Island hoping at Aulani.

[CruznLexi]

We are contemplating a stay at Aulani in 2015 has anyone stayed at both the Big Island and Aulani? Was it is nightmare to do. I have been to Hawaii before but love the big island too. Would like to do both.

 

[dvc_john]

I always island hop when going to Hawaii. It's too far and too expensive for me to not island hop.

However, I do stay a minimum 4 nights at any location.
This year for me it's 10 nights Oahu, 5 nights Big Island, and 5 nights Maui.

 

[kdonnel]

I am at Aulani now and will head to the Big Island tomorrow. This is our third trip to Hawaii and we have always split our stay between two islands. Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii(The Big Island) so far. Still need to visit Kauai and Molokai.

My only suggestion would be to do Aulani last. We always forget that advice. We will be leaving a grand villa for several regular hotel rooms on the Big Island. It won't be the same.

 

[poohj80]

We are contemplating a stay at Aulani in 2015 has anyone stayed at both the Big Island and Aulani? Was it is nightmare to do. I have been to Hawaii before but love the big island too. Would like to do both.

We just returned from this exact trip. We flew into Hilo first because we knew once we got to Aulani, we wouldn't want to leave. We spent 2 days on the Big Island and saw waterfalls and Volcanoes National park plus went zip lining. It was AWESOME!







We then flew one way to Honolulu on Hawaiian airlines then flew home from there after Aulani. We found this more economical than booking a day trip from Aulani (~$350 pp) because the airfare into Hilo wasn't much different than if we went round-trip to HNL. The island hop airline ticket was $75 pp.

 

[Jaaron2]

We were thinking about doing the same thing (and doing the same excursions). We are booked at Aulani for 2 weeks in June and we thought about hoping over to the Big Island for a couple days in the middle of our trip. Do you mind me asking where you stayed? We were trying to figure out where the best location was to stay if we were to do the Volcano National Park and zip lining.

 

[mj2vacation]

http://www.aquahospitality.com/monogram/hotels/volcano-house/

Awesome location to stay!

 

[poohj80]

We were thinking about doing the same thing (and doing the same excursions). We are booked at Aulani for 2 weeks in June and we thought about hoping over to the Big Island for a couple days in the middle of our trip. Do you mind me asking where you stayed? We were trying to figure out where the best location was to stay if we were to do the Volcano National Park and zip lining.

We waffled with whether to stay at Volcano House, near the beach and other activities, or split our stay. Since we were only there a few days, we didn't want to move. I have a friend who lives in Hilo who recommended the Hilo Hawaiian so we stayed there. It was nice and we had a beautiful water view. They offer govt rates as well. Here are a couple pix from our balcony..

Looking down the hotel


Looking out over Coconut Island and walking bridge (great place to take the kids swimming)


Many tour operators for volcanoes, waterfalls, zip line, sight seeing, etc will pick you up at Hilo hotels but they don't pick you up at Volcano House to bring you down to do the other activities. You'd definitely need a car if you stay at Volcano House.

We flew directly to the Big Island so it had been a long day already. The last thing we really wanted to do was to have to drive 20-30 mins in the dark to get to Volcano House when the beach resorts were 5 mins from the airport (if that).

 

[Anal Annie]

We are contemplating a stay at Aulani in 2015 has anyone stayed at both the Big Island and Aulani? Was it is nightmare to do. I have been to Hawaii before but love the big island too. Would like to do both.

Hawaii is far to expensive to get to, too beautiful and diverse and too far away to not take the time to explore the other islands. We always island hop. Sometimes we just hit 2 islands, sometimes 3. It is not a "nightmare" to island hop but it does take a pretty good chunk of a day if you don't plan it right so you want to be sure to allow enough nights total for the trip. This summer we are hitting DL for 3 nights then Aulani for a week then Maui for 3 nights. With the time difference from the east coast that's 2 full weeks as you lose a day on the return. When we switch islands I booked a fairly early flight (not crack of dawn early but at like 9:30 or 9:45 or something) so we'll be on Maui early. I also arranged for a Noon check-in on Maui so we can have a full afternoon there to relax. We always end our trips on Maui but I hope we're not disappointed this time after being spoiled at Aulani. The flights home from Maui were actually better than from Honolulu (less total time duration and fewer transfers) so that's why I booked it that way. We have done this trip enough times now to know what we like and DON'T like for our flights. For us it's all about the shortest time and fewest transfers. You should definitely plan on visiting more than 1 island and for more than 1 week.

