The Hawaii Superferry should be up and running in the next couple of weeks. That could be a way for you to whale watch and travel between islands at the same time.
You probably realized that the hike to the vent is an all-day e-vent (ha!). That was the biggest regret I had on my trip, not being able to work it in. That and the Mauna Kea summit, another all-day event. We’ve already decided that the next trip, those are the priorities.
There’s an abandoned relic of some vehicle that had fallen off the road inyo the Waipio Valley sometime the distant past. Our driver said that it had been driven by his inebriated uncle (or grandfather, or some relative), who had actually lived to tell about it. Well, that’s what he said. “The Big Island Revealed” cautions against driving that road unless you’re in a vehicle with a really low gear. Without it, you risk the unenviable situations of burning up your brakes going down, or stalling trying to get back up. Our driver told us that that does happen occasionally, and the towing service will really chomp into your vacation budget.
We found the Mormon influence here a bit more extensive. Every performance ended with some testimony. Keep that in mind if you’re very sensitive to being witnessed to. I don’t know if I’d recommend this unless you have kids who just don’t consider it a vacation unless they go to a theme park.
Kauai was definitely my favorite island. The botanical garden on the south side of Kauai is also amazing. Again, I am not the type to get thrilled about botanical gardens, but this was so beautiful and the plants in Hawaii are so different that it was interesting to learn about them. There is also one on the north side that is interesting from a historical perspective, but not memorably beautiful.
We enjoyed the luau at the Princeville hotel. The Princeville is four-stars, so clearly we weren’t staying there 
but it is an amazing hotel and the sunset view was one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. It was of course touristy, and expensive, but it wasn’t crowded and the food was good.
Woo! A thread I can actually contribute to!
Now, if you come to Maui.
About Mama’s Fish House in Paia…
I’m not so sure I’d recommend it.
Great fish is relatively easy to get here, even at cheaper local places. From what I’ve heard in the grapevine from peers and relatives, Mama’s Fish House is good, but not so good that you’d want to drop $100-$120+ on a dinner for two. I’ve heard the food there is okay/pretty good, but not that wonderful. You’d be better off going to another more-affordable restaurant and eating great seafood there.
The weather’s been pretty mild lately since having heavy rains for a week or two, so a trip up to Haleakala Crater would be awesome I’d think. Though with us being in late Fall, the air up there would be quite chilly. Don’t forget warm clothing, an umbrella or two, and sunscreen. The weather up there can go from blazing to rainy to blazing again really quickly.
And you get bonus points if you see a nene goose up there. I have yet to see one waddling about.
Iao Valley is a nice place to visit. Good, relaxed area to walk with beautiful scenery. The cultural gardens there is nice to walk around in and read up on some interesting history.
As for activities, there is always Star Gazers up on Haleakala ( http://www.stargazersmaui.com/ ). Personally, I never went on their excursion because when we (my boyfriend and I) were to go on their activity, there was a hurricane off the island chain making the winds nasty on the volcano. Not a good time to go! It sounds really nice though.
The activity we did go on was Blue Water Rafting. It was awesome! You go out on these boats that can reach speeds of around 35 MPH, zooming over the water, flying off the waves, getting splashed by water, seeing sights you can’t see normally by driving or any other way, saw turtles too!
And a dead deer.
In the ocean.
Yeah, nobody knows how that got there. They think it got washed off the mountain into the ocean with the rains we had at the time. Interesting though!
A good local place to eat is Sam Sato’s. Really good saimin/noodles there, and you’ve gotta try the manju. I love me some peach manju. If you can get some to go, a manju or two heated in the microwave to warm up with some cold vanilla ice cream is delish!
The drive to Hana is always an event, but it’s an all-day event. Over 600 turns in the road (literally!) and beautiful scenery. Though, rental car companies don’t like you going out there in their cars sometimes. If you get stranded, you’re in deep kim chee. Take the road slow and you should be fine though.
