Planning a Hawaii Vacation FAQ

Congratulations on your upcoming trip.Hawaii is a special place and a wonderful vacation destination.

Listed below are some considerations and advice for planning your visit.

 If this is your first trip, plan to see some of the best known attractions such as Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Punch Bowl, Hawaiian museums and historical sites, Waikiki, beaches, nature, etc.

Get a copy of the Hawaii Tourbook and a map of Oahu and a detail map of Waikiki, all from AAA,  free for members. Ask a friend to get it if you're not a member.

Read up on the attractions paying special attention to the highlighted ones (with the stars) and make a list of the ones you are particularly interested in seeing.

Plan for your personal interests, such as historical or cultural sites, seeing a volcano, visiting surfing beaches, viewing art or cultural museums, etc. This makes the vacation meaningful to you.

Choose a place to stay. Do you prefer night life and major tourist attractions? Then stay at or near Waikiki. Lower cost hotels outside of Waikiki means planning for a rental car or public transportation.

Believe it or not, we as residents of Oahu, do not live in hotels. Because of that, it's hard for us to recommend any of them except by reputation. Your travel agent and friends likely know more about them than we do.

If you want to visit the other islands, plan for at least 1-2 days there. You really can't appreciate a place if you just fly in-and-out in 4 hours. Choose one and save the others for a future trip.

Oahu is the "big city", the capital island of the state. Here you find Hawaii in all phases.
Maui is the "small town" with a country feel and Haleakala National Park. Beaches and snorkeling and Lahaina town.
The Big Island (Hawaii)  is "village" with wide open spaces, two huge volcanoes and Hawaii Volcano National Park.
Kauai is also "village" and even more rural. Green and laid-back and slow moving.
Molokai is a remote Hawaiian place. Culturally sensitive and peaceful.

p.s. Here's a lisit of "local" things to do on Oahu

More info to be added soon.

Jim Yuen
June 2007

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