Worth it for just 1 wk from east coast?

[Lisa P]

Due to DH's job, taking more than 1 consecutive week off at a time will not be in our plans for a few years. We were considering a trip to Hawaii, our first, and possibly our only for a very long time. With this time constraint, do you think it's worth the airfare and travel hassle to visit Hawaii from the U.S. east coast?

If so, where would you visit? Which island?
We like snorkeling, beach walks, scenic drives, wildlife, sailing, biking, and we'd enjoy visiting Volcano Nat'l Park.

Leaning toward a longer wait to visit. We're in our 50's so, Lord willing, we've got plenty of time to visit later. It's just tempting. Your thoughts?

 

[Luanne]

Personally I don't think it's worth it.

When we lived in California and it was a "quick" 5 hour direct flight, it wasn't worth it for just a week. It takes a couple of days to truly decompress and start to relax, then it's about time to go home.

If you do decide to go for just one week I'd pick the island you could get to the "fastest" giving you more time.

 

[vacationtime1]

Personally I don't think it's worth it.

When we lived in California and it was a "quick" 5 hour direct flight, it wasn't worth it for just a week. It takes a couple of days to truly decompress and start to relax, then it's about time to go home.

If you do decide to go for just one week I'd pick the island you could get to the "fastest" giving you more time.

+1

We love Hawaii and visit 3-4 times per year. But it takes us a half day to go, a full day to return, and we never actually adjust to Hawaii time (not so bad if you start on Pacific time). If the flight were twice as long (and overnight on the return), we wouldn't do it for one week only.

Each island is different and wonderful (there are many threads on that subject), but if you want volcanoes, it has to be the Big Island.

 

[DeniseM]

We won't even go for one week from California - this would be your schedule:

Day 1 - Looooong flight
Day 2 - Recover from jet lag, buy groceries, rent equipment, unpack, etc.
Day 3 - Vacation
Day 4 - Vacation
Day 5 - Vacation
Day 6 - Vacation
Day 7 - Loooooong Flight

Out of 7 days, you only get a 4 day vacation: too far - too expensive.

 

[BevL]

Nope, I agree. We gave up flying from Seattle to Florida for less than two weeks. Add the same flight on again to get to Hawaii from your neck of the woods. I wouldn't do it, unless you can squeeze out a day or two and are interested in flying to a west coast city for a bit of a breather on your way home.

 

[luvmytimeshare]

We travel from NJ every year to Hawaii and stay multiple weeks. It takes several days just to get used to the six hour time difference. If you could do ten days it would be worth it, maybe two nights in Hilo near the volcano (big island), and 8 nights on Maui in the Lahaina area (Kaanapali).

 

[Passepartout]

We find a similar situation to go to Europe from the West. It just takes a certain amount of time to acclimate to the time changes, so we go for no less than 2 weeks. Your body will take about one day to acclimate to each time-zone change. So from the East coast, it would take just about a week to get over the jet-lag, then it would be time to go back home and do it all over again. I wouldn't recommend it. Either find a way to take more time in Hawaii, or wait until retirement.

Jim

 

[LisaRex]

I've been to the islands 4 times from the Midwest. Twice we only stayed for a week and twice we've gone for 10-11 days because that's all the vacation time my husband would take. I strongly disagree with the others, because I've walked the walk and I still think it's worth it.

Hawaii is 5 hours behind EDT (Mar-Nov) and 6 hours behind EST (Nov-Mar). Now that seems like a huge swing, however there are lots of things that work in our favor:

1) It's a major tourist destination so flights are plentiful if you're near a major metropolitan area. If Newark is nearby, United flies direct from Newark in less than 11 hours (and home in less than 10 hours thanks to tradewinds). By contrast, it takes me 6-7 hours to get to the Caribbean because there are no direct flights.

2) Days are always short on Hawaii, between 11 and 13.5 hours. They don't get the daylight swings that folks farther north or south get.

3) Sunrise and sunset are also early: 5:46am/7:11pm at summer solstice and 6:59am/5:50pm at winter solstice. This works in our favor because our bodies naturally adjust to sunlight vs. some artificial clock.

4) Hawaii is an island. Like most tropical islands, life revolves around the sun. Most of what makes Hawaii great (the outstanding hiking, swimming, boating, fishing, snorkeling, etc) is done during the day.