And don’t drive around the West Maui Mountains. By that I mean head into Lahaina, past Ka’anapali, and keep going. Don’t keep going. I learned that the hard way. The drive was pretty, but also the most stressful driving I’ve ever done. One-laned for miles, rocks on the road, steep cliff to one side with mountain on the other, it was a miracle my S.O. and I got through alive, since I haven’t even had my lisence for three years yet.
About the Superferry, it’ll be up and running when you get here, but it’s a one-way trip deal. It leaves Maui in the morning, goes to Oahu, and then comes back to Maui and that’s it for that day IIRC.
Still, if you were planning on maybe island-hopping from Maui to Oahu anyway, might be a good alternative to flying. Just don’t be surprised if you see protesters at the time, they might still be doing that by the time you get here. God knows they were when the Superferry first started.
Although you may not be fisherman, I feel I must mention that deep sea fishing off Kona is probably the best blue marlin fishing in the world (I think I mentioned this in the other Hawaii threads).
I’ve been on a couple of fishing trips out of Kona, and if you would like some recommendations as to whom to fish with (as well as whom to avoid), I’d be happy to share.
I also heartily recommend the helicopter ride. Spendy, but very, very worth it.
I’ve been to 4 of the Hawaiian islands over 5 different trips, and I don’t think I’ll ever go back to any island except the Big Island. The others have their attractions, sure, but the Big Island has everything I want–with lower prices than Maui, far fewer people than Oahu, and many more things to do than Kauai.
Of course, YMMV.
We lived in Hawaii for a while. In fact, as other board members know by now, it’s where the wife and I met, while students. I don’t have much to add to the suggestions here and on the other thread, so I’ll just wish you a good trip and say that you are in for a real treat. Hawaii is one of those places that really does look as good as or better than the travel posters.
Here’s a mildly amusing anecdote, though: When we drove the Hana Highway on Maui, the wife thought it hilarious that we kept passing cars coming from the opposite direction with the drivers hanging out the window yelling “Maui Wowie!” at us. Freelance dope dealers.
Bring tough clothing if you want to hike near the seaside vent. I don’t know the terrain close to the vent, but hiking on A’a lava is like hiking on formidable piles of glass. Doughty’s guide goes into some detail on this, IIRC. Also, do stay well inland from the shore when on that lava flow, or you might experience something like this a little too closely.
Yeah, we saw those guys, too, while on the way to Kipahulu. My spouse (who knows what pot is, and can’t explain her brain burp) saw the teens holding up baggies with brownish stuff in them, couldn’t make out what they were yelling, and asked me in all seriousness, “why are they selling beef jerky?” :smack:
Great - let us know how it goes. (And be sure to heed the advice about the wind direction.)
A word about parking in Hawaii: In any remote spot - such as the trailhead for the hike to the volvano vent - car break-ins are very common (check the glass shards on the ground). The recommended way to deal with this is to leave your car unlocked, with absolutely nothing of value in it. So when you depart your hotel, make sure you have only what you plan to hike with.
Not often. But there is a rusting car body at the bottom of the (steep!) hill. We spotted this in February and felt there must be a story behind it. Near the beach we found an aging hippie type, and figuring him for a local we asked if he knew about the wreck. His response was “Yeah. I ought to - I was in it!”
His story was that he was coming down the hill and met “a couple of angry surfer dudes” coming up the hill. He pulled over; they didn’t. One of his wheels got off the road and gravity took over. He was in the hospital for a while, but made a good recovery. The car will no doubt be there for many years, eventually to rust away.
Note that it’s definitely feasible to walk down into the valley; if you drive, you need a very low gear, which is why 4WD is highly recommended. Once there, head for the beach. Crossing the river is something of a wading adventure, but lots of people do it. From there, a path leads along the back of the beach to the opposite side of the valley. The path then continues up another steep hill, and eventually to the next valley north (several tough miles). For a moderate hike, go up this hill to the major switchback, from where you get a primo view of the Waipio valley (and where we saw a couple of white-tailed tropicbirds).
Hmmm, you may find this interesting, although it may be too layperson-ish for you.
