Honeymoon Tips? Island Hopping?

[ars13]

Hello Everyone,
My future wife and I are going to Aulani for our Honeymoon from July 8th to July 18th and we were looking for some advice! We were looking to spend about 5 days on excursions. Anyone have any ideas of must dos as far as off-resort activities go? We are already planning on Pearl Harbor and Waikiki together one day. Here is a little more about us.

- We are in our early 30s
- This is our first and maybe only time going to Aulani/Hawaii since we are from NY
- We have a car
- We both like culture experiences
- We both are pretty active and appreciate nature based activities

Finally, we had some questions too:
- is it feasible or realistic to do day trip to another island? We would like to see other islands if possible, but want to use Aulani as our base of operations.
- is there any benefit to booking excursions through Disney?

Any and all comments/advice is so appreciated. I feel like we have no idea of where to start haha. Thank you!!

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

First off - Congratulations!!!

Day trips to other islands aren’t really convenient anymore. There’s only one option (flying) and limited choices, all of which are pretty expensive. It may be worth it, but that depends on how much you want to go, and how much time you have in the islands altogether. Each island is different, so there’s definitely a new experience awaiting, but it’s not ideal for a day trip.

On Oahu, I’d recommend:

• Kualoa Ranch - great excursions, and definitely creates long term memories - every time you watch a movie on some tropical island, you’re bound to be reminded of this trip
• Byodo-In Temple - beautiful, serene, and watching birds land on your/her hand to feed will be fun. (Stop and see the view from the Nu’uanu Pali Lookout on your way out - bring jackets because it gets cold!)
• Bishop Museum - if you want some Pacific Island immersion
• Physical activity - Diamond Head or Koko Head trail hikes, or Makapu’u lighthouse hike (less strenuous)
• Stop at Leonard’s for Malasadas (either at the bakery in Kapahulu, or at the Malasada Truck near Pearl city) - because… Malasadas! Yum! (Only get them at Leonard’s)
• Dinner at Roy’s Koko Head location, at sunset, request a window table. (The Roy’s at Ko’Olina may also be good - haven’t been to that one. But the Koko Head location has fantastic food and an absolutely gorgeous view

Separate tip - car prowls are very common - don’t leave anything in view in the car - and when stopping - do not get out, and store valuables in the trunk. Thieves know how long it takes to go out, see the sight, and return. So when they see someone putting something in the trunk, they know exactly which car to hit. (Sorry for that downer tip, but better to know now, than to have a bad experience on the trip). Oahu is generally safe, but car prowls have always been an issue)

 

[abdgeek]

Some other places to consider visiting are the Polynesian Culture Center, the North Shore, and a luau. IMO the benefit of booking excursions through Aulani is that most of them pick up at the resort. However, some of them do not so make sure your read the description before you book. Keep in mind that the Aulani excursions have a minimum capacity that is required, around 10 people, so they sometimes don’t go. If you call Pleasant Excursions at Aulani, they will tell you how many people are already registered so that you have an idea if you will need to go on your own or drive to Waikiki to get the same tour from there. Since you’re going in July, I would hope that wouldn’t be a problem.

Before Covid, island hopping for the day cost between $300-$500 per person and made for a long day (think 12-15 hours). Your flight out is normally around 5am or so and normally you return on the 7pm flight. As long as you’re ok with the cost and the long day, I say go for it. While you won’t be able to see everything of interest, you’ll be able to see the highlights. The Big Island is probably the easiest place to do this. I stayed on the Big Island and did a circle island tour, but we had people on the tour who had flown over from Oahu. When the tour finished, the driver dropped off guests at the airport around 5pm who needed to fly back and then dropped us at our resorts. You can always do your own island hopping by booking your flight with Hawaiian Airlines, but you would need to rent a car on each island for the day which might not be cost effective. Good luck with your planning.

 

[cgattis]

If you are going for 10 days, I’d honestly recommend splitting with another island, especially versus a day trip. Personally, for a honeymoon, I’d choose one of the resorts on Kauai for 3-4 of those days. I love Oahu, and there was plenty we didn’t see in 7 days, but Kauai is magical and easily IMO the most romantic overall.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

First off - Congratulations!!!

