Hawaii for 2 weeks questions..

chica368

We are starting to plan our Honeymoon for Aug 2011. We would like to go for 2 weeks and ideally see Oahu, Kauai, and Maui. I have a few questions..

1. How long does it take to go from island to island? I do not want to waste 2 whole days if it takes that long. I heard from a TA the flight is less than an hour and really doesn't take up the day. Just wanted to hear from ppl who have experienced this.

2. In Maui, what is the best area to stay in? We are looking at the FOur Seasons and Grand Wailea but heard that another area might have more to do.

3. DId you fly into one island from the states and then fly home from another or did you go back to the first airport. 

Thanks so much!!

kaesha

1. Interisland flights tend to run 30-45 minutes. The biggest airlines (Hawaiian, Mokulele) tend to use Honolulu as a hub, so if you're flying from say Maui to the Kauai, you'll have to fly to Honolulu first. So, you can be in and out in a couple of hours (including waiting around time) - if you're hopping between islands, it'll take you longer.

2. It depends what you're looking for. South Maui (which is where the Four Seasons and the Grand Wailea are) is nice and has beautiful beaches, but doesn't have a town (it feels like more of a strip to me) to poke around like West Maui (Lahaina). It is a little less crowded than the Ka'anapali strip though, and the resorts feel more upscale to me (but that's just a personal opinion). Personally, I love the North-west coast - it's quieter than both Wailea and Ka'anapali, has access to great snorkeling beaches and Lahaina. If you're looking for a resort, check out the Ritz there.

3. You can do either!

neelynicole

All flights to and from the mainland are through Honolulu (Oahu). But connections to other islands from there run all the time, so it's easy to get into Honolulu and out to another island with very minimal layover.

Flights between islands are really quick. Most of them, there's barely enough time for the attendants to come through for drink orders. And since the airports are really small, getting in and out is super quick. When we were there in the spring, there was one flight where it literally only took 10 minutes from the time we landed until we had our luggage and were off in a rental car.

tinydancer842

I just went to Hawaii for 2 weeks on my HM. We stayed 8 days at the Grand Wailea and then flew to the Big Island and stayed at Mauna Lani Bay Resort for 6 days. Traveling between the BI and Maui was easy...as soon as we got up in the air we were descending. We timed it so we checked out at the last possible minute at Grand Wailea (12pm) and arrived at the next hotel around the time we were allowed to check-in so it worked out nicely. You do lose some time traveling, but it is worth it to see more than one island. I don't know if I'd do more than two islands in 2 weeks, but it's up to you. 

Grand Wailea was fabulous. They were completely booked when we checked in so they didn't upgrade us, but our room was awesome & it was nice because we had privacy on our lanai. It was also super close to the free parking deck. The rooms are super comfy & they decorated our room with orchids when we were gone for dinner our first night there. It is a rather expensive resort. In 8 days we racked up a $650 tab ($200 was the resort fee) & the rest on one dinner, drinks, lunch, breakfast, etc. The resort & beach are beautiful & the spa was lovely.

I have to say Mauna Lani Bay had AMAZING service -- it was less $ per night than Grand Wailea & so many things there were free -- free valet parking, free bottles of water every day, free bikes, free scuba gear, free cabanas, etc. They have the best breakfast buffet as well. They also had a little grocery store on the premises you could ride one of their bikes to if you wanted to grab sushi or something else on the cheap. 

PM if you need anymore info!

palmettogirl924

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_hawaii-2-weeks-questions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:19b40349-2726-439d-9d1d-717504cd1da1Post:7f332e3c-1991-4282-a588-44a26937e115">Hawaii for 2 weeks questions..</a>:
[QUOTE]We are starting to plan our Honeymoon for Aug 2011. We would like to go for 2 weeks and ideally see Oahu, Kauai, and Maui. I have a few questions.. 1. How long does it take to go from island to island? I do not want to waste 2 whole days if it takes that long. I heard from a TA the flight is less than an hour and really doesn't take up the day. Just wanted to hear from ppl who have experienced this. 2. In Maui, what is the best area to stay in? We are looking at the FOur Seasons and Grand Wailea but heard that another area might have more to do. 3. DId you fly into one island from the states and then fly home from another or did you go back to the first airport.  Thanks so much!!
Posted by chica368[/QUOTE]\



The flight from Honolulu to Maui was about 30 minutes. In all it only took up about 2 hours of our day!
In Maui the boyfriend and I have stayed at the Grand Waileia and it is absolutley AMAZING! You will have an incredible time. We ate dinner at the Four Seasons one night and it was great- but definitly happy we stayed where we did.

missmis99

I just got back from 2 week HM in Hawaii.  We spent a week in Maui and a week in Kauai.  We stayed in West Maui and found that there was more to do on that side of town, however there were TONS of families since most of the resorts on that side of town are also timeshares.  So, we stayed at the Marriott Ocean Club and used DH's parent's timeshare.  The pool each day was packed w/ kids.  Not exactly how I wanted to spend my HM.  The resort was very nice though and I prefered that location over South Maui.

Our flight to Kauai was flawless and didn't take a long time. It was a total of 1 hour in the air.  However, to come back to the mainland, we flew back to Maui first.  We found that this was cheaper than flying directly back from Kauai. 

chica368

thank you so much! I am already learning so much! If anyone has any other hotel reccs please let me know! I can see the pros and cons of each and really just don't know what hotels to choose!

irshis20

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_hawaii-2-weeks-questions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:11Discussion:19b40349-2726-439d-9d1d-717504cd1da1Post:812df368-9968-486f-9d0f-16d28deed0b3">Re: Hawaii for 2 weeks questions..</a>:
[QUOTE]All flights to and from the mainland are through Honolulu (Oahu). [/QUOTE]

Just wanted to make a correction here. Not all flights go through Oahu. My H and I will fly from Seattle direct to Maui on Alaska Airlines, which I believe runs multiple direct routes to various islands from the west coast. Since Alaska is a partner of American, Delta and Hawaiian airlines, I thought that was important to point out.

vllygrn0327

I ended up booking the Hyatt in both Kauai and Maui and the Outrigger in Honolulu.  JC0n - yes please give a full report when you return!