The Anticipation

The Anticipation .. on the other side of the tunnel

I like to plan any visit in advance, especially when it involves a new place and lot of money :). Most websites suggested that the planning should start atleast 6 months earlier. That is very good if you have the luxury to make a plan that far in future and still make it. I started mine 2 months before. This is like a marathon, everyone has their unique training plan as each person is different even though they run the same miles, their goals are different, their health and their personality.

It takes some effort to get everything booked. Flights, stay and the different activities. Before you start with the booking you want to identify what you want to do in Hawaii  and in which island. All the islands offer almost all the activities. There are a few unique things in each island though. Kauai is the green island with the Napali coast and if you are big on the hiking and beaches this would be a good place. Molokai has a small town setting, still has the Hawaiian charms and has not given in to modernization so much. Lanai is more of a plateau than mountain and has desert regions and plantation coasts. Maui is the Valley Isle with a lot of resorts and still has a good town setting, offering a lot of activities. Oahu has a rich north side and an urban Waikiki area famous for surfing and every activity you can imagine with all kinds of resorts. Finally the Big Island is the biggest of all with lava still spurting out of one of its 5 mountains, with an observatory at its tallest peak. All the islands are actually made of volcanic mountains.

I picked Oahu because of the many activities and the active Waikiki with a relaxing resort and Big Island for its observatories and volcano park. Another combination would be Maui and Molokai or Kauai. It did a lot of good to make a list of what you want Vs what the island has and then decide on the place. Spend 2 hrs atleast to analyze each island and then make your pick.

The Finances...
As far as the flights there are a few direct flights from other parts of US, but a lot on the west from CA and AZ. Airlines like Allegiant also has some good discounts which can help keep the price lower especially if it is a bigger group. The total expense is spent on 4 categories travel, stay, food and activities. Majority is spent on the travel (30%) and stay (30%). The food depends on what your plans are and your likes and may go above the rest if not planned. The activities again depend on your taste. Before you begin further make sure you plan for a $1000 per day on an average if you are planning for 1 week. If it is longer than that, it will be around $700- $750 a day. This is for the peak season. If you are planning in the summers this may come down to $650 a day, not any less. I started out with a spreadsheet with the four categories and after I returned I tallied them up with the planned amount. It was very close.