Day trips to other islands aren’t really convenient anymore. There’s only one option (flying) and limited choices, all of which are pretty expensive. It may be worth it, but that depends on how much you want to go, and how much time you have in the islands altogether. Each island is different, so there’s definitely a new experience awaiting, but it’s not ideal for a day trip.

On Oahu, I’d recommend:

• Kualoa Ranch - great excursions, and definitely creates long term memories - every time you watch a movie on some tropical island, you’re bound to be reminded of this trip
• Byodo-In Temple - beautiful, serene, and watching birds land on your/her hand to feed will be fun. (Stop and see the view from the Nu’uanu Pali Lookout on your way out - bring jackets because it gets cold!)
• Bishop Museum - if you want some Pacific Island immersion
• Physical activity - Diamond Head or Koko Head trail hikes, or Makapu’u lighthouse hike (less strenuous)
• Stop at Leonard’s for Malasadas (either at the bakery in Kapahulu, or at the Malasada Truck near Pearl city) - because… Malasadas! Yum! (Only get them at Leonard’s)
• Dinner at Roy’s Koko Head location, at sunset, request a window table. (The Roy’s at Ko’Olina may also be good - haven’t been to that one. But the Koko Head location has fantastic food and an absolutely gorgeous view

Separate tip - car prowls are very common - don’t leave anything in view in the car - and when stopping - do not get out, and store valuables in the trunk. Thieves know how long it takes to go out, see the sight, and return. So when they see someone putting something in the trunk, they know exactly which car to hit. (Sorry for that downer tip, but better to know now, than to have a bad experience on the trip). Oahu is generally safe, but car prowls have always been an issue)

This guy gets it.

Under "physical activity", I would add Ka'ena Point to the list. It's more of a "long walk" than a hike, 100% flat along coastline, and you end on a bird sanctuary on the far Northwest tip of the island.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

If you are going for 10 days, I’d honestly recommend splitting with another island, especially versus a day trip. Personally, for a honeymoon, I’d choose one of the resorts on Kauai for 3-4 of those days. I love Oahu, and there was plenty we didn’t see in 7 days, but Kauai is magical and easily IMO the most romantic overall.

I'm so conflicted on the idea of island hopping, especially when one of the islands is Oahu. I find HNL to be a major hassle to get to and from, and as much as I love Kauai in particular, I hate the idea of gobbling up a whole day of travel time. If I had a full two week vacation, I'd definitely split one week on Oahu and one week on Kauai. With one week, I'd stay on one island. 10 days is right on the edge where it might still be worth it, but I'm not certain.

 

[cmph]

One thing I'd add to the things posted above - Waimea Valley. It fits all your buckets (nature, active, cultural). My kids (7 and 11 at the time) whined a lot, so we didn't spend as long there as I wanted. I would love to take my time there with my husband! I think partly, the kid whining resulted from going to the Dole plantation first, which was just so crowded and unpleasant the day we were there. (I wouldn't recommend Dole for a couple on their honeymoon, incidentally, esp based on your listed preferences. There are many places to get a Dole whip these days!)

 

[IndyToThere]

The Hawaiian islands are a lot more spread out than you might realize. 'Island hopping' is a bit of a misnomer as you aren't exactly driving up to a small puddle jumper plane and flying a few minutes to the next island. You still have to go through the full airport experience (drive & park, go through security, arrive early to avoid missing flight, flight, taxi after landing, get rental car) and the flight distances are a bit more than you might realize.

You might consider doing a split stay between Oahu and another island. But I wouldn't consider day trips to another island unless you like spending your time travelling and spending extra money on those flights.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

One thing I'd add to the things posted above - Waimea Valley. It fits all your buckets (nature, active, cultural). My kids (7 and 11 at the time) whined a lot, so we didn't spend as long there as I wanted. I would love to take my time there with my husband! I think partly, the kid whining resulted from going to the Dole plantation first, which was just so crowded and unpleasant the day we were there. (I wouldn't recommend Dole for a couple on their honeymoon, incidentally, esp based on your listed preferences. There are many places to get a Dole whip these days!)

