Kauai type island vacation wanted

We have been to Kauai 3 years in a row and my hubby said we have to go somewhere else for vacation (boooo hoooo)

We are looking at where we could go that

A) weather is fair like Kauai (not tooo hot)

B) not too many mosquitos

C) not terribly expensive-

Thanks for any ideas!

Maybe next year! :)

Laura

Kauai type island vacation wanted

San Diego?

What time of year?

Kauai type island vacation wanted

Cabo? Don%26#39;t go during the summer though. WAY too hot!

I found that the island of Moorea was very similar to Kauai. It looked like a mini Kauai. I loved Tahiti.

spring break....

March 28-april 11

we have a 11 year old daughter.

If you go to Cabo spring break, your 11 year old will come back 19.

How about not tropical but warm like Scottsdale. You could take a trip to Sedona (Oh I love it there). Gorgeous red rock and peaceful like Kauai. Maybe onto Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon for a little education.

I love staying at The Scottsdale Princess. Sounds so good I think I%26#39;ll go too!!!!!!

fiji, we stayed at a very reasonable bure on the beach!!! oarsman bay lodge and octopus...i love fiji and the snorkeling is the best in the world. almost as expensive to get there as hawaii!!!

We took our kids to the Caribbean last Spring Break and getting to/from was a total pain. Hours and hours of flying and hangin out in airports. So I%26#39;m not sure I would spend two whole days to get to/from Fiji with only a week off. We ended up taking two weeks to make the flight worth it.

I really love the Scottsdale area. It%26#39;s not tropical but definitely warm and sunny. We have stayed at The Boulders and loved it!

Another vote for Fiji. I LOVED it there. The sweetest people in the whole world. Long flight though.

I know what you are saying I have found a few places:

Cancun

St Thomas

Aruba

Siesta Key (Florida)

These are some of my faves.

Why not try Maui- the Hana area or the Hilo area on The Big Island.

I agree, another Hawaiian island is about as close as you can get.

Maybe the FL Keys? If your daughter likes dolphins, the Dolphin Research Center is on Grassy Key. I could have spent the entire day there watching the dolphins!

representative of male teenagers

Best location for nice beaches

Which area is centrally located to travel to the best beaches. Looking into renting condo instead of hotel, and will travel each day to different beach. Planning on one week stay on Big Island. Kona seems to be popular. All suggestions are appreciated. I hope to plan everything SOON! Last minute travel.

Best location for nice beaches

for pure beaches proably the Mauni Lani condos or Kolea Condos in Waiakoloa Beach resort. Kona will be a 30 min to 1hour drive south of the beach area...there are no nice beaches south of the airport.

You want to be in the Kohala area.... be prepared for condos there to start at 250 a night+++

Kona will be $150 a night

Get a good map.... many beaches are long hot hikes as you cant drive even a 4x4 rental to them....

Kua, A bay, Hapuna, Mauna Kea are the beaches accessable eaaily

Best location for nice beaches

Here%26#39;s my summary on N. Kona and Kohala beaches.

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60872-i269-k23468…

Kailua_Kona_Island_of_Hawaii_Hawaii.html\

I think Waikoloa Beach Resort is the most centerally located.

Bill

No question in my mind, you want the Waikoloa Beach area or the Mauna Lani Resort area. They are 5 minutes apart.

NOT Kailua-Kona for beaches.

Kona is popular for other reasons. Cheaper, and some like to be in a town, and the sport fishing charters and snorkel tours depart from there.

I agree Waikaloa area for best beaches. You could even stay in Waimea and drive down to beaches 15 to 20 minutes (assuming light traffic). If so avoid rush hour traffic to/from beach (going up hill can be slow if a fully loaded truck is ahead of you). Waimea is also a good central spot for exploring North Kohala %26amp; Pololu, Waipio Valley area, and you could even get to Hilo from there.

I%26#39;ve stayed in Waimae/Kamuela and I passed through it alot. It is cool (relatively speaking), rainy or foggy most of the time I%26#39;ve been there. I would not want to spend my entire vacation up there in a rental.

There are tons of nice rentals in Waikoloa Resort and Muana Lani. There are interesting rentals in Puako just next door.

Bill

Yes, Waimea is rain/foggy allot but at night I%26#39;m usually in my room reading or watching t.v., during the day I%26#39;m out doing another adventure. Great thing about Waimea is gas, food, groceries all right there at a central location. Happy Travel, TheodoreJay

well, Waimea is 23 miles from the nearest beach...and a twisty 2 lane road that ascends 2400 ft...It takes me about 35 min under ideal conditions to drive it.

And of note this is the main route from the container port and has lots of truck.. traffic.

You will burn more vacation time and gas$$$ than you will save...

Waimea is 10 to 15 degrees colder and windy as heck.(.look at the set of the trees as you drive in, how come all the branches are on one side?)

