Hawaii questions

11,182 Views | 74 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by HECUBUS
DTP02
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I know nothing about Hawaii and am just starting my research.

We are looking at a 6-night trip there in early June. CoVID restrictions will be a bit of a pain, but hopefully will also keep crowds down a bit as well.

We have a free place to stay on the big island, on the Kona coast about a mile or so from Kailua- Kona. Free is tough to pass up, but someone who went last year told me that they'd recommend spending most of our time on Oahu with only a day or two on Hawaii. They also said that Hawaii was not nearly as scenic.

I'm not wanting to spend much time at all in Honolulu, because I want to avoid the urban areas. I was thinking I'd see the Pearl Harbor memorial on day of arrival or day of departure, but otherwise not spend much time there.

I want to see and do:

- Volcanos
- snorkeling w good visibility and wildlife. Could also do scuba but my wife does not dive so may stick w snorkeling.
- hiking w beautiful scenery and waterfalls
- we like to eat well, but fresh seafood can take the place of fine dining
- beaches
- want to do the luau pig roast thing
- helicopter tour

Given the above, how should I look to apportion our days between Oahu, Hawaii, or any other islands?

I've also heard mention of a rental car shortage, but don't know how much of an issue that is.



Bluecat_Aggie94
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Ok, everyone will have an opinion, but you need to listen to people who match your style.

I'm like you. I want to see nature, waterfalls, beautiful beaches, volcanoes, etc. And therefore, the advice you receive to spend most of your time on Oahu and short ventures out is FLAT OUT WRONG... for you.

Oahu is for people that want shopping, resorts, lots of restaurant choices, nightlife... but Honolulu might as well be Houston to me. It's packed, lots of traffic, and totally the opposite of what I LOVE about Hawaii, and I LOVE Hawaii.

I have not visited the Island of Hawaii but want to go back because I'm fascinated by the volcano. And I've done enough research to know that there is still plenty to see and do that fits the adventure/sightseeing that you seem to want to do.

That being said, the absolutely stunning beauty of Hawaii has a lot to do with the wear and tear of time that create things like the Napali coast of Kauai. The older the island, the more rugged and therefore, more scenic. They get older to younger going from north to south.

I've spent several days on Kauai, Maui, and Oahu. Kauai is by most people's opinion the most beautiful place with the most stunning things to see, the most variety, etc. Maui is not far behind, and it has a little more in terms of resorts and development. If you want to be away from everything, pick Kauai. If you want vast terrain and variety, but also more conveniences and choices, pick Maui. And I have a feeling from what I've read about that the Big Island is going to be more like Kauai, just less stunning overall, but still with the cool volcano. I do know from research that there are some really great beaches on the Big Island.

Now, if you DO end up, for whatever reason, spending most of your time on Oahu, you CAN still get some great nature experiences. Oahu does have some beautiful beaches, but it's not Waikiki. The North Shore beaches are much more scenic and are not attached to a huge city. The east side of the island has some amazing hiking and mountains. Make sure you have a rental care and get outside Honolulu. You don't even have to drive that far. You can actually make an entire circumnavigation of Oahu in a day, although I'd recommend doing it in two, heading south from Honolulu and cutting across about halfway around the island and returning on H3 on one day, and then on another day, head north to the North Shore and then come around, again returning on H3 back to Honolulu. A good guidebook (Oaho/Maui/Hawaii Revealed is my recommended go to for Hawaii) is a good companion and will help you find all the scenic and cool adventure spots on those drives.

You can't go wrong with Hawaii. I typically don't like to return to places over and over because there are so many places to go in this world, but I'd go back to Hawaii anytime.

The Lost
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Volcanoes national park on the big island is awesome.

Pololu Valley lookout hike is awesome.

Rental car will be expensive.

Skip oahu other than pearl harbor.

If you want to go somewhere fancy you'll need a reservation before you leave and activities will fill up fast like ziplining due to covid shortages. Many places in March were also not renting snorkel gear.
TXTransplant
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Just some quick notes...we've done two trips. The first was Oahu, Kauai, and Maui, 4 nights each. Did Oahu specifically for Pearl Harbor and would not go back. But it was definitely worth the visit.

Second trip was exclusively the Big Island because we couldn't fit that in to the previous trip. As the previous poster said, the Big Island is the only one with an active volcano.

Other points of interest include the Waipio Valley (that's a must-do hike, IMO), and the summit of Mauna Kea. We tried to do a stargazing tour at the summit but the weather interfered. I want to go back specifically for this. There are only a few tour companies that are allowed to go to the summit.

