Which island to visit

[alanraycole]

I just noticed that you are from Florida. That compels me...

Probably, the only state that I have vacationed in more than Hawaii is Florida. I also lived in Florida for three years. This last October I spent a week on Miami Beach, a week on Key West, and a week near Fort Myers. I just got back from almost a month long trip to Hawaii. I have enjoyed at least seven months of accumulated time in Hawaii. Therefore, I believe I have license to make the following comparisons and recommendations. The comparisons are, obviously, over simplistic. However, they compel an important consideration for a resident of Florida wanting to take a trip to Hawaii.

Maui is Florida with a couple of mountains in the background.
Oahu is Florida with several mountains in the background.
The Big Island is a mix of cattle country and Florida with a volcano in the background.
Kauai is Florida with the Smokey Mountains set on top.

Literally, all the timeshare resorts on Maui are along a coast that you would find very similar to the coasts near home. The parts of Maui that are very different from Florida are all on the other end of the island and hours away. Almost all of the timeshare resorts on Oahu are in Honolulu. May I suggest that you save yourself the 12 plus hour flight and go to Miami Beach rather than vacationing in Honolulu? The beach at Miami Beach is far superior to Waikiki Beach. The Big Island timeshare resorts are hours away from the volcano with one exception that I know of. They are a bit closer to Paniolo country.

Princeville, Kauai, on the other hand, is in the middle of what I love most about Hawaii. I love all the islands, but, if it were not for Kauai, I would be spending more vacations in Florida and far less in Hawaii. Granted, I like Maui more than Florida. I like Oahu more than Florida. I like the Big Island more than Florida. However, the difference is not worth the daylong flight, except for maybe one trip per decade. I can be in Florida in a couple of hours, after all, and you live there. Definitely, if you are going on vacation to golf, shop, enjoy great seafood, and lounge on the beach, know that Florida has them all in qualities as good or better than Hawaii. I would even go so far as to say that anything done on or in the ocean is better in Florida, except whale watching and surfing.

If you are going for what Florida cannot possibly offer, you might as well stay in a resort that is right in the middle of what you will travel all day on a crowded jet to enjoy and what you cannot enjoy at home. All the timeshares on Kauai's North Shore are in Princeville. For those traveling from Florida, I boldly decree that Princeville is the only place that makes sense. Once you have the daylong flight and a week or two on Kauai in your past, then hopping over to one of the other islands is a good idea for variety's sake. However, you said you wanted to stay in one place. I strongly recommend that for Florida residents, that one place should be Princeville.

If you are exchanging through Interval International, I recommend the Hanalei Bay Resort (request two-bedroom units only to insure a great view). If you are exchanging through RCI, I recommend the Shearwater. If you are renting and money is no object, then I recommend the Princeville Hotel. They each offer stunning views that you won't find anywhere in Florida.

If you want to get away from it all, try the end of the road. Shortly before the dramatic sea cliffs of the Na Pali Coast block the road from going further, you will find the Hanalei Colony Resort in Haena. This cozy condo resort, with no phones or TV's allowed, features the ocean only a few steps from your lanai and mountains on the other side of the road. The Hanalei Colony Resort is about half the cost of the Princeville Hotel, but still expensive.

 

[Jim Bryan]

alanraycole

You make a lot of sense. I've always said that if we had mountains here, we would have to limit tourists. I've lived in Florida all my life and it took going to Hawaii to make me really appreciate it. I love Hawaii, and we go as often as we can. My Wife lived there before it became a State but our beaches here in Florida are as good as anywhere in the world IMHO. We just need mountains and the Hawaiian "Aloha." It's the people that help make Hawaii for me. I could go to the Caribbean
but it's just not the same! "Florida, the other Paradise."

 

[barndweller]

I agree with Alan completely. You must get the Hawaii Revealed books and when you do decide which island(s) to visit you must go for at least 2 weeks. Two islands would be great for a first visit since the inter-island flight is cheap & quick.

I would recommend the Big Island since you don't have an active volcano in Florida or abundant coffee plantations, ancient Hawaiian temples, or historic missionary era churches and homes. Then a week on Kauai in Princeville for the fabulous views, abundant waterfalls & rainbows, and the peace & tranquility. There are plenty of uncrowded beaches, hiking for all abilities, historical sites, golf courses both reasonable & mega expensive, and enough choices of boat excursions, tours, zip-lines & tubing to break the budget if that's your kind of thing. I'd skip Maui & Oahu this time. Most timeshares are located in the very crowded, over developed areas. Save them for another visit. You will be planning your return trip before you even get home!

 

[Laurie]

Maui is Florida with a couple of mountains in the background.
Oahu is Florida with several mountains in the background.
The Big Island is a mix of cattle country and Florida with a volcano in the background.
Kauai is Florida with the Smokey Mountains set on top.

If you are going for what Florida cannot possibly offer, you might as well stay in a resort that is right in the middle of what you will travel all day on a crowded jet to enjoy and what you cannot enjoy at home. For those traveling from Florida, I boldly decree that Princeville is the only place that makes sense.

