Honeymoon in Hawaii

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: RKS

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: midnightrat
Jules, what kind of activities did you do while there? snorkeling? museums? beach's? etc...

Did a bit of snorkeling and sight-seeing. They had a nice beach at the hotel. I wanted to do molokini crater but the day before I was going to go I got a bit too much sun (I wasn't burned bad but a touch red) so I thought it would be better if I didn't go spend a few more hours in it.

We didn't do the drive to Hana because it takes like 4 hours to get there and another 4 hours to get back. No way we were going to do that with a 3 year old.

We spent some time exploring the island and of course we ate and drank.

I brought my own snorkel gear so I was in the water practically every day.

Buying/bringing your own gear is a pretty good idea. Coming from Ohio we really didn't have a need to purchase our own. The trip we took however let us snorkel with dolphins which was very cool.

A rather large dive supply companies is right down the road from me and they have an employees only parking lot sale a couple times a year to get rid of old inventory or stuff that might have defects (like wetsuits). A co-worker of mine used to clue me in on when the sales were so I picked up a few sets of self purging masks for $5 each along with a few pairs of fins and snorkels. I paid like $45 for all the gear and set myself, my wife and my son up with complete sets.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: RKS
biking down a volcano :thumbsdown:

Driving up the volcano on a cloudless day :thumbsup:

Bring warm clothes, it's cold as balls up there.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

The whales are here now too... Have to take a whale watch.
There's a submarine tour in Lahaina... very cool.
You can rent kayaks and paddle around all day.
You can drive around the north end of the island (Maui)... but the same rules apply for that as Hana
Golf Golf Golf!!! (You can watch whales while you wait to tee off)
Fishing!
Front Street in Lahaina!
Baby Beach. :evil:
Walk down Sugar Beach and bring me some beer.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Lanai is great for golf and running around naked

:Q I got gyped. :|

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: irishScott
for me.

Maui has Waikiki beach, and lots of awesome resorts. Nuff said. Snorkeling is beyond awesome if you find the right spot.

Either you mean that O'ahu has Waikiki beach, or you meant that Maui has some other beach. (LOTS of beautiful beaches on Maui..but Waikiki ain't one of them)


My wife & I just sold our Maui timeshare because I have too much trouble with the 5 hour plane ride. We used to go at least once per year.

IMO, the BEST way to see Hana is by helicopter. You fly from Kahalui (where the airport is) down the west side of Haleakala, (maybe even over the top/crater, depending on weather) into a few canyons to see some waterfalls like you can't see from the roadways...(too remote) then around the southern end of Maui and into Hana. It's beautiful down there...it's the rain forest-y part of the island, lush and green with the black sand beaches.
Then, you take a van trip back, with a nice catered lunch, plenty of stops along the way at various places, (we went to Jim Nabor's Macadamia ranch..."I got to hold Jim Nabor's nuts" :roll' and a couple of nice pools scattered along the way. If you get a GOOD driver, you get a nice narrative tour, and he has to deal with "The divorce highway" instead of you, and YOU get to see the scenery.

Ka'anapali is our favorite part of the island to stay. Lots of nice hotels/condos, great beach, lots of shopping and dining variety. This last trip (in December) we drove up the mountain (not to see the sunrise...too dammed early) but to tour around the "up-country." It was cold and cloudy at the top, but I got a couple of decent pics:

http://www.whodah.com/albums/Maui07/aai.sized.jpg
(inside the crater)

http://www.whodah.com/albums/Maui07/aaj.sized.jpg
(Mauna Loa on the Big Island covered with snow)

http://www.whodah.com/albums/Maui07/aaq.sized.jpg
(pic of Lanai...from our hotel room)


Which island you go to really depends on what you want to do...O'ahu and Honolulu is more crowded than the others. Honolulu is a major city and is like a tropical San Francisco.
Maui would be the next most crowded/busy, but the most of the resorts are scattered on the west side, while the east side is where the main city is.
Hawaii, (the big island) has a LOT fewer tourists, and because the island is so big, (bigger than all the rest combined) the resorts are more scattered. However, the dry and warm side (west side..kona coast) has a lot more exposed lava, and much of it looks like a moonscape. It's the island with Kilauea, (on the far southern end) the active volcano, and is still erupting with flowing lava.

If you want tropical seclusion with fewer tourist activities, then Lanai and Kauai would be your best bets. Lanai is privately owned, so there are fewer people there, that also means fewer activities, but is an easy ferry ride from Maui.
Kauai has more activities, but also has some of the most beautiful scenery, but most of it's only available by either boat or helicopter.

