Kiowan

I thought this might be a good place to ask.

I'm going to hawaii in May for 14 full days with a friend from Ireland, for me it's not too expensive to get there but for them it's a much bigger commitment and possibly one off trip.

We are thinking of splitting the time 6 days in oahu, 4 in mauai and 4 in kauai. With so many islands it's a lot to research and plan (i work a lot so have limited time to do that). We are both in our 30s, active interested in sightseeing, snorkeling, diving, surfing and hiking and the odd bit of going out to bars but no clubs.

Anyone think that itinerary is good or is the time split a bit wrong? For me I think it's going to be a fair bit of work dealing with 3 islands accom and car rentals but also think just visiting 2 islands may be too little in a 2 week trip.

Ideas from those that have been to Hawaii?

SimonLes

I would stick with one island or you will spend too much time travelling/packing/unpacking. It's a long way, even from the US west coast, so you want to make the most of your time there. I would go 10 in Oahu and 4 in another island if you must island hop. Honolulu is like San Francisco, just a big city, but North Oahu is amazing. You can easily kill 2 weeks on Oahu with no regrets

Owen778

I went to Kau'ai for a week with my wife a couple of years ago. It was stunning, and as I understand it, less built up than most of the other islands. We stayed half the time at a nice resort hotel in the south of the island, and the other half at a B&B in the less commercialised north. If you're not interested in lots of night-life, it could work well, but then I haven't been to any of the other islands.

SanDiegogirl

I've done a three island trip when living in Europe. Might as well get as much in as you can since, as you say, it's an awfully long way to go .....

Personally I'd drop oahu to 5 days, 5 in Maui and 4 in Kuai

mum 2 3

We went to Maui for 10 days and 5 on the big island this summer. Although we loved Maui we would do a more even split. Best experiences were ziplining, submarine, snuba and the road to Hanna tour on Maui, and helicopter and night snorkelling with manta rays on the big island. All beach snorkelling was amazing on both. We booked through Costco and accommodation and cars turned out great

penguinsix

I liked the Big Island and spent two or three days there driving around to see the volcano. I think you can easily shave a day off your other islands too.

vikingsail

I agree with penguin - the Big Island is missing from your itinerary and includes some spectacular activities for your age group - volcano etc.

Oahu:
Waikiki - worth at least a few hours
Diamond Head - great hike lovely view.
Tantalus Drive - spectacular driving, biking and views of the whole of Waikiki from the island side
Hanauma Bay - From Here to Eternity
Kailua - beautiful side of the island - drive the East coast to North Shore.
Arizona Memorial - if you drive up into the Aiea suburbs some great views of Pearl Harbor - Aiea Heights Drive

Maui
Lahaina
Road to Hana

Kaui
Na Pali Coast State Park
Wailua Falls

You probably have most of these on your list but hope that helps.

Owen778

I agree with those two, but if I was going to Kauai, I would not want to leave without seeing Waimea Canyon, probably for a whole day. It is superb.

carcajou

It's going to be a spectacular trip.

A lot of good advice posted above, I think you would be OK with your original plan, or adopting the others. I do think what vikingsail posted deserves a close look.

Keep in mind that Hilo gets, I believe, more rainfall than any other city in the US, including places like Seattle.

There is an enormous Japanese community in Hawaii, Japanese-Americans are the second-biggest ethnic group on Hawaii, and a lot of the major politicians there have historically been of Japanese descent. That should figure into what you read/learn about the cultural context - at one point Japanese made up almost half of Hawaii's population but I think it's way below that now.

Supposedly Hawaii is the #1 redeemed destination for frequent-flier miles in the US.

Enjoy.

Noorah101

That's what I did. I've been there twice and stayed only on Maui both times, although each of my trips was no more than 5 days so there was plenty to do just on the one island for that short time.

The first time I went, we rented a condo that was about a 10-minute walk to the beach. No ocean views, and we mostly cooked at the condo.

The second time, we got a hotel right on the beach, with an ocean view. WAY better, in my opinion. All the amenities were right there, including a fabulous breakfast buffet each morning.

I love Maui.

Rene

petitefrancaise

if it's still there??
https://nyti.ms/2EEwGru