Back from Honeymoon - 16 days in HI

[dawndelion]

Hello! You all have been so helpful in planning our honeymoon to Hawaii. We initially were going for the cruise, but decided to make it an all land tour and the tips were still great! Here's a summary of our trip if you are interested (sorry so long) and let me know if you have any questions! Thanks again!

 

Day 1 - Kona - Hilton Waikoloa Village

 

We drove the north way to VNP stopping along the way at Akaka Falls, Rainbow Falls, and Boiling Pots (which weren't boiling). We walked down the boulders at boiling pots to get a better view of the small waterfall there. We then made our way up to VNP arriving around noon. Since it was only half a day, we went to thurston lava tube, then did crater rim drive. We walked the trail to the sulfur banks and steam vents, which was interesting. We stopped at the Jagger museum. then spent quite a while walking around kilauea crater.

 

Day 2 - Kona

 

We drove to the town of Kona and saw the heiaus, the palace, and old church (sorry I don't feel like looking up the names ;), then we drove down Alii Drive to see the other 2 heiaus and cute little blue church. We continued south on the highway and saw the captain cook monument, the painted church, and the place of refuge.

 

Day 3 - Kona

 

We drove north stopping at Puukohola national site (heiau) and then onto Waimea, where we did the carriage ride and historic homes tour at Parker Ranch. It was a little cheesy, but we still enjoyed it. We drove northwest on Kohala Mountain Road, which offered awesome views on our way to Hawi. We stopped at Tropical Dreams ice cream in Hawi and then went north to Pololu valley lookout which was awesome. Beautiful lush valley and shear sea cliffs with a black sand beak below. There were a lot of surfers on the beach and we walked halfway down the trail to get some better pictures, but the hike back up was pretty steep and brutal.

 

Day 4 - Kona

 

We drove to VNP again, but taking the southern route this time. We stopped at south point which was cool, even though it was a long and bumpy road down there. We got back to the highway and made a stop at the black sand beach at Punaluu. The water was rough and we didn't see any turtles, so our stay there was pretty short. We continued onto VNP and did the chain of crater road this time. We saw the sea arch and walked out to the lava flows over the end of the road. On the way back up, we did the petroglyphs trail, which we thought was too long and not worth it as the petroglyphs were difficult to see and mostly just circles. There are some beautiful views off of the chain of crater road and I would not miss this while you are in Hilo.

 

Day 5 - Kona

 

We drove to the Mauna Kea visitor's center to meet the UofH organized summit tour at 1pm. We spent over an hour at the visitors center and acclimated to the alititude just fine. There were about 10 cars in our tour and the guide ensured that everyone had their vehicle in 4wd Low gear, with headlights on and full tank of gas. The Ford Escape in the group (who rented from Harpers) didn't have 4wd low, only hihg, but they still let him go up and asked that he put the transmission in gear 1 for the decent. It is a slow and steep 8 mile climb to the top with a little fishtailing on the dirt, but not too bad of a drive. The view at the top was amazing and it was great to go on the guided tour that took us to the Keck observatory and the UofH telescope. The tour guides were very knowledgeable and interesting. The tour ended at 4:30 and we decided to go down instead of wait for sunset at the top. We stopped at the visitors cent for half hour to acclimate, but we wish we stayed longer, because there was a lot of head pressure the rest of the way down. The Saddle Rd back to Kona was extremely foggy most of the way home and we had to go very slow because we couldn't see more than a few feet in front of us. Overall, it was an awesome experience.

 

Day 6 - Maui - Westin Maui Resort

 

DH is a Railfan, so we spent several hours chasing the sugar cane train and taking photos and videos. He was so excited they were running the steam engine and the people that work there were so friendly, waving to us on each pass and offering a 2nd free ride to us. Overall, the scenery on the train ride is not too desireable (a lot of backyards and highway views), but you can see the ocean for a stretch and I think it is great to support this little railroad that has survived so long. They told us the resorts are trying to take over their tracks in the next 4 years and they may be out of business for good at that point...such a shame. After the train watching, we drove around northwest maui, which offered some great views of sea cliffs and an awesome blowhole that you could walk right up to and get sprayed.

