Hawaii what to do and where to go ?

[BavarianBeast]

Thanks sabad. I appreciate the suggestions. We will definitely check out a couple of those. Kuaola ranch looks beautiful.

I’m going to give Turo a shot so we’ve rented a nice convertible for touring around the island. I was in Oahu about 15 years ago, but we didn’t get outside of Waikiki.

[Mitsu3000gt]

The Luau's are better on Oahu - the best show (fire spinning, lots of participants and highest production value) is at the Polynesian Cultural Center and the grounds are really nice. Only do it once though, it's a neat experience but you're probably good after one time.

If you have any specific questions about Hawaii let me know, that is my favorite island.

[sabad66]

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The Luau's are better on Oahu - the best show (fire spinning, lots of participants and highest production value) is at the Polynesian Cultural Center and the grounds are really nice. Only do it once though, it's a neat experience but you're probably good after one time.
.

i've heard the PCC Luau is the most authentic and best show, but the drawback is they don't serve liquor there if i remember correctly.

we did a relatively shitty one right next to the aquarium...i think it was called Diamond Head Luau. It was super convenient right across from our hotel at the end of waikiki, served alcohol, and gave you free entry to aquarium before and after, but the food was not good at all and production was meh. overall it was OK but looking back I wish we did a different one.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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i've heard the PCC Luau is the most authentic and best show, but the drawback is they don't serve liquor there if i remember correctly.

we did a relatively shitty one right next to the aquarium...i think it was called Diamond Head Luau. It was super convenient right across from our hotel at the end of waikiki, served alcohol, and gave you free entry to aquarium before and after, but the food was not good at all and production was meh. overall it was OK but looking back I wish we did a different one.

You could be right, I don't recall the booze situation as Oahu is by far my least favorite island and the last time I was there was quite a while ago now. It was definitely a family friendly event, for better or worse.

I've done a couple average Luau's now on Maui and Kauai too and they don't really do anything for me - Hawaii has some phenomenal restaurants and excursions, IMHO money is better spent there or on nicer accommodation. Same thoughts as you basically.

I did one at the Kauai Marriott and it was OK but super small, and the dinner was just access to the hotel buffet. It was inexpensive but not really worth it.

[realazy]

For Luau's in Kauai, my wife and I went to the Smith Family Garden Luau, we enjoyed it, we thought the food was great and the show was decent too. It's also in Wailua which is more central, depending where you're staying.

You HAVE to go to Waimea Canyon in Kauai, it's just breathtaking, it's where they filmed Jurassic Park. Wailua Falls is also really nice. The Na Pali coast sail tour is also supposedly a must do, we didn't go because the water is very rough in November.

Kauai's not that big so you can pretty much do everything in a few days.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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For Luau's in Kauai, my wife and I went to the Smith Family Garden Luau, we enjoyed it, we thought the food was great and the show was decent too. It's also in Wailua which is more central, depending where you're staying.

You HAVE to go to Waimea Canyon in Kauai, it's just breathtaking, it's where they filmed Jurassic Park. Wailua Falls is also really nice. The Na Pali coast sail tour is also supposedly a must do, we didn't go because the water is very rough in November.

Kauai's not that big so you can pretty much do everything in a few days.

I have been 5 or 6 times to Kauai now, usually for 10-14 days at a time, and there is a lot of stuff I still haven't done. Depends what you're into I guess. People come from all over the world to hike there, for example, and there are dozens and dozens of trails, many that require a full day. You can spend 1-2 weeks staying in the Kokee state park lodges and hiking the Canyon & Swamp. In 3 days you wouldn't even be able to see all of the whole North shore so I would suggest spending an absolute minimum of a week there, and you will likely wish you had a lot more time. Everyone is different though, some people just like to sit on the beach and hit a couple highlights which is cool too.

The Waimea Canyon drive + Kalalau valley at the top is a must do.

Last time I was there I did a Bee Keeping tour that was super cool.

The best thing I have ever done in Kauai (and one of the best things in my life) is an open-doors helicopter tour of the island. If you pay for one excursion, make sure this is it.

If you do the Kipu Ranch ATV tour, I suggest one of the companies that offer side-by-side vehicles (like a Polaris RZR) instead of the traditional ATV with motorcycle style handlebars. They were way faster, and just more fun IMHO. I have been on both.

If you want a good dinner cruise of the NaPali, I suggest the Southern Star. It's a $3.5M catamaran that served an awesome dinner, and the size and style of boat makes it handle any waves pretty nicely. They will sail it if conditions permit.

