Weddingbee boards

We are doing 2 days in Oahu and 5 days in Maui.  I wish we could stay longer, but my fiance and I don't get much vacation time, and I would like to save some days for Christmas.  We're using hotel points and airline miles to book our trip.  We're still deciding where to stay in Oahu, but in Maui we are staying at the Grand Waileau Resort.  I can't wait!!

I'm not honeymooning in Hawaii, but I just wanted to weigh in since I've been there about a dozen times. =)

In Oahu, there's also PCC - Polynesian Cultural Center - that you may want to check out. Also some local treats like Waiola for shaved ice, and Zippys for some local food (I recommend the Korean Chicken). There are others, too. Also take a stroll down to North Shore, International Market.. and the other tourist parts already mentioned. There are also Movies on the Beach in Waikiki, which is pretty cool. 

In Maui, I usually stay in Wailea or Kiheil. Grand Wailea Resort is GORGEOUS!!  Ka'anapali is where you can jet ski, so check that out. Take the early morning (6 AM) tour to go snorkeling at Molokini - highly recommended. Also take the Road to Hana tour, visit the IO needle, and the haleakala (spelling) volcano bike ride. There's also a really good sunrise spot, but the name escapes me - it's very popular, so go prepared. You can also dine at Da Kitchen (good local place) or try to grab some desserts at Komodo's (very popular among locals). I don't really recommend checking out Lanai - it was kinda boring, but the Macadamian Nut farm was fun! There's also a few plantations that you can visit.. and other factories if you are interested. I think you can also zipline in Maui. =)

For luau in Maui, we actually went to the Feast at Lele. It is not your typical luau, but its very nice. It features 4 different polynesian island cultures, and the cusines from that island (Tahitian was one, I forget the others). It is pricey at about $100 per person, but you get seated at a table with a waiter, and enjoy dinner and dancing by the ocean. Very nice. No buffet lines or paper plates. 

Also check out the Dole Plantation - I think this is in Oahu. 

That's all I can think of right now.. have fun ladies!!

We went to Maui for a week.  We stayed in Upcountry for the first 3 nights at an awesome (and super affordable) bed and breakfast called The Upcountry Bed and Breakfast.  Then, we rented a condo at the Mahana in Kanaapali for the rest of the trip.  We didn't pre-book any excursions, and had no problems getting signed up for everything we wanted.  We went to sunrise at Haleakala and then hiked the Sliding Sands Trail instead of doing the bike ride down since I'm not a big fan of bike riding.  We did Road to Hana, but didn't really love it except going to the Seven Pools.  We went snorkeling at Molikini, took a surfing lesson, and went to Feast at Lele.  I'm a vegetarian, so Feast at Lele was a much better choice for me than a standard Luau, and it was a great show.  We stopped at Iao Valley and Paia when driving from upcountry to Kanaapali. We also spent some time walking around Lahaina and just hanging out by the water. Overall, we loved it, and are glad we only did one island since we were only there for a week. 

We're probably not doing our honeymoon until several months after the wedding but I would LOVE to go to Hawaii since it's relatively close (we live in CA). But my fiance is really pushing for Aruba. He was there a couple of years ago (without me!) and he loved it.

I didn't go scuba diving, but I know that the company I went with on my molokini crater snorkeling excursion that you can add on an intro to scuba diving lesson to your package.  I don't know what it entails, but that was an option.

Also, I did the Haleakala bike ride and it was ok.  I think I would have been just as happy to drive up to the see the sunrise and drive on back down and hit one of the bed and breakfasts' on the way back down.  It would have saved about $120 for the both os us which we could have a nice dinner elsewhere.

 One other recommendation is to get cream puffs in Makawao.  Soooo good.  They are sold in this general store with no signs or anything.  It's just a brown building.  Our guide told us about it on the way up to Haleakala for the bike ride.

Makawao is on Maui

We're also doing Hawaii :) and are so excited!

We are spending 8 days in Honolulu on Waikki beach at two different resorts and then we are taking a 7 day cruise on NCL to all of the islands. I have heard from others that the cruise is the best way to see it all!