We were there during the last eruption of Kilauea, so that kept us from being able to spend much time in the park. We weren't able to do any hiking, and a guided tour of a lava cave was cancelled. If I were to go back, I'd definitely re-schedule those.

We were able to do a lava boat tour and got some fantastic views of the fissures that were erupting. I wanted to see lava going into the ocean, but that had stopped right before our visit. A few weeks after we did the lava boat tour, there was an accident where some passengers were pretty badly injured by a "lava bomb", so I'm not sure what the status of those tours is.

The Bis Island is also one of only two places in the world where you can snorkel with Manta Rays. We did that, and it was amazing.

The coast of The Big Island is pretty rocky. If you want a nice beach, the Fairmont Orchid has a fantastic one. I thought it was even better than the Grand Wailea in Maui.

Those are the highlights I can think of right now. Kauai is also a stunning destination, and it's on my list for a return visit. It's amazing to be how geographically and aesthetically different each of the islands are.
aggiedata
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Buy this book before you go. They have one for each island.

Took us to hidden beaches and really neat places off the beaten path.

I have seen all colors of sand because of these books.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1949678040/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_imm_ZKWHBZK13PAYT85Z1T82?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Bobby Petrino`s Neckbrace
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Oahu is a shthole. GTF off that island as quickly as you can, it's the least attractive of all of the islands.
DTP02
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Thanks for all the input, good stuff. Right now I'm leaning toward skipping Oahu entirely if I can find good flight options direct to one of the other islands.

This rental car shortage is real, though. Right now we have placeholder lodging reserved on Hawaii, Kauai and Maui, but we can't find a single rental car available on Hawaii or Kauai. These things seem to change day to day so I guess I'll keep checking.

I am looking into Turo, which I've never done, or maybe renting Motor scooters, which I'm guessing will limit where we can go pretty drastically.

I'm not overly happy with the lodging I reserved on Maui, so I'm leaning toward splitting time between Kauai and Hawaii if I can find transportation.
Aggie@state.gov
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folks are renting U Hauls as rental cars:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/25/us/hawaii-u-haul-tourist-rental-trnd/index.html
BSD
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DTP02 said:

Thanks for all the input, good stuff. Right now I'm leaning toward skipping Oahu entirely if I can find good flight options direct to one of the other islands.

This rental car shortage is real, though. Right now we have placeholder lodging reserved on Hawaii, Kauai and Maui, but we can't find a single rental car available on Hawaii or Kauai. These things seem to change day to day so I guess I'll keep checking.

I am looking into Turo, which I've never done, or maybe renting Motor scooters, which I'm guessing will limit where we can go pretty drastically.

I'm not overly happy with the lodging I reserved on Maui, so I'm leaning toward splitting time between Kauai and Hawaii if I can find transportation.


So you are looking to do three days on each Kauai and Hawaii? Seems like a lot of running around and not enough time to relax or experience what the Hawaiian culture offers. Can three days on each work? Yes, I did it when I was 20. But now I enjoy at least a week on each island to really get the feel for what it has to offer. Sometimes, more like very other trip, we'll even do two weeks on a single island. Having time to relax (Even while our doing cool Adventures)is part of what makes Hawaii great and why it is one of the few places I make return trips to. So if you can, pick one island and do it right with a plan to go back and hit up another island.
DTP02
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I can definitely see the appeal in that, but I have a lot of places I want to see before I have to start slowing down and being less active, so I don't know know when, or even if, I'll be back to Hawaii. I've traveled a fair amount and am just now making it there for the first time! Eliminating Oahu entirely would make me feel better about seeing Hawaii and one of Maui or Kauai in one trip, since that will save some time and logistical headaches.
TXTransplant
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I don't know that I'd recommend the Big Island if you can't get a rental car. It's pretty rural, and not being able to drive to the most beautiful/interesting parts of that island would really diminish the experience. If you have to stay around the immediate vicinity of Kailua-Kona, I think I'd do Maui and/or Kauai instead.
AggieZUUL
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Do yourselves a favor and download the Shaka Guide app. It costs about the same as a Chicken Wrap at Kyle but worth every cent.
Catag94
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Volcanos - Big Island of course

Everything else you want to do - Kauai hands down.

