Happy Birthday, Hawaii!!!!!

[gillumhouse]

To those Innmates in Hawaii - Happy Birthday!
We celebrate ours here in WV every year? Do they do that in Hawaii?

 

[Sanctuary]

I just read that Hawaii wants their independence from the U.S. Interesting...
I becoming more convinced that I want mine, too. LOL One day....my plan has always been to relocate to the British Virgin Islands....I've half way there from where I started.

 

[Somewhere in Paradise]

Aloha,
We are commerating our 50th year as a state. There are going to be parades and cultural demonstrations, hula lessons, etc.
The independence part is a very touchy subject here - Maybe KnB can help shed some light on that. I am having a hard time coming up with a way to explain the situation over here. I would say it is somewhat similar to the Native Indians on the mainland.
Mahalo!

 

[Copperhead]

Happy Bithday Hawaii!!! We will be there (1st time visitors) in October, and I can not wait! We were convinced to go by 2 other couples who had already booked a cruise...so we will be Island hopping but the ship will be our accommodations :-(. Not that I dislike cruises, but wish we were going to experience more island life by staying in some B&B's.
If any of you have ideas of things we 'must' do while there, please email offline. I would love to hear of your experineces and of those innkeepers on the Islands that could shed some assistance..(I hate to depend on the ships shore excursions.) We are traveling to Honolula (2 days prior, 1 after) then the ship carries us to Hilo (8hrs), Maui (1 1/2 days), Kona (8hrs), and Kauai (1 1/2 days).
Thanks in advance for any info....

 

[JBloggs]

Happy Bithday Hawaii!!! We will be there (1st time visitors) in October, and I can not wait! We were convinced to go by 2 other couples who had already booked a cruise...so we will be Island hopping but the ship will be our accommodations :-(. Not that I dislike cruises, but wish we were going to experience more island life by staying in some B&B's.
If any of you have ideas of things we 'must' do while there, please email offline. I would love to hear of your experineces and of those innkeepers on the Islands that could shed some assistance..(I hate to depend on the ships shore excursions.) We are traveling to Honolula (2 days prior, 1 after) then the ship carries us to Hilo (8hrs), Maui (1 1/2 days), Kona (8hrs), and Kauai (1 1/2 days).
Thanks in advance for any info.....

Happy Bithday Hawaii!!! We will be there (1st time visitors) in October, and I can not wait! We were convinced to go by 2 other couples who had already booked a cruise...so we will be Island hopping but the ship will be our accommodations :-(. Not that I dislike cruises, but wish we were going to experience more island life by staying in some B&B's.
If any of you have ideas of things we 'must' do while there, please email offline. I would love to hear of your experineces and of those innkeepers on the Islands that could shed some assistance..(I hate to depend on the ships shore excursions.) We are traveling to Honolula (2 days prior, 1 after) then the ship carries us to Hilo (8hrs), Maui (1 1/2 days), Kona (8hrs), and Kauai (1 1/2 days).
Thanks in advance for any info....

only one thing I would do - every minute of every day SNORKEL!!!!!

 

[happykeeper]

Happy Bithday Hawaii!!! We will be there (1st time visitors) in October, and I can not wait! We were convinced to go by 2 other couples who had already booked a cruise...so we will be Island hopping but the ship will be our accommodations :-(. Not that I dislike cruises, but wish we were going to experience more island life by staying in some B&B's.
If any of you have ideas of things we 'must' do while there, please email offline. I would love to hear of your experineces and of those innkeepers on the Islands that could shed some assistance..(I hate to depend on the ships shore excursions.) We are traveling to Honolula (2 days prior, 1 after) then the ship carries us to Hilo (8hrs), Maui (1 1/2 days), Kona (8hrs), and Kauai (1 1/2 days).
Thanks in advance for any info.....

My advice to CH was kind of lame. Mostly it was hard to suggest something for such short time frames that begin in locations that would require you to go someplace else. There are dozens of must-do things, but very few of them are in Kailua-Kona or Hilo.Has anyone done the cruise? Maybe someone can suggest any of the excursions that they thought were good.

 

[Copperhead]

Happy Bithday Hawaii!!! We will be there (1st time visitors) in October, and I can not wait! We were convinced to go by 2 other couples who had already booked a cruise...so we will be Island hopping but the ship will be our accommodations :-(. Not that I dislike cruises, but wish we were going to experience more island life by staying in some B&B's.
If any of you have ideas of things we 'must' do while there, please email offline. I would love to hear of your experineces and of those innkeepers on the Islands that could shed some assistance..(I hate to depend on the ships shore excursions.) We are traveling to Honolula (2 days prior, 1 after) then the ship carries us to Hilo (8hrs), Maui (1 1/2 days), Kona (8hrs), and Kauai (1 1/2 days).
Thanks in advance for any info.....

My advice to CH was kind of lame. Mostly it was hard to suggest something for such short time frames that begin in locations that would require you to go someplace else. There are dozens of must-do things, but very few of them are in Kailua-Kona or Hilo.Has anyone done the cruise? Maybe someone can suggest any of the excursions that they thought were good.
.

