Hawaii - What should be on my tic-list?

**samthaman** · 02-14-2013, 06:04 PM

Planning on heading to Hawaii with my girlfriend sometime early this summer for about a week and hoping to get the most bang for our buck. Tour books only cover so much and since TGR knows best, I was hoping you guys and gals might have some insights.

Hiking, snorkeling, possibly some mountain biking, cliff jumping, and cultural stuff all appeal, but we're open to any and all suggestions.

Whatcha got?

**userA** · 02-14-2013, 06:06 PM

covered much but which island for starters sam?

**samthaman** · 02-14-2013, 06:13 PM

Frankly, you tell me, I'm in the preliminary stages here. From Seattle it seems like you pretty much always fly into Honolulu, then take short flights to the other islands. I'm assuming that the more off the grid the spot is that you're trying to go, the more expensive it gets to fly there.

I should add that if it's seasonally appropriate we'd be very interested in beach camping and the like to cut down on hotels.

**userA** · 02-14-2013, 06:16 PM

direct to maui from seatown

**DJSapp** · 02-14-2013, 06:23 PM

Kauai-->Na Pali Coast

/end thread

**userA** · 02-14-2013, 06:28 PM

Originally Posted by DJSapp

Kauai-->Na Pali Coast

/end thread

like hawaii used to be when the haoles began to see the green$$$ but before disney.
plenty of mags do the island ting

**Yanos** · 02-14-2013, 06:44 PM

Originally Posted by Hugh Conway

drop in on a local surfing
act the agro and entitled mainlander

Don't forget your GoPro...

**hutash** · 02-14-2013, 06:53 PM

Do a search. There are several threads about Hawaii that should give you some ideas or interests then it is easier to give specific recs.

I am a big fan of camping on the big island, definitely the cheapest way to do Hawaii.

**TWINS** · 02-14-2013, 07:32 PM

North shore is nice.
Rent a beach house by Gas Chambers.Post pics.

**userA** · 02-14-2013, 09:10 PM

big island near kawaihae has beach camping

**keipow** · 02-14-2013, 09:26 PM

big island camping. there is a vw camper van rental too.
i like Hilo side more than Kona.

Kauai and Maui are good. Prefer Kauai.

skip the rest, especially Honolulu

**hose-man** · 02-14-2013, 11:19 PM

Our first time there we booked a cruise on Norwegian which works like this..... Fly to Hawaii, explore the island for a day, board the cruise ship, wake up the next day on a new island, explore new island, board ship, wake up the next morning on a new island...... repeat 6 times. It was a very cool way to see all the islands an get a flavor for each. Renting a car and hitting the road proved the most fun. Booking shore excursions thru the cruise line were not as fun as the things we found on our own.

Think of it this way. For less than the price of a hotel each night, our floating hotel fed us dinner and delivered is to a new island, then fed us breakfast before the next adventure.

Our second time we went to Oahu, rented a studio. We wanted to do Pearl Harbor the Polynesian cultural center, and spend lots of time on the north shore. It was a good trip.

Next time I go I will probably take my kids and go the camping route. Probably on the Napoli coast line.

**acostiga** · 02-15-2013, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by keipow

big island camping.

when i was in hilo a few years ago, we visited the waipio valley for an afternoon. amazing. when i read this thread, i googled "waipio camping" and stumbled upon this link:

http://www.unrealhawaii.com/2011/09/...muliwai-trail/

man, this would be sweet.

**The AD** · 02-15-2013, 10:32 AM

Originally Posted by samthaman

From Seattle it seems like you pretty much always fly into Honolulu, then take short flights to the other islands.

Incorrect. Alaska has direct flights from SEA to all the major islands.

**char** · 02-15-2013, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by acostiga

when i was in hilo a few years ago, we visited the waipio valley for an afternoon. amazing. when i read this thread, i googled "waipio camping" and stumbled upon this link:

http://www.unrealhawaii.com/2011/09/...muliwai-trail/

man, this would be sweet.

I lived in Hilo for 6 months a few years ago.

I highly recommend doing this. The hike is not that hard (we parked at the waipio overlook and walked down and back up, didn't pay for parking, but we owned a beater Trooper that no one was going to steal anyways). Don't go if the weather says heavy rain. We were walking up the hill out of Waipio the day a heavy rain storm rolled in (2-3 day storm) and some people we knew were headed in and said the stream crossings got sporty.

We never bothered with a camping permit the entire time we were there and never got hassled.

Also, check out makalawena beach. Like Hugh says, it's all in the guidebooks.

There is a ton of stuff to do on the Big Island, way more than you can do in a week.

PS- When the sign says "don't cliff jump here" at the Boiling Pots in Hilo and you see the locals doing it, bear in mind that at least one person when I was there was sucked into a tube and reportedly was never found.

**guroo270** · 02-15-2013, 10:51 AM

Mama's Fish House on Maui is one of the best restaurants on the planet, and they only charge really great restaurant prices. Everybody is always impressed with the road to Hana, but I've never done it. It's kinda crowded, though.

If you play golf you can take one of the first two boats of the day out of Lahaina to Lanai, play 36 holes at the two courses there and take the last boat back to Maui. Or you can be a baller and spend a night at the Ritz there and watch the torch master.

For regular fare, Da Kitchen half burger steak, bra.

**PNWbrit** · 02-15-2013, 10:59 AM

Originally Posted by The AD

Incorrect. Alaska has direct flights from SEA to all the major islands.

Also check flights from Bellingham apparently very good prices.