That’s basically my view. On all the other islands, beautiful as they are, you’re too frequently reminded that Hawaii has too many tourists in too many cars, and too many folks seeking to take advantage of those tourists. I thought Maui was particularly bad this way: great things to see and do, but unless you stay in one place (and thus avoid those sights and activities) prepare for extended traffic jams every day.
(And, though I hate to admit it, at least the Kona side of the Big Island is headed that way.)
Really? Do you mind me asking when you were there? Unless I’m getting very obtuse in my old age I missed any sort of testimony completely.
I get multiple bonus points then 
(well presuming they were Nene’s anyway, and not some other variety of suicidal bird)
And I think I know why they’re endangered, the little buggers are suicidal. Coming back down from the summit, I almost ran over two of them in two different instances, as they ran out across the road right in front of the car :eek: Some heavy braking on both occasions.
I would not recommend the helicopter tour on Kauai. I was there about 6 months ago, and they had had 2 fatal helicopter crashes in the same month. I talked to some locals and they said they weren’t well maintained. The canyon is beautiful, but there is a major road going along the whole thing with lots of stops to see it so I would recommend driving it instead. If you really want to fly, I would recommend the ultralight flights which are a lot safer, and more fun too - they might even let you steer if the weather is good.
On Kauai, there are a bunch of cool adventure tours with hiking, cliff jumping, ziplines, tractors rides, kayaking, snorkeling and such. I would also take Captain Andy’s boat tour of the far side of the island - it’s the only way to see it as there’s no roads.
On Oahu I would recommend the Polynesian Cultural Center for everything except it’s Luau. Take the day tour and then see the night show instead of the luau. There are other better luaus out there. The PCC can easily be stretched into more than one day - I think the passes let you come back for free too.
On both islands it’s a great idea to rent a car and sightsee along the coasts and also through the center of the island. On both islands, the speed limits are fairly slow and well enforced so try and keep at a medium pace - but it’s better sight seeing that way anyway. Definitely recommend renting a convertible. If you are a fan of Lost, you can also do a tour of the various places it’s filmed. We also had a lot of fun driving west and chasing the sunset.
On Oahu the coolest place to snorkle is Haunama Bay - but it’s best to plan ahead - it’s not open on Tuesday and the snorkeling is best at high tide. We did about 3 days on each island and with proper planning managed to pack in a lot of activities.
I didn’t get to go the other islands, but from what I’ve heard, the big island is good for the volcano, and also has better snorkeling/swimming if you want to see lots of turtles and dolphins. In general Kauai was a more nature activity oriented island, and Oahu was the more commercial island.
Just so you know, there’s a lot of local opposition to the super ferry. There’s a lot of potential for ecological problems, from disturbing the migration pathways of ocean life, to fears of accidently transporting invasive species and making drug transportation easier. Originally it was built when inter island airfares were high as a way to create cheaper transportation. But a few small airlines opened up and started price wars, so now it’s just as cheap to fly.
I’d always thought it would be a fun game to play, to see how many ABC stores you could visit in an hour in Honolulu.
Well, you could hike it.
This was in 2002. What I’m referring to is after shows like the tree-climbing guys, or fire dancing, the performers would spend a minute or two talking about how glad they were to be saved. It wasn’t like anyone asked me if I was saved. There were no “You must be at least this saved to ride this ride” signs. But I know some of the Dopers are really anti-witnessing and wouldn’t want to be taken by surprise with this.
That they are not well maintained was the impression I had while we were living there, although I never took one. I’ll repeat here, too, what I’ve said elsewhere about the flights over the Big Island: Sulfur from the volcano tends to eat into the chopper blades; and a lot of Hawaiian rednecks – knowns as “moks” locally – often take potshots at the choppers because of their peace being disturbed, OR they’re growing marijuana and think it’s a bust.
Ha! On Kauai, in addition to there being ABC stores everwhere, the place was saturated with wild chickens and Mustang convertibles. I kept telling my friend that my vacation would not be complete until I got a picture of a wild chicken next to a Mustang in front of an ABC store!