Hawaii.... Maui vs. Kauai

carly324 · October 2013

We are planning our honeymoon in Hawaii. We are a bit adventurous and we do like to hike a bit. But for the most part want the beautiful scenery and lots of being by the beach pool. We will most likely fly in and out of Maui but want to spend some time in Kauai. Just curious on your thoughts of both islands.

NotATotalBetty · October 2013

How much time do you have? What time if year are you going? And is it your first time to Hawaii, or have you been before?

Maui and Kauai seem to be a very good pair for a romantic getaway. Depending upon how much time you have and what month, I'd say start in Maui first, staying in a nice beach area (Wailea and Kapalua get top marks for honeymooners). You can relax, but Maui does have fun adventure options if you want to change it up: Road to Hana and Waianapanapa State Park are absolutely worth it, go early!

After Maui, fly to Kauai for a bit more solitude, and a nice contrast from the fun beach scene plus more honeymoon classic outdoor activities. If you're coming in spring or summer, I'd highly recommend staying on the North Shore: that's the lush, green side of the island, and has calmer water in summer. The views are spectacular. Do a doors off helicopter ride over the Napali Coast, there are great day hikes in Waimea Canyon, and great snorkeling at the North Shore beaches (Tunnels and Ke'e are the best beaches around those parts).

If you've got say 8 nights, I'd do an even split between islands. If you have fewer or it's your first time, I might advise picking one island and staying on both the lush and dry sides of the island.

Hawaii is awesome, have a great time!

OliveOilsMom · October 2013

I think Kauai has more hiking and other adventurous things to do. We did Kauai for our honeymoon and I had previously been to Maui. I love both, so either one you choose will be great! In Kauai, we used Kauai Outback adventures and did a tubing adventure through the old agricultural water caves created to water the old sugar plantations. It was our favorite thing! They also do ziplining tours.

We also went with Captain Andy's dinner cruise of the Napali Coast. Which was awesome as well. There was the hiking of the Waimea Canyon and snorkeling off just about any beach. (Rent snorkel equipment for the week from Snorkel Bob's, you can even take it and return it at another island). There is also a great kayak and hiking adventure where you go down a river in Kauai, name is escaping me, then hiking to the great waterfall in the middle of the island. And drive up to Princeville to watch the sunset from the St. Regis Hotel. They have a little presentation and a toast to the sunset. The $9 bottle of beer was worth the view!!!!!

carly324 · October 2013

Thank you both! We are doing 2 weeks in Hawaii and neither of us have ever been. Our initial thought was to fly into Maui stay for a few days then go to Kauai then end in Maui. We just were not sure how much there was do at either/both. These are great recommendations!

thanks much!

carly324 · October 2013

We are going next September 29th for 12 nights..

16maybeless · October 2013

I just came back from Kauai. Very beautiful. Much more outdoorsy than the other islands. Lots of adventure activities, the only navigable river in Hawaii. Hiking, horseback riding, kayaking, sailing. The St. Regis is a beautiful resort (definitely get cocktails there). Pretty much need a car to get around. Things to do: Tahiti Nui luau on Wednesdays, helicopter ride, sailing with Captain Andy's or Holo Holo Charters, snorkeling along the Na Pali Coast, toodling around Hanalei, this adorable surfing town on the bay. Let me know if you want more info! I absolutely loved it.

carly324 · October 2013

@16maybeless this is great! i love that everyone is recommending a lot of the same tours. So excited to get moving on our honeymoon plans. We need to wait a few weeks because we can book this far out (for our flights anyway).

We are not sure where we are staying for the first 10 nights or so but the last handful we are blowing our budget out and staying at the Four Seasons..

thanks again everyone!!

NotATotalBetty · October 2013

September is a great month for Hawaii: even though it's technically hurricane season, they very seldom actually make landfall on the islands, so the worst you're likely to get is humidity and passing showers on the leeward sides of the islands.

A Four Seasons splurge sounds awesome: definitely the best hotel on the island, and ranks very highly amongst all hotels across the islands.

Two weeks will give you plenty of time to experience all the must do's, and probably get off the beaten path a bit as well. Have a great time!

kkcaper14 · October 2013

My fiance and I are also looking into Hawaii - we have a consultation with "my vacation lady" Mindy in a couple weeks! Our original plan was Maui and Kauai but after hearing some mixed things about Maui so possibly doing the Big Island and Kauai instead. Any input? Also any hotel suggestions? We we will likely be staying at a Marriott one one of the islands (using 100% points) and open to other hotel suggestions. Do you suggest booking some of the tours and excursions ahead of time? Any specific ones that book up fast? Sorry a million questions. We are also looking in September (getting married on the 20th)

winelover123 · October 2013

kkcaper14 said:

My fiance and I are also looking into Hawaii - we have a consultation with "my vacation lady" Mindy in a couple weeks! Our original plan was Maui and Kauai but after hearing some mixed things about Maui so possibly doing the Big Island and Kauai instead. Any input? Also any hotel suggestions? We we will likely be staying at a Marriott one one of the islands (using 100% points) and open to other hotel suggestions. Do you suggest booking some of the tours and excursions ahead of time? Any specific ones that book up fast? Sorry a million questions. We are also looking in September (getting married on the 20th)

We stayed at the Marriott on the Big Island and were not fans. The food was super expensive (though they did have some sort of deal almost every night) and the AC didn't go down far enough. Supposedly it went down to 65, but I'm a very cold person and was sweating through the night with it set at 65. The people also weren't very nice. If you do the Big Island though, definitely do a helicopter ride over the volcano!

