Maui has ziplining, horseback riding, surf lessons, trails for hiking, luaus, snorkling... Those activities are probably available on other islands too. The Four Seasons is located around one of the busier areas of Maui, (where most clubs, resturants and hotels are) so I'm sure you will be able to find things to do.
You could always take a drive upcountry! Visit Maui's Winery and try their lovely pineapple wines. Visit the Ali'i Lavender Farm and Surfing Goat Dairy. (That is what many tour guides reccommend). Many people also drive to Hana, a small, quiet little town. (The trip usually takes an entire day). Or you could take a tour for that because the road is realllly windy and long!
I've only got info on Maui. Happy planning!
DH and I went to Maui and Oahu for our honeymoon, we LOVED Maui, but Oahu was just ok. We only went to Oahu for Pearl Harbor and the North Shore.
Maui was Heaven! We went snorkeling, a helicoptor tour, a luau, sunset cruise, and a lot of sitting on the beach! We stay at The Westin in Ka 'Anapali and a lot of what we did was around that area. The helicoptor tour was at the airport though which was about a 45 minute drive.
A lot of the resorts will have a luau, so that shouldn't be hard to find. The snorkeling was super cool, we went to the Molokini crater and Turtle Town.
We asked some locals where to go for lunch and the BEST place we found was Da Kitchen, its near the heliport and KMart (helpful, right?). The food there was soooo good!
Oh and there is soo much more! If you want more info, I can look up the names of the companies we used. PM me if you want!
We stayed at the Makena Beach Resort in Maui. It was on the south end of the island and secluded. It was amazing!
Snorkeling is something you should definitely do! We went on a mini hike to see a couple waterfalls and the "tropical" part of Maui, and that was pretty cool.
Other than that, we just layed on the beach and enjoyed being married!
You're gonna have a great time no matter what you do!
I went to Oahu for a week at the end of September. It was amazing and I'd go back in a heartbeat.
If you go to Pearl Harbor, make sure you get there early. They give you tickets with a time on them, and you can't get onto the USS Arizona memorial until it's your time. We got there at like 10am, and our tickets were for like, 12:45. And then it's a 75 minute tour once you're out there. So if you don't there early, you're going to be there all day.
Also, definitely go to Hanauma Bay. That place is beyond gorgeous. It was fiance's and my favourite part of the whole trip.
ETA: People always recommend the Polynesian Cultural Centre. It's pretty interesting, but not worth the entire day you have to commit to it, IMO.
We're going to Hawaii for 2 weeks too! 2 weeks is really the minimum because of the travel time lost and jet lag coming from the east coast.
I lived in Maui for a year back in my early 20s (so long ago!) and I absolutely LOVED it, someday I want to retire there :)
We are doing Oahu for 5 nights and then onto Kauai for the rest of the trip. I strongly suggest that you stick to 2 islands max. I don't even like that we are doing more than 1 but my FI wants to see Pearl Harbor so bad but we don't want to spend two weeks in Oahu (too busy for our tastes) so we chose Kauai because niether of us has been and I've always wanted to go. You will lose a day pretty much each hop you make to another island and the first couple days after you get there will be recuperating from the flight and time change.
You probably know about Tripadvisor but just in case I'll tell you about it.lol. Their forums are wonderful for info on where to stay and what to do.
We are renting a condo (through VRBO) for $199/night in Oahu with a full kitchen and bedroom (temperpedic bed!) with great reviews and then switching it up with a hotel in Kauai (thanks to FILs)
I didn't love Oahu. Too busy and "touristy". Kaui is my FAVORITE! Beautiful, lush, quiet, romantic. Enjoy!!! I am jealous :)
Thanks for all the info bees! It's really helpful. I think we might cut down the islands from 4 to 3. Do you think its a big mistake to cut out Big Island? Oahu is a must for us bc of the Lost Tours and Pearl Harbor.
Mr. D and I are the type where we like to relax majority of the time with a few excursions mixed in, not the other way around. If we wanted to be jumping around so much, we would be going to Europe instead.
