Holiday to Hawaii in Aug 2013: Day 19 – Summary

Here’s a summary of our hols – what we liked etc.

O’Ahu

Great as a place to head to from the mainland, and Honolulu is a typical big city with good shops. Other than Waikiki (as a resort) not many specific attractions as such on this island. Busy city with nice shopping opportunities but not really what you have come all this way for. Hilton Hawaiian Village was very busy and not that relaxing, but a nice hotel to stay at, especially if you can get a nice room with a great view, high up. It has loads of pools, great beach and easy access to shops.

Big Island

Big Island is all about volcanoes and lava flows. We stayed in Waikoloa which is a gorgeous place to stay – it’s more of a small local town in which they have built a number of resorts.

The Hilton Waikoloa was a lovely resort – a little bit of a concrete jungle in parts, but it is very family orientated, from the train/water taxi transport to get around the resort, to the dolphins that you can organize official petting sessions with (no swimming allowed apparently). We would definitely go back there. There’s a Marriott resort in the same location and a number of private self-catering blocks.

To get to the Volcano National Park is a bit of a trek from Waikoloa, so we stayed over at the Volcano House which is the only lodging overlooking the crater (which is still erupting). We wouldn’t stay there again – far too expensive, and you just don’t need to stay in the park itself. Stay outside the park and go in for the day is plenty – you probably won’t need to spend more than a day in the park anyway.

Get a Jeep for going up Mauna Kea – there’s only one rental company that (officially) covers you for going up. If you’re not planning on going up Mauna Kea don’t bother with the Jeep – you don’t need it.

Maui

Maui (for us) was the most beautiful island we visited. We stayed in Wailea which is the main tourist area. Not a lot going on in Wailea and you have to head out of Wailea along a one-way road to go anywhere else on the island.

Wailea is all about resorts as well. We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria (Hilton Grand Wailea) which was a fabulous resort but is really expensive and they sting you for every possible extra you can imagine. We wouldn’t stay there again.

Going on the Road to Hana is a must-do, but you need to start early in the morning – very windy road and lots of places to stop – waterfalls along the side of the road etc. Culminates in the seven pools where you can swim.

The Piiliani Highway is a continuation of the Road to Hana and takes you around the bottom of the island back towards Wailea, but it’s not for the faint-hearted – it is a public road, but a narrow one at that and there are some very tight, blind bends, so best to follow someone, and don’t do it in the dark!

Do some snorkeling or scuba diving – the reefs off the North West coast are stunning – you can see sea turtles, sting rays and beautiful fish you only see on the telly.

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