honeymoon-sorry you must get this a lot

bridezillatobe2009 · December 2011

My FI and I are thinking about Hawaii for our September honeymoon and I don't know how to decide on an island? Is one a lot more expensive than the other? Is one better suited for honeymooning than the other? How is the weather typically in Hawaii?

Thanks for any advice you have ladies, hope everything is going like it should for your wedding plans!

breaness · December 2011

They're all great for different reasons. How long are you going for? If you're just doing a week I'd recommend staying on one island, if you're going for longer you can probably do multiples. I bought the Frommer's Hawaii in a week and Hawaii 2011 books when we were planning our wedding to help us also plan our honeymoon. We pretty much did the exact "Maui in one week" trip that they have in the Frommer's book. It was PERFECT!

We ended up picking Maui for the entire trip. There's SO much to do there and you can do it all. We stayed on the south side (that's where we got married) for the beginning of the trip, and that's also where we went snorkeling. That's where the calmest beaches and the best weather is. It didn't rain and it was beautiful and sunny every day. The resorts in that area are awesome too. We then did the Road to Hana (an absolute MUST!) which is a full day trip and we stayed one night at the Travaasa Hana hotel (another Must!) which we loved. It rained a lot there but it was absolutely beautiful. Then we spent the remainder of the trip on the West side of Maui, which was our least favorite place on the island, but it was still nice. We'll just do the South side and Hana next time.

Each island has a "rainy" side and a "dry" side. For Maui it's the west & south sides that are dry and best for beach going. Maui has a lot of activities too, we did snorkeling, ziplining, we drove to the top of the volcano, the road to Hana, and of course we got some beach time in.

If you want more information on a Maui honeymoon and to check out all of my vendor reviews, click on my married bio, it's all there.

Each island is great for its own reasons. Maui is one of the best in terms of getting a little taste of everything. Kauai is beautiful, but it's a lot more laid back. There's little to nothing to do past 8 PM. If that's the kind of honeymoon you're looking for it could be a great choice! The Big Island isn't as lush as the others, but you can see active volcanos and real lava there. The guys that did our zipline tour said that the zipline that Skyline Eco runs on the Big Island is absolutely incredible. Oahu is like NYC but on an island. City life is NOT for us so we have no intention of going there. Molokai and Lanai are other islands that you may consider too, but they tend to be more of a day trip kind of thing than spending your whole trip there.

Tanq&Tonic · December 2011

Brea gave some great advice, but the one thing I'd say is that Oahu is nothing like NYC. The main strip in Waikiki has become really commercialized over the past decade with major fashion brands taking a strong presence, but if you venture a bit off that, Oahu is still a wonderful place to visit.

I think a few pros of Oahu:
- Direct flights from more cities into HNL
- Widest range of housing options (starting from < $100/nt)
- Widest range of activities (you won't really find clubs anywhere else)
- The North Shore - windy, but so stunning

I personally prefer Maui, but really enjoyed Oahu in the past too. I haven't been to Kauai yet but I hear it's kind of like the more jungly, even less commercial/businessy greener/rainier counterpart to Maui, and great for honeymooners who like outdoorsy activities and don't like to go out / party.

Whichever island you decide, I highly recommend the "Revealed" series of books. We have both the Oahu and Maui books and it has always resulted in great adventures!

Maui:
http://www.amazon.com/Maui-Revealed-Guidebook-Andrew-Doughty/dp/0981461034/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325175497&sr=8-1

Oahu:
http://www.amazon.com/Oahu-Revealed-Ultimate-Honolulu-Revisited/dp/0981461026/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1325175497&sr=8-4

breaness · December 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_hawaii_honeymoon-sorry-must-this-lot?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:73Discussion:b39fce3c-9692-4d3a-89fb-a6c2f45e9ac1Post:aa803cf8-977e-489d-a72e-8b2f71bd2258">Re: honeymoon-sorry you must get this a lot</a>:
[QUOTE]Brea gave some great advice, but the one thing <strong>I'd say is that Oahu is nothing like NYC.</strong>
Posted by Tanq&Tonic[/QUOTE]

<div>That's what I get for listening to my cousin! ;)</div><div>
</div><div>I honestly felt like Maui was the best choice for us either way.</div>

AKWinterBride · December 2011

We got married in Maui and honeymooned in Oahu and we LOVED Oahu!! Granted, we live in Alaska where there isn't city life so I enjoyed going to restaurants, shopping, laying at the beach, etc. There was literally anything and everything to do there, and I loved it! When we went up to the North Shore of Oahu we were bored, bored, bored but a lot of folks love it up there.

That said, we love Maui!! We go to Maui quite often and absolutely love every second we are there. There isn't as much stuff to do as in Honolulu but there is enough for us, we take walks, vist shops, lay by the beach, lay by the pool, etc. It is the perfect place for a relaxed honeymoon.

So Oahu is fun if you are craving more to do, but Maui is perfect in my eyes!!

AKWinterBride · December 2011

AND.... If you are looking to stay in a hotel Oahu is much cheaper than Maui. Maui resorts tend to be spendy, but if you are looking for some affordable places to stay check out vrbo.com. We always stay in condos when we are in Maui and we book them via VRBO so that we can see the actual unit we are staying in. If you book via a rental company they may just put you in a certain 'level' room which is determined by the company. If you book directly through the owners you know what you're going to get and sometimes you can get great deals too. When we were in Maui last summer we paid $110/night for a beautiful walk out condo in Kihei, we love it there and it is the town that best suits us. Plus it has beautiful weather, I think in all the years we have been traveling there it has rained on us for about 10 minutes total.

The hotels we stayed in in Oahu I actually got throug Hotwire and they were great location and great hotels. They even upgraded us even though we got a discount deal. Great site!!

Good luck!

sparklegirl84 · December 2011

We've been to oahu, maui & kauai within the past 2 years & they're all beautiful. I have 4 of the hawaii revealed books- the kauai one is my favorite, their excitement really comes through in the writing. The east/windward side of Oahu was absolutely stunning (they filmed Lost there). Waikiki isn't for me and the oahu highways in honolulu have horrible traffic. Kauai is super beautiful & lush, maui has less green scenery but gorgeous swimmable beaches. Good luck, i have photos i could share if you're interested.

sparklegirl84 · December 2011

Oh and if you choose Maui...we booked via alohacondos.com and stayed at Napili bay resort- it was the perfect beach and condo for us. Id go back in a heart beat. I liked the west side of maui better then the south, it was greener & we didnt get rain (it was august though).

breaness · December 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_hawaii_honeymoon-sorry-must-this-lot?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:73Discussion:b39fce3c-9692-4d3a-89fb-a6c2f45e9ac1Post:502349b8-acc8-4a3c-9e35-d3adcce22781">Re: honeymoon-sorry you must get this a lot</a>:
[QUOTE]Oh and if you choose Maui...we booked via alohacondos.com and stayed at Napili bay resort- it was the perfect beach and condo for us. Id go back in a heart beat. I liked the west side of maui better then the south, it was greener & we didnt get rain (it was august though).
Posted by sparklegirl84[/QUOTE]

I think it's interesting that you say the west side was more green than the south side! I found it to be the opposite. I thought the west maui mountains were ugly and dusty (which was confirmed when we ziplined on them and got covered with said dust).

It does make sense though since the south side gets less rain. I guess they just keep up the Makena area well (where we stayed). It was beautiful and green!

honeymoon-sorry you must get this a lot

Re: honeymoon-sorry you must get this a lot

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