if you've been there, i'm interested in how easy or difficult it is to "island hop" (I definitely want to go to Moloka'i, if i can)

i want the trip to be lowkey (read: i can't afford to stay at a resort lol)

i'll be getting an airbnb for the week (maybe 2) and doing really chill things like hanging out on the beach all day and eating local food..maybe take a surfing lesson? not sure...i want to be where the locals are..not tourists

any recs on the island i should spend time on? any special 'wonders of nature' places i should go?

Hawaii 5-0 yall...Mahalo

d

"But rest assured, in my luxurious house built on the backs of people darker than me, I am sipping fine scotch and scoffing at how stupid you are." - bshelly

Been to Kuai, big Island, and Oahu.
Oahu great for city vibes. Waikkiki is nice but a tourist trap. Did mainly touristy stuff there but it was cool - pearl harbor, north shore, waikikki.
Big Island and Kuai are way more chill. We flew from Oahu to Kuai, nice little 20 min flight with great views.
I kinda get the vibes that locals don’t mingle too much with mainlanders. Probably tourists get a bad rep, but some of it is earned. Saw some locals cuss out a 10 yr old boy for touching a sea turtle. Big no no over there.
Local food-you like spam? Try some poi it’s great lol. Seafood is awesome if you are into that.
The coolest things I have done in HI(besides golf ha ha) are see the lava, snorkel, and rent mopeds on big island and cruise to all the little beach spots. Kona side.
Hiking is dope on Kuai. No snakes or predators. Kayaking and hiking to waterfalls if you are into that.

Edit: also check on the covid restrictions. I believe there are quarantine and/or testing required right now. We might go in late July to big island.

>Hiking is dope on Kuai. No snakes or predators. Kayaking and
>hiking to waterfalls if you are into that.

yes yes yes!!! thank you!


>
>Edit: also check on the covid restrictions. I believe there
>are quarantine and/or testing required right now. We might go
>in late July to big island.

will do. hopefully, i'll be fully vaccinated by my birthday.

d


"But rest assured, in my luxurious house built on the backs of people darker than me, I am sipping fine scotch and scoffing at how stupid you are." - bshelly

Most people go to one island and stay there. I've never done the island hop myself. If you really want to chill and sit on a beach, I recommend picking an island and chilling there.

Oahu is for if you want access to a big city. I've never been there, but most say Honolulu is like a smaller, far less smoggy version of LA.

Maui is generally regarded as the "couples" island. Common destination of where people go on the honeymoons. But it is a good place to find a beach and chill.

The big island is the hottest (in terms of temperature) of them all. Also the location of the volcano. Not nearly as much natural greenery, but people who like to golf go there.

Kauai is the least "developed" of the major islands. Particularly the north side, which is much less developed. People who want to get away from the more touristy stuff go there. It's pretty nice, and can be on the "rougher" side, if you're looking for that.

I've only been to Moloka'i once. It's a day trip destination, usually by ferry. I honestly don't know if it's even possible to stay there. I do know, traditionally, it's supposed to be the island where the natives openly hostile to people from the mainland.

That's what I got. I recommend other Kauai or Maui.

Each Island will have a drier and wetter side. I think Hilo on the big island is one of the wettest places on earth. Jungle side and desert side is the way I think of it.

The waimea area on big island is unique. Ranching and farming area. There is also a mountain obervatory on big island. I’ve not done it but you can go up at night and see the stars.

>I've only been to Moloka'i once. It's a day trip destination,
>usually by ferry. I honestly don't know if it's even possible
>to stay there. I do know, traditionally, it's supposed to be
>the island where the natives openly hostile to people from the
>mainland.
>

on Parts Unknown: Hawaii, Anthony Bourdain went there exactly for that reason...he found that the locals like that thats what we think they feel and the truth is really more about them being openly hostile to people who try to commercialize and "disrespect" their land, customs and resources. This island is probably the closest to Hawaii's indigenous/polynesian culture of them all, hence why I want to visit

plus anywhere Bourdain went, i generally want to go.

d


"But rest assured, in my luxurious house built on the backs of people darker than me, I am sipping fine scotch and scoffing at how stupid you are." - bshelly

Fite wolks certainly have long and established history of exploiting the islands' population and resources. So the natives treating outsiders with a healthy dose of skepticism and sometimes outright hostility is understandable. And things have changed a bit since I went there 25 years ago (apparently you fly onto the island as the ferry shut down; there's one hotel and some rentals available). The only thing I'll add is that Bourdain had the advantage of being Anthony Bourdain, so that got him some goodwill before he even landed there.

But if you get over there and really explore and get into the culture, then more to power to you.

I dont know what it's like due to the pandemic but there's a long strip with tons of restaurants and stores

I didnt explore a whole lot when I was there

the worst part might be the time change, it's 5 hours behind the east coast, i.e. if you're used to waking up at 8 AM it'll only be 3

>the worst part might be the time change, it's 5 hours behind
>the east coast, i.e. if you're used to waking up at 8 AM it'll
>only be 3

yeah that can be rough. i used to fly back and forth to London alot and i've been to Japan, so i should be good

"But rest assured, in my luxurious house built on the backs of people darker than me, I am sipping fine scotch and scoffing at how stupid you are." - bshelly

Hotel we stayed at was on Waikiki Beach. Basically that strip was all night...tons of food places. There were a bunch of stores like Nike, Coach, etc. We did some excursions like snorkeling (absolutely amazing), an island tour that was offered through the hotel (we were on a charter bus and they took us around the entire island and showed us different points of interest...not sure how viable that would be in a Covid world). We also rented a convertible and drove around on our own. We drove through a lot of scenic routes, stopped and chilled/took pics on the area of beach where Lost was filmed, went to the C&H sugar fields and some more shit.

