Hawai'i Travel Thread

[DeezNuts]

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Oahu:

Beaches to go to:
Kailua (can rent a kayak and paddle to a bird sanctuary island or down a residential canal)
Lanikai
North Shore (caution sometimes high surf)


Things to Do:
Hanauma Bay
Historic Haleiwa Town
Sunset Beach Park
Waikiki Strip
Waikiki Aquarium
Pearl Harbor memorial
Bishop Museum
Pali Lookout
Jet Skiing / Scuba Diving / Submarine ($$$)
Polynesian Cultural Center (touristy)
Ala Moana / Magic Island + beach


Shopping:
Ala Moana (near Waikiki , $$$)
Pearl Ridge
Windward Mall


Hikes:
Diamond Head
Stairway to Heaven (need to be in very good shape)
Mount Olomana
Mauna Wili Falls (easiest)


Nightlife:
Zanzabar (my fav club located in waikiki trade center)
Pipeline
Dave and Busters
Brew Moon
Rumours (older crowd)


I prob missed some stuff, but that gives you a good idea

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Thanks for this info, I'm only there for 5 days, so which of these are the must-do/see?

My gf hates heights and I'm not a huge fan of them either, so I don't really want to go on any crazy hikes, regardless of the view.

[inside??]

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Good timing. I am heading to Maui for the first time in October with my wife and another couple. We have not found a condo yet. I would love to hear impressions about what town to stay in on Maui. Our main desires are to have a place we can cook, have some grocery stores nearby so we can stock up on food easily, but also have some restaurants we can go to nearby as well. Plus, of course, places within stumbling distance for cocktails.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

KJS

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KJS I will be there the first week of Oct. I will be staying at Resortquest Mahana. I chose it due to the good reviews on Trip Advisor. Check it out and holler at me if you want to me up for a drink while you are there if our dates match. I will be there 6-13.

[M2d]

you going with friends or a girlfriend? if it's with (guy) friends, check out Za (club rock za) it's an almost legendary strip club just outside of waikiki.

for a more conventional to do list

Cultural:
Pearl Harbor/Arizona Memorial- if you're a US citizen, this is a must do.
Iolani Palace-a tour of the only royal palace on US soil lots of cool antiques and Hawaiian history in there if that's your thing
Bishop Museum-some pacific based natural history stuff and lots of pacific island cultural stuff

High end dining (you can look these up online, so I won't describe them here. they're all good stuff):
Alan Wong's
Chef Mavro
3660 On the Rise
Bali By the Sea
La Mer

Fun type dining
Sansei (as mentioned in other posts above, but the original is in Honolulu)
Side Street Inn
Upstairs at Ala Moana (ala moana is a big mall. there's a big restaurant area upstairs that's kind of a night scene place)
shokudo restaurant

good places to get a bite to eat (there's a bunch more than i'm listing, just do some searches and try little hole in the wall places)
rainbow drive inn
zippy's
wailana coffee house
kakaako kitchen
haile's hawaiian food

Beaches to hit
Sandy's (don't go in the water, but the eye candy is unbeatable)
Pray for Sex (if you have a 4 wheel drive)
North shore (even if it's not winter and the waves are flat, sunset, pipeline, chun's and the rest of them are great beaches in their own right)
waimea bay (it should be included in the north shore, but it's a great beach in its own right)
Kailua/Lanikai-nice local eye candy. many of the local chicks in bikini calenders are shot here
Bellows
hanauma bay-kind of overdone, and crowded with tourists, but you can see lots of fish while snorkling
waikiki/ala moana beach park-waiks is more touristy from the hilton hawaiian village to the wall (the zoo area). more local towards diamond head (san souci beach). ala moana draws a lot of local chicks who didn't happen to go to sandy's that day.
Yokohama bay is a great beach on the west side, but i'd caution against hitting up any west side beach (yokohama, makaha, nanakuli, etc) unless you feel like walking back to town, driving backwith busted windows or worse

Luaus-pick one if you must. i've heard good things about the polynesian cultural center (if you feel like forking your money over to the lds) and i've had a lot of friends who worked at germaines.

hikes:
diamond head-pretty easy hike up the crater walls. nice views at the tip
st louis heights drive-nice hike up above manoa and palolo valleys. not too difficult
aiea loop trail-another easyish hike. good mudsliding if it's been raining (you find a muddy hill and slide down it on your butt-way more fun than it sounds like in print)

anything else? ask away.

[Reef]

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Thanks for this info, I'm only there for 5 days, so which of these are the must-do/see?

My gf hates heights and I'm not a huge fan of them either, so I don't really want to go on any crazy hikes, regardless of the view.

