Has anyone ever been to Hawaii ??

Murphy_The_Cat

I've always had a yearning to visit Hawaii and see what there is to see -- but I haven't got a clue where the yearning has come from and I don't really know what there is to see :o.

I imagine that I would be there for about a week or so as part of a 20 day holiday to America, so , has anyone on here been to Hawaii and what did they make of the place ? Also, I'd be travelling with Mrs Cat and my 2 children (aged 7 & 4), is it a place that a couple with a young family would enjoy ?

As usual, any help would be very appreciated.

johnnyroper

i went as part of a 3 stop tour in between vegas and san fran.
went to oahu for a week did all the pearl harbour stuff,lazing on the beach etc.
lovely place and friendly people,stopped at the resort quest wakiki beach hotel.
there are more things to see like volcano's,island hop etc although i did not do it.

neilbond007

Went to Maui for 5 nights a couple of years back. Flew from Vegas (via LAX).
Really enjoyed it. Very quiet. Scenic. Small island.

Beach was superb. Resort was excellent too. Rooms seem very much to be more like condos than hotel rooms. I stayed at http://www.astonhotels.com/aston/propertyOverview.do?propertyGroupId=45461
Beach right across the road. Restaurants within walking distance

purple12

I went to Oahu last year - stayed with a friend who was working there. Had a fantastic time - it is absolutely gorgeous and there's lots to do if you don't just want to spend all the time on the beach. Definitely worth exploring the island.

foxy-roxy

How funny that this thread popped up as I was saying to OH last night that I would really love to go to Hawaii and I have no idea why either, I checked flights etc and there is no direct flights, I think the one I was looking at was from Manchester to Newark (new York) then to Hawaii, altogether it was over 19hours!!! :eek:
Well that put an end to that idea, I think if I ever go to America again though I will look into it more then.

johnnyroper

foxy-roxy wrote: »

How funny that this thread popped up as I was saying to OH last night that I would really love to go to Hawaii and I have no idea why either, I checked flights etc and there is no direct flights, I think the one I was looking at was from Manchester to Newark (new York) then to Hawaii, altogether it was over 19hours!!! :eek:
Well that put an end to that idea, I think if I ever go to America again though I will look into it more then.

i never realsied just how far away it is,i had 4 nights in vegas then flew from there to honolulu that was about 5 hours.
virgin are on about flying direct to hawaii when they get the 787/9 dreamliners,that will be some flight:eek:

i would love to go back there but i would definately have a few days either side in the US to break up the travelling.

skippa59

Last year we did las vegas for a week then a week in hawaii on wiakiki beach followed by LA and back to vegas. If you are on the west coast I would recommend a few days in Hawaii. Its beautiful and even on Waikiki which was busy we were swimming with Turtles. Hire a car and tour a bit some fantastic beaches and scenery. I think going from Britain direct because of the length of flight you would need at least a 10 day holiday because of the jetlag. We flew direct from vegas with Hawaiian Air and back to LA

PhotoMania

I went to Hawaii last April and I absolutely loved it. We were on a bit of a short round the world tour.
We flew from San Francisco to Oahu, then flew straight onto the Big Island. We hired a car at the airport and stayed in Kona for 3 nights. This was so beautiful, and there were lovely local markets, beaches, whale watching, paragliding and many more activities. Kona wasn't cramed with tourists as some parts of Hawaii are so it had a really great atmosphere. We booked a tour to the observatories in the mountains, which are covered in snow! You get given arctic parkas to wear, and you get to do a bit of star gazing with a smaller telescope. It was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen.
We then drove around the South of the island to the volcano national park, and stayed in a lodge there. It is an amazing sight, and if you have a car you can tour around the national park on your own. There is a sunset boat tour around the point where the lava meets the sea. We didn't know about that one so didn't get a chance to go on it, but will definitely when we go back!
We then got a flight from Hilo on the West side of the Big island back to Oahu. We stayed in Waikiki for 2 nights, and hired a car to drive around again. There are some amazing beaches, and sights when you leave Honolulu. We also took a submarine tour in the Honolulu bay, which was amazing.
I would absolutely recommend a visit to Hawaii, and we intend to go back soon. There is so much to do, but you have to be prepared to spend a bit of money to make sure you don't miss out on anything!
Have a look here for some information: http://www.hawaiitravelbureau.com/islands.html
Or
http://www.gohawaii.com/uk/

Hope you have a great time! )

world_traveller_2

Hubby and I went to Hawaii as part of a trip to the west coast of USA. We visited Oahu and stayed at the Kahala Madarin Hotel just outside Waikiki. This is the best hotel, and they have several dolphins in a huge lagoon. Our room was on the ground floor and we often had breakfast overlooking the lagoon where the dolphins were playing. We also had a special rate that included the swim with the dolphins.
Like Photomania we also went to Big Island and stayed in Kona and hired a car to drive to the volcano and to Hilo for a helicopter trip over the live volcano park. We also went up Mauna Kea the tallest volcano, which has observatories on top and 'perma frost'. You have to take a stop half way up to aclimatise to the thinner air and wear arctic parkas. Mad to think in the morning we were snorkelling and kayaking at the beach, then in the afternoon we had to wear parkas!
Hawaii is about a 5 hour flight from LA or San Fran. We are hoping to go back next year to go to Maui.

Murphy_The_Cat

Thank you, one and all for taking the time to post, as well as offering up some useful links. When the place has a MSE 100% approval rating, it can't be bad.

By the sound of it, getting there is going to take a lot of planning and then deciding how long in different places we're going to be. Because I have gathered quite a few AA Airmiles (you can get to Hawaii on the lowest level of awards ), I'll be flying with AA and my departure/return airport will be Manchester.

So, even though it is quite a long time away, the planning begins :j:j

dblue75

My GF and I went to Hawaii in Sept for 3 weeks and loved it. Plenty to see and do while you are there. Anything you want to know ? feel free to ask.....:j

Sorry..had to chuckle there when someone thought you could fly direct from the UK to Hawaii...lol :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Took us 3 flights....Glasgow to Heathrow, Heathrow to LA....LA to Hawaii baby !!!!!

Well worth it though. :T:T:T:T