrowed it down to Kauai and Maui, but have no idea where to go from there. How much time on each island? How can we best experience both islands and all they offer, while still having a relaxing time? Where might we find some of the best deals for October? What%26#39;s the best way to book everything (if a packaged deal, then from where)?
please help me plan for maui and kauaimacker4 - Welcome to TripAdvisor!
A ten day honeymoon on Maui and Kaui will be wonderful (better late than never - my hubby and I had to wait a few for ours also) October should be fantastic! Crowds and prices lower, weather should be fantastic.
First thing I am going to do is suggest the lefthand column on the page that says ';Before you Go';, some good info - there is one on the Kauai forum also. The book ';Hawaii for Dummies'; is very good, despite it%26#39;s title.
I am not a big fan of packages, mostly because you generally can do far better on your own and the research is a great way to learn about the islands. Are you looking for hotels or condos? Peruse the reveiws of lodging view aerials and info at www.wizardpub.com. At the moment I think your toughest decision would be which side of each island.
How to best experience the islands is going to cause the ball to return to your court - do you want beaches, hiking, kayaking, etc? Really it depends on what you want from your vacation and both islands have a lot to offer. Which island to visit first and for how long will vary on what you want to do - but I like the split. Each island is very different, but TA can steer you.
please help me plan for maui and kauaiWe just returned home from a 2 week trip to both Kauai and Maui. We spent 1 week on each island. Even though two weeks was a great amount of time, we wanted to maximize every minute. We especially wanted to avoid time wasted at the airport, checking in and out of hotels, renting and returning cars, etc. We chose our flights based on this. We are also from Chicago and took flights (US Airways) that stopped in Phoenix, but then arrived and departed direct into and from Maui and Kauai. Many flights to HI go into Honolulu. Also this flight arrived pretty early in the day. We wanted to avoid arriving too late because of the time change. At 8:00 pm it will feel like midnight to you!
We decided to go to Kauai first because we we left the Friday after Thanksgiving. Because there is more nightlife in Maui, we wanted to have an entire weekend here, and not be exhausted from jet lag.
We did more hiking and exploring on Kauai, and saved the relaxing and beach activities for Maui. On Kauai, we decided to stay on the east side at the Waipouli Beach Resort in Kapa%26#39;a. It is centrally located for exploring both the north and south sides of the island. The beach was nothing special and not very swimable, but the pool was fabulous. The beach here wasn%26#39;t important because we were able to experience many of the other great beaches on the island.
On Maui, we decided to stay on the south side in Kihei at the Outrigger Mana Kai. It is at the very south end of Kihei and very close to Wailea. Wailea is where all the very high end resorts are located. Both areas have fantastic beaches. We chose this location because it is supposed to be the driest and sunniest area on the island in the winter. The Mana Kai was like staying in Wailea, but much cheaper!
We booked an overnight flight home leaving around 11:00 pm so we could maximize our time on the island. The place we rented from gave us a late check out for no extra charge. We ended up doing the Feast at Lele Luau (a must for your Honeymoon) right before going to the airport because our previous reservation was cancelled due to rain.
I could (and have) go on forever about our trip. If you want more info please feel free to message me.
I agree with other posters that you are better off booking everything yourself for the best deals. It isn%26#39;t that difficult and you will enjoy the planning.
Allow me to add - there are actually variations on the idea of a %26#39;package%26#39;, do check the hotel listings here on TA, get a good idea of what the rates are from Expedia, Hotels.com, etc - it will at least provide you with a starting point on cost and perhaps answer some of those questions that may not be quite fully formed yet.
Everyone has a budget, but they vary greatly - as do personal preferences for lodgings, activities, location on any island. So with a bit more information it will be easier to get the responses that you are looking for. ';About ten days';, does that mean ten nights or nine nights and ten days? The longer you can stay the better, but hopefully the trip will be the first of many.
Macker, I would suggest only Maui. If you want you could choose two locales there. The time of Oct is a great one. I%26#39;ve booked hotel/car though Expedia, but I don%26#39;t want to sound like an ad.
...Ok...Ok....
True story about Maui...first time we went was 1992 I think. I had Ms. Caddy ';lei%26#39;ed'; at the airport as we arrived.
After our drive to Kaanapali, I put the special lei out on the sand on the lovely Maui beaches there. When we got the pictures back from our trip, Ms. Caddy looked that picture of the beautiful lei I bought her, on on the beach and here were her exact words:
';It looks like somebody died!';
I am not kidding. Isn%26#39;t she romantic! LOL so much.
starting with the mundane -- do you want a hotel or a condo --- what is your budget for this
what are your likes-dislikes -- how do you feel about snorkeling -- hiking -- swimming-- shopping - do you feel adventurous enough to do a zip line -- have you ever seen a volcano - what about seeing hawaiis grand canyon --- would you like to go to a luau etc etrc
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