The Milkman
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Aggie@state.gov said:

folks are renting U Hauls as rental cars:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/25/us/hawaii-u-haul-tourist-rental-trnd/index.html


Good reminder. I just rented a convertible through Turo for our trip in September. Been hearing all kinds of trouble with rental cars
DTP02
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The Milkman said:

Aggie@state.gov said:

folks are renting U Hauls as rental cars:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/25/us/hawaii-u-haul-tourist-rental-trnd/index.html


Good reminder. I just rented a convertible through Turo for our trip in September. Been hearing all kinds of trouble with rental cars


I have a turo reservation on the big island, but I'm a little leery of the reliability. They can cancel with 24 hrs notice without any penalty, and the financial penalty for cancelling with less than 24 hrs notice is only $50. With the insane amounts people are paying for rentals, that's nothing.
Bluecat_Aggie94
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I'm glad you made that decision. I'd not go as far as saying Oahu is a S^&!hole, but many parts of Honolulu itself are, and Waikiki is not what all the songs are about. If you have any lingering doubts, open up Google Earth and plop yourself down on Waikiki. Other parts of Oahu are actually quite scenic, but they do not match Kauai or Maui.

Lots of people say Pearl Harbor is worth it, but it really wasn't for me, but then, I prefer natural history to human history daily.

But I really don't think you'll have any regrets about skipping Oahu. Good luck with the rental situation!
double aught
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Bobby Petrino`s Neckbrace said:

Oahu is a shthole. GTF off that island as quickly as you can, it's the least attractive of all of the islands.
This is laughably hyperbolic snobbery.

Other that that, there is a bunch of good advice on this thread. But really, there's no wrong way to do Hawaii. It lives up to the hype!
nosoupforyou
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first - this is a great Facebook fan page for Big Island - great place to ask questions - especially about the rental car situation - https://www.facebook.com/365Kona

Second - I did almost the same thing as you a few years ago -stayed in a friends condo near Kailua-Kona but we had 10 days. There is PLENTY to do on Big Island alone - leaving to another island is likely something for another trip.

I built an itinerary - see below and note the hyperlinks.

o Dinner at Sam Choy's just walk there from the condo. It's near Regal Cinemas. Great sunset view!
Friday May 20 Parasail, Snorkel, Dinner
o Drive 15 minutes north to Courtyard King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel
BOOKED! Res # 91459 - Parasail at 9 am www.ufoparasail.net 1-800-359-4836
o Drive 10 minutes back down to Kahaluu Beach Park Black Sand best snorkel beach in Hawaii.

Saturday May 21 Fairwinds Boat Tour Snuba was great do it! 808-322-2788
o Drive 5 minutes south to Keauhou Bay Snorkel Tour is from 9:30-2:30 arrive by 9!
o Hang out at the Sheraton Hotel from 3 until end of day hike and jump End of the World!
Dinner at Rays on the Bay restaurant at the Sheraton gorgeous sunset/manta-ray views!

Sunday May 22 South Point Park, Volcanoes National Park
o Drive 90 minutes south 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 Drive 30 minutes and stop at Punalu'U Bake Shop then 15 minutes to Punalu'u Black Sand Beach.
o Drive 45 minutes to 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) then back for sunset dinner at http://kilauealodge.com/ then back to VNP for nighttime lava views then drive 1 hr 45 minutes back home. It rains off and on all day.

Monday Beach day Waikoloa Beach area- Mauna Lani Hotel
o Drive 45 Minutes north to the Waikoloa Village area Mauna Lani Resort beach area for the day
o Lunch at Napua then if we stay- dinner at CanoeHouse was amazing!

Tuesday Hiking day White Road, Akaka Falls, Hilo, Mauna Kea
o Drive 1 hr 15 minutes to White Road Hike in Waimea. The hike is about 2 hours round trip.
o Drive 1 hour south to Akaka Falls for .5 mile loop hike, then to the town of Hilo for lunch.
o In Hilo, go to Big Island Candies (Great!) and Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut farm (ok). Leave Hilo by 5.
o Drive 1.5 hours to Mauna Kea visitor Information Station - visitor Center at Onizuka Center
Skip the summit unless you have more time. Bring coats it's cold! 1 hour drive home

Wednesday Beach Day Anaeho'omalu Beach near Waikoloa Beach Resort, Manta Ray night dive
o Drive 45 minutes north to A Beach Near Lava Club Beach Club. Very windy beach! Windsurfers
o Bring lunch or eat at Lava Lava they have nightly local entertainment - Check out the Hilton.
o Drive 45 minutes to Mantra Ray night dive BOOKED! Fairwinds near Condo! Hula Kai 6:45-8:15.