5) Many activities start at sunrise or earlier. It's not unusual to start a volcano trip before dawn, a Haleakala bike ride at 4:30am, a Pearl Harbor tour at 6:30am, or a sailing adventure at 7:00am. So getting up before dawn, which you will find yourself doing naturally, is not an issue. It actually works in our favor because ocean activities are best done in the morning anyway because in the afternoon the tradewinds pick up.

6) Because of daylight savings, no matter when you travel to Hawaii, sunset is around midnight Eastern time. That's a very doable for us East Coasters because we don't have to adjust that much. When the sun sets, the whole island quiets down. There is a palpable drop in energy. This is a great time to sit on your balcony with a glass of wine and just enjoy being. Or, heck, why fight it? Go to bed.

7) Flights back are red eyes. If your flight leaves at 9pm, that's like 3am Eastern time. You'll be ready, willing, and hopefully able to just sleep on that long flight home. (And this is a GREAT time to upgrade to economy plus or first class. It's honestly not all that imporant at all on the way out.)

Yes, there's some jet lag when you get home. But because I've adjusted to the sun and not the artificial clock, it's virtually no different than when I fly to Arizona or California because a lot more happens after dark in places that aren't so heliocentric.

 

[krj9999]

The OP is from NC; don't think there's any direct flights. It certainly could be done, but IMHO not worth it for a week.

 

[Pat H]

It's 11 hrs flyng time from the East Coast. I would not do it for 1 week. We went for 2 weeks. I'd rather go to the Caribbean.

 

[Passepartout]

It's 11 hrs flyng time from the East Coast. I would not do it for 1 week. We went for 2 weeks. I'd rather go to the Caribbean.

If I were an East coaster, this would be my alternative. Even Mediterranean coast of Spain/Portugal would be more accessible.

 

[Deb from NC]

I'm also from NC, and although it wouldn't be my preference, I've gone to Hawaii for just a week twice. We had a wonderful time, but the trip back ( and adjusting to losing 5 hours ) was brutal! Going there didn't seem as bad...probably the excitement of going....
We will be retiring soon and I can't wait to go and actually stay for multiple weeks and really relax!

 

[slip]

While I agree that it is better to stay as long as you can, but having said that I
Would still go. Hawaii is often a one time trip and the hardest part is deciding
Which island to go to if you think you will only go once. I'm the same age and
You just don't know what's going to happen a few years in the future. Honestly,
Ever since my father past away, that's when I decided I better start doing some
Things while I still can. Since then we've been going back to Hawaii every year
And enjoying every minute of it.

 

[AKE]

We fly to Hawaii from the east coast at least once a year (maybe twice) for a week and have been doing so for many years. If you plan your flights corrctly you can still make a lot of your week.

day 1 - catch the earliest and DIRECT flights if possible so that you will arrive in Hawaii by dinner time (which will be 11 pm your time) AND STAY AWAKE AS LONG AS YOU CAN.

day 2 - you will be up early so go for a walk, etc...take an afternoon siesta if you are tired

days 3 - 7 - you should be acclimatized so have fun

day 8 (i.e. one week from the date you left) book a late evening flight so you can enjoy the full day there.. yes you will be tired the next day but you will quickly recover in a day or two.

I WOULD RECOMMEND OAHU as it has the most flights to/from, you don't need a car as public transit or cheap tours are readily available, and it probably has the most variety to see and do.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

I'm wondering if it would make more sense to fly to the Caribbean ? I live on the west coast, so Hawaii works for me, but the Caribbean takes too many time zones to work out for me.

 

[jestme]

Go. Try to leave home Friday PM if you can, stay in California for the night and catch an early morning flight to the island you choose. Splitting up the flight with a sleep in between really helps. You will be there by noon Saturday (Hawaii time), ready to go. Coming back, leave late Saturday night, arriving home Sunday afternoon. You will be tired Monday, but there are no guarantees in life, why wait.
BTW, we once went to HNL from Montreal for a weekend. Left Thursday night, overnighted in Vancouver and arrived in HNL noon Friday. Left Sunday night and went straight to work from the plane. (I worked for an airline at the time..) Now that was a short trip!

 

[JIMinNC]

We're also in NC, and the shortest we would consider would be about 10 days for all the reasons noted above. Two weeks is our preference.

I do think it's sad that American jobs have become so consuming/demanding and it's become so difficult for folks to take more than a week off from work. I'm self-employed so can make my own schedule to a degree, but my wife works in a corporate environment and struggles with the longer times off. She's worried our two week trip to Hawaii next summer will be "frowned upon". The European countries have things prioritized better with their more liberal vacation policies and expectations.

