Let's talk Hawaii...

[Desmostro]

+1 on all that.
Things to remember. Hawaii is paradise. the end.

There are no scary things in the fresh water. GO SWIM IN WATER FALLS. There are no poisonous bugs. There are no snakes. There is no way to get killed there unless you fall off a cliff or get hit by a bus. (Which there are many) It smells like flowers all the time. Many buildings don't have windows because you don't need them there. There is such a variety of trippy plants/flowers your eyes may bug out.  The Grand Bahamas can't even touch this. The one thing that sucks - mosquitoes.


My take is Oahu is the place to go do touristy things. Like what's listed. There are get-away places even there how ever.

The windward side of Oahu - the east side - is very green and full of little beaches that are largely unpopulated and right off the road.
Waikiki beach is the south side where all the hotels shopping etc is. Very populated.
The North side is plantations and a parks that are worth the trip in themselves IMHO.

NOT TO BE MISSED: Oahu
1. Middle Island - Dole Pineapple plantation
2. North Shore - Matsumoto Shave Ice
3. Waimea Falls park. GO SWIM IN WATER FALLS - bath warm
4. get up a mountain and look around
5. tree houses. I mean, Swiss family Robinson, full on, [img=http://image14.webshots.com/14/3/10/46/168931046OIZbTe_fs.jpg]http://banyon trees[/img]

Maybe or not - kind of fun - the Polynesian cultural center on the east side. Fire dances and luau BBQ. Get the hard core Polynesian experience/ very touristy. Kids LOVE it.  
( I did this rout on a bicycle once - about 85 miles total. Great ride. )

Maui - Go play island. Not as green, but lots of golf, resorts, that kind of thing. Road to HANA used to be a goat trail. And when I say goat trail, I mean, when a car came from the other direction, someone had to back up several hundred yards to find a place where 2 cars could pass with a 100' cliff on one side. Now it's paved from the east side. Very windy. Lots of waterfalls you can go swim in.
Lahaina Park - One tree. The whole park, is one huge banyon tree.

Kauai - Go hiking/ swimming island - GREEN rain forest island.  Totally mind blowing beauty if you like tropics. Air you want to bottle and take with you. Snorkeling here will change your life. Scuba even batter. A trip to mars in 4' of water. zillion friendly fish. Colors that are unreal.

Hawaii - skip it if you only have a week. Resorts - very isolated. Most of it looks like the moon. Coast is standard incomprehensible beauty.
However if you're into volcanoes ... This is the sh*t!
If you want to sit and not move for a week this is the place.

sh*t, I have work to do.

PS oh ya, once I stayed in a private vacation rental house. Great experience. Very common there. Best way to save $$$ and be local. But then you're shopping and cooking.

[r_ciao]

The Hawaiians say, "Maui no ka oi".  It means Maui is the best.  Your one year old is too young to enjoy much other than the sandy beaches and/or the pool.

Oahu: great night life and food.  Lots of "cultural" stuff for tourists, Polynesian cultural center, Pearl Harbor, history, and lots of people.

Big Island of Hawaii:  volcanoes, resorts, ranches, and not much else.

Kauai:  real quiet, more paradise, has the wettest spot on the earth, and Waimea Canyon aka the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.

Maui:  the best combination of decent food, a good mix of activities like golf, water sports, snorkeling (Molokini crater and Black Rock), horseback riding, some high end shopping (Wailea), historical/artsy/touristy (Lahaina).

Aloha! and enjoy.

[Sinister]

Molokai.  We spent 2 weeks there in the early 90's.  Still not much there.  Rent a house, go to the dock your first day and buy a tuna.  Tour the 600 acres of coffee, visit Purdy's Macadamia nut farm, tour the Hansen's (leper) colony.  We were the only people on the beach every day.  I loved it.

Good to know, thanks.  That sounds like heaven.

Herm, nice idea; I'll file that one away.

[DRKWNG]

Like Teddy said, make sure you look us up if/when you come down.  Depending on when you come, I might be able to host a BBQ for you guys, but like I said it all depends on when you book your trip.  I most likely won't be coming out of Afghanistan until late June at the earliest. 

If you do end up staying on Oahu then I would suggest getting accommodations at Turtle Bay maybe.  Either that or at one of the smaller B&B type things out near the north shore.  It is MUCH less crowded out there and VERY laid back.  Most of the places to eat are closer into Honolulu, but there are some really tasty joints all over the island, and a great local coffee bar in Haleiwa. 

[teddy037.2]

there's a few B&Bs in the kaneohe area, too. the east side of the island is pretty laid back, as is the north shore.

turtle bay is nice, and out of the way, and has a big ass golf course, if you're into that.

if you do stay on oahu and see the arizona, there is also a walking tour of the USS missouri, the Bowfin (WW2 diesel sub) and museum, and the open-but-still-expanding pacific aviation museum.

it all rocks 



some other corrections... it is spelled "poke"

and brew moon has closed 

[herm]

Good to know, thanks.  That sounds like heaven.

Herm, nice idea; I'll file that one away.

been there three times since i was 10 years old. never gets old

[Sinister]

Like Teddy said, make sure you look us up if/when you come down.  Depending on when you come, I might be able to host a BBQ for you guys, but like I said it all depends on when you book your trip.  I most likely won't be coming out of Afghanistan until late June at the earliest. 

Looking like third week of June.  I think I have to renovate a bank, first.