Thursday North side of the Island- Drive 1.75 hrs - stopped at Lapakashi and also Kohala Historical
o Waipio Valley - Pololu Overlook hike down to the black sand beach, Waipio Valley Lookout is same we skipped WVL since it's similar to Pololu. Consider Hawiian Vanilla Company tour
Lunch at Merriman's was great! Or HVC lunch at 12:30 but need reservations 2 days early
The Milkman
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DTP02 said:

The Milkman said:

Aggie@state.gov said:

folks are renting U Hauls as rental cars:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/25/us/hawaii-u-haul-tourist-rental-trnd/index.html


Good reminder. I just rented a convertible through Turo for our trip in September. Been hearing all kinds of trouble with rental cars


I have a turo reservation on the big island, but I'm a little leery of the reliability. They can cancel with 24 hrs notice without any penalty, and the financial penalty for cancelling with less than 24 hrs notice is only $50. With the insane amounts people are paying for rentals, that's nothing.

Oh wow... I didn't realize that. Maybe I'll make a back up plan.
Big Al 1992
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Hoping Hawaii does away with their crazy Covid restrictions- as of now to Maui must get tested 72 hours before departure - vaccinated or not - and if you're not vaxed you have to take a second test once you land. I get that they have limited ICU beds if there's a breakout - but that time has passed. They need to open up. Lots of stories of false positives ruining 3 days of vacation to the island. And the restrictions were just put in place May 4th because of some "variant". We would not have planned to visit if we knew they would be that anal about it.
DTP02
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So here's a little more color on this Turo option:

We are having to trust Turo rentals for both Kauai and Hawaii.

The key to having some peace of mind is to look at the history for both the "owner" and the vehicle.

There were some owners who had multiple last minute cancellations (like within an hour of pickup time) in their history. And then some vehicles didn't have much history, but if you look at the owners other vehicles, you can get a more comprehensive picture.

We settled on one guy with a lot of rentals and no late cancellations, and another guy with not as extensive of a history but no late cancellations.

It's still not as safe as renting from an agency, and I'm a little uneasy about so much of our vacation hinging on an amateur renter, but if you due your due diligence you can find Turo rentals that are safer picks.
DTP02
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Big Al 1992 said:

Hoping Hawaii does away with their crazy Covid restrictions- as of now to Maui must get tested 72 hours before departure - vaccinated or not - and if you're not vaxed you have to take a second test once you land. I get that they have limited ICU beds if there's a breakout - but that time has passed. They need to open up. Lots of stories of false positives ruining 3 days of vacation to the island. And the restrictions were just put in place May 4th because of some "variant". We would not have planned to visit if we knew they would be that anal about it.


They just had a couple of announcements. The governor is leaving the mask mandate in place for now, even if you're vaccinated.

And they just rolled out their inter-island vaccine passport for HA residents. They plan to expand to visitors, but reading between the lines it's doubtful that happens by the end of this month.
DTP02
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Thanks for posting all that; very helpful!

We are booked for the night Manta Ray snorkel.

Can you give a little more info on the volcano-related stuff? What were the highlights? Is the night viewing a must do?
TXTransplant
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DTP02 said:

Thanks for posting all that; very helpful!

We are booked for the night Manta Ray snorkel.

Can you give a little more info on the volcano-related stuff? What were the highlights? Is the night viewing a must do?
Kind of depends on what type of eruption they are having at the time you go. And it can change day to day.

If there are big fissures blowing lava into the sky, then night viewing is great. If it's just a slow creep, they you would want to go during the day. Also look into whether or not there is lava going into the ocean. There are boat tours that will take you to see that.

The park has the big crater, which may or may not be open for viewing (I think the 2018 eruption did some damage to the viewing areas and the roads). There are also day-hikes (guided and unguided) all in the park, and there is a guided tour of a lava cave. I've heard that's opened back up, but it's very limited (something like one day a week, if even that), so you have to book in advance.

You can always just drive through the park and stop and points of interest. There is the sea arch and a colored sand beach (green, IIRC).

nosoupforyou
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DTP02 said:

Thanks for posting all that; very helpful!

We are booked for the night Manta Ray snorkel.

Can you give a little more info on the volcano-related stuff? What were the highlights? Is the night viewing a must do?
Manta Ray Snorkel was cool! they give you a wetsuit but it's still chilly water - but you'll live - it's amazing when they come up to you! My underwater camera didn't take good pics but if you look online or on youtube you'll see what you are in for - amazing.

And dinner at the Sheraton at Rays on the Bay was so good and in the evening you can watch the rays/boats do what they do.