I disagree with everything here, except for feeling like Kauai (and probably Oahu) was more similar *in color* (green) to the US east coast than the other 2 islands. I unfortunately stayed away from Maui for years, thinking it was nothing but high-rises. Not. You must be talking about people who never leave the poolside at their resort, looking for nothing other than some sand and some palm trees. If that's all you mean, you're right.

But the black lava on both Maui and Big Island, including at the beaches, makes them completely different from FL. The snorkeling makes them completely different from almost everywhere in FL except maybe John Pennecamp where I haven't been. The landscapes of all Hawaiian islands just couldn't be more different than FL, one of the flattest states in the country. The profusely blooming flowers. The mist, the rainbows, the cliffs, the waterfalls, the colors (red sand beaches, green sand, black sand, etc.), the dramatic beauty. There are very few places in FL that come close in terms of natural beauty IMO, excepting Sanibel/Captiva - before the canopy was destroyed. Even the seascapes, from an island like Maui, overlooking Molokai and Lanai - location of several timeshare resorts - are unequalled in FL. And I haven't even mentioned flowing lava.

 

[alanraycole]

So, you agree with me!

The landscapes of all Hawaiian islands just couldn't be more different than FL, one of the flattest states in the country. The profusely blooming flowers. The mist, the rainbows, the cliffs, the waterfalls, the colors, the dramatic beauty.

We agree. I think I sufficiently bragged about the beauty of Hawaii for all those who read and paid attention to my posts to know that I prefer Hawaii over Florida. That is not the issue. The issue is making the most out of what is different about Hawaii compared to Florida for someone leaving Florida and spending more than 12 hours in a crowded jet to get to Hawaii.

To put is simply, if I lived in Florida and traveled all the way to Maui only to find that I was staying in a place that had many more similarities than differences, I would be disappointed. If I got to Maui and found out that the EXTREME differences on the island are more than an hour away from any resort, I might be downright upset. If I discovered that there was a place that I could have gone to be SURROUNDED by the extreme differences and in their MOST extreme form and no one told me about it, I would feel betrayed by those from whom I sought advice. Therefore, I repeat... for residents of Florida, I strongly recommend Princeville, Kauai for your first Hawaiian experience!

 

[talkamotta]

Probably, the only state that I have vacationed in more than Hawaii is Florida.

I also visit Florida frequently, grandkids are in Florida. The thing about Hawaii that I love the most is: Im on Ke'e Beach. I look out to the ocean and I see this beautiful water and its warm, just like Longboat Key. Then I turn around and instead of seeing more sand I see BEATIFUL MOUNTAINS PACKED WITH FOILAGE.

Hawaii has everything in one place (or I should say on each island). For your first trip I would pick one week on Kauai, for the mountains. Nothing like you see in Florida. Then I would pick the Big Island because of the volcano and the place of Refuge and Black Sands Beach.

My kids live in Orlando and Ocala, they cant wait to get there. You might want to pick San Francisco and/or Vegas to give you a little more variety for your day or two layover.

 

[talkamotta]

Not sure on the length of trip but I know we would prefer to just go to one place and enjoy what it has to offer, hence trying to get it right before going, based on our tastes. Maybe that's the European in me! Back in Europe, you guys here have the fame for doing several European countries in a couple of weeks, now that we're here, we know it's not strictly true. Neither do the Europeans understand how large the Continental US is. Plus, we have so many place here we'd like to visit - why is it as you get older time seems to go faster and works still stops you from going places!!

I dont know about work stopping me from going places. Im doing better now than when I was younger. Work was more important to me then Now it just seems that when I go to one place, it opens me up to 2 more places I want to go, that I never would have thought of before. I wished I would have placed more importance on traveling when my kids were younger. When we go now, we are all just like sponges trying to get everything in. If you arent sure if you can go to two islands, then just pick Kauai and stay part of the week in Vegas or Sedona by way of Phoenix would be a sharp contrast.

 

[Kildahl]

Which Island First?

There are some excellent posts above but I would encourage you to use the search feature on this site to read some of the other threads that have addressed this and similar questions.
Like many of the posters in this thread, I have had the wonderful pleasure to visit all of the islands. Each has more than one feature I could live with for 2 weeks or more! Our fav- Kauai, even though our "fall in love with the garden island" beach house on the north shore was swept out to sea by a hurricane, never to be rebuilt.

We enjoy Maui ( my wife is a whaler) and have great memories of the Kona Coast on the Big Island. The solitude of Molokai was incredible. Nevertheless, I would recommend that you start on Oahu and spend at least a few days there.
Kildahl

 

[silvib]

Some very, very interesting schools of thought have been posted here and I am very appreciative of your insight.
When we lived in Spain, on the island of Mallorca, we traveled to the Canary Islands, my mother had told me of Tenerife's beauty, but to be quite honest, in comparison to Mallorca, it wasn't in the same league. We went on an extended trip along the coastline from Valencia right down to Marbella and again, returned home feeling that we had everything we had seen but without having to travel miles to see it! Beaches we have, lovely rural & open countryside we have, the only thing we don't have is mountains. Maybe I've been afflicted with the "grass is always greener on the other side" syndrom.