We can't wait to go, so excited :)
I think that if you like relaxing then the Big Island would be the one to cut out. I think that Oahu and Big Island are similar to each other busy wise and Kauai is more relaxing and Maui is the perfect mix of the two. What I love about Maui is that there is a little bit of a nightlife but there is also the feeling of a small tropical island and there are no skyscrapers in Maui which I love.
Oahu is a must for us too since FI loves history and wants to see Pearl Harbor, we are contemplating the movie tour as well, since he is a huge movie buff and one of our favorites things we ever did was a movie tour in Boston. So fun!
@HisAngel: I have a feeling I'm not going to like Oahu that much either. I loved living in Maui because it didn't have a real "city" it felt like a tropical paradise but with some of the same conveniences I was used to (KMart, Starbucks etc) but Oahu is a must becuase of Pearl Harbor. Glad to hear you liked Kauai, I've only seen pictures but am pretty sure I'm going to love it!
We went to Maui for a friend's DW and we overlapped on about 3-4 days and we never saw them (aside from intentional meetings). We didn't stay at the same place, which helped. We checked out almost all of the island, minus the Road to Hana. We snorkeled a lot and spent a lot of time in Lahaina when we wanted to just walk around and be touristy.
Commenting to be able to easily follow...we're doing a few days in Oahu (for Pearl Harbor and then just to relax, we're staying at Turtle Bay in one of the beach cottages, it's our first island right after the wedding so we mostly will want to just chill in/near our room, lol) and then Maui. We've already booked a Jeep for Maui (to do the road to Hana) and ziplining. Does anybody have any preference for the "best" luau, either in Oahu or Maui? We have limited days (9 overall for both islands, I don't get many days off at my job) so I would like to only go to one and I want it to be the best!
DH and I spent a week in Kauai - we did scuba diving (you don't need to be certified for the intro dives ), zip lining, helicopter ride, snorkeling, and a sunset cruise to name a few activities.
Kauai is amazing and beautiful...I've never been to the other islands, but I'm sure you'll enjoy them all. I definitely recommend a luau while you are there - so cool! Oh, and a cruise along the Na Pali coast.
Do a boat tour! We saw tons of dolphins and even whales! We did this in both Kauai and Maui. Also, Maui has excellent food pretty much where ever you go. In Maui do the road to Hana and drive the entire loop, there is so much to see on the other side!
@SoonToBeMrsD921: If you want to do all the Islands but are time limited (and to me 2 weeks is time limited for all the hawaiian Islands) why not look at the NCL POA cruise? They visit 4 Islands and you can treat it like a floating hotel. It is a 7 night cruise then you could spend the last week of your holiday on one of the Isalnds just relaxing.
We just spent a week on Maui for ourhoneymoon and loved it! We took a tour bus down the road to Hana (definitely suggest this because otherwise whoever drives won't see any of the scenery!), went on a snorkel tour, hiked around Haleakala (we went for sunset instead of sunrise since waking at 3 am on a honeymoon seemed wrong), and went to a luau. Highly reccomend Maui- perfect balance of island getaway and activity.
@BookishBelle: I've yet to go to a luau (saving it for when my parents come to visit!), but I've had many friends recommend Germaine's Luau on Oahu -- enough that I know that's the place I'm taking any visitors to!
I'd also like to mention that you can actually book tickets in advance to the USS Arizona Memorial for a small fee ($1.50/ticket, I do believe). I booked a pair a couple of weeks ago for this past weekend since my husband hadn't been before. The NPS.gov website has all the info you need to make reservations!
I'll have to look into the LOST tour -- I'm assuming it's associated with Kualoa Ranch, maybe? I love that show and I wave to Penny's boat every time we pass it downtown, haha. :D
@ERL501: Omg, I had no idea that Penny's boat was there, this just got me really really excited lol. I actually spoke with the tour guide yesterday and the tours are still ongoing. Here is the link for it if you are interested, it is associated with Kualoa Ranch:
http://www.hummertourshawaii.com/
They have 2, 5, and 8 hour tours...we are going to be crazy and do the 8 lol
After speaking with our travel agent, we decided to do Oahu, Maui, and Kauai. We know that ultimately, we are going to want to relax on our honeymoon and not live out of our suitcases constantly.
