The Travel

The HNL Airport

You need to decide on which islands you want to visit as the first step for the travel. Even the smallest one needs a minimum of 2 days. A good plan, if you are tight on time is, 2 islands for 7 days. Best would be a week for an island. We did two for a week and chose the Big Island and Oahu for the visit. It takes around 5.5 hrs of travel time, gate to gate from LAX, so you need to account for the flying time as well in the plan. Travel goes hand in hand with the stay. For example staying in Waikiki over a weekend could be expensive than staying in Big Island. So you need to decide from which island you want to fly back and how you want to hop. We went to HNL first and then returned from Kona with one hop. At the end of it I wished I went to Kona a day earlier than I did.

Right outside the HNL airport in the Taxi Area

It will be helpful to understand the general weather of each island, especially in the location of your stay and the activities you will be doing and pack accordingly. We packed based on our plan but I took woolen jacket instead of my ski jacket. It would have come in handy when there was an unexpected rain and the shops ran out of ponchos. The December evenings were mild but was chilly on one night especially when there was a rain shower. A light sweater or jacket helps. Packing light is good for hopping islands and avoiding delays in airport and checkins. With one big and small suitcase in the end we felt 2 small would have been more than enough. And Towels, most resorts give their own towels for pools in Waikiki, use them it will save a lot of space.

If you have decided on the resorts, call each of them and inquire on their amenities, extras, the events and activities they offer. Hilton Village is the biggest one for a nominal price and closer to the beach, but there are others lining the coast. Everything from local resorts to Sheraton is there on Oahu Waikiki area. It is well connected to other places through buses and cabs so it is easy to stay here and visit the surroundings. I will explain more on this in the Waikiki post.

The KOA airport - feels like a open Kerala (India) style temple

The Big Island on the other hand is really big, By car it will take around 12-14 hrs of continuous driving to go around the island. It has 3 major towns. Kona is closer to one of the two airports and Hilo is on the other side of the island with Waimea to the north. There is lodging at the Volcano park as well. Again what you decide to do here determines where you stay. Hilo is closer to the Mauna Kea observatory, the volcano national park and the water falls, on the other hand the town has a small downtown area and I did not feel it was all that charming. I liked the Kailua-Kona town with the nice Hawaiian charm. There is also a Waikoloa village which has resorts and a huge outdoor shopping mall with a lagoon lining the coast. I felt a evening here is good but stay makes it commercial even without the city feel of Waikiki and also the farthest from the Volcano. We stayed in Kailua-Kona all three days instead could have stayed in Hilo for the last day which would have made it easier to cover the island, but our plan was a bit more dynamic :).

There are several sites like Priceline and others that seem to give discount prices. Although, the effective way is to use one of these and also the actual hotel site to compare the difference and if there isn't any difference book through the hotel directly. If the hotel is part of the chains like Hilton groups or Sheraton, try to become a member (use a non critical email id) and then book for added advantage. There will be perks like free parking, a free gift or the like. It is not worth jam-packing the trip trying to cover everything. A good plan is to have one activity per day with the evenings for relaxation, a morning run/walk, a short hike, a historic exploration and a grand dinner with importance to enjoying.