Oahu and Kauai or Just Oahu?

[JM23457]

We plan to go to Hawaii in late May/early June. It will be my 16 year-old son and myself. I have been to Hawaii only once several years ago, and that was Maui. Now I'd like to visit somewhere new in Hawaii: Oahu, partly to stay at Aulani but also to explore her natural beauty & visit Pearl Harbor. I am also interested in Kauai, because of its rumored natural beauty. I do not want to return to Maui because I just want new experiences for us both.

What do you think, does Oahu have it all, enough that we can see the natural beauty of Hawaii enough there on a 7-night trip? Or should we do something more like 4/5 nights on Oahu & 3/4 nights on Kauai?

We will want resort pool time each day as well as some island sightseeing time each day, so our schedule won't constantly be go go go. If we go to Kauai, we'll probably stay at the Grand Hyatt due to its pool complex.

We will rent a car wherever we are. We're central Texans, so getting out to Hawaii is a big trip for us and will probably be a one-timer in terms of traveling there with my son.

Is Kauai worth the separate flight & resort? Thoughts? Experiences on traveling between islands, or just settling more deeply into one island?

 

[Iceman93]

For just one week, I'd stick with one island (especially with Aulani as your home base). Kauai is spectacular, and the descriptions of its natural beauty are understated if anything, but I just can't see wasting most of one day with travel in the middle of what's essentially a 6-day trip anyway (since arrival and departure days are largely eaten up by the logistics of travel). Especially since you say you don't want to go-go-go, just go to Oahu and enjoy it!

 

[JM23457]

For just one week, I'd stick with one island (especially with Aulani as your home base). Kauai is spectacular, and the descriptions of its natural beauty are understated if anything, but I just can't see wasting most of one day with travel in the middle of what's essentially a 6-day trip anyway (since arrival and departure days are largely eaten up by the logistics of travel). Especially since you say you don't want to go-go-go, just go to Oahu and enjoy it!

Gosh, your description of Kauai makes me really want to go there, too.

How many nights would you suggest as a minimum for going to both islands with our touring style?

 

[cgattis]

There is certainly enough to see and do on Oahu to fill 7 days. But (ironically) even though they filmed Jurassic Park in Oahu, being on Kauai FEELS like you’ve been dropped into Jurassic Park. It’s breathtakingly beautiful and lush—it just seems impossible that it’s real.

Now, that said, on a trip that short, I’d just do Oahu. As PP said, you’ll essentially lose a precious day. But my recommendation is secret option C—add 2-4 days and do both!!

 

[nkereina]

Kauai was probably our favorite island - it was the most remote and exotic feeling of the ones we visited. Noticeably warmer and more humid too. We had 3 nights there, during which time we did a sunset dinner cruise around the Na Pali coast and a helicopter tour which went over the Na Pali Coast, Waimea Canyon, and it also stopped at the falls that were used in the Jurassic Park movies. The falls are on a private property only accessible by helicopter. I believe all helicopter tours fly over them, but we chose the one that actually landed at the falls and let us walk up to them. Cool experience.

While we did only have 3 nights in Kauai and saw/did what we wanted to, I tend to agree with PPs that with a 7 day trip, I might stick with Oahu. You will have a time change to contend with which can take some energy out of you the first day or two. And the travel/logistics of island hopping can eat up the better part of the day. Oahu does have everything you could want out of Hawaii between natural beauty, culture, shopping, beaches, etc. so DH and I have said that if we ever make a shorter trip back to Hawaii, we'd likely stick with Oahu.

 

[pjacobi]

The Grand Hyatt, Kauai is a great resort, but it is only a resort. There are lots of great resorts, much cheaper and much closer to home. I would not travel that far just for a resort.

There is only one Na Pali Coast and one Waimea Canyon. You can see that in Kauai! The Grand Hyatt does make an excellent home base to see those sites.


-Paul

 

[BriarRabbit]

There is only one Na Pali Coast and one Waimea Canyon. You can see that in Kauai! The Grand Hyatt does make an excellent home base to see those sites.

Strongly agree!