I'm sure I'll be back for more recommendations, thanks so much everyone for your input! 
I'm also planning a Hawaii honeymoon that will be two weeks. Almost every person I have questioned has said for two weeks, I should stick to two islands MAX. They said choose Oahu or Maui and then Kauai for the other week. I will be doing Maui and Kauai. I'm looking forward to seeing what activities you choose. I can't wait to start planning all those little details!
Same here, on all the trip forums they recommend 2 islands MAX and that's pushing it even. I lived in Maui for a year a long time ago and I know how long it can take to do some of the activities because of slow driving etc. Also with the time change and the long flight I know we'll be out of commission for at least the first if not second day.
Maui and Kauai are perfect choices! We are doing Oahu and Kauai only because I've already been to Maui and my FI wants to see Pearl Harbor.
Thanks for the link, I haven't seen this company.
Has anyone done the movie tour on Oahu? I don't want to spend a whole day on a tour is it's a dud.
@FarleyNish: From the recent reviews on Trip Advisor, I have only heard good things about it:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60982-d1048798-r15138319-Hummer_Tours_Hawaii-Honolulu_Oahu_Hawaii.html#REVIEWS
Some are faily recent too. Hope that helps! :)
Great, thanks! There are sooo many things to choose from sometimes ones that I'd actually be interested in get lost in the shuffle.
I wanted to add one more thing about flights, especially if you're coming from the East Coast -- I've flown from Alabama/Florida to Hawaii twice now, and both times our plane landed somewhere in the range of 9pm to 1am (darn you, delays!) and I highly recommend it, actually. I always get super exhausted from flying, so I'm able to get here and crawl into bed almost immediately. I have never had jet lag after getting here; it's flying back to the mainland/Alabama that's the problem, haha. So if you're worried about jet lag after you get here, try to book a late incoming flight if possible!
My parents live on Oahu and I have been there 3 times to visit. The last time we spent a day in Waikiki, where I know a lot of people do honeymooning things. I was just so sad for people that only experienced that island through what they saw there. Honestly, my least favorite beaches, and it is super overpriced.
Things that I loved:
Waimea gardens: beautiful gardens with a waterfall at the end
Sunset beach-great sandy beach-gets deep for good swimming
Papailoa beach- really good snorkeling/ lots of turtles
Kualoa ranch- I did the ATVing tour and it was great. They also have horseback riding, and other fun activities. It is really beautiful there
Luau- If you want to do a luau, Paradise Cove has the best one.
@FarleyNish: Yeah with the jetlag, I want to spend at least the first two days sleeping on the beach :). Then I can do all the fun activities. I would love to see Pearl Harbor and a few other things on Oahu, so I figure I will just have to have a second honeymoon to Hawaii later in the life to see those!
Ive been to Maui. The flight flat out sucked but it was so worth it. Maui is heaven on earth!! :) Plenty of activies and relaxation.
@BookishBelle: We're doing the Old Lahaina Luau on Maui. I've read tons of reviews and that was the one that kept popping up as "the best".
I just got engaged this summer in Maui (during sunrise at the top of Haleakala.) I love Maui for the blanace of having enough stuff to do with out too much hustle and bustle. I would definitely recommend snorkeling (I loved our snorkel trip with Blue Water Rafting.) If you or your SO SCUBA dive there are a ton of great companies with good trips. Also I am a bit biased haha but I think biking down the volcano is a must, it is so beautiful and fun! I am not terribly atheletic and had no problem with it at all. I recommend Maui Sun Riders for this as you get to do everything at your own pace and are not stuck in a massive group of people. We went to the Luau at the Marriott (the Te Au Mona) the show was good and the food was really good too, better then some other Luaus I have been to.
I'm so lost on the luaus....I hear the Feast at Lele is supposed to be amazing in Maui. My travel agent also wants us to do the rooftop Luau at Hilton Hawaiin Village in Waikiki. Has anyone done either of these?
Thanks!
Posting so I can read the responses too. We're going to Maui for our honeymoon and I can't wait!
