At the moment you are more focused on how to get to Hawaii, and I’m no expert on that (except to say that there a plenty of reasonably priced interisland flights by at least two airlines I can think of off the top of my head - Aloha Air and Hawaiian Air).
When your focus shifts to what to do on island, though, I can help. To start with, there is a wealth of info on the Straight Dope about Big Island activities. Do a search on “Hawaii” and “posts by CairoCarol” and that should take you to several threads where a lot of people (not just me) have made a lot of suggestions. Then if you have questions, I’m glad to help if I can. I spend 1-3 months on Hawaii every year, as we own a property and plan to retire there.
We were actually there “twice”. We arrived May 31st and checked out on June 5th. Then we offered to get bumped from our flight (for $800 credit, first class upgrade on both legs, and a free night with late check-out). That hotel we got? The Marriott again. The timeshare room was different than the hotel room though. Different shampoos and decor.
Yes. I’ve just submitted a vacation request for October 16-25. We’ll need to fly out on the 16th, and fly home on the 24th.
Right now, I need to find flights there. Once there, I’ll need to find out about interisland hops. Once on Hawaii (somewhere north of the volcanoes, close to, but not necessarily on, the beach), it would be nice to hear about good places to eat, things to see, etc. (Things to eat? Hm… Maybe I’ll make SPAM musubi tomorrow whilst Mrs. L.A. is out of the house.)
Oh. I always do this the other direction, I find the flights/price that I want (far enough in the future that it shouldn’t be an issue), and then request the time off.
Even if you are tied to specific dates, look at the flight aggregation websites first (kayak.com, google flights, momondo.com) and then, once you’ve found the flight you want, go to the airline website to buy the ticket.
We just visited the Big Island 3 months ago. Got a cabin for one overnight at the volcano. Seriously, go at night, it’s amazing. Although if you’re staying in Hilo it’s only an hour drive to the volcano.
Hilo is very rainy. If you need sun, stay on the Kona side.
The one big thing we didn’t do that I really wanted to do was to drive up to Mauna Kea observatory complex.
We saved a lot of time and hassle by deciding to fly directly to the Big Island, and stay there. Island hopping is going to cost a lot and take a lot of time.
Hey cool! Our house is in Honomu so we’re not far away from your place.*
**Johnny L.A., **let me know where your wife decides you should stay.
*In case we have any Dopers with a penchant for detail who have noticed that in the past I’ve mentioned being on the Kona side, at Waikoloa Beach: No, I’m not a pathological liar. Our house is in Honomu but usually it has full-time tenants, so we got a vacation condo, in Waikoloa, in order to still be able to spend time on the Big Island. There are no tenants at the moment, though, so I get to live in our actual house this summer, yay. Hopefully we will move in full time in 1-2 years.
Mangosteen: Did you have Tongans build your stone wall? Seriously, if you have any guidance regarding landscaping/civil engineering matters, I might want to talk to you. Our land is gorgeous, but it’s a mess right now and we need lots of retaining walls, erosion control, tree cutting and planting, path building, etc. etc. etc. (We’re in discussions with Ola Design, who will probably serve as general contractor for the work, that is if we don’t die of heart attacks once the initial cost estimates come in.) Ever scrap of intel I can gather helps.
Yes, they do. You can buy quality Hawaiian collared shirts at the Aloha Stadium swapmeet for less than $14.00. Poorer quality shirts can be had in Waikiki for $75.00. We buy all of our souvenirs and gifts at the swapmeet cuz the same stuff anywhere else is expensive.
I wear a Hawaiian shirt every Friday to work in spring and summer. It’s a tradition at work.
You know who mostly wear typical aloha type shirts? Employees in jobs that require everyone to wear similar shirts. Hotel staff and jobs like that. Most people wear t-shirts and short sleeve button ups. They can be very Hawaiian, just not the usual hibiscus pattern.
If you haven’t bought tickets yet, Alaskan Air has a credit card sign on bonus of a free companion fare, and then 1 $100 companion fare every year. I did this several years ago when I was flying back and forth to HI a lot. Has been pretty useful here in the Northwest.
I think every body has been steering you well so far. I want to add something that I don’t think anybody else has mentioned yet. On Hawaii, go snorkeling in Kealakekua Bay. There are several ways to do it depending on how much money you want to spend and how hard you want to work. The snorkeling is some of the best in the world.
You have a NEXUS card, right? If you don’t, you know a NEXUS card allows US citizens to whip through the NEXUS lane at the border with Canada with probably an average 5 minute wait time, right? You also know you can get an appointment probably within 24 hours in Blaine, WA, which is a hop skip and a jump away from Bellingham, right? And if you don’t know this stuff, check out the interwebs and get you and the Mrs over to Blaine, get your cards, m’kay? Bonus round, lunch in the very restaurant awesome Richmond is an easy do when you aren’t going to the airport. You’re welcome.
Kauai may be my favorite island too – and it is the island, Lihue the capital, that was correct. We have not been on the Big Island since 1992, but we liked it also, I remember. It was our first trip anywhere together.
To get to the Big Island, or any other island from Oahu, just hop a Hawaiian Airlines flight. I believe Hilo and Kona both have airports. Hilo was a nice little town. (It’s pronounced Hee-lo, never High-low.)
For local culture, call me a cynic, but you can always hang with the teeming homeless on Hotel Street in downtown Honolulu.
As for flying to Hawaii from the mainland, I know a state local who now lives in California but flies back here several times a year, and she swears by Alaska Airlines.