Any hotel recommendations for Honolulu? We're planning on booking them soon!

my best advice is definitely get the Maui Revealed book--it is THE quintessential guide to the island (locals hate the guy who wrote it because he gave away all the secrets)

My FI proposed to me this past summer in Hawaii so I am quite partial to the state. We were in Maui for 8 days and Oahu for 3 days (3 days on Oahu was plenty as we wish we had only gone 1/2 days or not gone at all). We both REALLY regret not going to Kauai instead of Oahu as I have heard nothing but amazing things about Kauai... but now we have every reason to go back.

On Maui we did an assortment of awesome excursions:

We went snorkeling at Molokini for a day - this was awesome, just hundreds of different marine life species. I had never been snorkeling and this spot is really quite amazing as it is a little moon-shaped dormant volcano.

We went horseback riding down the inside of the Haleakala crater - this was our favorite day trip by far. We started early in the morning and speng 4.5 hours on horseback and the scenes were breathtaking.

We did the zip line in Ka'anapali with Skyline Eco Tours - LOTS of fun if you are up for an adventure. It is pricey but it is something you can't do anywhere. 

We did the Road to Hana. I got really dizzy with all of the hairpin turns (there are something like over 600+ hairpin turns in all). I would not do this road again but I am glad we did it once as it was something not to be missed. We had a bit of an overcast day so certain spots weren't as beautiful as I had seen online/in magazines...

We did a Sunset cruise - this was actuallly TONS of fun. We had visited one of the activity shops on Front Street (the main drag) in Lahaina and got a great deal (only $20/person for a regular $60/person price) but doing a timeshare tour. Luckily our timeshare tour was right next door from our hotel so we could walk to it and we only sat with the guy for 10 minutes as they were too busy with people that WERE interested and we expressed that we were not. Anyways... we saw dolphins on the cruise and got to see the sunset and road around the Ka'anapali area. We both had too much to drink so it made it even better :)

We did the Old Lahaina Luau one night - we were both really happy we chose this Luau as it seemed very authentic. One tip: BOOK MONTHS AHEAD! You will not get in otherwise! We had to book about 3.5 months in advance and we heard from natives on the island that it is usually booked 2 months in advance.

The best thing about our trip is that we did it all for $2700 for both of us! We found cheap airfair (only $500 each) and my FI is a negociator so we got a good deal on our Ocean View room, too. We wish we had stayed at one of the resorts on Ka'anapali like the Westin (we stayed about 10 miles from Ka'anapli in Kahana) but looking back we saved a lot of money not doing so considering it was just a trip for us. I would definitely splurge on a nice hotel for a honeymoon though! 

We spent a lot of time looking for airline tickets (about 5 months), my FI literally looked everyday online. We live in WI so we flew out of Milwaukee - I don't think we will ever get a great deal to Hawaii like that again! Our interisland flight was another $80 each so the total airfare was just under $600.

We stayed at the Kahana Beach Resort which is right on the beach, the hotel is very secluded but we didn't spend much time there so I was fine with not staying right on Ka'anapali (which is the best beach in Maui). Looking back it would've been nice to be right on Ka'anapali but the room rates were $300 a night. At the Kahana our room rate was just over $400 for 7 nights. Again, my FI did call and negotiate so I am not sure what the going rate is. 

As for saving money with excursoins... we booked mostly everything online months in advance. We saved just by finding early bird deals on the web. Then with the sunset cruise we saved a lot by doing a timeshare tour one morning. If you want to save some serious money I recommend doing that too as it's really not that bad and it's good for discounts on multiple different activities if you book them all at once. 

We didn't spend much money on Oahu - didn't rent a car, but still were able to stay on Waikiki, and headed up to the North Shore for cliff diving (went in June where the tide is nothing) and went to Pearl Harbor (FI has a friend who is stationed on Oahu who drove us around). 

If you are fine with staying in non-major areas then you really save money on the hotel - we were still right on the ocean so I have no complaints with where we stayed as it was nice and quiet. As for airfare... we were just lucky!