 

[iloveeeyore]

Lengthen your trip to 10 days and go to Kauai. You are spending all that money and time to go so far, might as well really make the most of it. Also make sure you schedule your inter-island flight for either very early am or late evening so you don't waste too much daytime in the transfer.

 

[travelplanningnerd]

If you do make it to Kauai, just wanted to say that we stayed at the Grand Hyatt the first week of June 2018 and we loved it. It was probably the best hotel experience we've ever had in terms of service. The staff was amazing and go out of their way to accommodate you. Make sure to get the nachos at the pool - they're so good!

They are the hotel that returned a boy's lost bear but not before taking pictures of the bear enjoying his stay - https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/grand-hyatt-kauai-lost-teddy-bear-adventures/index.html

 

[JM23457]

The Grand Hyatt, Kauai is a great resort, but it is only a resort. There are lots of great resorts, much cheaper and much closer to home. I would not travel that far just for a resort.

There is only one Na Pali Coast and one Waimea Canyon. You can see that in Kauai! The Grand Hyatt does make an excellent home base to see those sites.


-Paul

Yes, we would definitely visit the Napali Coast if going to Kauai. We won't be flying for 10 hours just to stay at a resort the whole time lol. The resort would be our home base for sightseeing- we'll have a rental car. I considered the St. Regis, which is obviously closer, but it's closed for renovation for over a year. The Grand Hyatt seems to have a great pool complex, which is important to us. I also like that it's on the drier side of the island.

 

[travelplanningnerd]

Yes, we would definitely visit the Napali Coast if going to Kauai. We won't be flying for 10 hours just to stay at a resort the whole time lol. The resort would be our home base for sightseeing. I considered the St. Regis, which is obviously closer, but it's closed for renovation for over a year. The Grand Hyatt seems to have a great pool complex, which is important to us.

You are correct - the pool there is great. Our family loved it.

 

[SammyStamper]

I’m biased towards Kauai as we own a Westin timeshare in Princeville and spend two weeks a year there for the last 12 years. What was the St Regis is right down the road. I’m still so sad we had to cancel this year. My dream is to stay at the Grand Hyatt. We have stayed fairly close by at the Sheraton.

I have been to Maui and the Big Island but never to Oahu. We have debated Aulani but I haven’t pulled the trigger yet.

i would try to extend to 10 days if possible if you are going to island hop. So much time is lost with a travel day and checking in-out of hotels.

 

[travelplanningnerd]

I found our old folio and we were room in 3118. I thought that the building we were in was great for access to the pool. It was also really centrally located to the rest of the hotel and facilities. A few other things I found really nice about the property are below. A lot of what I'm saying is "free" is part of paying a daily resort fee, but when you get benefits like this, I don't hate them as much (they still bug me but at least we got benefits out of it):

-free onsite laundry rooms - we went home with all clean clothes except what we wore that day
-access to the departures lounge so we could shower before our late-night flight
-scales at the luggage desk to make sure bags weren't overweight before you get to the airport
-free stamps at the front desk to mail postcards
-ability to have a fridge and microwave brought to the room

We had some issues with the service at the on site luau. It wasn't anything awful but they asked about our experience and when I shared it, they ended up putting a sizable credit back on our account. It was nothing huge that happened, but they really go above and beyond to provide a great experience for guests.

We really loved this resort and totally plan to return at some point.

 

[happymommy]

If you’re flying 10+ hours, you might be on the East Coast (I am). We go to the Marriott Ko Olina (own there) every other year (it’s right next to Aulani) but for at least two weeks (In 2017 I locked off our two bedroom so had 2 weeks in the studio then 2 weeks in the one bedroom; a lot of owners there stay for a month or more). It’s just way too far to go IMHO for just a week; if you can possibly go longer, you’ll have more time to relax as well as sightsee.

When we lived on Oahu, we went a couple long weekends to Kauai. We found we really could see all we wanted there in a weekend (the Big Island, though, we needed a full week).

We tend to cook in a lot when on Oahu, or eat lunch out while we’re out shopping at the flea market or sightseeing. We find our food costs no more than staying home there really (we don’t care for the onsite dining at the Marriott but love local places all over island).