I've found Dole to be pleasant if you "rope drop" it first thing in the morning. Once the tour buses show up, it gets unbearably crowded.

 

[cmph]

I've found Dole to be pleasant if you "rope drop" it first thing in the morning. Once the tour buses show up, it gets unbearably crowded.

We targeted mid-morning for our arrival, with the plan to have lunch there at a relatively normal lunch time, after doing the train, maze, etc. It wasn't just tour buses... we couldn't even find a parking spot! Had to drive around waiting for someone to leave. Our oldest only cared about getting a Dole whip (which our local fro-yo chains in AZ have now), and the youngest thought the train was boring (after being annoyed by the line). It was definitely a tourism-fail for my family.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

We targeted mid-morning for our arrival, with the plan to have lunch there at a relatively normal lunch time, after doing the train, maze, etc. It wasn't just tour buses... we couldn't even find a parking spot! Had to drive around waiting for someone to leave. Our oldest only cared about getting a Dole whip (which our local fro-yo chains in AZ have now), and the youngest thought the train was boring (after being annoyed by the line). It was definitely a tourism-fail for my family.

Yup, last time we were there waiting for them to unlock the doors before it opened, and we made it onto the first train without a line, which was very pleasant. By the time the train tour was over, the place was already drowning in people and we bolted. At least it was a good excuse to drag my kids out of gift shop without buying anything.

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

The Hawaiian islands are a lot more spread out than you might realize. 'Island hopping' is a bit of a misnomer as you aren't exactly driving up to a small puddle jumper plane and flying a few minutes to the next island. You still have to go through the full airport experience (drive & park, go through security, arrive early to avoid missing flight, flight, taxi after landing, get rental car) and the flight distances are a bit more than you might realize.

You might consider doing a split stay between Oahu and another island. But I wouldn't consider day trips to another island unless you like spending your time travelling and spending extra money on those flights.

There actually is a different option. While most commercial flights require you go through HNL proper (Southwest, Hawaiian, etc), you can fly Mokulele Airlines, out of the smaller commercial terminal. It’s more like a charter plane, but they operate many internal and flights. More expensive than the standard commercial flights though.

there have been ferry options in the past (Seaflight, back in the ‘70s, and the Superferry more recently), but those ventures both ended in bankruptcy. It’s expensive to run, and the waters can be very rough.

before Aloha airlines went bust, there used to be a lot of inter-island flights, at very reasonable prices ($30-$40 pre-$100/barrel oil). Either those costs couldn’t be maintained, or reduced competition allowed them to dramatically increase the rates. Probably a combination of both. The end result is the same - island-hopping isn’t really a great activity any more. I do remember the days when getting on a small inter-island flight was easy - an hour and a half and you were on the road on another island. But then I also remember riding Seaflight

 

[longboard55]

The mistake people make on Island hopping is the mid day flight, yes you will waste a day, Book like an 8am flight, airports and car rentals are empty so you wizz right thru, we can be at our next pool by 10. Yes you have to get up early but better than a packed airport at noon

 

[jimmymc]

You can do day flights over to other islands, and many people do. Flights are 45 minutes to 1 hour each way, and you can rent a car wherever you land. Maui, Hilo, and Kona are popular choices. For me personally, I don't think I would if I was staying at Aulani. I would either stay on the other islands or stay somewhere cheaper on Oahu and do the hopping.

Since you have a car, I wouldn't book things through Aulani. You can drive to everything on the island.

Very good suggestions above, I would also add:

• The Sunrise Shack on the North Shore
• Haleiwa for food and the beaches
• Halona Beach Cove
• Kawela Bay
• Any of the various "Pillbox Hikes" around the island

 

[ars13]

Thank you, everyone for your suggestions!! I appreciate it! We really need to start filling in our schedule spreadsheet!

 

[Truther3]

We did a one day trip to Kauai when we were there in Sept. Got an early flight and was on the island by 9, rented a car through Turo and did some sightseeing and was back on the flight at 7:30. We wished we stayed a couple of days. Several years ago we booked an excursion from a private company that took us to the Big Island to see the black beaches and Volcanos