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Def go to all the beaches mentioned

Mauna Wili Falls is the easiest hike (1.5 miles) that ends at a small waterfall/pond with a ledge 30 ft up that everyone uses to jump into the pond. Bring water / mosquito repellant.. Google for directions

Def walk the waikiki strip early evening (incredibly safe area bc police station right there)

If you're into the touristy stuff:
Jermaines Luau
Polynesian Cultural Center

If you're into History / Culture:
Bishop Museum
Pearl Harbor Memorial

Oh! You gotta go to the Flea Market located at Aloha Stadium
(Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 7:30 am to 3:00 pm.) Wear sunscreen and bring $.

If you like clubbing at all, at go to Zanzabar .. I think Wed nights at Dave and Busters are packed. (Decently packed weekends). Brew Moon is packed on Friday nights.

Check out Ala Moana at least once if you like shopping

As for Dining, I REALLY like "Todai" in Waikiki (all you can eat seafood/Japanese) .. Also make sure to go to the local places like L&L and zippys

[M2d]

you went to the same high school as jared's wife?

[cts]

Great trip report! Nice pics

I spent 5 days with my girlfriend on Waikiki staying at the Halekulani resort ( http://www.halekulani.com/ ). I had never been to Hawaii before and we had a blast. The resort was very nice and I highly recommend it. I didn't really know what to expect from Hawaii, and I was kind of imagining it would be like Florida but an island? Well I was pretty far off, it's got much more of an Asian/tropical feeling than an American one.

The resort was right on the beach so we got to do plenty of swimming and catching some sun. I seemed to get sunburned a lot faster than I usually do in California, so bring lots of sunscreen if you're fair skinned. We had private surfing lessons on Waikiki beach (I can't remember the shop, but it was named after someone I think it started with an H?). We also went para sailing and jet skiing. Para sailing was ok, not that special imo, but jet skiing was awesome. Those things are a lot tougher to drive in the ocean than I expected and they get going quickkkk.

The food was OK, room service was nothing too special but we went to a nice restaurant or two. I had a great steak at Alan Wong's and trying out a bunch of Hawaiian beers was fun. I'd also recommend the restaurants at the Halekulani.

I've got some pics on another comp that I'll upload when I get back from NYC.

[M2d]

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I can't remember the shop, but it was named after someone I think it started with an H?

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Hans Hedemann? supposedly a good surf school, but the guys an ass

[Gooch]

I'm currently in Maui, I'm surprised you didn't mention Mount Haleakala. If you didn't go you missed one heck of a sight. Most tourist wake up at 3am to go watch the sunrise. Sleep and catch the sunset which is totally amazing. Dress warm. And I guess its too late but snorkeling at Molokini is a waste of money and time. You can snorkel offshore in the reserves which has more fish, turtles etc. than does Molokini. And if you are here during football season, Monday Night Football cruises for $10 and bring your fishing poles.

[JaredL]

M2d,

I guess Reef is taking a posting break for a while. I'm not really one to reveal private info but he posted a while ago in some photo thread that he went to the same high school as my wife.

Deeznuts,

As I posted above, I think a fantastic day would be to rent a car and drive from Waikiki to Haleiwa. Eat at the Haleiwa Cafe, which has fantastic breakfast and coffee. I think they close early at 2 or something so it's breakfast only. You can then easily hit up a number of must-see places mentioned above by Reef and M2d - the north shore beaches (Waimea Bay, Pipeline, Sunset, etc.). I would also recommend going to 3 Tables and Shark's Cove for snorkeling. Hanauma Bay by comparison is famous and extremely tame - the fish aren't scared of you at all and will go right up to you. The snorkeling at Three Tables and Shark's Cove is not as extreme but much more like a natural situation where you are seeing "wild" fish, if that makes sense.

I'm assuming you're going in the summer here. I don't think it's been mentioned but in the summer the beaches that are world famous for big wave surfing have no waves whatsoever. It's very flat which is good for you if you just want to swim or snorkel. In the winter the big waves and surfing are amazing to see but unless you're a surfer there is more to do in the summer.

If you keep going around there are a number of places you can go that arne't must sees but will round out the day. The drive on the windward side is very beautiful. Laie point is pretty nice, though quick. Chinaman's Hat/Kualoa is a better stop. The mountains there are amazing and you'll recognize the area if you watch Lost or remember the Jurassic Park movies. If it isn't too late you could finish with the Pali lookout which is the only must-see in this paragraph.

[cts]

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I can't remember the shop, but it was named after someone I think it started with an H?

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Hans Hedemann? supposedly a good surf school, but the guys an ass

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yep, that was it, the instructor was friendly/knowledgeable