Posted: 6/18/2013 12:04:48 PM EDT
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My wife and I are going to visit Hawaii in the near future. We will be staying on Kauai and Maui with a day trip to Oahu. What areas are to be avoided and what are must do activities?
We are planning to visit Pearl Harbor and the north shore area. Thank you in advance. |
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Just got back from Kauai a week ago. I took 895 pictures over 4 days, and I am NOT a photographer. It was that bad ass..... I will be going back because we didn't get to everything we wanted. An absolute must is the canyon in the west shore. Poipu resort has a really cool beach just beside Brennecke's restaurant. We stayed in Kappa because it was nearly in the middle driving distance-wise to the the ends of the island. Kee beach at the very end of the North shore is great for snorkeling, but parking is a bitch. There are a bunch of amazing hikes we went on, if your'e into that as well.
Oahu is starting to get crowded this time of year for tourist season. As mentioned, on the east of Honolulu all the way up to K-Bay there are some awesome beaches: Sandy's, Lanikai, Waimanalu, Blow Hole, and beside and up past the Sea life park. The North Shore is awesome, too. Haleiwa is my favorite little town on the island. Just past that where the traffic slows and people park on the right in turtle beach. You have a 75% change of seeing beached and sleeping sea turtles daily. Also, Waimea bay is a pretty popular beach and just around the corner from that is Pupukea beach as well. |
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Just got back from Kauai a week ago. I took 895 pictures over 4 days, and I am NOT a photographer. It was that bad ass..... I will be going back because we didn't get to everything we wanted. An absolute must is the canyon in the west shore. Poipu resort has a really cool beach just beside Brennecke's restaurant. We stayed in Kappa because it was nearly in the middle driving distance-wise to the the ends of the island. Kee beach at the very end of the North shore is great for snorkeling, but parking is a bitch. There are a bunch of amazing hikes we went on, if your'e into that as well. Oahu is starting to get crowded this time of year for tourist season. As mentioned, on the east of Honolulu all the way up to K-Bay there are some awesome beaches: Sandy's, Lanikai, Waimanalu, Blow Hole, and beside and up past the Sea life park. The North Shore is awesome, too. Haleiwa is my favorite little town on the island. Just past that where the traffic slows and people park on the right in turtle beach. You have a 75% change of seeing beached and sleeping sea turtles daily. Also, Waimea bay is a pretty popular beach and just around the corner from that is Pupukea beach as well. lol haha, Not called that!!..it's called Laniakea...turtle beach developed from tourist..  ...that one strip of road gets sooooo backed up with traffic it ain't even funny. I am on the North shore of oahu, Sunset beach. Lots of people this time and around winter. Places to avoid IMO Waipio and Waianae...doubt you would have any problems but not really the best areas on Oahu. Check out Diamond Head and Koko head for hiking if your out near Sea Life Park (which is awesome). As mentioned Waimea is a cool beach but good luck parking, there is a church like a min up the road that has all day parking for $5 and Foodland is like again less then a min drive further...retarded prices.
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Depending on where you are...Costco but that might be a bit much for one day..
Food land is not great but not terrible..when they ask if you have a Maika'i card and say no..they will ask you to put in your phone number. JUST DO IT. I save $4-7 every time with mine, I see a lot of tourist who are don't do it, Don't worry they are not going to call your house.. Safeway...not nearly as cheep as the mainland, not terrible. Wal-Mart has simliar prices to what I see over in CA and NV.. 7-Eleven..Get spam musubi |
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Seriously consider a visit to the Big Island. Personally, I'd skip Maui and make Kona my home base. Visiting Hawaii without seeing the active volcano is just fail.
If you are driving around Oahu, make a stop in Kailua. Lots of good places to eat lunch there. I should know, my office is there and I eat out most work days. 
