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Hawaii and American Samoa

sgtkeebler

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 31, 2011
246
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DFW, Texas
So I spent a month in Hawaii during my Marine Corps days back in 05’

The wife has wanted to go and loves the beach, while i’m a mountain/snow person. I got her to agree that if we go that we visit the National Parks (I’m on a mission to visit them all) and she agreed.

Has anyone been to those locations more recently and can give any recommendations for places to visit, places to stay, things to do, or best times to go.

We are looking at going next year. 2020 was 10 years, but Covid and restrictions killed that.

We’ve looked at airfare prices and know it will be at least 4K just for that alone, but that’s not a problem we both know life sucks. She’s RN and I’m LEO, we want to do things while we can.

Thanks.
 
I was able to rent a nice house in Kailua for 10 days a couple blocks from the beach that cost about the same as a hotel. 3 bedrooms, 3 bath, fully furnished, inground pool, grill, kayaks, surfboards, bikes included. Nicer beach, less crowded, great hiking trails overlooking the ocean. I would look at spending some days on Maui also. Big island didnt appeal to me. Kauai is very scenic and worth spending a few days exploring as well.
 
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I've been to both. I used to travel to Hawaii and Guam often for work. I had the wife meet me there on one occasion and it was great. I worked on Oahu. We did our first few days touring that island. If you plan on visiting that one, stay away from Honolulu! It's crowded and has a f'ck ton of traffic. The Ko'Olina Beach resort next to the Disney resort on the west end of the island is awesome. Private man-made lagoon style beaches (no massive waves, easy swimming) are great. The enormous pool, grotto/waterfalls/swim-up bar is badass too and you can watch sunsets since it's on the west side.

Then head up north to visit the Dole plantation....best pineapple i've ever had! Continue north to the famous Oahu north shore to some great beaches (Waimea) and good snorkeling sites. On the north shore and northeast side there are some great roadside shrimp trucks. The scampi is out of this world and stupid fresh!

After that we flew over to the Big Island and stayed one night in Hilo. It's wet and tropical and close to the Volcano National Park. Definitely a must-see! Drive down to the coast where the lava fields drop into the ocean and walk around on it. Pretty cool stuff. You can hike all the way to where the active lava is pouring into the ocean, but when we were there it was a three-mile hike! We then drove the south loop to the southern most point in the US, and continued up to Kona for a few days. If you like coffee, visit the plantations...our favorite was Kona Joe's. Kona has great beaches for swimming/snorkeling. There's Turtle Beach nearby, aptly named as I saw plenty of them while snorkeling there. We also took a dolphin swim charter out from there which was fun.

Talk to the locals and they'll give you the scoop on all the good beaches. We were told about one that was through a gated private community. It was nice black sand and hardly any people. In Hawai'i they are not allowed to make access to the ocean private, so even though it's gated, they still have to let you in. Just tell the guard shack you're visiting the beach. If you like mountains, you can also drive to the top of Mauna Loa to the observatory at 14k feet or so.

We went in November around Thanksgiving and it was plenty warm enough for swimming, less tourists etc. My next visit I want to hit Maui and Kauai. I hear they're amazing and the Na'Pali coast on Kauai is badass and pretty world famous.

Now, as far as American Samoa....fuck that place. It sucks ass. I went there for work too and it's hot, humid and I've never seen so much wanton litter in my life! Every inch of every ditch on that island is filled with garbage. It's a pandemic and is everywhere! Also, unlike Hawai'i, every inch of that island is privately owned with no beaches or public beach access unless you're a Samoan and live there. Nice people, but damn, what a shame. They had a billboard campaign across the island trying to get them to stop littering but it didn't seem to help. This was 2009 so maybe it's gotten better? Who knows?

Hope that all wasn't too redundant since you were there for a month. Let me know if you have any other questions Devil Dog.
 
Look for a book called the "Ultimate Guidebook to Kauai, Oahu, Maui...(insert your island)" These books are updated regularly, don't accept advertising, and cover everything from recreation, hotels, and food. When I was planning one of my trips, the book even said to avoid a particular hotel as they would be in union contract negotiations during a certain time and may have problems.

A second book is "Hawaii for dummies" it gives broad overviews of each island and talks about least crowded vs busiest times of the year.

I have only been to Oahu and Kauai. Pearl Harbor was definitely worth seeing but otherwise very touristy and expensive. Kauai is beautiful and very laid back and easy to navigate.

If I was going back and wanted to visit multiple islands, I would strongly consider an "Island Hop" flights between islands are very frequent each day and fairly reasonable (about $75-100 each way IIRC) You wouldn't have to fight with luggage and just take a simple carry on. I've considered this to see the volcanoes on the big island while staying on Kauai.

Most of my specific knowledge is on Kauai. If you have any questions on it or need help, finding that book, PM me and I'll find you a link.

Mahalo
 

Heres a link to the book I mentioned. They have one of these for each island.
 
When we went we stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village; right on the beach at Waikiki. It's where they film a lot of the Magnum PI scenes in the Lagoon. The properties are the center of an upscale Tourist village. There is night life and great eating, along with some chic shops. The pool setup has rows for lounge chairs and plenty of helpful staff to run for drinks and snacks. They make a dandy G&T, ask me how I now.

This Elder Fart had it all within arms reach, would do it again; probably will as soon as the vaccine is up and running.

Just North is a Military MWR facility with a great pool. A little further and you're on Fort DeRussy Military Reservation. US Army Museum Fort DeRussy. Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum.

It's not cheap, but If you're gonna spend bucks and hours in a flying sardine can, you owe it to yourself to live a bunch of the good life, too. Add in the Pearl Harbor excursion (see the Hotel Concierge), and you're not going to have time to be bored.

Rule one: Bring Money,

Rule two: see rule one.

"They" say if you come to Hawaii once, you'll come back. Nov 10, 1966 aboard APA-220 USS Okanogan, for the day; Oct 22, 2016, our oldest Granddaughter Elena's 21st Birthday, for the week.

Greg
 
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What Greg said...$$$$.
Made the trip last summer. Stayed at Hilton Hawaiian Village and Aulani. Western Oahu and Ko'Olina resort area was fantastic. Broke up the long haul flight into two legs (better with kids). Cheaper fare on Southwest to Vegas, Hawaiian Air to Honolulu.

Of course, Pearl Harbor Memorial (purchase the Passport To Pearl Harbor )
Get to Diamond Head Park early
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific is well worth some time

We did a road trip one day:
Drove through most all of the North Shore (along Kamehameha Highway 82)
Kualoa Ranch
Weimea Falls
Matsumoto Shave Ice
Random food truck (many to pick from)
lots of semi wild yard chickens
 
Wife and I are far more into exploration and wilderness than resorts— we did Kauai for a week and really enjoyed the small town feel and wilderness exploration— Kayaked, hiked, 4x4, water falls, helicoptered around the Jurassic park areas, etc. great beaches on the south side of the island near poipu beach, and chartered a boat to fish tuna for a day. After that, we flew to the big island for a couple nights of big resort time— dinners and nightlife. We’re going back for our ten year anniversary and have agreed Kauai is more our speed.
 
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