Volcano - I put it all on there - we actually gave up and didn't do that dinner and night viewing because there was no action when we went. It rained off and on the entire time and that's common apparently. there were also quite a few large Chinese tours going and they don't naturally move over so you have to work around that. I was too nice at first and realized you have to just walk past/through them sometimes.
txam92
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TXTransplant said:

DTP02 said:

Thanks for posting all that; very helpful!

We are booked for the night Manta Ray snorkel.

Can you give a little more info on the volcano-related stuff? What were the highlights? Is the night viewing a must do?
Kind of depends on what type of eruption they are having at the time you go. And it can change day to day.

If there are big fissures blowing lava into the sky, then night viewing is great. If it's just a slow creep, they you would want to go during the day. Also look into whether or not there is lava going into the ocean. There are boat tours that will take you to see that.

The park has the big crater, which may or may not be open for viewing (I think the 2018 eruption did some damage to the viewing areas and the roads). There are also day-hikes (guided and unguided) all in the park, and there is a guided tour of a lava cave. I've heard that's opened back up, but it's very limited (something like one day a week, if even that), so you have to book in advance.

You can always just drive through the park and stop and points of interest. There is the sea arch and a colored sand beach (green, IIRC).


The crater in Crater's National Park was open in March so you can do that (which is still cool), but you couldn't see a live lava flow at the time. We also did a night Manta dive and it was really cool, but like they said, even though we we had a wetsuit top, it was a bit chilly. You just have to suck it up a bit

Best place to eat, in our group's opinion, was Merriman's hands down.
nosoupforyou
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Merriman's! That's on my list!
DTP02
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Since you are big on Kauai and mentioned the Napali coast, I thought I'd ask if you have any favorite hikes or sights.

The Kalalau Trail has been recommended to us. We'd just do it as a day hike, so probably to the waterfall and then back.

I'm also curious about choice of hiking shoes. The frequent rain in Hawaii makes me think hiking sandals would be good, but I'm not sure of they're sturdy enough for the trail conditions.

Edited to add that they had a landslide in March that took out the highway to the Kalalau Trail and sounds like they are still working on it. Sounds like passabilty kinda depends on the day due to the ongoing rehab work. https://www.kalalautrail.com/kalalau-trail-closed-due-to-weather-landslide/

I will have to look into further (see below for update).
TXTransplant
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You can always do a catamaran cruise to see the NaPali Coast. We did the Zodiac raft tour that stopped at a private beach and went into a sea cave, but depending on your seaworthiness, you might find that too rough. Either way, the view from the water is stunning.

As far as hiking goes, the islands are all pretty wet. I've hiked in both hiking shoes and sport sandals, and I didn't find either one to be particularly good when it came to the mud. I tended to slip and slide no matter what shoes I was wearing. So, wear what is comfortable and easiest to clean before you have to shove them back in a suitcase.
DTP02
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I found more info on the restrictions on the Kuhio Hwy between Princeville and Hanalei due to the landslide. It's only passable at certain times of day right now. Here's the schedule for now: https://hidot.hawaii.gov/2021-hanalei-hill-landslide/

I plan to check the Hawaii DOT site for updates as we get closer.
The Lost
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nosoupforyou said:

Merriman's! That's on my list!
make sure to make a reservation asap when it lets you, we waited too long in march and had to settle for lunch. It was really good, but we wished we would have been able to do dinner.
txam92
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The Lost said:

nosoupforyou said:

Merriman's! That's on my list!
make sure to make a reservation asap when it lets you, we waited too long in march and had to settle for lunch. It was really good, but we wished we would have been able to do dinner.
100% accurate on that. Definitely get a reservation.
nosoupforyou
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we wanted to do this tour and luncheon with Hawiian Vanilla Company but we waited too long and didn't make a reservation in advance - check it out as well. It's near Merrimans'.

https://hawaiianvanilla.com/pages/visit-our-farm

DTP02
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The Kalalau Trail passes are all sold out for our trip. Just FYI to anyone who wants to go, they allow you to book 30 days in advance and sell out very quickly. I'm pretty bummed we won't get to do that hike.

Do you remember if your Na Pali boat tour left from Hanalei or Eleele?

Most of the tours seem to leave from Eleele, especially the nicer ones, but that doesn't make sense for us since we are staying much closer to Na Pali and Hanalei. I don't want to spend most of my boat time just getting to the Na Pali coast, so I'm hoping to find something leaving from Hanalei.
TXTransplant
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We used Kauai Sea Tours, and they are in Eleele. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt, so it wasn't too far of a drive.

That would be a hike for you. Surely there is something out of Hanalei.
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