 

Day 7 - Maui

 

We drove the road to hana this day. Overall, we enjoyed the sights, but did agree that now that we have done it once, we don't care to do it again. We enjoyed the seven sacred pools, lindbergh's grave, and the black sand beach at Wainapanapa State Park. My suggestion would be to hit this beach if you were planning the road to hana and spend more time at VNP on the big island instead of going to punaluu.

 

Day 8 - Maui

 

We drove up to Halekalea this day and made it up the mountain by about 10am. It was a little chilly at the top, but we had long sleeve shirts on and were fine. We picked up some hikers on our way up who wanted to start the trail at the top and work their way down to their car. It was a friendly group of guys who were celebrating a bachelor party with the hike. At the top in the glass enclosed area, we listened to a presentation by the park service about the volcanoes that was interesting. We hiked to the top of the one cinder cone and made a few stops on the way down at the various overlooks. We had a late lunch at Kula Lodge which was good and then went up Waiapoli road to see the redwood forests. That road was very steep and winding and quite scary when another car would pass - fortunatley we only passed 2 cars!

 

Day 9 - Maui/Kauai - Hilton Kauai Resort

 

We spent the morning at Kaanapali Beach at Black Rock snorkeling which was very good and we saw a lot of different types of fish. We took a plane to Kauai at noonish and once there we went to see Opeaka falls. The falls were impressive, but there was a lot of vegetation blocking our view and they were so far away, it was difficult to photograph.

 

Day 10 - Kauai

 

We drove to Waimea Canyon this day and went all through Kokee state park to the end of the road stopping at each lookout on the way. There was a lot of fog in the valley and it was difficult to see some of the spectacular cliffs. We came back down to the highway and drove all the way west to Polihale state park and saw the beautiful beach and start of the na pali coastline. The bumpy road out there was not a fun ride in our Chevy HHR, but we saw a lot of mustangs on the road, so it is driveable. On the way back we stopped at JoJo's for Shave Ice and it was the best ever!

 

Day 11 - Kauai

 

We went to the Kilohana plantation and rode the train. DH was very disappointed it was a diesel engine running and although they claim to have 2 steam engines, they never run them and they are hidden in a shed (he feels they should display these historical engines). Overall, the planation was not that exciting. They did give us bread to feed the pigs and goats during the train ride. We stopped at Wailua Falls and again were disappointed by the amount of vegetation covering most of the view of these beautiful falls. We drove down to Poipu Beach to see if we could find a monk seal (we heard there was a family of them hanging out here) and we succeeded...what a cutie! We saw the blowhole and then headed up to Kipu Falls. It was a fun walk through the sugar cane field and amazing to see locals jumping off of the swing rope and doing backflips off the top of the falls!

 

Day 12 - Kauai

 

We headed to the North Shore and really enjoyed our time at the lighthouse. After 11 days of different islands and seeing many Nene crossing signs, but no Nene, we were thinking they didn't exist! Finally, at the lighthouse, we got to see the little geese and many other birds. We drove further north to the caves and up to ke'e beach. Nice scenery along the drive.

 

Day 13- Kauai

 

We went ziplining at Princeville Ranch this day. It was a lot of fun and we went on 8 ziplines total. We stoppped for lunch in the middle and there was a swimming hole there with a cliff you could jump off of. We didn't go swimming, because the large prawns all of the rocks were not too inviting!!

 

Day 14 - Oahu - Hilton Hawaiian Village

 

We drove to the Dole Plantation and the maze and train ride. We got bored with the maze after about 20 minutes and found our way out without doing all of the stations. The train ride was also pretty cheese (oh the music is annoying), but it was nice to see the pineapple plants. Used our entertainment coupon for a Dole Whip and I didn't care for it too much. It was Sunday, so we then went to the Hawaiian Railway Society for their weekly train ride. They had a lot of equipment scattered about the yard from the 100 year old Oahu Rail and Land Co and it was very interesting. The train ride was 90 minutes and the narration was interesting.

