Honolulu Hawaii

Rachael asked:


We’re going on a 14 day cruise for our honeymoon (Princess Cruises) in October. There will be a four day period where we will spend one day (about 10 hours each) at each of those four locations. What activities would you recommend? We’re not interested in horseback riding or scuba diving. We love hiking and snorkeling. A guided tour seems like a waste of time. We basically want to attempt to get the best experience at each place. Any recommendations?

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2 Responses to “What activities or shore excursions should we do in Hilo, Honolulu, Kauai, and Lahaina?”

1. mary Says:
   December 31st, 2009 at 12:26 am

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   IN KAUAI
   Hiking the Kalalau Trail to Hanakapi’ai Beach:

   The ultimate 4 mile hike in all Hawaii with spectacular razor sharp cliffs and coastline. The Kalalau trail was carved out by ancient Hawaiians and was used for trading in the winter when high surf prevents the use of canoes. Drive to Ke’e Beach and park your car. The trail head is left of the beach. At the beginning of the trail, there is a little hut with visitor information and a map of the trail. Just above the beach is the Allerton House where the television mini series “The Thornbirds” was filmed.
   Beautiful trail goes up above the ocean. Can also snokel at beach.
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   Honolulu – ride the outrigger canoes at Waikiki – hike Diamond Head
   **********
   Lahaina – driving the Hana highway is wonderful but you probably won’t have time. Could also drive up to Waimea canyon – the Grand Canyon of the Pacific

   If I had time, I would ride the ferry (or fly) over to Molokai & take the tour or drive around – much more authentic Hawaiian Island than the rest.

2. Scott N Says:
   January 1st, 2010 at 10:53 am

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   On all islands, renting a car will save you a lot of time and is a necessity.

   HILO
   =====
   The island is too big to comfortably drive to the other side of the island so stay on the east side. Plenty to see!

   * If you want to see actual lava, drive south of Hilo, past Pahoa (don’t go into the national park by mistake) to where the lava from Kilauea is flowing into the ocean. Unfortunately, do not expect to see it up close at the moment, (about 1.5 miles away at a lookout) because the lava has formed an overhanging shelf along the ocean and they are afraid of a collapse.. You will have to walk over 1-2 miles of rough lava so wear good shoes. It is HOT (no shade) so bring hats and wear sunscreen, and repellent (after a rain, the lava field has a million puddles of water and there are millions of mosquitoes at time). This is best at night to see the glowing orange lava, but exciting at any time. If you go at night, bring a flashlight (no electricity and pitch black). And, don’t expect to see rivers of lava like in the movies, because in actuality the top of the lava cools and it flows through tubes to the ocean. Still, this is a unique experience.

   * If you have time, drive about 10 miles north of hilo to Akaka Falls to see a spectacular tropical waterfall and pool. You walk through the rainforest to get there, has been planted in some places so not quite natural but beautiful nonetheless.

   * Alternately to seeing the lava flowing into the ocean, you can go to Volcanoes National Park to see the caldera of Kilaeua itself…it is beginning to rumble and venting toxic “vog” (volcanic fog) so check to make sure it is open. Then drive down the Chain of Craters Road for an incredibly desolate seen of black lava fields.

   HONOLULU
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   At the very top of the list is walking along the world-famous urban beach of Waikiki, along Kalakaua Avenue. If you are into history, this is the island to view it. Pearl Harbor with the Arizona Memorial (go first thing to get timed tickets or you have to wait a loooong time to take the boat out there), there is a WWII submarine and ship you can visit next door, visit Iolani Palace (the only true royal palace in the USA).

   * Oahu is a small island. For a great self-driving tour, drive up to the Nuuanu Pali Lookout where King Kamehameha won his battle that unified the islands and then drive counter-clockwise along the windward coast, to the North Shore with its famous beaches for surfing (Sunset Beach, Pipeline, Waimea Beach). You will past the Polynesian Cultural Center about midway, where they have built pavilions for each of the major south seas polynesian islands (fiji, samoa, new zealand, tahiti, etc.) but fairly expensive for just a few hours if you are going to see other things too. Stop at the surfing town of Haleiwa and quench your thirst with a traditional Hawaiian shave ice at Aoki’s or Matsumoto’s. This will take about 4-5 hours total with stops.

   * Optionally, you can go to Hanauma Bay, east of Honolulu. This is a sunken volcanic caldera that is open on one side to the ocean and full of coral. World famous snorkeling. You can rent equipment from a concession on the beach. Go early before it is too busy, but plan on at least 4-5 hours to do this.

   LAHAINA
   ========
   The most spectacular drive in Hawaii is on this island, the road to Hana, which drives along a sea cliff through the rain forest…there are tropical waterfalls at every turn in some places. the problem is the distance from Lahaina and the traffic and hazards if you truly only have 10 hours. So, I would recommend..
   * If you want to do any shopping, Maui/Lahaina is where a lot of craftspeople live. There are a lot of jewelery and art shops in Lahaina.

   * If you don’t get a chance to snorkel anywhere else, you can take a boat (sorry this is a tour but…) to Molokini Island for a submerged caldera filled with coral. About 4-5 hours.

   * There is an interesting company on Maui that does zipline hikes..you hike up the mountain and then hooked to a wire jump off the side of it and slide down. I have NOT done this, but have beent told they start you off easy and build up to the longer cliffs.

   KAUAI
   ======
   You will probably need to choose between two sites, as they are at opposites sides of the island, and the road does not go all the way around.

   * Hanalei is the most beautiful spot in Hawaii. Period. It looks the most like Tahiti and your vision of the hawaiian south seas paradise. They filmed the original South Pacific movie here, Jurassic Park and so on. At the end of the road is Ki’i Beach where the love scene from Thorn Birds was filmed. You can walk along the Na Pali coast as a hike, but rather than do that, I would take the zodiac (inflatable boat) tour (Captain Zodiac) along the coast where the waterfalls along the cliff plunge into the ocean, and (if the waves aren’t too rough) you can go into sea caves. This is really amazing.

   * On the other side of the island is the amazing Waimea Canyon. To have a canyon that rivals the Grand Canyon (but in shades of green) on a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific is a miracle. Of course, this is the rainiest spot on the entire planet. Along the way, there are famous botanical gardens if you want to see spectacular plants, orchids and other flowers.

   Congrats, and good luck to you.