Topic Wiki

Please post your questions in the correct thread. This thread, as the title clearly states, is for general Hawaii questions only.

If you have any questions that pertains to a particular island, post it in the appropriate island thread. See below for links to all island threads.

You'd get far better answers there, and chances are that your issue was already discussed at length too.

DansMeals: Hawaii For The Kosher Traveler:
-Part 1: General Info And The Island Of Oahu
-Part 2: The Big Island of Hawaii
-Part 3: Maui
-Part 4: Kauai

Related DD Posts:
-Ultimate Hawaii Mileage Chart and Everything You Need to Know About the Hawaiian Islands (2015)
-Trip Notes: Maui No Ka ‘Oi (2014)
-Trip Notes Kauai: Heaven On Earth (2014)
-The Hawaiian Islands. (2011)
-Traveling To Hawaii…With A 5 Month Old (2011)
-View From The Room (2011)
-Pearl Harbor…70 Years (2011)
-Shaloha! (2011)
-Hawaii Trip Notes: Kauai (2009)
-Hawaii Trip Notes: Oahu (2009)
-Which Miles To Use To Fly To Hawaii?

Related DDF Destination Threads:
-Big Island Of Hawaii Master Thread
-Kauai Master Thread
-Maui Master Thread
-Oahu Master Thread
-Lanai, Molokai, and Niihau, Hawaii Master Thread

Background on Hawaiian Islands
You've probably heard of Honolulu. That's the state capital and is located on island of Oahu, the main island with the largest airport. Honolulu hosts the famous Waikiki Beach and if you look at pictures, it looks like Miami. One long beach with a strip of hotels. Most DDFers say to go to one of the other 3 main islands which are less touristy and the hotels are more spread out. In no particular order, the other islands are Maui, Kauai and Hawaii (yes, that's the name of one of the islands. It's also known as The Big Island - confusing because Big Island sounds like it's the "Main Island", but Oahu is the main island). Direct flights from NYC only go to HNL. You can get direct flights from other cities (LAX, SFO, OAK, SJC, SAN, DEN, DFW, PHX, SEA, ORD as examples) to the other islands. Hawaii is amazing - have fun! The main airport codes are:
Oahu: HNL
Maui: OGG
Kauai: LIH
The Big Island: KOA, ITO (2 airports on 2 different sides of the island)

Interisland flights:
Hawaiian is the main interisland carrier and flies HNL, LIH, OGG, KOA, and ITO. They have countless flights each day and are nearly always on time - often even early. Never book a tight connection hoping that the interisland flight will be delayed.

Go and Island Air fly from HNL. Mokulele flies from HNL and KOA, as well as to Kapalua (JHM), Hana (HNM), Molokai (MKK), Lanai (LNY), and Waimea-Kohala (MUE) on the Big Island. Hawaiian's subsidiary Ohana flies HNL to MKK and LNY.

You can also use 5k AA, 6k UA or 7.5k HA miles each way to fly interisland. You can use 15k DL pesos for a RT interisland. United allows a free stopover on a round-trip, so for instance you can fly HNL-LIH-OGG-HNL for just 12K miles.
HA has several tiers, similar to DL, the lowest tier is the only one that's available using partner miles, but with HA miles you can purchase tickets that are otherwise unavailable for additional miles.

@Yehuda's thoughts on deciding between Kauai and Maui:
Here's a list of the main activities on both islands. Decide what interests you, and then you'll know where to go.

Kauai has what many say to be one of the best hikes in the world - Kalalau Trail. Most people will only do the first part, but it's still very highly regarded. The views atop Waimea Canyon are breathtaking, yet Maui also has breathtaking views at Haleakala. Kauai also has some supposedly awesome off-roading on Miloli'i Ridge Road. Sunset at the 12-mile long Polihale Beach is supposed to be quite the sunset. A helicopter tour of Kauai is generally said to be much better than a heli tour of Maui. If the water is calm, Queen's Bath, which is a natural pool in the ocean you can swim in that's protected from the ocean's force by hardened lava, is SICK, but Maui has the same thing by the Olivine Pools. Kayaking down the Wailua River to "Secret Falls" is supposed to be great as well. Of course, the luxurious, tropical amazingness of the Grand Hyatt Kauai is a huge boost for Kauai, except for its beach, but the great Po'ipu Beach is 5 minutes away.