I just got back from Maui and the Big Island. We loved Maui - spent 8 nights there - but didn't like the Big Island quite as much. Definitely do a snorkel boat tour. They have a lot of great beaches and the people are so nice. We did a lot of hiking on the Road to Hana (and swam under a waterfall!). The mountain was closed when we went (government shut down) but I hear it's amazing to watch the sunrise from it. Also, if you're planning on picking up souvenirs, go to a swap meet, which is basically a flea market. They have a lot of the same things that the shops have and cost a lot less.

arrippa · October 2013

I went to Maui for a wedding last year and I loved it! I would go back in a heartbeat. I went hiking, snorkling off a boat and ziplining.

daria24 · October 2013

kkcaper14 said:

My fiance and I are also looking into Hawaii - we have a consultation with "my vacation lady" Mindy in a couple weeks! Our original plan was Maui and Kauai but after hearing some mixed things about Maui so possibly doing the Big Island and Kauai instead. Any input? Also any hotel suggestions? We we will likely be staying at a Marriott one one of the islands (using 100% points) and open to other hotel suggestions. Do you suggest booking some of the tours and excursions ahead of time? Any specific ones that book up fast? Sorry a million questions. We are also looking in September (getting married on the 20th)

We went to Kauai, Maui, and the Big Island for our HM. I preferred Kauai and the Big Island to Maui. Maui was too commercialized and expensive IMO. The Big Island had a lot of secluded beaches-Makalawena is the best beach I have ever been to, the sand really did feel like powdered sugar, and we were the only ones there. You just have to hike for half an hour to get to it.

We didn't book any tours ahead of time and the only issue we had was that Captain Andys in Kauai was booked up, so we took a different company out of Waimea. If you don't get too sea sick, I recommend taking a zodiac snorkeling tour-you ge to go into more sea caves because the boats are so small, and it's much more adventurous than a catamaran. But it can be bumpy.

On the Big Island we stayed at the Sheraton and loved it. The design won't be for everyone, it was kind of space age-y and it looked like there should be a monorail going around it. There is no beach at the Sheraton though, so if you want to be right on a nice beach, stay somewhere on the Kohala Coast.

Pepper6 · October 2013

kkcaper14 said:

My fiance and I are also looking into Hawaii - we have a consultation with "my vacation lady" Mindy in a couple weeks! Our original plan was Maui and Kauai but after hearing some mixed things about Maui so possibly doing the Big Island and Kauai instead. Any input? Also any hotel suggestions? We we will likely be staying at a Marriott one one of the islands (using 100% points) and open to other hotel suggestions. Do you suggest booking some of the tours and excursions ahead of time? Any specific ones that book up fast? Sorry a million questions. We are also looking in September (getting married on the 20th)

I like booking certain excursions ahead of time, because it gives you time to research the company and the tour a bit first, rather than just picking off a list at the concierge. If you know for a fact you want to do something, book it before you go. Some places offer an early booking discount too, so it's something to look into. Also, if you know you want to do it, but wait till you get there, you run the risk of it being fully booked.

However, I also like to leave a few days open to just go with the flow (or to reschedule your pre-booked tours if necessary). When we were in Kauai last year, it rained every day, so we couldn't really hang out at the beach, but we had a day open, so we booked an ATV tour, which was the perfect thing to do in the rain/mud and ended up being one of our favorite things that trip.

erinlin25 · November 2013

we went to Kauai and while we enjoyed it, we wished we had planned island hopping to change up the pace, so your plan is a good one. Stay closer to Lihue or Poipu so you are closer to the more social things (if that is your thing). We stayed in princeville so had to drive 30-45 minutes daily for most of the things we had planned. BUT the hiking is great all over the island--gorgeous waterfalls and everywhere you go has a great view. We snorkeled at a bunch of different beaches (princeville and hanalei area was good for that) and the best part of the trip was ZIPLINING! OMG so much fun. We did the princeville adventure park tour for ziplining and it was amazing.

My other favorite place was the Koloa Rum Plantation...they do daily FREE rum tasting, and it was great. We tasted 4 of their rums and then they make a mai tai and you get to taste their delicious rum cake. There new coconut rum is really good and not even distributed in the states yet so its a must have!

[Deleted User] · January 2014

Great discussion and very helpful. We're still planning. . .

Hawaii.... Maui vs. Kauai

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