[BavarianBeast]

Thanks everybody. Are the Luau's something you can just show up to, or do they have to be booked well in advance?

We are staying in the Kauai Marriot Lagoons, is it a decent location? Access to restaurants? There wasn't much else available for less than $1k/night...

Waimea Canyon added to the list along with coast sailing tour.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Thanks everybody. Are the Luau's something you can just show up to, or do they have to be booked well in advance?

We are staying in the Kauai Marriot Lagoons, is it a decent location? Access to restaurants? There wasn't much else available for less than $1k/night...

Waimea Canyon added to the list along with coast sailing tour.

You need to book the Luau's.

The Kauai marriott is awesome, we usually spend a night or day there each time we go to Kauai - what we often do is a book a "day room" on the last day so we have somewhere nice to stay between our other accommodation checkout (usually 11AM) and flight home (usually 10PM). The two restaurants on site are actually quite good (Duke's and Portofino). The grounds are gorgeous, the pool is great and there are multiple hot tubs. The bay is OK for boogie boarding too. You're basically in Poipu so there is lots of restaurants around. You're fairly close to Waimea (40 mins) as well which is where the Canyon road starts (It's half hour to the top and half hour down). Your drive to the North shore will take about 45mins (to Princeville/Hanalei), and if the flood damage is repaired you can drive all the way to the head of the Kalalau Trail which you an hike the first 2 miles of (4 miles out & back) very easily and get most of the best views. You're less than 20 minutes to Kapa'a which also has several good restaurants and IMHO the best sushi on the island (Kintaro) - all the locals go here.

Hanalei has some of the best restaurants IMHO (Bar Acuda is a favorite).

You're less than 20 minutes to Wailua falls and Opaeka'a falls, both of which you can drive right up to and are very impressive.

We've always rented condos there rather than staying at hotels. You can get extremely nice 1200-1500sq ft places for around $150-300 USD a night depending on time of year. We always stay either in Princeville or Kapa'a for the bulk of the trip. The North Shore is nicer geographically IMHO, but the Canyon / Kalalau Valley access are from the South/West so if you spend a lot of time up that way you're in a good spot.

Do the helicopter tour unless you are not interested for other reasons - it's far better than anything else. Use Jack Harter and fly in a doors off Hughes 500. It's around $300 USD/person.

[ercchry]

North shore is just surfing... it’s dead besides that. Rental car is a must. Not even uber or taxis up there. Beaches are great and not crowded though. Pipe is crazy, and I don’t recommend surfing there unless you’re semipro at least. There are some okay smaller breaks though, but I hope you’re comfortable on a short board as even the rentals are lacking on anything kook friendly

I also hope you like food trucks!

Besides the food truck parks there is only a couple restaurants

Might have something to do with me almost dying up there... but Maui was much more enjoyable for me

[Mitsu3000gt]

^^ Important to note that is Oahu and not Kauai as they both are famous for their "North Shores".

[bjstare]

+1 for Pearl Harbour, that's a must see for Oahu.

Also, if you are planning on hiking, do the stairway to heaven (Haiku stairs) on Oahu. I haven't done it, as I haven't been anywhere other than the big island in like 15 years, but a buddy just did it when he was there last winter and said it was awesome.

[taemo]

^is it open legally yet and can be done during the day now?
I've done it twice couple of years ago but this was pre-IG days so security was pretty laxed, read that they fined some hikers in the past.

Now that we have a baby I'm starting to appreciate the convenience of Oahu, especially Waikiki.
2-3 blocks away from the beach, lots of ABC stores to buy all your needs and lots of food selection and the Ala Moana Mall.

On our trip last month, we also stayed at one of the condos by Turtle beach and thought it was really convenient. 5min drive to the Turtle Bay beach.
Grab an Acai bowl at Banzai Bowl (had it every morning while there, grab the one with peanut butter, really good)
Catch the sunset in Sunset Beach or Banzai Pipeline.
Snorkel at Sharks Cove (wear water shoes)
Watch green sea turtles in Laniakea beach (either early morning or late afternoon).
Learn to surf or stand up paddle board in Haleiwa
Buy fresh and inexpensive poke at Foodland or Tamura's Market
Go swim at the Waimea Falls (shitty that now you have to wear a life vest though)

I've never bothered doing the Dole Plantation tour, and did the Pearl Harbour tour the first time I went to Oahu.

Lanikai Beach is pretty nice too and definitely hit Hanauma Bay.