 

[Halefamilyof6]

We are starting in Kauai and then hopping to Aulani for the rest of our trip. Since flying seven people to Hawaii is costing a big chunk of changes, we are utilizing two time shares and making a long trip. I definitely took the advice of other people. Not sure how much of a nightmare it'll be...hope not too bad!!

 

[allison k]

We're doing a week on Hawaii - using DVC points at an RCI resort, and then staying 5 nights at Aulani. Our plan is do the majority of our sightseeing on the big island and then just park it at Aulani and RELAX!

We can't wait!

 

[dianeschlicht]

We are contemplating a stay at Aulani in 2015 has anyone stayed at both the Big Island and Aulani? Was it is nightmare to do. I have been to Hawaii before but love the big island too. Would like to do both.

We love the Big Island best, and our last trip to Hawaii (Feb. 2013) was for a week at Aulani followed by a week in a condo in Kona on the Big Island.

Sure, you lose most of the travel day between islands, but just don't plan anything specific for that day and it will be fine.

Our first several trips to Hawaii we did 3 islands, and that was okay, but we quickly learned it was a big too much hopping around. Three or four islands would be fine if you could spend at least a week on each.

 

[poohj80]

Sure, you lose most of the travel day between islands, but just don't plan anything specific for that day and it will be fine.

I disagree that you lose most of the travel day. When we flew from Big a island to Oahu, the flight was only 45 minutes. We picked an earlier flight time (10am) and were checked into Aulani and in the pool by 1 pm.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I disagree that you lose most of the travel day. When we flew from Big a island to Oahu, the flight was only 45 minutes. We picked an earlier flight time (10am) and were checked into Aulani and in the pool by 1 pm.

While that might be true going from an outer island to Oahu, it is probably not so true going the other direction. You would have to have a very early morning flight out to your outer island, and then if your check in time at a condo or other place isn't until 4:00, you are kind of at loose ends until after check in. We just don't plan much for "moving days" that needs anything specific for time. I don't call pool time a "plan".

 

[poohj80]

We just don't plan much for "moving days" that needs anything specific for time. I don't call pool time a "plan".

I understand but DD would disagree with you as the pool was a BIG part of her plan.

If you are caught with an hour or two to kill on the big island between arrival and check-in, there are some scenic drives not too far away. Rainbow and Akala Falls are a short drive from Hilo (if that's the airport you fly into) plus the 4 mile scenic drive along the way. We also always pack a beach/pool day bag (DCL trick) so if we have the chance to get wet, we're prepared.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I understand but DD would disagree with you as the pool was a BIG part of her plan.

If you are caught with an hour or two to kill on the big island between arrival and check-in, there are some scenic drives not too far away. Rainbow and Akala Falls are a short drive from Hilo (if that's the airport you fly into) plus the 4 mile scenic drive along the way. We also always pack a beach/pool day bag (DCL trick) so if we have the chance to get wet, we're prepared.

We usually stay on the Kona side, so fly in there. Since the Kona airport is between Kona and the Koala Coast, we tend to do that drive first. There is a wonderful restaurant up that way. I can't remember if it's called the Purple dragon or the purple parrot?? Something like that. We also love a little hole in the wall local place called the Big Island Grill that has the best Kalua pork!

 

[disneybirds]

We did 5 nights on the Big Island and then 5 nights on Oahu. We flew into Kona and then out of Hilo. I didn't want to have to drive from the volcanos back to Kona just to fly out and it worked for us. I definitely agree that you should stay at Aulani last since it is so relaxing.