We are thinking of renting a car in the ports with longer layover (Maui (Kahulu) and Kauai) as well as in Honolulu. This would provide us with the opportunity to see more of the Island and see things that otherwise would be missed unless they were taken as a shore excursion through the ship.
By the way we do plan to snorkel but not make it the only activity...I love to see the landscape, especially the forests. And we do snorkel a lot in the Carribean and are headed there at the end of the month so would like to see other things and make one day a beach day, and then fill in with beach activites around our other activities.

 

[Markie]

Happy Bithday Hawaii!!! We will be there (1st time visitors) in October, and I can not wait! We were convinced to go by 2 other couples who had already booked a cruise...so we will be Island hopping but the ship will be our accommodations :-(. Not that I dislike cruises, but wish we were going to experience more island life by staying in some B&B's.
If any of you have ideas of things we 'must' do while there, please email offline. I would love to hear of your experineces and of those innkeepers on the Islands that could shed some assistance..(I hate to depend on the ships shore excursions.) We are traveling to Honolula (2 days prior, 1 after) then the ship carries us to Hilo (8hrs), Maui (1 1/2 days), Kona (8hrs), and Kauai (1 1/2 days).
Thanks in advance for any info.....

I will only comment on the Big Island since I live here but If they give you a choice of excursions, go to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
It's the only World Heritage Site in Hawaii and well worth the trip. I think it is the most interesting site in all of the Hawaiian Islands. If you were going to be here longer I would say to go to the bottom of Highway 130 at night and see live lava flowing (at night you see how red it is).
Whenever I go to Wal-Mart and see a tourist bus and lots of tourists who opted to go here I feel like asking them if they are nuts!!!!!
Another great choice here which you will probably have time for is Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens. There are lots of other fabulous things to do here —come back when you have more time!

 

[Copperhead]

Happy Bithday Hawaii!!! We will be there (1st time visitors) in October, and I can not wait! We were convinced to go by 2 other couples who had already booked a cruise...so we will be Island hopping but the ship will be our accommodations :-(. Not that I dislike cruises, but wish we were going to experience more island life by staying in some B&B's.
If any of you have ideas of things we 'must' do while there, please email offline. I would love to hear of your experineces and of those innkeepers on the Islands that could shed some assistance..(I hate to depend on the ships shore excursions.) We are traveling to Honolula (2 days prior, 1 after) then the ship carries us to Hilo (8hrs), Maui (1 1/2 days), Kona (8hrs), and Kauai (1 1/2 days).
Thanks in advance for any info.....

My advice to CH was kind of lame. Mostly it was hard to suggest something for such short time frames that begin in locations that would require you to go someplace else. There are dozens of must-do things, but very few of them are in Kailua-Kona or Hilo.Has anyone done the cruise? Maybe someone can suggest any of the excursions that they thought were good.
.

My advice to CH was kind of lame. Mostly it was hard to suggest something ....

If you sent me an email, I did not receive it??? Wonder why? Could you please resend...(even if it is lame) all info is appreciated. THANK you!

 

[SweetiePie]

Happy Bithday Hawaii!!! We will be there (1st time visitors) in October, and I can not wait! We were convinced to go by 2 other couples who had already booked a cruise...so we will be Island hopping but the ship will be our accommodations :-(. Not that I dislike cruises, but wish we were going to experience more island life by staying in some B&B's.
If any of you have ideas of things we 'must' do while there, please email offline. I would love to hear of your experineces and of those innkeepers on the Islands that could shed some assistance..(I hate to depend on the ships shore excursions.) We are traveling to Honolula (2 days prior, 1 after) then the ship carries us to Hilo (8hrs), Maui (1 1/2 days), Kona (8hrs), and Kauai (1 1/2 days).
Thanks in advance for any info.....

My advice to CH was kind of lame. Mostly it was hard to suggest something for such short time frames that begin in locations that would require you to go someplace else. There are dozens of must-do things, but very few of them are in Kailua-Kona or Hilo.Has anyone done the cruise? Maybe someone can suggest any of the excursions that they thought were good.
.

We are thinking of renting a car in the ports with longer layover (Maui (Kahulu) and Kauai) as well as in Honolulu. This would provide us with the opportunity to see more of the Island and see things that otherwise would be missed unless they were taken as a shore excursion through the ship.
By the way we do plan to snorkel but not make it the only activity...I love to see the landscape, especially the forests. And we do snorkel a lot in the Carribean and are headed there at the end of the month so would like to see other things and make one day a beach day, and then fill in with beach activites around our other activities.
.

Most of the islands are small enough that you can drive completely around them in a day with stops for sightseeing.
I would think twice about the road to Hana. Especially avoid it around rush hours 3 - 5 PM when locals as well as tourists are using it. When you see those T shirts saying "I survived the road to Hana!" they mean it. It is a two lane road and I witnessed some spectacular near misses as people tried to pass 5 cars at a time.
Also, you are not supposed to take rental cars around the backside of Maui. I did it but also not recommended as there are some blind hills and curves where you can come face-to-face with a careening tour bus you weren't expecting pretty quickly.