If you're in Oahu on a Saturday, hike Diamond head for sunrise then check out the Farmers market near by it.
https://bestfarmersmarkets.org/place...nolulu-hi.html

I've done PCC luau 3x now, the show is nice but the food is just average and never been a fan of pork luau.
We did Paradise Cove Luau few years back and preferred this more than PCC just because of the location with its nice sunset view of the beach.


If you are into fishing, bring your fishing rod and do some fishing (no permit required in the ocean water).
I took my father in law to Lāʻie Point State Wayside and he caught a snapper, it was the highlight of his trip.

[msommers]

@cjblair that's a great pic man!

[killramos]

Any tips for Maui over christmas around Wailea?

Seems like it’s going to be a shit show of business.

[bjstare]

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^is it open legally yet and can be done during the day now?
I've done it twice couple of years ago but this was pre-IG days so security was pretty laxed, read that they fined some hikers in the past.

No idea if it's legal or not. Regardless, lots of people do it, and there were no issues for the people who I know that have done it.

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@cjblair that's a great pic man!

Thanks, found it on google images.

[luuluu]

+1 for Kauloa Ranch on Oahu. We did the ATV tour back in 2013 and it was amazing. Pearl Harbour was awesome and i wish we had more time to spend there. If you like hiking, as mentioned Diamond Head was nice and we went during sunrise, another hike to try out is the pillbox hike (2 old WW2 military bunkers) in Lanikai. You can also hang out at Lanikai Beach before or after. You can try shark cage diving in Hale'iwa up at North Shore.

Back in Aug I was in Kauai, and yes, you need to do an open helicopter tour (worth the money Jack Harter heli). That tour is probably one of the best experiences ever and life changing. You pretty much get to see the whole island in the air. Definitely get the best views and from a different perspective of Kauai. One of the best ways to get super close to the 1000's of secluded waterfalls on the island. The Na'poli Coast is insane. You can also do the boat tour along the Na'Poli coast. We did a tour with the smaller boats because they were able to go into some of the caves and crannies which was cool. If you want to hike you can try Awa Awapuhi trail head and that'll take you to the Na'poli coast as well.





You can check out the Grand Hyatt resort and go through the resort to access Shipwreck's Beach and from there you can also do another hike (Maha'ulepu Heritage Trail) along the island coast and a golf coarse lol. This takes you to another beach called Gillin's. It's a nice easy walk/hike.
on Shipwreck beach looking towards Maha'ulepu Heritage Trail. You can also see ppl cliff diving too.


Check out Queens Bath (parking sucks balls though) and the hike is short, but can be very slippery and dangerous. You can cliff dive there and see Sea turtles and swim with them.

[luuluu]

a pic of Queens Bath


Another fun thing we did was kayak to Uluwehi Falls aka secret falls (get the earliest time possible to avoid everyone arriving later) You kayak to the trailhead do a small hike and arrive to a 100ft waterfall that pools down where you can swim/float around. You can even go behind the waterfall.


Here's a vid I put together so you have somewhat of an idea of the heli tour's and such. There's so many things to do and see. I love Hawaii too haha.

[taemo]

Just be careful and not go swim in Queens bath during winter season
https://www.sfgate.com/nation/articl...o-13447136.php

[sabad66]

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snip

amazing pics! Kauai is top 3 on our next places to visit list but this might bump it up to #1.

btw, your username reminds me of one of my fav restaurants in Waikiki (Lulu's). Bavarian, would recommend to check it out if you've got some time in Waikiki. it's at the very end of the strip close to the zoo. They have some seats upstairs overlooking the ocean and really good food.

[luuluu]

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Just be careful and not go swim in Queens bath during winter season
https://www.sfgate.com/nation/articl...o-13447136.php

Oh yeah it's winter time so the water will probably be super rough and high tide with unforgiving waves. It's actually probably not recommended during winter high surf season. Still cool to check out if safe to do so. I'm not a great swimmer so I just hung around the cliffs lol.

Our tour guide also mentioned that during the winter the water rises quite a bit. Pic for reference. Where the treeline cutoff is, is where the water gets to during the winter season. Pics don't do justice.
Attachment 84229

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amazing pics! Kauai is top 3 on our next places to visit list but this might bump it up to #1.

btw, your username reminds me of one of my fav restaurants in Waikiki (Lulu's). Bavarian, would recommend to check it out if you've got some time in Waikiki. it's at the very end of the strip close to the zoo. They have some seats upstairs overlooking the ocean and really good food.

I would recommend Kauai especially if you love the outdoors. It's so nice and no such thing as a bad picture there or anywhere in Hawaii I guess haha. I want to go back. It's so unreal there.

The Na'poli
Attachment 84230

Secret Falls
Attachment 84232

Waimea Canyon