Hawaii

Where are you going? (Which island(s)?)
And for how long?
And what kind of 'vacation' do you like, how much do you want to be doing? (Or, for some of my friends: are you planning to actually venture away from the resort's pool area? :))

My personal ranking:
1st choice Kauai
2nd Maui
3rd Big Island
4th Oahu... Honolulu... if you must

Ideally 7-10 days, split between two islands, would be excellent, but that's too much travel for some.

I personally find Honolulu to be "Los Angeles, on the sand"- bunch of tall buildings and one way streets and it's crowded and dirty and there are *much prettier* beaches pretty much anywhere else in the state. But for some people Honolulu = Hawaii vacation. *shrug*

Spent 16 years growing up there, I love planning other people's Hawaii vacations :) but yeah those are the starting questions. Feel free to PM me.

first things first... don't refer to the people who live there as hawaiian unless they're native hawaiians. everyone else is a local. and instead of being like, "we're going on a whale watch, right?" it'll be, "we're going on a whale watch, ya?" or if it's in pidgin, "we go one whale watch?" (and yes, it's supposed to be one, not on)

Lol I am not even going to try and explain pidgin English in writing, too hard. :)

Yeah, which island is always my first question, because if you're the kind of person who is planning their vacay and wondering if you could do 5 days in Kauai and 3 in Maui, etc. and know there are other islands I am going to make much different suggestions than if you're flying to Oahu, staying in Honolulu, visiting Waikiki beach daily, and wondering what else to do.

Kailua's beautiful- my dad lived out there for a little bit. I grew up on the Leeward Coast mostly, and say what one will about life on that side of the island, the beaches are *amazing*. Yet you don't really find much talk about Makua Bay or Makaha Beach or Pray For Sex Beach in guidebooks.

My partner and I went to Hawaii several years ago. We took a day trip to the Big Island to Volcano National Park...the remainder of the time we stayed on Kauai.

These are some of the activities we enjoyed:

A catamaran trip to the Na Pali coastline:

http://www.kauaiboats.com/

(We laughed and smiled much that our faces hurt!)

Coasting downhill on a Bicycle in Waimea Canyon:

http://www.outfitterskauai.com/bikedown.html

(Take the late afternoon session to enjoy incredible sunsets!)

Enjoy some great local food (try Zelos Beachhouse Restaurant) and shopping at Hanalei Bay.

Have Fun!!