Travel
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Hawaii recs in October
DH and I are talking about going to Hawaii in October with my sister and BIL. We have no idea where to start though. Any suggestions on which island to go to, hotels recs and things to do? Or should we go a condo/house route? We are in the early stages of figuring everything out, but I really wanted to get on the ball. Any ideas price-wise that we should be saving? I know flights are going to be expensive but am hoping that everything can be resonably priced. We want to have a fun, relaxing trip! TIA!
Cinnabun and Junebug say, "Go Wildcats!"
Re: Hawaii recs in October
I've traveled with other people a quite a bit and when I lived in Hawaii I had a lot of house guests. Which island depends on two things -- do you want to do everything together as a group, and what type of vacation do you want in Hawaii?
If everyone is going to do everything together every day, I'd recommend getting a condo or house (although condos will be much easier to find and probably be in better locations), and going to Oahu. With a condo you'll be able to cook some meals in, which is easier than deciding where to eat three times a day, and will help save money. Groceries in Hawaii are expensive, but so are restaurants and with four people it will help. Oahu also offers the widest range of activities -- lots of great outdoor activities and beautiful beaches, but also history, shopping, museums, different small towns to explore -- so it will be easier to choose what you want to do.
If everyone is OK splitting up and doing their own thing, then a lot of it just comes down to personal preference and what you want to do. A condo could save you money, but a hotel would offer each couple more privacy. As far as which island, how long are you planning on going? With a full week you could maybe swing two, but it is an added expense and you lose at least a half a day doing that. And if you wanted to do the Big Island, I wouldn't recommend another island even with a full week because there's so much to see there.
I have a bunch of posts in my blog covering Hawaii, but if you have an idea of what you want to do on the trip it's easier to recommend an island.
And as far as how much money to save, October is a good time to find deals because it's a slower time of year. I still would budget maybe $900/person for flights and keep your eyes peeled for better fares. Accommodations will depend on how fancy you want to go, but a decent place not too far from the beach would be at least $250 a night. You can find cheaper but you'll start to sacrifice quality and location, and you could also spend way more for the fancier places. I'd throw in $100/person/day for food and drinks, and $40/day for a car. If know a few of the activities you'd like to do look online for prices. Activities can be very expensive, but a lot of the best stuff to do in Hawaii is free, so that can vary a lot.
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We were there a little over a month ago and it was awesome! We went to Oahu. We stayed at the Marriott Ko Olina Beach Club. It's about 40 minutes or so away from Waikiki, on the southwestern coast of the island. It was fantastic! We stayed in a two bedroom villa, which was perfect for us (we had our two toddler sons, my MIL and her DH and my mom). My mom slept on the sofa bed in the living room, and then my MIL and her DH took the master suite while DH and I took the "guest bedroom." The guest bedroom has its own kitchenette, sofa bed and balcony, which made it perfect for us. The kitchen was pretty large and had everything needed to cook meals. We ended up grilling several of our dinners, as the hotel has onsite grills for the guests. I think being able to cook our meals (and buy our frozen drinks at the nearby grocery store) saved us a ton of money.
There aren't too many restaurants nearby, and if you're looking for an exciting beach (e.g. waves, snorkeling), the Ko Olina beaches may not be your thing. We had young children, so they were perfect. Clear, calm water with soft sand and minimal crowds. Also, there were multiple pools, a ton of lawn chairs (never had to set your towel down in advance or worry about getting a chair), and there is an onsite luau on Tuesday nights.
All in all, it was perfect for us. But, if you want to do a bunch of active things on the island, like Waikiki, DiamondHead, Hanauma Bay snorkeling, etc., this location may not be the best for you since it takes a while to drive all those places.
Hi!
We were in Maui, Hawaii in October of 2011 for our Honeymoon. October is a great time of year to go. Anytime in Hawaii is good though honestly. I would say October is ideal for just about 'anywhere' travel, in my opinion. Tourist season is mostly over, lots of families will be at home because the kids went back to school, and its the 4th quarter for most businesses which can mean rock bottom pricing. :-)
I would look into Oahu or Maui. Both islands are 'touristy' enough that no matter what you want to do or where you want to go you have the ability. The other islands such as the main island and lanai, are touristy but don't get as much 'play' as these two. I will be upfront and honest with you we spent $10K on our honeymoon for 10 days. We rented a Jeep when we got there, it was $1000 total. We didn't fly first class or anything. We booked through a travel agent but their fee is only $50. Its the resort and the food and the things we did when were there. Here is a tip, the resort is going to charge you extra for a sea view room, a premiere sea view room, and on and on it goes. Book in your budget then when you get there you can request a different room and tell them that you are celebrating something special. If you aren't then remember you are sleeping in your room that's it. All views are delightful.
Oahu you can't go wrong with Honolulu. Maui has 'two sides'. A family friendly side: Kaanapali which can be more budget friendly and then you have Wailea. This is a bit more upscale and that is why the resorts are more expensive than Kaanapali. We stayed in Wailea. We were told that the 'better' way to go is to do a condo rental because you would be paying the same price and in our case this was true but again we were in Wailea and I am not sure of the price comparison to Kaanapali.
You have to know when you book a trip to Hawaii, no matter where you stay, you will be paying more money than you'd like to, more money that is normal. It's Hawaii. But if you embrace it you will have a blast. Groceries are high priced and with four of you, you will be spending a bit on these. Plus you want to have the experience to go out and eat have some drinks and relax. You have consider that not all the time are you going to eat in.
AdventureMaui.com is an awesome site! We used them for everything that we wanted to do there and they were so helpful. They have a page for Oahu too. If you have never been to Hawaii I would recommend a Luau but if you have been before and have been to one then I would skip it. Honestly they are all the same no matter how they advertise it. I would definitely rent a car, if possible a Jeep, you wont regret this even if it is just for a few days. Remember they charge at the resort for parking. Skip the sunset dinner cruises, we did not have fun on ours and it ended up being a real bummer. Skip any 'deep sea fishing tours' as well. The guides that we had for ours told us that they have restrictions on the fishing there because it is so good and therefore they can't take to the places to get the biggest fish. You will catch something but it won't be worth it. The zipline tour on maui was probably our most favorite thing. You can't beat it! Flying Hawaiian Zipline.
If you land on Maui. Go the back way to Hana. I just saved you about 4 hours of time with this tip! The "Road to Hana" is awesome but it is definitely a drive. Worth it to go the back way and save time in my opinion. Hana was nice and we did the 2 mile hike up the great waterfall you see in about 1000 pictures but after that we were so tired we didnt get to go to the seven falls/pools so make sure you spend the day there to enjoy it all.
Feel free to message me if you need any further help. I spent 6 months planning this trip for us to make it the best and it was.