Maui has the Road to Hana, which is an incredible drive through what feels like a rainforest with tons of opportunities to take small hikes to waterfalls and pools. It's just wow wow wow. Sunrise at the top Haleakala is not to be missed. A boat trip to snorkel by Molokini Crater offers what is supposedly some of the best snorkeling visibility in the world. Warren & Annabelle's Magic Show is supposed to be a great night out. The hotels are also magical, perhaps to a lesser degree than GHK, but the beaches by the main hotels are a big plus over GHK's beach. EDIT: The Grand Wailea in Maui is a gorgeous hotel that rivals the GHK (and its lazy river actually moves as opposed to GHK's ). Add in the fact that its beach (Wailea Beach) is swimmable and doesn't require the albeit short drive to Po'ipu Beach that the GHK does, I'm not sure that the GHK should be a reason enough to tip the scales in favor of Kauai over Maui anymore.

So, pick the types of activities you'd want to do and then you'll have your island. I personally liked Maui better mostly because of the Road to Hana, but to be fair, I did miss out on the Kalalau Trail in Kauai due to weather.
« Last edited by jj1000 on December 25, 2023, 10:30:33 AM »

Author Topic: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?  (Read 485073 times)

Offline 3yummyboys

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1000 on: November 17, 2014, 08:31:55 PM »
I thought we were set on a trip to Maui and a few days on the BI but now I'm thinking to try Kauai or maybe even one of the less popular islands. We are going Sunday through the following Tuesday so our time is somewhat limited.
AHHHH so many choices! Any advice would be appreciated!

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1001 on: November 17, 2014, 08:33:54 PM »
I thought we were set on a trip to Maui and a few days on the BI but now I'm thinking to try Kauai or maybe even one of the less popular islands. We are going Sunday through the following Tuesday so our time is somewhat limited.
AHHHH so many choices! Any advice would be appreciated!

How many days Shabbos?
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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1003 on: November 18, 2014, 10:03:16 AM »
It seems that HNL is the best island to spend shabbos, any thoughts on this?

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1004 on: November 18, 2014, 10:05:46 AM »
It seems that HNL is the best island to spend shabbos, any thoughts on this?

Why do you say that?
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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1005 on: November 18, 2014, 10:09:14 AM »
Not sure, but that seems to be where most people go for shabbos. What do you think?

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1006 on: November 18, 2014, 10:16:56 AM »
Not sure, but that seems to be where most people go for shabbos. What do you think?

As for me personally, I avoid HNL except for use as a stopover.  I prefer to maximize the time to spend where I really want to be - the BI.  Further, if what you are really after is a minyan, Chabad on the BI usually has a minyan on Shabbos (call ahead to inquire if they think they will have one when you plan to go) and there is a hotel near Chabad, as has been discussed earlier.  When we last went, there were at least 5 frum families on the BI for Shabbos.  Not sure where they stayed since we didn't bump into any of them.  Then again, I tend to hang out in the boon docks and preferably in the immediate vicinity of lava.   :)
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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1007 on: November 18, 2014, 10:30:05 AM »
On the BI we want to stay in a pool home but its a waste of money over shabbos, maybe we will stay near chabad for shabbos and then rent a pool home the remaining days.

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1008 on: December 04, 2014, 02:37:29 AM »
I'd greatly appreciate if someone can spare me from going through 68 pages.

I'm planning a trip with my DW to Hawaii in ~ a month. The only thing is, for technical reasons it will unfortunately have to be short.
We will be departing NY on a Wednesday and arriving back in NY the following Tuesday morning.

A) Which island(s) should we spend our time on?
I know Shabbos comes smack-in-the-middle, which could be problematic, because I'd want to be able to daven with a minyan for Shabbos.
But I still wouldn't want to limit myself and stay on the least pretty island (Oahu) because of that...

B) Who provides a better and more comfortable business class product for direct flights to/from NYC? United or Hawaiian? And what about economy?

Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you very much in advance!

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1009 on: December 04, 2014, 02:58:49 AM »
For biz United all the way, or delta and aa have some lie flat routes too. Hawaiian is just a bit better than domestic first class, it's not lie flat, and there is barely a partition separating it from economy.