It can be cold and misty most of the day..and there are few places to stay or eat.... If you stay in Waimea bring your cowboy clothes...not aloha shirts... its a ranching town...with cowboys; and get a place with a fireplace and heater.. folks up there use them....all year long.

parents hotel change...now Ohana Waikiki West.

OK. for those of you who have been so much help to me....for my folks, they were going to be at the Queen Kapiolani, now it has been changed to The Ohan Waikiki West on Kuhio. It appears to be somewhat across from the Int. Markt Place.

Just need to know if anyone would recommend any other restaurants right nearby. I will still give them all of the previous suggestions from when I thought they were going to be at the Q.K.

It might be a chnge for the good. It looks like getting from Kuhio over to Kalakaua might be ok and would put them more central to things on Kalakaua.

The hotel website sates it is just steps from the Int. Markt Place. Anyone know that for sure?

Thanks to all of you for helping me help them.

parents hotel change...now Ohana Waikiki West.

Pattie, The back end of the International Market Place comes out on Kuhio. They could walk straight through the market place and come out on Kalakaua. It is a very busy area. Your really only talking about a couple of blocks difference from the Queen Kapiolani. Buses and trash trucks run along Kuhio about 12 hrs. a day. I%26#39;m really not sure they would be happy there. I have never seen it but the location is a little iffy. There is a Keo%26#39;s on the corner of Kuhio and Kapiolani Ave. Also a Smorgies which I have never been to and have only heard bad things about. There is also a Denny%26#39;s up Kuhio. Other than that, they should stick to the restaraunts on Kalakaua.

parents hotel change...now Ohana Waikiki West.

It is directly across Kuhio Ave from the back end of International Market Place.

Outrigger Waikiki is directly across Kalakaua Ave from the front end of International Market Place.

spotlighthawaii.com/SpotlightPDF/WebMap/Oahu…

So it is a little over a block from Ohana Waikiki West to the restaurants like Duke%26#39;s. As msfuzz says, they can walk through International Market Place.

Also close enough to walk to Hula Mound near Duke%26#39;s statue.

For people in their 80%26#39;s, Ohana Waikiki West is in a better location than QK.

Thank you both!

There is a Chili%26#39;s on corner of Walina and Kuhio which you can access from the West.

Also, the food pantry is right next door which is very handy. We had a kitchenette, so if they have one it%26#39;s great for getting breakfast %26amp; lunch items for the room.

Outrigger or Wyndham

Hi

Has anyone stayed recently at the Outrigger Royal Sea Cliff or the Wyndham Kona Hawaiian......we are arriving next month for 2 weeks and these are two choices we were given........what do you think? The forums don%26#39;t really give the Outrigger a great outlook but they are older posts.....thanks for any feedback

Outrigger or Wyndham

Outrigger. It%26#39;s ocean front and the common area is nicer. Wyndham is newer but has nothing else going for it.

Outrigger or Wyndham

thanks so much typicallytropical I appreciate your feedback ....

Volcano

I posted a note on general Hawaii boards but someone suggestec maybe this board. and I agree

We are booked into Poipu on Kauai in late June and we want to see the volcano flow. either before or after. We have been to volcano twice but have not yet seen the flow. Last tiem we saw the steam where it entered ocean, but that was on SW side.

We can get a time share at Sea Mountain but learned flow is now on Kalapana side. So think we may need to stay in Hilo.

Does the Park Service still do the Ranger tours to the flow now that it ia outside the Park?

we proably will also stay in Kona, but that is later plan

Volcano

By June the lava may be flowing in a completely different area.

Here is an article from a few days ago that says lava has started to flow toward the park again.

honoluluadvertiser.com/article/…BACKISSUES

So my thought is that you ought to stay where you want to %26amp; if you have to drive a little more for the night that you want to see the lava, it wouldn%26#39;t be that big of a deal just for the one time.

Volcano

As I said by PM, what dusty said about the lava flow moving.

However, I would stay in Volcano or Hilo. The night drive from VNP lava hike to Sea Mountain would be dark and not great at all, and if from Kalapana would be really long.

The distance doesn%26#39;t seem so much but there%26#39;s a long stretch of lower speed limit on the Ka%26#39;u side of the park and there%26#39;s really nothing in the way of light.

Punalu%26#39;u could be a real nice place to mellow out and see low key Hawai%26#39;i, but as a base with a night activity I wouldn%26#39;t recommend it, unless the money saved makes it worthwhile maybe.

Also it%26#39;s nice to have some close by options for food and shopping, which the Village has and Hilo even more so.

Also if the flow turns out to be a no go there%26#39;s a lot to do around Hilo and in Puna and it is a long drive from Sea Mountain.

It%26#39;s up to you and it wouldn%26#39;t be horrible, but it wouldn%26#39;t be my first choice.