"But rest assured, in my luxurious house built on the backs of people darker than me, I am sipping fine scotch and scoffing at how stupid you are." - bshelly

From my experience it's actually easier to do a "less touristy" trip in Hawaii than it is in some other places like the Caribbean. At least form the standpoint of local beaches being available and not just owned by big resorts. Main thing is that pre-planning is really important - go to actual travel forums on reddit or elsewhere and people can give you all the specifics of places to check out depending on time of year and island/area/cost.

There are also some common tourist type places that would actually be enjoyable because you can do them separate from big crowds. Like the Road to Hana on Maui - you can drive it yourself and there are plenty of quiet places to stop and take in beautiful sites like waterfalls, views of the ocean, etc.

reading alot of yall's responses got me leaning toward Maui & Kuai
d

"But rest assured, in my luxurious house built on the backs of people darker than me, I am sipping fine scotch and scoffing at how stupid you are." - bshelly

The Big island has almost 5 climates
Volcano State Park is there...which you can spend a couple days
Black Sand Beaches
Kona Coast is awesome...especially for coffee lovers
Hilo is like a small midwest town but on an island lol
We hit up alot of local beaches when we were there
Airbnbs are reasonable on that island...but alot of em do not have AC

It is so easy to island hop...so dont be afraid of that
Like others have said Honolulu is touristy...but north of that is where it gets more local
Stay away from the North Coast $$$$
if you are a movie buff hit up Kualoa Ranch

I've been 6 or 7 times, to all the islands except for Lanai and Molokai. My ex's parents used to live there in the winter so we went a lot.

Will be easier to give you specific recommendations once you pick the island(s) you're going to visit. The resorts there are incredible but honestly I prefer airbnb's and blending more with the local vibe. The entire coastline in Hawaii is public land and all resorts are required to provide public access so even if youre not staying in a resort you can enjoy any of the beaches.

Everyone shops at Costco because regular grocery stores in HI are very expensive. Renting a car is a must on any of the islands.

Re: island hopping - Its easy but it basically takes up a whole day, so keep that in mind. The flights are only like 30 mins but you still have to check out of your place, drive to the airport, return the rental car, go through security, fly, rent another car, maybe get groceries, drive to your new place, settle in. If you're going for 10 days or 2 weeks I think doing 2 islands would be perfect. I've never been to Molokai and while I think it would be interesting to see I'm not sure I would "waste" the time going there vs exploring more of the other islands. I kind of figure we should just let the locals at least have one of their islands not scourged by tourism and haoles.

I recommend reading up on the history of Hawaii before you go. It has an interesting, rich culture and complicated past. You will appreciate your trip more and hopefully be less of a dumb tourist because of it.

As a general rule respect the wildlife, nature, and locals. Don't get close to seals or turtles. Some locals don't play, but if you arent a dickhead they are very warm and nice people. Shaka!

My island ranking:

1. Kauai
In my opinion the most beautiful and best island. Especially the north shore. There are no big resort areas there, and there is more of a local feel. There can be frequent rain in between the sun but you also get incredibly lush rain forest scenery because of that. The southern side of the island is usually sunnier and drier so simply driving a little bit to another part of the island can get you different weather. When I think about going to Hawaii, I think of Kauai first and maybe visiting the other islands in addition.

2. Big Island (Hawaii)
The most diverse island in terms of the land - some extremely wet rain forest, some arid desert like lava fields, some rolling green hills. Although the other islands have more great beaches, I think the BI is a must visit at least once. Volcanoes National Park is amazing and the volcanic activity on the island just gives it a cool energy and good insight on how the islands were created. I love hapuna beach. I don't love Kona - its a cruise ship port and therefore has a lot of tacky tourist trap stuff. I think BI is supposed to be the most affordable.

3. Maui
Kind of a blend of Kauai and BI. Lots of gorgeous beaches, stunning road to Hana (recommend staying overnight in Hana), Haleakala volcano. There are two major resort areas - Kaanapali and Wailea. I think Maui is supposed to be the most expensive.

4. Oahu
Honolulu is a big city. Waikiki is saccharine tourist yuck. However, the north shore is great. It has some of the most famous surf spots in the world, and that culture really dominates the north shore along with a really strong local vibe. This is the most populated island so it is interesting to see more typical local life here. Admittedly I've only been to Oahu once, but I wouldn't mind returning to the north shore.

I'll do Kuau'i on the second trip (cuz i'm sure i'll want to come back!)

d

"But rest assured, in my luxurious house built on the backs of people darker than me, I am sipping fine scotch and scoffing at how stupid you are." - bshelly

is Hanauma Bay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanauma_Bay This was about 10 years ago. We were staying in Honolulu and I'm pretty sure we took a public bus to Hanauma Bay. The public buses when we were there were great, got everywhere we wanted to go with them no problem.

Go to Leonard's Bakery (Malasadas) and Rainbow Drive-In (Loco Moco). Near each other, loved the food and deserts at both.

Climb Mt. Olomana (but don't almost kill yourself like me)

Diamond Head lookout is fairly easy and worth it.

Lanikai Beach is a must see (Obama's live nearby)

Punahou school is where Obama went. Nice school to walk through.

Nu'Uanu Pali Lookout


that's all I remember for now.