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I have been to both places multiple times. I have been to Hawaii about 5 times and have visited most of the islands. Hawaii is very beautiful and while the hotels are expensive you can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at reasonable prices by going to the malls, food courts and restaurants not in the hotels. They do have Dennys, McDonalds and Burger King for breakfast and lunch and restaurants like Chile's, TGI Fridays, and Bubba Gump Shrimp for dinner. The luau's are expensive, like about $35 a person but they are something you want to do at least once.
One of the downside's of going to Hawaii is its a long ways, a long flight, from most places in the US. For me it was up at 6:00 AM to catch a 8:00 AM flight and then a transfer in Dallas or Chicago and then an eight (8) hour flight to Hawaii. You get there at 3:00 PM Hawaii time but your body feels like the 9:00 PM that it left on the east coast. So you are tired the first day there, especially if you stay up until 9 or 10:00 PM trying to see everything.
Hotel rooms are some of the most expensive of any tourist city, kinda like room prices in NY City, $300 a day and more. But you can get deals and stay for less if you pick a hotel that is not on the beach and/or one that is not an ocean view room.
There are a lot of different things to do in Hawaii. The top things to do in Hawaii are:
1. Oahu Island: Go to Pearl Harbor to see history at the US Arizona Memorial. You can drive or take the bus there; no need to book a tour. But you need to go early because the site is popular and the wait for your free tour can be about an hour. In Waikiki you can browse around the International Market across from Waikiki Beach, go on a sunset dinner cruise on Waikiki bay, try an outrigger canoe ride on Waikiki, go for a sail on a catamaran on Waikiki Bay, or visit Diamond Head park. If you like to snorkel go to Hanauma Bay which has perfect flap water for snorkeling on a reef.
2. Oahu Island: If you are on the island of Oahu go to the other side of the island to see the great deserted beaches (get a rental car for a day or two). Take highway 99 north toward Waimea and stop at the Dole pineapple plantation for a tour.
3. Oahu Island: The Polynesian Cultural Center is a great place to learn about authentic Hawaiian life. You can buy tickets to tour the place, and another type ticket that allows you to stay for the evening luau.
4. Maui Island: If you go to Maui, you gotta do the downhill bike ride. I don't recommend the sunrise one because you have to get up at 3:00 AM to get started up the mountain and its cold up there that early. If you are a romantic do it, but otherwise no. There are different bike companies and some don't take you all the way to the top, and some don't guide you back down. You can come down by yourself, there's only one road with just a little traffic, but if you are squeamish about riding in the street, a company that accompanies you down will help watch the traffic for you. I have been twice and prefer Maui Downhill to the others. These companies have web sites They will pick you up at your hotel, take you to their shop to pick out a wet-suit (for the cold and mist/rain shower maybe) and gloves and helmet; then take you up the mountain; then follow your group down so they can block traffic for your ride; then afterwards take you back to your hotel. Expect this activity to take 75-80% or more of the day.
5. Maui Island: The Road to Hana is a great drive (you need a rental car). It’s a 45 mile winding road that takes 4 hours to drive. Its like driving through the jungle; has a bunch of one lane bridges. Then drive past Hana to the Seven-Pools attraction and go for a swim.
6. Big Island of Hawaii: go to the Volcano National Park. Also go see Akaka Falls. If you like horseback riding, go to the Parker Ranch and go for a guided ride. Drive to the south end of the island and see a black sand beach. For information about tours and things to do, click on the link below for Roberts Hawaii. They do tours on all of the islands.
When you go to Hawaii you can arrange your trip to take in two islands. My last trip we flew to Oahu, stayed 4 night, and then flew to Maui and stayed 4 nights. Then flew back directly from Maui. So you can see several islands and do a variety of things. A coach airline ticket will be about $600 to $700 if you do an advanced purchase.
I have been to most of the islands in the Caribbean both cruising and direct flights. For the most part they offer beaches and beach sports like snorkel, scuba, para-sailing, and a bunch of other water related things. But to me a good part of the fun of cruising is the getting to the islands rather than the tours and activities on the islands. Its enjoying the things of ships, like being served great meals for dinner every day, going to shows on ship, or just finding a quiet spot on deck some where and reading. On our last cruise, which went out of Puerto Rico to Aruba, Curacao, St Thomas and St Maarten, the ship cruised along at about 15 miles per hour on a very calm seas with great sunny days. It was what cruising was all about; enjoying the getting there. A week long cruise can be had for probably less than going to Hawaii if you select the cheapest/lowest priced cabin. Otherwise they are about the same. |
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