Trip Planning advice

surran12

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
This past April myself, DW, DS(12) and DD(9) needed to postpone our Hawaii trip. I just re-booked plane tickets with the hope this coming April will be possible for 10 nights (12th-22nd).We will be flying nonstop from the east coast on the 12th and landing around 3PM (HST). We originally were going to stay at Aulani for 9 nights all on points(postponed trip). With the requirements for next year of only borrowing 50% of a future years points we can stay for 6 nights in a 1 bedroom on points. The Advice I am seeking is, should I book the additional 4 nights at Aulani (with cash) and stay there for the full 10 nights. Book a room at Turtle Bay Resort for the first 4 nights to spend the entire time on Oahu but on a different part, or as soon as we land book an inter island flight and stay at the Grand Hyatt in Kauai for 4 nights.

I figure during our Aulani stay we would like 3-4 full resort days with a couple of excursion days mixed in, one of which will be to go to Pearl Harbor. So I am torn if we should stick with all of our time on Oahu, since there is much more to see there than just 1-2 excursion days or get over to Kauai which I am also really keen on seeing. The primary purpose of this trip is relaxation for my wife with a bit of sightseeing (which aside from Pearl will be mostly nature based) mixed in. We vacation different places every couple of years so it will probably be many years(15-20) before my wife and I get back to Hawaii and up to my kids to decide if they want to go back themselves when they're older.

I appreciate any thoughts any of you may have as no one else in my family likes to talk about trips that are so far away still :p.
 
I think that's a long time to be at Aulani.
Its kind of in an isolated spot, with not many dining options. Its also not the best location for sightseeing, as its so far away.
I went years ago, but 4 full resort days is more than enough IMO. (Maybe even too many.)

Kauai is a beautiful island, I wouldn't miss the opportunity to go there, even though inter-island travel eats up some of your trip.
 
Aulani is very remote, plus an inter island flight will eat up valuable time. Have you considered staying some nights in Waikiki as well as Aulani. Aulani will be your relaxing time - it’s not near anything as it’s in a manmade cove. Turtle is going to be pretty much the same experience - relaxing but other then the North Shore it’s again fairly remote.
 
Given that you’ve already booked your round trip tickets to/from HNL, below are the options I would suggest:

1) Stay 2 nights at Turtle Bay or Waikiki at the beginning of your trip. Spend 4 nights at Aulani. Go to Kauai and spend 4 nights at the Grand Hyatt. Fly back to HNL for your flight home.
2) 4 nights at Aulani, 2 nights Turtle Bay, 3 nights Grand Hyatt Kauai, 1 night Waikiki to be close to airport

Although your flight lands at 3 pm, by time you get to Aulani or Turtle Bay it will be around 5pm so you really won’t have time to do much that day besides get settled. I wouldn’t recommend doing Kauai on the front end unless you change your flight to a multi-city one going directly to Kauai and then returning from HNL. It will be much easier to book a separate Hawaiian Airlines flight from HNL to Kauai for a different day. That way you can leave HNL early in the morning to maximize your time in Kauai. If you decide to stay in Kauai until the day you fly home, you will want to fly HA back to HNL a couple hours before your HNL flight home. Don’t forget that you will have to get your luggage and then check in for your new flight and then recheck your luggage. If you booked it as a mult-city ticket, your luggage would go straight through. Good luck.
 


I appreciate the replies. Think I was leaning towards doing Kauai and it’s good to hear that was quite a hair brained idea as I was worrying it could be.

abdgeek I appreciate the advice of going to Kauai second and think that’s the route I’ll go.
 
The Advice I am seeking is, should I book the additional 4 nights at Aulani (with cash) and stay there for the full 10 nights. Book a room at Turtle Bay Resort for the first 4 nights to spend the entire time on Oahu but on a different part, or as soon as we land book an inter island flight and stay at the Grand Hyatt in Kauai for 4 nights.
IMO, I would not combine a Turtle Bay stay with an Aulani stay. They are both somewhat isolated locations and both beautiful resorts, so they would be too similar for me to do in the same trip. Its easy to visit the North Shore from Aulani besides.

