Planning a vacation to Hawaii in late spring. Will fly in to Oahu, spend 2 days at Pearl Harbor and the surrounding area. Then we want to find a quiet beach maybe on another island. Thinking big island or Maui so we can visit a national park (we have elementary age kids).

Any thoughts on agenda, beaches, places to see?

Thanks.

2-3 days there is plenty to see the tourist stuff, it's very commercial and got old fast to me knowing that I was on a tropical island and it's chain after chain etc in most areas. That being said there's still cool stuff to do there. I recommended you do Maui or Kauai after that and spend the majority of your time there.

I love Kauai. I really do. But with elementary aged kids, and even for adults, seeing the volcanoes flowing on the big island is an incredible experience. If you can, do a helicopter ride. Plus some of the best snorkeling is there.

where are the best places to snorkel on the big island. We will be staying at the Marriott Waikola.

Just got back from a 9 day vacation - Oahu, Maui and the Big Island. I wish we would have skipped Maui and spent more time on either Oahu or the Big Island. Volcanoes National Park was really neat, you can take a trail into the crater although I'm not sure how kids would do on the trail. The best snorkeling we found was on Oahu at Hanauma Bay. Check out Turtle Bay in Oahu for a quiet beach, beautiful area. Honestly if this is your first trip to Hawaii I would recommend just doing Oahu.

http://www.turtlebayresort.com

spent 10 days on Big Island last summer - if you end up needing ideas there, reply back and I'll offer some suggestions... absolutely loved it- so many great beaches - some you can drive to, some are great hikes to get to

nosoupforyou said:

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spent 10 days on Big Island last summer - if you end up needing ideas there, reply back and I'll offer some suggestions... absolutely loved it- so many great beaches - some you can drive to, some are great hikes to get to

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I'm leaning heavily toward a trip to the Big Island for early June 2018. I would love to hear your suggestions.

Be prepared for some horrible traffic on Oahu if you've never been. That was the biggest surprise to me when I went for the first time.

Waiting for the new Southwest flights to go

Big Island is amazing - below is a cut up list of things I'd recommend. I researched a lot before our trip.
Google these places to find out where they are and what's nearby.. let me know if you have questions if you have 2, 4, 8 days, etc and I'd be happy to give suggestions from this short list of my favorite places

Great Restaurants
o Dinner at Sam Choy's
o Dinner at Rays on the Bay restaurant at the Sheraton gorgeous sunset/manta-ray views!
o Dinner at CanoeHouse was amazing! Gertrude's Jazz Bar
o Lunch at Merriman's was great! Or HVC lunch at 12:30 but need reservations 2 days early
o Dinner at Hualalai Resort Residents Beach House reservation for sunset! 808- 325-4712

Great beaches
o Kahaluu Beach Park Black Sand best snorkel beach in Hawaii.
o South Point Park tip of the island. Then drive to Papakolea or Mahana Green Sand Beach . Drive was VERY hard - major sand dunes and rocky road be careful!
o Punalu'u Black Sand Beach.
o Waikoloa Beach area- Mauna Lani Hotel -
o Anaeho'omalu Beach near Waikoloa Beach Resort
o Waipio Valley - Pololu Overlook hike down to the black sand beach
o Drive 1 hour to Hapuna Beach - $5.00 fee but worth it! They have lunch shack and snow cones.

Great hikes/adventures
o Mantra Ray night dive BOOKED! Fairwinds near Condo! Hula Kai 6:45-8:15.
o White Road Hike in Waimea. The hike is about 2 hours round trip.
o Volcanoes National Park - Info Center, Volcano Observatory, Steam Vents, Thurston Lava Tube, Halema'uma'u Overlook, Jaggar Museum. Then drive 30 mins to Pu'u Loa Petroglyphs (and .7 mile hike)

Thank you so much! I'm going to look into all of these suggestions. As much as I love Kauai and want to go back, I'm also thinking about spending this entire trip on the Big Island.

Depending on where you end up staying, I can share with you my specific agenda and how I traversed the entire island over 10 days with just me and wife. So you can put some order to the plan of attack.

Remind me who all is coming with you on the trip? Kids and ages?

We went a few years ago and loved Maui and Big Island. On the Big Island the best part was the helicopter tour through Blue Hawaiian out of Hilo (where we stayed). Seeing the lava flow and it going into the ocean was amazing. We only barely toured Volcano National Park and regret it. But I guess we have a reason to go back.
On a side note If you are into National Parks and don't have one already, get a passport book to get stamps in. We like this one https://www.eparks.com/product/128482/Passport-To-Your-National-Parks-Collector%27s-Edition/
Never know when you will be able to get back there.

nosoupforyou said:

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Depending on where you end up staying, I can share with you my specific agenda and how I traversed the entire island over 10 days with just me and wife. So you can put some order to the plan of attack.

Remind me who all is coming with you on the trip? Kids and ages?

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Just myself and a son who will be 13. I'm not opposed to changing locations/hotels. In fact, that's part of the reason I'm thinking this trip should be the Big Island only - I'm thinking to enjoy it fully (beaches and volcanoes) we will need to stay in at least two different areas.

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On the Big Island the best part was the helicopter tour through Blue Hawaiian

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I second this. It was an experience I will never forget. Also may I suggest doing the cliff and canyon helicopter tour on the north side of the Big Island as well. Flying over those cliffs was another life experience I will never forget!

The Big Island is very large land mass. We stayed in Kona, and explored the ranch country around there.

Did anyone go on the White Road hike? That was the single best experience for me during my trip..