After kind of accidentally coming across it during a Google search for one of the lookouts near Hanauma Bay, I found this website about LOST with SO much information. It may come in handy if any of you want to see some of the sights of LOST without going on one of the tours. Here's the link: http://www.lostvirtualtour.com/welcome.php
@SoonToBeMrsD921: You're welcome! I'm getting a kick out of it too. There's so many places I didn't realize were actually filming locations until the site pointed it out!
We're getting married in Kauai so we love it there :) It's a more mellow island with more outdoor adventure than night life/museums. Although it's expensive, a helicopter tour over the Napali Coast was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had! We went with Moana Loa tours and they were wonderful plus it was just the 2 of us, we didn't have to go with anyone we didn't know. There's a ton of hiking, you can kayak on the river, snorkel.... and mostly lay on the beaches (Secret Beach & Tunnels were particular favorites.! I would check out the "Ultimate" Hawaii books by Andrew Doughty (at least for Kauai, not sure about the other islands). If you do a tour at McBryde Garden (also kinda pricey but very beautiful), you can see glimpse where they filmed Jurassic Park and Pirates of the Carribean (one of the sequels, lol).
Have fun!!
@SoonToBeMrsD921: HI again! we're thinking of going to hawaii too for our honeymoon! did you find any good research yet? (or helpful? haha). what island are you thinking?
i've been to oahu and maui. i really didn't like oahu but maui was awesome. we went for our honeymoon (to maui only) and we just went again a couple weeks ago. we stayed in kaanapali but north of where all the hotels are around whaler's village. those hotels seem to be more party central and we wanted to relax. we went to iao valley state park and the sugar museum. we also went up to napili. lahaina is a cute little town too. other than that, we relaxed on the beach. we didn't want to do anything. we're not the adventerous type so we weren't looking for activities like that but i hear the ziplining and snorkeling is awesome. napili bay looked to be a good snorkeling spot. we went whale watching on our honeymoon because it was in march but we both got sea sick. we could actually just stand on the beach and see whales- no boat needed. this year, we just watched whales from the beach. we learned our lesson last year!
You must log in to post.
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| AllieANT | 77 |
| pengoala | 70 |
| badabing88 | 55 |
| TaurianDoll | 43 |
 beachbride1216 |
36 |
| vorpalette | 35 |
| MsBeer | 35 |
| MrsPanda99 | 34 |
| adoc86 | 30 |
| s2bmrscook | 30 |
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| JemmyGee | 2 |
| PeachSnapple | 2 |
| RunnerBride13 | 2 |
| sheri531 | 2 |
| anemily | 2 |
| PinkPinstripes | 1 |
| dannielle89 | 1 |
| MrsTillerResq | 1 |
| CaliBeeBride0813 | 1 |
| Rubbs | 1 |
Hi Bees! Mr. D and I have been going back and forth on when we would be honeymooning bc of the time of year (Sep is one of the busiest times of the year for Mr. D). Luckily, we found out yesterday that his boss is letting him take off 2 weeks after the wedding so we can go on our dream honeymoon to Hawaii :)
I was just wondering if you all had any suggestions on where to go and what to do in Hawaii? We plan on going to Oahu, Kauai, Big Island, and Maui. We will definitely be staying in the Grand Hyatt in Kauai and possibly the Four Seasons in Maui.
However, we just learned that friends of ours will be in Hawaii vacationing at the same time as us, and are also staying at the Grand Hyatt and Four Seasons on the same days...I really don't want to be running into people we know while we are there, but I also don't feel that we should have to work around other people for our honeymoon, sticky situation. In Kauai I don't think we would really run into them as we would just be overlapping a few days, but in Maui its a full overlap. Anyone have other ideas for Maui just in case we try to stay clear?
We also need ideas for excursions! I've heard ideas for helicopter tours and Haleakala Sunrise Tour, and Pearl Harbor, but I would also like to hear other ideas. Future Hubby and I are huge lost fans and plan on doing a Lost tour while we are in Oahu as well (hoping they still have them).
Any feedback would be appreciated :) Thanks!