My boss is off to Hawaii for his honeymoon and I need recommendations for things for him and his wife to do and see, especially since it’s nearly 10 years since I left Oahu. He’ll be staying on Maui and Kauai. I’ve already recommended Haleakala to him, and no doubt he and his wife will want to do the standard tourist stuff. Is Fern Grotto still worth seeing? Yes, I’ll recommend a tour of the Na Pali coast. He’s not into history; he is into golfing.
As always, thanks in advance. Maybe one of these days I’ll get a chance to ask for myself what’s changed!
In Maui, I highly recommend “Warren and Annabelle’s.” They should get tickets before they leave. It was hysterically fun. I also highly recommend taking a sunset cruise aboard the Hyatt Regency’s Kiele IV catamaran. Tell them to sit in the front and get treated to a great ride. They’ll get drenched so wear swimsuits.
I would recommend a helicopter tour of Kauai. ALso, I really enjoyed the snorkeling up near Hanalei. The kayaking was cool…hell, there is so much to do on Kauai that he can’t go wrong.
The seven sacred pools
La Pirouse Bay
a snorkling trip to Ka’ho’olawe crater (eep, I hope I spelled that right)
Cheeseburgers in Paradise in Lahaina
The Iao Needle/Valley and the surrounding rainforest
Hana
As I recall, there are 5 golf courses on Maui. All are beautiful.
SPOOFE, yep, just past Hana. I should have been more specific; I meant the black sand beach at Hana, one of my favorite places. Don’t be put off by the traffic; the drive is part of the experience.
I’ll second the helicopter tour of Kauai. Coolest thing I’ve ever done on a vacation. Ever.
I can’t comment much on Maui. I only spent half a day there. I had one of those 7-day unlimited inter-island travel passes on Aloha Airlines. I used it to fly to Kauai for the helicopter tour in the morning, then flew to Maui for the afternoon before flying back to Oahu for the night.
It’s a shame they won’t be spending any time on the Big Island. This was possibly my favorite island of all. It’s got active volcanoes and you can hike right out on the lava field! How cool is that!
The wife and I just got back from Kauai. It was awesome. We stayed in Hanalei, which is very beautiful. We took a helicopter ride which was amazing – you can get one that doesn’t have doors, which makes for amazing views (not recommended for anyone afraid of heights). Hiking the Na Pali coast was pretty, but not my favorite part. Snorkeling was very good, especially at Tunnels and Ke’e – the last two snorkeling spots before you get to the Na Pali trailhead (Ke’e is at the trailhead itself).
For food, we highly recommend the Mermaid Cafe in Kapa’a (good lunch place, with great fresh fish wraps and burritos – the specials were amazing) and the Polynesia Cafe in Hanalei (it looks like a coffee shop, but both the entrees and desserts were both affordable and excellent – try the banana cream pie!) We ate at several other good restaurants, but those were two of our favorites. Neither are particularly fancy, but the food was better than at the nicer, more touristy restaurants we tried.
Tell your boss to buy “The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook : Kauai Revealed” by Andrew Doughty. Many people we talked to said it was the best guidebook, and we found it really helpful.
Although out of the way a bit, the drive up to the top to see the “grand canyon of the pacific” on Kauai was well worth it. And add another vote for the helicopter
ride - it was the most fantastic thing I’ve ever done in Hawaii.
Definitely some sort of boat/snorkeling trip to Molikini would be great, too. Maui was cool 17 years ago when I first went, but my most recent trip was filled with a lot of traffic and less relaxation than I would have appreciated. Still a wonderful
place, if you go past the tips of civilization (Wailea and Lahaina) and check out some of the wilder parts.
I second or third or whatever on those guidebooks. They are some of the best guidebooks I’ve ever used, for any travel.
FWIW, the guidebook is down on the fern grotto.
I think Princeville on Kauai has the golf he is looking for. The Princeville hotel is incredible. If money is no object, it’d be a great place to stay. If he’s just rich, not rolling in filthy lucre, they have a nice luau there in the evenings.
Ke’e is an awesome beach, definitely recommend that.
We also enjoyed the trip to Kokee state park, which is on the absolute opposite side of the island. More than 1/2 way around, since the road doesn’t go all the way. Scenery on Kauai is so drop-jaw gorgeous you won’t mind the drive. At the park, there is lots of hiking. Also morning bike rides where they drive you up and you ride the bike down.
I went on a “backcountry tubing adventure” with these folks, and had an absolutely fantastic time. I would highly recommend it. They also do ATV and zipline tours (which I sadly didn’t have the time to do) - all on a privately owned former sugarcane plantation.
Gorgeous scenery, great tour guides (all locals), and did I mention gorgeous scenery?
