We just got back from our second trip to Hawaii. This time we took our daughter Madelyn with us. She just graduated from college so this was her graduation trip. Our last trip was for our anniversary two years ago. Since I never updated the blog with that, I am going to combine the two and give you our favorite places to stay, places to eat and things to do lists. On both trips we broke the trip into two parts and stayed on both Kauai and Maui. Also on both trips we took a day trip and flew to O’ahu to go to Pearl Harbor. (More on that in the O’ahu post)
First a little information on the islands and deciding how many of them you want to visit. Hawaii is actually a group of islands stretching 1500 miles and consisting of 8 major islands and over 100 smaller islands. Hawaii is 2300 miles from the main land of the United Stated. The eight major islands are Hawaii, Maui, O’ahu, Kaua’i, Moloka’i, Lana’i, Ni’ihau, Kaho’olawe. The islands are far apart – you have to fly to get from one to another. For those of you who live on the west coast, the trip is much easier. It is a very long journey from the east coast to Hawaii. It is approximately 6 hours to Los Angeles or Seattle and then another 6 hours out into the ocean. We now recommend first class if at all possible. The first part of the trip might be ok in coach if it is during the day but first class is much better for the 6 hour flight to the island.
Next you get to decide which islands you would like to visit. We had decided to go to Kaua’i and Maui on the first trip based on friends recommendations and research. Kaua’i is known as The Garden Isle and Maui is known as The Valley Isle and both are beautiful. But I have talked to people who went to Hawaii on a cruise the first time and visited most of the islands for a day or so and then decided where they wanted to stay. And I have talked to people who stayed on just one island and hopped to the other islands for a day or so during their trip. You really need to stay for at least 7-10 days, especially if you are traveling from the east coast. It is too long a trip to stay for a shorter time.
I will be adding blogs for each of the islands, but let me say here that Hawaii is breathtaking. It is everything you have ever heard. Gorgeous views in every direction. Amazing beaches, beautiful flowers, delicious seafood, perfect weather and so many fantastic things to see and fun things to do. Definitely a bucket list trip.