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Just got back from Kauai a week ago. I took 895 pictures over 4 days, and I am NOT a photographer. It was that bad ass..... I will be going back because we didn't get to everything we wanted. An absolute must is the canyon in the west shore. Poipu resort has a really cool beach just beside Brennecke's restaurant. We stayed in Kappa because it was nearly in the middle driving distance-wise to the the ends of the island. Kee beach at the very end of the North shore is great for snorkeling, but parking is a bitch. There are a bunch of amazing hikes we went on, if your'e into that as well. Oahu is starting to get crowded this time of year for tourist season. As mentioned, on the east of Honolulu all the way up to K-Bay there are some awesome beaches: Sandy's, Lanikai, Waimanalu, Blow Hole, and beside and up past the Sea life park. The North Shore is awesome, too. Haleiwa is my favorite little town on the island. Just past that where the traffic slows and people park on the right in turtle beach. You have a 75% change of seeing beached and sleeping sea turtles daily. Also, Waimea bay is a pretty popular beach and just around the corner from that is Pupukea beach as well. lol haha, Not called that!!..it's called Laniakea...turtle beach developed from tourist.. ...that one strip of road gets sooooo backed up with traffic it ain't even funny. I am on the North shore of oahu, Sunset beach. Lots of people this time and around winter. Places to avoid IMO Waipio and Waianae...doubt you would have any problems but not really the best areas on Oahu. Check out Diamond Head and Koko head for hiking if your out near Sea Life Park (which is awesome). As mentioned Waimea is a cool beach but good luck parking, there is a church like a min up the road that has all day parking for $5 and Foodland is like again less then a min drive further...retarded prices.well jeez. I didn't know it actually had a name. Its basically just a random spot where people pull off and back traffic up. I knew turtle beach wasn't the real name, thats why I didn't cap the name, just a description....... Anyway, another vote to stay away from Waianae. Dirty and nothing really over there except beaches and its a dead end once you get close to N. Shore on the western side, then you have to come back down. If you fly in in the morning and go to Pearl Harbor in the A.M. then hit the North Shore like your original plans, there's your day, if planning to fly out that night. For lunch, hit up Killer Taco's or one of the shrimp trucks all in Haleiwa, or basically any food there, but those are my favorite's, except Pizza Bob's... That shit is the worst. The N. Shore has a similar, small town atmosphere as most of Kauai offers. I highly recommend Kauai as a vacation destination; non-residential with plenty to keep anyone busy from hiking to just putting your ass in the sand and relaxing. Oahu has a lot going on on the southern half of the island and is like any other functioning city area with the hustle and bustle. You don't want to be stuck in traffic around Pearl City in the morning or afternoon commute to and from Honolulu especially while trying to relax on vacation....... |
| On Kaua'i, you must see the North Shore and the Waimea Canyon. Both are incredible and fascinate me even though I grew up on Kaua'i. Spend one day going up to the Canyon and going to Koloa/Poipu area. Then spend another day doing the north shore. Hanalei has a bunch of resturants. |
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Quoted: Seriously consider a visit to the Big Island. Personally, I'd skip Maui and make Kona my home base. Visiting Hawaii without seeing the active volcano is just fail. If you are driving around Oahu, make a stop in Kailua. Lots of good places to eat lunch there. I should know, my office is there and I eat out most work days. I have to second this. The first time I visited the volcano, it was just amazing. I went back a year later and spent a week hiking throughout the park. Akaka falls would be a neat stop as well. |
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For Maui, I suggest biking down the mountain, Haleakala. Another thing would be the Atlantis submarine ride. A boat ride to Molokini and snorkeling/scuba at that site is fun. A helicopter tour is also a great experience. You forgot about driving the road to Hana and guri guri.
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For Maui, I suggest biking down the mountain, Haleakala. Another thing would be the Atlantis submarine ride. A boat ride to Molokini and snorkeling/scuba at that site is fun. A helicopter tour is also a great experience. You forgot about driving the road to Hana and guri guri.
This. However, if you're the type that gets car sick, maybe you outta wait until you come back from Hana to eat Guri guri. 
One thing about visiting Kilauea (Big Island), if you have asthma, make sure to keep your inhaler close by. When I was kid, my class took a field trip there, and I witnessed one of my classmates fall to the ground, gasping for breath, because he had asthma (and didn't know it at the time). Apparently whatever gasses come out of an active volcano (sulfur, etc), don't play well with asthma. |