Halekulani

tinydancer842

Has anyone stayed here before? How is it from honeymooners? Originally I thought Big Island then Maui, however every flight from NJ brings me straight to Honolulu THEN the Big Island so I am considering just staying there to avoid MORE travel. Thoughts?

DandT1206

I've stayed on both islands and i would chose the Big Island over Oahu.  I loved the vibe on the BI.  Oahu is very built up.

chicagobride_07

Oahu itself is a very urban environment.

We stayed at the Halekulani on our HM and it is a great hotel- truly 5 star service. 

DandT1206

what are you looking for in your HM package? 
we enjoyed so much about the Big Island... we saw a black sand beach, a green sand beach, a red sand beach.  driving and discovering where they were was the fun part.  Akaka Falls was cool.  Eating at the Kona Brewery and having their beers was nice (we love their Long Board brew and are so happy we found them in a liquor stores in NJ!).  There are places to snorkel.  Volcano National Park was our favorite.  We loved hiking down to and through the crater of a volcano.  We went through a lava tube.  We loved watching a volcano erupt into the ocean in a completely pitch-dark lookout point.  There's Mauna Kea to see the starts from 32000 feet up. We also enjoyed driving down to Waipio Valley in our Jeep and getting a little muddy (from the rain that day).

I wouldn't underestimate the Big Island as just a place to see the volcano

tinydancer842

I want to do everything you just suggested on the Big Island! I think the problem I am running into w/some of these TAs is they are not too interested in helping plan any part of my trip besides airfare, hotel, &  a car.  I wanted to try and book everything online, but it’s difficult booking everything together – for example on expedia a lot of the hotels I am interested are listed as “unavailable”, but when I go to the website they have rooms available. I am assuming this is an issue with expedia. I just want to get quotes from them to play around with & then possibly book it on my own if they can’t come up w/something better than what I found.  The one TA also implied I may not need a car while I there, but I told her to include one any ways.   

Anyways, thank you Hawaii girls you are a HUGE help to me!!

DandT1206

we went to Liberty Travel and they quoted a few hotels in our range (i.e. we told them we wanted to stay at the nicer hotels) and they quoted a bunch of Shertons, Hiltons, Hyatt's, etc.  We stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island and loved it... really beautiful resort.  On the other islands we stayed at Hyatt's.  I can't complain about any of them.  I didn't really use the TA to plan any activities.  I did a lot of reseach with friends that went there already and my own research online.  Even when we got to Hawaii we'd talk to the concierge desk and book things there.  You will definitely need a car on all the island. Originally they said we wouldnt need one on Oahu (since verything in Waikiki Beach is basically walking distance or a short cab ride), but we wound up renting one for the day to travel up to the North Shore.  Good luck!

tinydancer842

Cool thank you for the advice - do you mind if I ask how much you spent per day on food/activities?

DandT1206

hmm not really sure how much.  we were pretty bad at keeping track.  somedays would be more than others.  dinners were at least $150.  Lunch would be quick stops on the road (breakfast was included at the Hyatt).   Then it depended on how much a tour or activity cost (i.e. helicopter tours were $200+), but there were days we just got in our rental and drove around.  Including dinner, I'd say anywhere between $200-400 a day.

tinydancer842

Cool. I think I am leaning towards just BI & Maui -- the activities I want to do are the Grand Wailea Spa, Hang Gliding Tour, Surfing Lesson, Sunset Sail, Snorkeling trip to Kealakekua Bay, Volcanos, Waterfalls, Black sand beach. 

kaesha

What? JUST the volcano?!? The BI has 11 of the world's 13 climates! You can go up Mauna Kea for a stargazing tour (AMAZING), snorkel at Captain Cook's monument, kayak with dolphins, etc, etc.

Honolulu/Waikiki are touristy to the max. The BI really feels like you have a chance to get back to nature. It's super chilled out - and you definitely need a car for both Maui and the BI.

tinydancer842

Sorry my post was worded poorly at the Big Island I want to do black sand beach, volcano, I think the snorkeling trip to Kealakekua goes by the Cook monument (they said there are also dolphins there too) & waterfalls.