Hawai'i Travel Thread

[rapidacid]

I was just in Maui last week on the south side in Kihei ...

The road to Hana is pretty sweet ... overall we took 1000 pictures on the trip and a lot of them were on this road

The Shops at the Marriot in Wilea are sweet ass ... Rolex / Tiffanys / Tommy Bahamas ... stuff like that ... I recommend walking around there

Sushi at Sansei is [censored] out

The crater sunrise is pretty cool, but it is very cold and the awe is kind of short lived ... it is 10K ft tho so you may get altitude sickness ( one chick was barfing her face off ) ... the bikeride down wasn't for me, but others looked to have fun

The beaches are pretty sweet on the southside ... a mile or two past Wilea is something called Big Beach and the surf is wicked fun, tho kinda scary if you're not used to medium sized waves / strong undertow

The weather is pretty ideal on the southside ... mid 70s all day every day ... no rain ... sweet breeze ...

Wanted to see if there was any reefer around, but I didn't really see one sketchy looking person the whole time I was there ... anyone know how to go about this for a tourist?

[rapidacid]

Also, we did the Luau at the Maui Prince in Wilea ... I'd recommend it

[M2d]

i've only been to the island once (no ohana there), but, if i weren't going to retire in either kahaluu or hilo, ulupalakua would be my next choice. upcountry maui for the show.

[diamonddawg]

Halekulani imo best hotel on Oahu and we liked an obscure little restaurant called Hiroshi in Restaurant Row. They had great fusion food and a *fantastic* wine cellar and good selection of beer for my man, including some taty local brewed beer.

[jackdaniels]

Wife and I came back from Hawaii a few weeks ago and the honest truth is we weren't extremely impressed. While everything listed above is fantastic and good to do, I found Hawaii to be a more expensive version of the Carribean.

There simply wasn't anything (that we wanted to do) which we didn't already do/couldn't do in the Carribean for a lot less money. Having to fly all the way out there from the East coast also made a difference (Hawaii travel time is about 12 hours form us, any Carribean desitnation is about 4 hours).

FWIW we were on a cruise and visited many of the spots mentioned in the posts above. It wasn't our first time to Hawaii but last time we only saw Waikiki and wanted to expand our Hawaii experience (thus the cruise stopping at multiple islands).

For whoever asked about cabs - there are cabs in most places. They will charge you $3 per 1/4 mile. My advice is rent a car if you are willing to avoid drinking (we weren't on most days). Cabs were probably our biggest expense (aside from dining). Also, avoid the Royal Lahaina Luau. It is billed as the BEST Luau available but sucked in comparison to the one we went to on our last trip (unfortunately, I can't remember the name). This Luau was nothing more than 600 people crammed in a small space with a stage. Food was allright (as Luau food goes) and the show was ok, there was NO interactive experience and no ability to walk the grounds and explore (because there were no grounds to explore).

[AceLuby]

I went to Waikiki last year and had a blast. We stayed directly over what I can only describe as 'the strip' on the 6th floor with a few friends. I thought it was fun, and comparing it to Miami beach is probably accurate, except a lot more ethnic. Our days consisted of getting drunk and walking to the beach / siteseeing and our nights consisted of bar-hopping until 4 when they close, going back to the hotel to smoke some bowls (if you buy weed there, make sure you smell it first if you're into that sort of thing, lot's of rip-offs). After that we would sit on our balcony and yell obscenities at hookers and their John's. Good times.

[dogsballs]

[ QUOTE ]
i've only been to the island once (no ohana there), but, if i weren't going to retire in either kahaluu or hilo, ulupalakua would be my next choice. upcountry maui for the show.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, I've fantasised about living as a semi-hermit out in ulupalakua. I'd probably hedge & settle for Kula tho.