**samthaman** · 02-15-2013, 12:58 PM

Originally Posted by DJSapp

Kauai-->Na Pali Coast

/end thread

In reading up on this, it sounds like it was at one point rather sketchy and infested with tweaker and acid casualties, but that the state made a push to clean the place up in 2010. Has anyone done it recently that can comment on the sketchy human factor on the trail? I don't mind steeps, or free spirited people, but i'd draw the line at tweakers stealing food out of my tent while I sleep... something that sounds like it was fairly common at one point.

Edit: sounds like it's changed quite a bit and that that description might have been overblow in the first place.

**Jumper Bones** · 02-15-2013, 01:08 PM

Originally Posted by char

PS- When the sign says "don't cliff jump here" at the Boiling Pots in Hilo and you see the locals doing it, bear in mind that at least one person when I was there was sucked into a tube and reportedly was never found.

This. Somebody, at least one person, died each year I was there.

Completely agree, I lived on Big awhile and never got bored. The town is a dump and the people are weird, but whatever...

**smmokan** · 02-15-2013, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by samthaman

In reading up on this, it sounds like it was at one point rather sketchy and infested with tweaker and acid casualties, but that the state made a push to clean the place up in 2010. Has anyone done it recently that can comment on the sketchy human factor on the trail? I don't mind steeps, or free spirited people, but i'd draw the line at tweakers stealing food out of my tent while I sleep... something that sounds like it was fairly common at one point.

Edit: sounds like it's changed quite a bit and that that description might have been overblow in the first place.

I'm going to Kauai in June so I've done a bit of "research" on activities.... and I think if you're like 90% of the people on TGR, you'll love Kauai. Aside from the Kalaulau Trail, there are dozens of other amazing hikes on the island. You can kayak the Napali Coast. You can kayak in the rivers. You can snorkel and dive off all the North Shore beaches. You can hang out on the beach and do whatever you want to do. I also looked at the Big Island, but for a 9-day trip it seemed a little too big for what I was wanting. On Kauai, I'm spending 6 nights on the North Shore and a couple in the south (for Waimea Canyon mostly).

From Seattle, it should be super easy to get to Lihue, Kauai with a direct flight. I'm coming from Denver and the flight stops on the way out (in Honolulu) but it's a direct flight from LIH-DEN on the way back.

**DirkaDirkaJack** · 02-15-2013, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by samthaman

In reading up on this, it sounds like it was at one point rather sketchy and infested with tweaker and acid casualties, but that the state made a push to clean the place up in 2010. Has anyone done it recently that can comment on the sketchy human factor on the trail? I don't mind steeps, or free spirited people, but i'd draw the line at tweakers stealing food out of my tent while I sleep... something that sounds like it was fairly common at one point.

Edit: sounds like it's changed quite a bit and that that description might have been overblow in the first place.

my wife and i hiked the napali coast trail at the beginning of january this year. its fine. we only hikes to the first waterfall, which you get to by taking a left at the first beach, we didnt hike out to the hippie commune or farther. but, first of all there were a shitload of tourists all over the place. second of all, we ended up hiking next too, and talking to some of those weird hippies and they were harmless.

here is on thing to note about hawaii (i have been on kauii and maui on two separate trips so far this year). there are fucking people everywhere, so if you have any fantasies about camping out there by yourselves, or running around naked or fucking in a waterfall, you will be doing all that in front of lots of other people. even a few miles out on some random hike.

**BraddA** · 02-15-2013, 04:52 PM

Originally Posted by samthaman

In reading up on this, it sounds like it was at one point rather sketchy and infested with tweaker and acid casualties

Don't you worry, you'll still have plenty of opportunities to rub elbows with all kinds of characters.
The Kalalau was closed for much of December and the first few days of January after an ice-head pushed a Japanese lady off a cliff. Dude disappears, manhunt ensues.

**jfost** · 02-15-2013, 05:02 PM

Originally Posted by hose-man

Our first time there we booked a cruise on Norwegian which works like this......

muhuhuhuhuauauuauaahahhaha!

that's Hawaiian for "hope your boat doesn't lose power" Crusies = probably some great deals right now due to twitchy public sentiment.

**DrFlask** · 02-15-2013, 06:03 PM

Originally Posted by samthaman

In reading up on this, it sounds like it was at one point rather sketchy and infested with tweaker and acid casualties, but that the state made a push to clean the place up in 2010. Has anyone done it recently that can comment on the sketchy human factor on the trail? I don't mind steeps, or free spirited people, but i'd draw the line at tweakers stealing food out of my tent while I sleep... something that sounds like it was fairly common at one point.

Edit: sounds like it's changed quite a bit and that that description might have been overblow in the first place.

We took the Kalalau Trail all the way out to the beach and camped there for 2 nights just 2 weeks ago, so feel free to throw any questions my way. There is certainly an odd mix of people living out there, but I'd classify all of the ones that we interacted with as friendly/harmless hippy/nudy/veterans, but we obviously didn't meet the guy who threw a tourist off the cliffs (talking to the locals there, most believe he went into the woods and off'd himself). If you're thinking about going out there, don't let any of those opinions sway you from going, as the hike and the beach are both absolutely incredible. The trail out to the beach is 11 miles, and I'd say relatively rough in parts that will slow you down -- consider that a relatively full day, and I'd strongly recommend against an intermediate night at Hanakoa, as it's just not that interesting of a campsite. If it's very wet, factor in even more time as the mud will get pretty bad and the exposed bits will be a *lot* more exposed. There were certainly a lot of tourists on the first 2 miles going to Hanakapai'ai Falls, and a smaller amount going out to Hanakoa. We played the resort game @ Poipu for the rest of our trip, but it's still super easy to get to other great hiking in and around Waimea Canyon, surfing, snorkeling, etc...