Which Hawaiian island for our first visit to Hawaii?

[GLC1968]

But I'm not going to lie. At times, the breadth of the island and the logistics of it got to me. My husband can be maddening in this regard as he leaves most of that to me, although the fact that he did all the driving bears emphasizing. But I'm really glad we went and saw all that we saw. It's a place, I suspect, like no other. Where else can you (as we did) hike across a lava lake in the morning, snorkel in tidepools in the afternoon and then have Thai food in a town full of hippies?

OK, you just described me and my husband, so I suspect that your recommendations would be valid for us, too. ;-)

I'm not 100% sold on snorkeling. I've done it in Tahiti/Bora Bora and in Key West, so I don't know that it would be my first choice of activities on Hawaii. I'll have to check with my H on it though as his experience is significantly less. I'm also not sure how I feel about lava - though V's photo makes me reconsider!

And get this, Mr "I don't like B and B's so stop booking them for us" actually listed a B and B as his first choice of hotel type for Hawaii!! What is up with that?

Really, what we need to do it sit down and talk about our priorities together as I suspect that we may have different visions about what our Hawaiian vacation will look like. How much of what we do will need to be reserved in advance? Or can we wait until we get there and then just choose stuff as it strikes our fancy (which kind of freaks me out just thinking about it!!).

[Veronica]

Well, now I have to tell you - this post got me thinking about going back to Kauai. We were there in Feb. and couldn't kayak the NaPali coast. Winter is the wrong time of year. We hiked some sections and flew over it in a helicopter and I definitely want to kayak it.

Veronica

[indysteel]

OK, you just described me and my husband, so I suspect that your recommendations would be valid for us, too. ;-)

I'm not 100% sold on snorkeling. I've done it in Tahiti/Bora Bora and in Key West, so I don't know that it would be my first choice of activities on Hawaii. I'll have to check with my H on it though as his experience is significantly less. I'm also not sure how I feel about lava - though V's photo makes me reconsider!

And get this, Mr "I don't like B and B's so stop booking them for us" actually listed a B and B as his first choice of hotel type for Hawaii!! What is up with that?

Really, what we need to do it sit down and talk about our priorities together as I suspect that we may have different visions about what our Hawaiian vacation will look like. How much of what we do will need to be reserved in advance? Or can we wait until we get there and then just choose stuff as it strikes our fancy (which kind of freaks me out just thinking about it!!).

The only thing we reserved in advance were our accommodations. We reserved our space on the boat a few days in advance--once we were already on the island. June might be a busier time than late April/early May, so keep that in mind, however.

I don't know what snorkeling in Bora Bora/Tahiti is like, but Key West has nothing on the snorkeling off the Big Island. They just don't compare. But if it's an activity you just don't particularly enjoy, then take it off the list. We did see some kayakers off the coast in Kona if that helps.

But if hiking and kayaking are really your primary priorities, then I'd honestly still keep Kauai in mind. We did some cool hikes on the Big Island, but with the exception of the national park, I can't say they were a highlight for me. But it's also entirely possible that we missed some cool hikes, too. There were a couple we wanted to do north of Kona, but the parking situation made me apprehensive. The Big Island Revealed let me down in this regard. A couple of the places they mentioned as being prime targets for theft--Green Sand Beach and Waipi'o--struck me as far too crowded for that. The book described some hikes, with no mentions of theft--where theft struck me as a much more legitimate concern because your car might be the only one parked at the trailhead. We planned one hike north of Kona and the only place to park was covered in broken glass. We opted to go to Hapuna beach instead, and I was kind of bummed. I don't want to make it sound like the Big Island is a crime ridde place, but it was something we kept in mind when chosing what to do.

[GLC1968]

See, I think we'd really enjoy the kayaking and hiking is one of the tops on my list of priorities. But again, I need to see what my DH has in mind. He may want to snorkel, see active volcanos and such. I wouldn't dislike that stuff, so I can be flexible.

Snorkeling in Tahiti/Bora Bora blows Key West out of the water, too. It was spectacular - like a mind-blowing, multi-color 3D painting that you could swim in! We saw sharks, touched an octopus, got bitten by a big gorgeous rainbow colored fish and were flat out in over-stimulation mode/awe the entire time. It was my first snorkeling experience and it's kind of ruined me for all other destinations. I'd like to do the Great Barrier Reef someday, but other than that, I've not been inspired.

I also snorkeled in Cabo, but that was only OK. Without a reef, there just wasn't the variety and concentration of sea life like there was in Bora Bora.

[indysteel]

See, I think we'd really enjoy the kayaking and hiking is one of the tops on my list of priorities. But again, I need to see what my DH has in mind. He may want to snorkel, see active volcanos and such. I wouldn't dislike that stuff, so I can be flexible.

Snorkeling in Tahiti/Bora Bora blows Key West out of the water, too. It was spectacular - like a mind-blowing, multi-color 3D painting that you could swim in! We saw sharks, touched an octopus, got bitten by a big gorgeous rainbow colored fish and were flat out in over-stimulation mode/awe the entire time. It was my first snorkeling experience and it's kind of ruined me for all other destinations. I'd like to do the Great Barrier Reef someday, but other than that, I've not been inspired.

I also snorkeled in Cabo, but that was only OK. Without a reef, there just wasn't the variety and concentration of sea life like there was in Bora Bora.

I can see where Bora Bora and Tahiti might ruin you when it comes to snorkeling. Sounds amazing (and now I want to go). I will say that the kayaking on Kauai excites me. I imagine it's just a matter of time before we head there.

If it helps, I'm not sure you can really go wrong in your choice. That was one bit of comfort I took in trying to decide on which island. I mean it's all pretty cool, right?

[Veronica]

Just torment you - pictures from hiking on Kauai.






You can't go wrong either choice.

Veronica

[GLC1968]

OMG - I need to go there!

[Veronica]

Kauai - good snorkeling, hiking and kayaking. The helicopter tour is pretty cool too!

It didn't seem like a good place to road bike - part of why we keep going back to the Big Island.

Veronica

[indysteel]

One other thing to emphasize: You're never guaranteed to see active lava flow. Right now, you can see it at the Jagger Museum overlook and by doing a 10-mile roundtrip hike from The End of Craters Road in the park. Outside the park, you can sometimes see active flow at the Kalapana Viewing Area in Puna, but you have no guarantee that Civil Defense will let you get close enough to actually see it. They have a hotline you can call for current reports/statuts. It's 808.961.8093. Of course, all this could change in an instant; you just never know.

Alas, we did not see active flow. We had plans to hike in the park one afternoon and then stay long enough to see the flow from the museum, but it was raining so hard as we passed by the park (after hiking to/from the Green Sand Beach at the southern tip of the island) that we just kept driving. We were spent as it was. Another reason to go back.....