 

[presley]

Can he get a more days off if he goes the week after Thanksgiving? That's assuming he gets Thanksgiving and the next day off. He'd take his week the following week and that would give you 10 days. If not, it depends on what you like to do and how you value your time. I'd rather have 5 days in Hawaii than 7 days somewhere else.

I agree with maybe doing an overnight on the west coast on the way over just to break up the flight and get you on your way to the time change. The time change can be a very big deal. I only get to Hawaii from California, but I wake up early so when I am there, I am wide awake at 4:00am and there is nothing to do for a couple hours. Although, if you are taking tours, then you can book all the early tours.

Since you want to see Volcano's National park, you should stay on the Big Island. That way, you don't have to island hop for a day. My first visit to Hawaii was to the Big Island and we had a great time. We went to Volcano Park, spent some time in Hilo, went on a great snorkeling trip (Fairwinds), visited a coffee plantation and did some great drives/walks in some rain forests. There's a lot to do there if you like to keep busy and don't mind taking long drives.

 

[brigechols]

Go for it! Our introduction to Hawaii was with a 7 day cruise. We had an opportunity to visit each island then decided the islands that we wanted to visit for an extended period on a return trip.

 

[tompalm]

I'm wondering if it would make more sense to fly to the Caribbean ? I live on the west coast, so Hawaii works for me, but the Caribbean takes too many time zones to work out for me.

It is not the same. We went there last Spring Break. Not impressed. It is a third world country. The climate is humid like Florida. There is a beautiful ocean for diving and fishing there, but that is all Hawaii has in common.

 

[BocaBoy]

Of course more time is better but if all you have is one week, I say it is absolutely worth it. It is not like you are choosing between going for one week this year or 2-3 weeks next year. I think some of the responses here are from people who go to Hawaii frequently and go for longer (which also describes us). There is a big difference between your situation and someone not going for a week because they frequently have other opportunities to stay longer.

 

[Luanne]

It is not the same. We went there last Spring Break. Not impressed. It is a third world country. The climate is humid like Florida. There is a beautiful ocean for diving and fishing there, but that is all Hawaii has in common.

Isn't this like saying all of Los Angeles is a ghetto?

The Caribbean is as varied as any other place.

 

[falmouth3]

I used to do a fair bit of travel for work so going to Hawaii from the Boston area was not too difficult for me to handle. We flew the whole way in one day and stayed one week, both times.

The second time we went, I arrived home from Switzerland the night before and then left for Hawaii early the next morning. It really wasn't a big deal for me, but I understand that a lot of people have difficulty with time zones, and long travel days.

If you know how your body will react to long flights and time zone changes, then you can decide if you can do it.

Sue

 

[tompalm]

Go for it! Our introduction to Hawaii was with a 7 day cruise. We had an opportunity to visit each island then decided the islands that we wanted to visit for an extended period on a return trip.

The seven day cruise is the best way to see all the islands. But it departs on Saturday and you would have to depart the East Coast on Friday night.

I agree, it is not that difficult to fly 12 hours. The trip is not that hard. It is boring to sit there for 10 plus hours of flight time. But watch a couple movies, bring a book, get up walk around and do a layover on the west coast if needed. I have done Hawaii to the east coast dozens of times. Some of them where for an ALPA conference in DC that lasted two days. Others were to Florida to visit family for a few days. But, I spent 20 years of my life in the Navy flying 12 hour flights and when you include the brief, debrief, and preflight, it was an 18 hour day. So it is really what you are used too.

 

[tompalm]

Isn't this like saying all of Los Angeles is a ghetto?

The Caribbean is as varied as any other place.

The cruise went to three islands. I didn't see anything world class. I grew up in south Florida and visited other islands every year to go diving, fishing, etc.... I know the Caribbean well. I know Hawaii well because I live here and spent a lot of time on each island over the years. It is not the same and that is stupid you would compare what I said as Los Angeles is a ghetto. I love LA and there is no comparison. Sorry if you got offended about the Caribbean being third world. Maybe it is better than the ghettos in Mexico, or the Phillipines or other third world countries, but the nice areas of the Caribbean are about the same as the nice areas of Mexico. Both are third world and maybe there are other places that are worse, but the Caribbean is the the same as Hawaii.