 

[cgattis]

So only slightly hijacking here.....does anyone have any recommendations for a more budget-friendly place to stay on Kauai? We’ve only done Kauai from the cruise ship, so no lodging experience. We had planned Maui and Kauai for 2021, but the hotel rates on Kauai (I know—limited supply) are pretty hard to swallow. We would t spend a lot of time at the hotel as we’d rather be out exploring. Super amenities aren’t needed but three separate sleeping surfaces are a must. Any thoughts??

 

[parkhopmom]

So only slightly hijacking here.....does anyone have any recommendations for a more budget-friendly place to stay on Kauai? We’ve only done Kauai from the cruise ship, so no lodging experience. We had planned Maui and Kauai for 2021, but the hotel rates on Kauai (I know—limited supply) are pretty hard to swallow. We would t spend a lot of time at the hotel as we’d rather be out exploring. Super amenities aren’t needed but three separate sleeping surfaces are a must. Any thoughts??

In January we stayed 5 nights at the Sheraton Kauai Coconut Beach. I don’t know how budget friendly you are looking for, but it is less than the Sheraton Kauai. It is located in Kapa’a, which makes it less expensive than the resorts in Poipu. It has been very recently renovated. It was pretty quiet, but had music by the pool in the evening. We had no trouble driving all over the island from there. It was a nice start to our vacation, before going over to Aulani for another 5 nights.

 

[cgattis]

In January we stayed 5 nights at the Sheraton Kauai Coconut Beach. I don’t know how budget friendly you are looking for, but it is less than the Sheraton Kauai. It is located in Kapa’a, which makes it less expensive than the resorts in Poipu. It has been very recently renovated. It was pretty quiet, but had music by the pool in the evening. We had no trouble driving all over the island from there. It was a nice start to our vacation, before going over to Aulani for another 5 nights.

Well, I’d love super-friendly but I’m not a big fan of condos, so I’ll check it out for sure! Thanks!!

 

[chalee94]

Oh, the rumors are true...




Used my non-DVC timeshare to visit Kauai in May 2019 and I'd vote to skip Oahu if you have to. The "Grand Canyon of the Pacific," the Na Pali coast, waterfalls everywhere, such as those shown in Jurassic Park and Fantasy Island...

(The third pic above was from my balcony at the Marriott Kauai Beach Club Resort in Lihue - it's a good central location for heading west to Waimea Canyon or north to Princeville - although if you were doing an early morning boat tour from Hanalei Bay near Princeville, and you should , it would be a very early morning.)

Oahu is nice for a few days but Kauai is currently my favorite. It's incredible. The book Kauai Revealed is a great resource if you decide to go. Definitely give Kauai a long look...

 

[travelplanningnerd]

So only slightly hijacking here.....does anyone have any recommendations for a more budget-friendly place to stay on Kauai? We’ve only done Kauai from the cruise ship, so no lodging experience. We had planned Maui and Kauai for 2021, but the hotel rates on Kauai (I know—limited supply) are pretty hard to swallow. We would t spend a lot of time at the hotel as we’d rather be out exploring. Super amenities aren’t needed but three separate sleeping surfaces are a must. Any thoughts??

There’s a nice Hilton garden inn there. We stayed there on points the first night because we got in late and didn’t to pay Hyatt prices that night.

 

[nkereina]

does anyone have any recommendations for a more budget-friendly place to stay on Kauai?

We stayed at the Kauai Marriott Resort in Lihue, which was minutes from the airport. Basically a straight shot, which worked well for our 7am helicopter tour one morning which is part of the reason we chose it. Room rates per night were in the $300s which was much more manageable than the $600+ per night rates at some other resorts around the island. The Marriott is a large property with beautiful gardens and an awesome pool that has casabellas and cabanas for rent. The hotel is walking distance to the port where cruise ships dock, so you may have seen it when you were there on the cruise. There's a Duke's on-site and when we were there a few years ago, they were in the process of building an Italian restaurant and a couple other shops on-site. Across the street, walking distance, there's a small outdoor mall with some dining/shops, a casual outdoor BBQ stand that had amazing burgers, and a plaza with a sports bar, some shops, and an ABC Store. It was about a 25 minute drive to Port Allen where a lot of the boat and catamaran tours leave from.