 

[happykeeper]

Happy Bithday Hawaii!!! We will be there (1st time visitors) in October, and I can not wait! We were convinced to go by 2 other couples who had already booked a cruise...so we will be Island hopping but the ship will be our accommodations :-(. Not that I dislike cruises, but wish we were going to experience more island life by staying in some B&B's.
If any of you have ideas of things we 'must' do while there, please email offline. I would love to hear of your experineces and of those innkeepers on the Islands that could shed some assistance..(I hate to depend on the ships shore excursions.) We are traveling to Honolula (2 days prior, 1 after) then the ship carries us to Hilo (8hrs), Maui (1 1/2 days), Kona (8hrs), and Kauai (1 1/2 days).
Thanks in advance for any info.....

My advice to CH was kind of lame. Mostly it was hard to suggest something for such short time frames that begin in locations that would require you to go someplace else. There are dozens of must-do things, but very few of them are in Kailua-Kona or Hilo.Has anyone done the cruise? Maybe someone can suggest any of the excursions that they thought were good.
.

My advice to CH was kind of lame. Mostly it was hard to suggest something ....

If you sent me an email, I did not receive it??? Wonder why? Could you please resend...(even if it is lame) all info is appreciated. THANK you!
.

Hi CH- I did send it a couple of times, once in reply. Not sure why it isn't getting to you, since it isn't coming back undelivered.

 

[Copperhead]

Happy Bithday Hawaii!!! We will be there (1st time visitors) in October, and I can not wait! We were convinced to go by 2 other couples who had already booked a cruise...so we will be Island hopping but the ship will be our accommodations :-(. Not that I dislike cruises, but wish we were going to experience more island life by staying in some B&B's.
If any of you have ideas of things we 'must' do while there, please email offline. I would love to hear of your experineces and of those innkeepers on the Islands that could shed some assistance..(I hate to depend on the ships shore excursions.) We are traveling to Honolula (2 days prior, 1 after) then the ship carries us to Hilo (8hrs), Maui (1 1/2 days), Kona (8hrs), and Kauai (1 1/2 days).
Thanks in advance for any info.....

My advice to CH was kind of lame. Mostly it was hard to suggest something for such short time frames that begin in locations that would require you to go someplace else. There are dozens of must-do things, but very few of them are in Kailua-Kona or Hilo.Has anyone done the cruise? Maybe someone can suggest any of the excursions that they thought were good.
.

My advice to CH was kind of lame. Mostly it was hard to suggest something ....

If you sent me an email, I did not receive it??? Wonder why? Could you please resend...(even if it is lame) all info is appreciated. THANK you!
.

Hi CH- I did send it a couple of times, once in reply. Not sure why it isn't getting to you, since it isn't coming back undelivered.
.

Thanks KnKbnb - just checked my email and have one (the reply) which was is listed as received at 1:25 my time, but it wasn't there at that time? Maybe server problems? ANYWAY - THANKS EVER SO MUCH for your time.

 

[Somewhere in Paradise]

Happy Bithday Hawaii!!! We will be there (1st time visitors) in October, and I can not wait! We were convinced to go by 2 other couples who had already booked a cruise...so we will be Island hopping but the ship will be our accommodations :-(. Not that I dislike cruises, but wish we were going to experience more island life by staying in some B&B's.
If any of you have ideas of things we 'must' do while there, please email offline. I would love to hear of your experineces and of those innkeepers on the Islands that could shed some assistance..(I hate to depend on the ships shore excursions.) We are traveling to Honolula (2 days prior, 1 after) then the ship carries us to Hilo (8hrs), Maui (1 1/2 days), Kona (8hrs), and Kauai (1 1/2 days).
Thanks in advance for any info.....

Great advice from Markie on the Volcanos National Park. I heard that the cruise ship goes by at night and the captain will spin the ship around from side to side so you can view the lava going into the ocean at night. I have thought about taking the cruise many times just to see that!
I also live on the Big Island (Hawaii Island). A great excursion is the Place of Refuge (Honaunau) , also known as two-step. It has the fantastic snorkeling. Because there is very little sand on this beach you get fantastic clarity. The best snorkel spot on all the islands IMHO.
---
You definately could not drive around Hawaii Island in one day. Unless you did not stop at all. It is about as big as the state of Connecticut.

 

[Copperhead]

You guys are providing me with much information to share with our friends and start making plans! Thanks so much.
I have read several sites and it appears we are going to be there too early in the season (1st half of Oct) to really see whales. Is that true? No sence in spending those big dollars to go whale watching and be disappointed...
We did see many whales on our 2 trips to Alaska (inward passage) so it will not kill us if this is correct, but there again would be interested if there is a good chance to catch some good views (and shots).

 

[JBloggs]

There is nothing else but snorkelling.
Hey, go to China Town in Honolulu that is a lot of fun.
You will probably do the tour thing to see the USS Arizona (good swap meet at the Aloha bowl right there) and up to the North Shore? All of it is good (except the typical tourist trap stuff, which I avoid like the plague) when you are there for a short time you don't have much choice though.