I would second PP's recommendation of staying in Waikiki. We spent 3 nights in Waikiki and 6 nights at Aulani and they were very different vibes and experiences. Waikiki has way more action, adult oriented things (shopping, bars, fine dining, people watching), and has a nightlife. With Aulani being a family resort, its a dead zone after 7pm. DH and I were usually in our room watching a movie by 8pm due to the lack of things to do after dinner in Ko Olina. There was no problem finding things to do at night in Waikiki, and even caught a street festival one day. In addition, we were able to go without a rental car in Waikiki. We chose to do a bus tour to Pearl Harbor which worked out well because they facilitated getting a time for our tour tickets for us, we didn't have to worry about the parking challenges there, and there were no concerns about car break-ins (theft is high there). We were able to walk everywhere else or utilize the convenient trolley system.

I also think flying to Kauai for 4 nights is a good, viable option as well. Personally, I don't think its too little time - DH and I spent 3 nights in Kauai and 3 nights in Maui, in addition to our time on Oahu. I agree with PP that an inter-island flight can eat up some time, but would recommend booking the flight for either early in the morning or late the evening so you can have most of the day wherever you are. The Na Pali Coast was one of my favorite things we saw during our trip. There's even less of a nightlife on Kauai than in Ko Olina, but we were up early for the things we had planned so it was less of a concern there, since we weren't spending much time at the resort. DH and I have said if/when we are able to return, we'd do 10 days this time and Kauai is the only island we would choose to hop to from Oahu, if we decide to island hop.
 
abdgeek I appreciate the advice of going to Kauai second and think that’s the route I’ll go.
I understand why PP suggested Kauai second based on your schedule. I also flew from the east coast and by the time we landed at the Honolulu airport, I was about ready to bust from being on the plane for so long, traveling all day, and being so anxious to see Hawaii. I'm not sure I could have handled having to wait at another airport and get on another plane to fly to Kauai. We flew from Atlanta and I think direct flights to Kauai are few and far between, if even available at all.

That said, I would also suggest considering what you will be doing in Kauai. Many of the activities there have early starts. We had to be at the airport for our helicopter tour at 6:45am. Hiking excursions often start very early in the morning, and many of them are full day activities. Because of the early starts for many things there, waking up early while adjusting to the time change is less of a concern. Hawaii was 6 hours behind for us (they do not observe daylight savings), so we were ready for bed by 8pm and up by 4am the first 2-3 days. This works out fine when you're doing early and/or physical activities during the day. We did our Aulani stay last because we wanted some resort days to relax. We liked doing this after doing the physical activities earlier in the trip when we were fresh, excited, and full of energy.

Doing Kauai second would also mean you'd have the two layovers on the way home (as opposed to the way there), which may be worse if you're taking a redeye. For us, we just wanted to get home at that point.
 


No advice on the flights but the Grand Hyatt on Kauai is probably the best hotel experience we've ever had. The pools are amazing and the staff there is phenomenal. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a stay there at all.
 
nkereina I appreciate the advice on Kauai first to be out doing hiking and other excursions since we’ll be up very early the first couple of days.

Definitely a lot to think on and I very much appreciate all the replies.
 
I know that after flying from the East Coast, you are NOT going to want to get on another plane. But, if you at all could change your flight (or even book a separate round trip from Oahu to Kauai) I would continue on to Kauai your first day. Your first day is a loss anyway because of all of the flying. At least this way, you are not missing more hours on another day getting to Kauai. I vote for 5 nights at the Grand Hyatt Kauai...we have stayed there before and absolutely loved it. Then fly to Oahu for 5 nights at Aulani. Hope that the trip happens for you!
 

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