Any do or don't dos? Have about 10 days (12 if I include travel). Was going to hit three islands of Maui, Oahu, and Kauaii. Too much in too little time or just about right? I haven't done too much research yet but my wife has the following things listed to do...

Maui
1.) Iao Valley State Park
2.) Road to Hana
3.) Haleakala
4.) Black Sands Beach

Kauaii
1.) Fern Grotto
2.) Na Pali
3.) Polihale State Park
4.) Waimea Canyon
5.) Some trails...

Oahu
1.) World War II Valor
2.) National Cemetery Pacific
3.) Iolani Palace
4.) Diamond Head
5.) The legal version of the Haiku Stairs
6.) Koko Crater
7.) Makapu

Can these be done in that time frame? How much time to spend in each day? Things to maybe skip on this list? Things to add not listed? Thanks!

EDIT: Preliminary thoughts was 3 - 4 - 3 for the islands for days at each with 4 going to Kauaii.

Check if the Arizona Memorial is open. It was closed for a long time due to a boating accident with the Naval shuttle boat. I think it is still closed. Otherwise, don't miss the rest of the Pearl Harbor tour, especially the Missouri. If your tour takes you into Punchbowl Cemetery, they usually stop at the grave of Ellison Onizuko, who died on the Shuttle explosion. His grave is right beside the road.

Also, on Maui, if you take the road to Hana, continue on a few more miles to the 7 sacred pools park area. It is part of the Haleakala National Park, so you can do both the pools and the volcano with the same ticket if you go within a certain number of days. And the road between Hana and the pools is the scariest part of the trip!


Other things we do on Maui is a day trip to "upcountry" to visit the Maui Winery, The Lavender Farm, Surfing Goat Dairy, and Sammy Hagar's Maui Pau Vodka distillery. And the Maui Brewery is a good time. Good food there.

PS - Knowing how you love the sports cars and the twisty turny roads - take the trip to the winery, and tell me if that isn't the coolest twistiest turniest road ever! You can see the big island from up there! You will wish you had something exotic to drive up there, and use a dash cam if you can.

If you so happen to find the Tiki Idol thing... Just a word of caution, it's not a Good Luck Charm...


Also.. Research " Nobody Listens to Turtle " and heed all of his sage AdviSe

Go up that back parking lot and it's really a short hike. I just did it on a whim for the view. 20-30 mins tops. if you're in any kind of shape.

Maui
1.) Iao Valley State Park
2.) Road to Hana (all day)
3.) Haleakala (go at 0300 and bike back down after sunrise)
4.) Black Sands Beach (Meh)

Kauaii
1.) Fern Grotto
2.) Na Pali
3.) Polihale State Park (Make sure you rent a Jeep)
4.) Waimea Canyon (yes but also do the helicopter of the whole island. 1.5 hours)
5.) Some trails...

Oahu
1.) World War II Valor
2.) National Cemetery Pacific
3.) Iolani Palace
4.) Diamond Head (Meh)
5.) The legal version of the Haiku Stairs (All day. We started at 0600 and got back at 1500. This is from Moanalua Park access. If it is raining up there don't do it.)
6.) Koko Crater (You can do Diamond Head, Koko Head, and Makapuu all at the same time. 4 hrs)
7.) Makapu



Hope this helps.

Oh yeah. Don't become a statistic.

I would do the big island and not Maui.

On Maui, go to Lahaina and hang out if you like to eat and drink.

This is just my opinion, so like anyone coming to CFOT looking for serious answers, take it with a grain of salt.

To me that sounds like a very busy 10 days. If you like to relax on your vacations, you could split that trip into two (or more) and still have plenty of activities to do plus time to do nothing at all.

Wife and I spent 9 days at Kauai a couple years ago. We did everything we wanted to see & do, but still wanted to stay longer. We spent 9 days at The Big Island last year and didn't get to do everything - exclusive of HVNP since we knew most of it was closed.

We spend the trip's last night at Oahu, then use the next day for The Memorial and Waikiki Beach. From there you can take the red eye back to the mainland that night. Pearl Harbor is a must... something every American should visit. Its pretty surreal - you can all but see and hear the Zeros coming into the harbor. Its a very emotional place and tough not to shed tears at monuments like The Arizona.

Flights on Hawaiian between islands are reasonable. HNL airport is usually extremely busy.

Z06PSI mentioned renting a Jeep. We rent one every time. Visibility from them is great, they can go pretty much anywhere you want them to go, and they usually include the rachet & hex keys for removing the top.

At Maui watching the sun come up on top of Haleakela is a spritual experience. Its cold as ***** up there too. Same for sunset & sunrise at Mauna Kea when you make a trip to Big Island.

The beaches and hiking at Kauai are tought to beat. It helps to be in good physical shape.

VRBO. There are resorts & hotels that offer better exclusivity, but you can find places through VRBO that make you feel like you own paradise. This view with gated entrance, 2 bedrooms, full size bath, laundry, kitchen, dining, living room, and nobody else in sight was $149 per night in September '18.


The latest editions of these books are great also:


Don't be suprised if your trip isn't as expensive as you thought it would be. If you find a good deal on airfare (or work for an airline) it can be a pretty inexpensive vacation.

Enjoy your trip!!

On point advice. After living there for 7 years it was time to come home but at the same time there is so much to do.


I will always recommend skydiving at Dillingham airfield on Oahu. Great experience!

Renting a car in Maui, if it's busy, is indistinguishable from the inner circles of hell. And that's Hertz Gold for an Escalade ESV that's supposed be like OJ can just jump in and flee in it.

Next time I go I'm going to Uber from the airport to Klahani and rent over on that side. Has anyone tried that? I've wasted literal hours multiple times in Maui over rental cars.

Not in Hawaii but we Ubered from LAX to LB to avoid the bullshit.

I hear they have some of the best meth on the islands

I don't have much experience with the other islands, but with Maui I suggest to slow down and skip Hana altogether. Make Haleakala an early day and you can potentially knock out up-country and Iao the same day. Also, I've never been to the Maui Ocean Center, but my wife highly recommends it (no pics of wife). If you feel like you should see more of the island, do MOC, Kihei, and Wailea in one day.

We did Maui
Hana was cool drive but takes most of the day.

Sunrise on Haleakala, means we had to leave hotel at 4am for 2hr drive up mountain for 6:30 sunrise, meh, I rather sleep. Instead we went for the sunset, then stayed till it got dark to see the milky way. About 25F and windy up there

Iao Valley

You've set yourselves an exhausting schedule. Hope it feels good, but my advice is to spend all ten days on Maui and relax more.

Kauai is my favorite.