 

Day 15 - Oahu

 

We started the morning at Pearl Harbor, hoping to be near the front of the line. There was an accident on the highway, so we were stuck at a dead stop for nearly an hour. Finally got there at 8:30 and got a ticket for 9:30. Absolute must do on Oahu, very moving and touching. We loved the audio tour...definitely worth the $5 and brought tears to my eyes. I was a little offended by some tourists who smile and pose in front of the memorial for a picture...it is a cemetary and solmn place, I don't get the smiles. Anyway, we went to the Bowfin afterwards and the audio tour was free with admission and again very interesting.

 

We then went to the Polynesian Cultural Center and used our entertainment book to get $40 off of the admission and luau package. Overall we enjoyed the day, but it started getting pretty boring around late afternoon when all of the dances and yelling and stomping all starts to look the same after a while. The canoe pageant was very nice and we really enjoyed the Horizon's show. The luau was just okay and we probably wouldn't do that again. We couldn't see half of the stage because of the seating arrangment and the show goes on while you are getting food, so you miss part of it. The host of luau was very entertaining though.

 

Day 16 - Oahu

 

We went to Diamond Head and hiked to the top. It took us about 35 minutes to get up and about 25 to get down. Nice views and it was cool to see the old army bunker. The steep stairs are a killer, but it is worth it. Afterwards, we took a drive through Punchbowl cemetary which is beautiful and moving. Then we took a drive by DaKine Bail Bonds ( I love DOG), then Iolani Palace. We headed out towards the north shore and stopped along at the blow hole and other points of interest from the oahu revealed book. We watched the surfers and the sunset at Sunset beach and then made our way back down to Oahu. Flight wasn't until 10:55pm, so we killed a few hours at Ala Moana shopping center and we were sad to say goodbye to HI.

[CC Help Michell]

Wow what a lot of fun and interesting things you got to do on your honeymoon! Thanks for sharing with us, and congratulations on your marriage. :)

[Miffy_Oz]

We're planning our Hawaiian honeymoon at the moment - yours sounds lovely!!

 

And guess what! We're staying at the Westin Maui too!! How was it!? Tell me all about it - rooms, restaurants, pools, beach, location... everything!

 

Please! :o

[dawndelion]

Hi Miffy -

 

The Westin Maui was pretty nice. It was the smallest room of all the resorts we stayed at, but it was adequate. We booked on priceline for $125/night which was a great deal and they upgraded us when we checked in because they were not full. They greet the ladies with a fresh orchid lei and the guys with a Ti leaf lei when you check in, which was a nice touch. They also have flowers on picks to put behind your ear each day.

 

The lobby is open-air and looks over the lovely lagoon with flamingos, parrots, and other animals. The pools are huge and awesome. The biggest ones all closed at sundown and only the smaller adult pool was open past sunset. The hot tub was always packed, so we didn't get to try it out during our short stay.

 

They have two main restaurants on property and they are next to each other. We ate at the more casual one, which was very good, but expensive as expected. You can also walk next door to Whalers Village Shopping Center and there are a few more restaurant choices there. We ate at Rusty Harpoon and I wouldn't recommend that one, but Leialanis by the Sea or something like that gets good reviews in the revealed books.

 

The Kaanapali beach in front of the hotel is very nice and we walked about 10 minutes down the beach to black rock to go snorkeling, which was great. We saw a good variety of fish including the state fish.

 

Overall, it was a good experience, except for the parking and elevators. The elevators were slow and one was broken, so there was always a crowd waiting for them. We opted for self park, but the lot was full every night when we got back from sightseeing (after 5-6pm) In that case, they will valet park your car for free, so we had to go that route. When we got our bill, there were charges for valet, which we got removed after we complained and said the self park lot was full. Also there is an $18/day resort fee that includes self park, internet, and 2 bottles of water a day.

 

Have a great time and let me know if you have any other questions!!