To answer your other question, no, the Rangers stay in the park. Hawai%26#39;i County Civil Defense runs the current lava viewing site, and it is all private land there so no one is allowed to wander anywhere except parking lot to viewing area ... no guide is needed there.

The VNP does have information posted about how to get to the lava viewing.

Lavaguyd, who posts here, offers personalized tours that sound very interesting.

I do think the lava flow could shift. Volcano is a central location and you can hardly go wrong picking it (unless the summit vent starts belching columns of fire, in which case all bets are off in any case).

June is a great time of year to visit. The lava could change at any time and checking in with this forum for updates on the flow will prove very helpful. If you can manage to stay in Volcano Village or Hilo (depending on where the lava is flowing) that would be so much easier for you. However having a time share at Sea Mountain sure is a plus and the drive from there to the flow is certainly easier than from Kailua-Kona or the Kohala area. Many visitors do this as a very long day trip from the west side.. you have cut that trip off by almost 45 mins... I am glad you will try to stay in Kailua-Kona during your visit and we look forward to those questions.

Thanks for the help here. We decided to book at Kona Coast where we have time share points we could use, and forget volcano. Maybe next time flow will be closer. We have been to volcano twice.

Day trip from honolulu to mauna kea

hi, could you let me some help to planning my trip to hawaii. i%26#39;m going to be about ten days in honolulu. i%26#39;d like to see vulcano mauna kea? how can i get there? i think over night trip is best way? or maybe two nights in big island? is it possible to find some package from honolulu to mauna kea?

Day trip from honolulu to mauna kea

If you go to Hawaiian Airlines you can book a Vacation Package that includes Flight, Hotel and Car from Honolulu. I have done that before and stayed over one night. I have never taken the trip to the top of Mauna Kea, but I heard it is great at night. I know that most car rental companies do not let you take the car up the road to the top (Saddle Road) so I think you would have to take the bus tour.

If you go to the Big Island you might want to see Volcano Nat%26#39;l Park, which is very exciting. If there is lava flowing into the ocean you might want to stay another night to be there to see it as it is usually not very visible in the day.

http://www.hawaiianair.com/Pages/Index.aspx

Cheers,

Mark

natural make up

ittwit

Best beaches for snorkeling

What beaches are best for snorkeling? We are going in Feb. and will be staying at the Grand Wailea.

Thanks

Best beaches for snorkeling

My family loves snorkeling at Ulua Beach, which is not too far from the Grand Wailea. There is a large coral reef there and marine life galore. The area in front of the Maui Prince hotel is also wonderful for snorkeling. We saw some amazing turtles there!

Best beaches for snorkeling

The beach at your resort, to your left as you%26#39;re looking at the water, near the outcropping has nice snorkeling.

Napili Bay was really good too.

Stop by the Maui dive shop on Kihei Rd and pick up their free booklet with snorkel sites, directions and skill level. I relly enjoy snorkeling in front of the Four Seasons (right next to Grand W). Go out and to the left. The lava/coral also extends out several hundred yards. Great place..fishes and turtles.

Within walking distance from the Grand Wailea:

1. Wailea Point - enter the beach on your left right in front of the Four Seasons/Grand Wailea. Swim out 100 yards to where the snorkel and dive boats are, and no need to swim any futher South along the coast than the second building at Wailea Point. There is a barren strech of sand going South toward Polo Beach.

2. Walk North on the boardwalk to Ulua Beach. There are PWF volunteer naturalists sitting on the beach M-F every morning.

We just returned from Maui - stayed in Wailea. We snorkeled almost everyday and had good luck on Wailea Beach infront of the Beach Villas and Marriott. The entry was so easy, the water so clear, lovely fish - even saw a few turtles.

Wailea Point is a nice place to snorkel. Enter the water in front of the 4S resort. Go in the morning - gets quite rough in the afternoon.

We picked up a cheap digital camera from Walmart.com ($70) that has an underwater case, got fabulous pictures of turtles, fish, coral.

If you get sick of Wailea beach, try Malauka (in front of the Maui Prince in Makena). Just snorkel near the rock and lava outcroppings. However, there is nothing more convenient than walking to the beach at your hotel and going out in the water. Best snorkeling and fewest crowds around 9 am to 11 am. Even earlier is fine too. Best fishes to you.

Hi AZGrams: Could you give more details about the digital camera with waterproof case that you bought at Walmart? I looked but couldn%26#39;t find the camera you%26#39;re speaking of. Waterproof cases for my Canon Elph run about $260(U.S.)so I%26#39;m looking for a cheaper alternative. Thanks, Sue

There is a book on snorkeling in Maui and Lana%26#39;i that we used on our last two trips. If you are planning to spend any time driving around and exploring various snorkeling spots on Maui, it is well worth bringing along. We found it extremely helpful. I would provide more info, but I do not want to appear to be promoting it. :-)