 

[irishScott]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy

Originally posted by: irishScott

Originally posted by: RKS
snorkeling :thumbsup:
biking down a volcano :thumbsdown:
road to (some name that I can't remember) in a rented jeep :thumbsup:
luaus :thumbsdown:
helicopter ride :thumbsup: (somewhat)

If you mean the "Road to Hana (sp)" Fuck that. It starts off nice, the scenery is awesome, but even awesome scenery gets pathetically monotonous after an hour (of the several it will take to finish the route). Not to mention crazy people on skinny roads (my family''s car almost got run off a cliff). There are a few native-owned hand-made smoothie stands and whatnot along the way (the smoothies were awesome), as well as a waterfall and natural resulting swimming area, but on the whole it was the most boring part of the entire trip for me.

Maui has Waikiki beach, and lots of awesome resorts. Nuff said. Snorkeling is beyond awesome if you find the right spot.

I've heard Kuwai has the best natural beauty in terms of Jungles/untouched wildlife, so if you're into nature hikes you might want to check it out.

Only part of Oahu I saw was the WWII museums/Arizona memorial. They were pretty interesting, but then again I'm something of a war buff.

The Big Island has volcanoes and subsequent hiking trails. If you time it with an eruption, there are actually trails that will take you right up to the lava flow. However, said trail consists of (from what I've heard) 6 hours of hardcore hiking. In short, if you love hiking and think volcanoes are cool, Big Island is the place to be.

Edit: There are some less strenuous trails that are still enjoyable if you're not up for the hardcore stuff (I'm the only one in my family who actually likes hardcore hiking, so I was forced to stick to these.). The one my family took went across an old volcanic crater which was cool. (Can't remember the name ).

Good luck and have fun.

It only takes two hours to get to Hana. If you're unaware of the pace on the road it can be stressful. But if you sit back and relax... and trade off driving on the way back it's a very nice drive. I've seen lots of tourists lose their minds on that road. It's not something you do on your first day here. Most tourists need a few days to unwind before they try that drive or they'll have a completely pissed off, white knuckle drive all the way to Hana.

Waikiki is on Oahu, not Maui. The only reason to go to Waikiki is to ogle the chicks or pick up transvestite prostitutes. Like I said before, stay away from Oahu. The beach with all the hotels on Maui is Ka'anapali.

It's not a six hour hike to see lava on BI. They have tours there that will pretty much drive you right up to it. There are also helicopter tours that will fly you over the volcano. If you only want to see the volcano then go to Maui and take a Heli-tour. Very cool.

Yeah... I meant... Oahu. Damn (smacks head). I enjoyed Waikiki because of the water. Was almost like taking a bath. Then again, I'm almost never out of the water when I'm at the beach. The resort we stayed at on Maui also had a sick beach + snorkeling spot (Once again, can't remember the name. This is from 4 years ago...)

And yeah, they have tours, but that's a cop-out...

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Lanai is great for golf and running around naked

:Q I got gyped. :|

You can totally have sex on the Manele golf course on a slow day.

 

[Lola]

We have been many times and got married and had our honeymoon there.
Check out our photo gallery for years worth of pics.
2003-2006 photos

 

[sygyzy]

Tough request, I can't imagine anyone has honeymooned in Hawaii.

 

[Geekbabe]

Honeymoon in Hawaii ?

The wedding was on Sat and I was right back to my desk at work on Monday morning.

 

[jpeyton]

Prices, anyone?

I'm curious to know what a package for two costs. I have a Costco membership, but I've always booked my trips through agents in the past.

 

[gsellis]

Never been to Kaua'i, but Maui, more than I can count (same with O'ahu).

Mau'i No Ka Oi

Asked my wife to marry me officially in the Kula Lodge Restaurant at sunset.

Next year, got married at the Old Lahaina Luau (see the Travel Channel's Top 10 Hawai'ian Beaches - #5 - we were planning with 1 mth to go and saw that. Did that (but they did not invite us on stage because there was not a film crew there.))

Biking (coasting) down Haleakula is back open from what I have seen. I thought it was cool. Too slow, but cool. And you do get misted on for a section.

If you do the road to Hana, stop at the Shell station and get the DVD at the kiosk in the parking lot. It makes it mo better. Above that station is a pretty good deal on Pineapple to take home too. I think the deal is still that the airlines do not count one against your carry-ons.

 

[BoomerD]

OP, sent you a PM.

gsellis...I agree about the Old Lahaina Luau. We've been to several luaus, different islands, different Maui resorts, and in our opinion, the OLL is the best you can get. I especially love their open bar... Once you make friends with your drink boy, he'll stop by with a tray full saying, "Here, try one of these...they're good!" It never fails, my wife ALWAYS has to drive back to the hotel after we go to that one...