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1010 on: December 04, 2014, 03:06:22 AM »
For biz United all the way, or delta and aa have some lie flat routes too. Hawaiian is just a bit better than domestic first class, it's not lie flat, and there is barely a partition separating it from economy.
Thanks!  How about the economy?

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1011 on: December 04, 2014, 08:02:36 AM »
I'd greatly appreciate if someone can spare me from going through 68 pages.

Let me spare you from both reading 68 pages, and from taking a trip that is - in my opinion - is a really bad idea.

That there are no direct flights from NY to any islands other than HNL. That means at least two flights. Even if you decide to go only to HNL (bad idea), your arrival would be and 2pm the earliest, meaning 7pm eastern. You'll be exhausted. That means that no matter what time you leave NY, you won't be able to do anything in Hawaii on Wednesday. Maybe watch sunset from the beach in front of the hotel, but nothing more.

As far as the return, if you have to be back in NY on Tuesday morning, that means leaving leaving Monday afternoon - around 6 if you're on HNL, and 3-4 if you're on a different island. Note that the direct United flight will get you in to NY around 11 IIRC; hardly "morning". If your have to be here early, you'll have to leave even earlier and connect (most commonly in LAX).

All this means that you'll have only ~3 days to do anything - Thursday, Sunday, and half of Friday and Monday. And that's with only one day Shabbos instead is two...

Going all the way to Hawaii - no matter which island - for only 3 days is absolutely nuts. Go to the Caribbean instead.
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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1012 on: December 04, 2014, 08:07:37 AM »
As far as seats DL had the best seat to Hawaii on their A330 out of ATL. Otherwise it's the United direct on the 767, or via SFO on the 757 and 767 (both lie-flat).
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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1013 on: December 04, 2014, 02:57:34 PM »
Thanks!  How about the economy?

Economy there are probably all about the same, maybe Hawaiian has the edge.

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1014 on: December 04, 2014, 03:07:49 PM »
Let me spare you from both reading 68 pages, and from taking a trip that is - in my opinion - is a really bad idea.

That there are no direct flights from NY to any islands other than HNL. That means at least two flights. Even if you decide to go only to HNL (bad idea), your arrival would be and 2pm the earliest, meaning 7pm eastern. You'll be exhausted. That means that no matter what time you leave NY, you won't be able to do anything in Hawaii on Wednesday. Maybe watch sunset from the beach in front of the hotel, but nothing more.

As far as the return, if you have to be back in NY on Tuesday morning, that means leaving leaving Monday afternoon - around 6 if you're on HNL, and 3-4 if you're on a different island. Note that the direct United flight will get you in to NY around 11 IIRC; hardly "morning". If your have to be here early, you'll have to leave even earlier and connect (most commonly in LAX).

All this means that you'll have only ~3 days to do anything - Thursday, Sunday, and half of Friday and Monday. And that's with only one day Shabbos instead is two...

Going all the way to Hawaii - no matter which island - for only 3 days is absolutely nuts. Go to the Caribbean instead.
Thanks you for that great explanation/summary. Should definitely be put in the wiki.

As far as seats DL had the best seat to Hawaii on their A330 out of ATL. Otherwise it's the United direct on the 767, or via SFO on the 757 and 767 (both lie-flat).
That last part didn't mean that SFO-HNL is lie-flat did it?

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1015 on: December 04, 2014, 03:13:43 PM »
Let me spare you from both reading 68 pages, and from taking a trip that is - in my opinion - is a really bad idea.

That there are no direct flights from NY to any islands other than HNL. That means at least two flights. Even if you decide to go only to HNL (bad idea), your arrival would be and 2pm the earliest, meaning 7pm eastern. You'll be exhausted. That means that no matter what time you leave NY, you won't be able to do anything in Hawaii on Wednesday. Maybe watch sunset from the beach in front of the hotel, but nothing more.

As far as the return, if you have to be back in NY on Tuesday morning, that means leaving leaving Monday afternoon - around 6 if you're on HNL, and 3-4 if you're on a different island. Note that the direct United flight will get you in to NY around 11 IIRC; hardly "morning". If your have to be here early, you'll have to leave even earlier and connect (most commonly in LAX).

All this means that you'll have only ~3 days to do anything - Thursday, Sunday, and half of Friday and Monday. And that's with only one day Shabbos instead is two...

Going all the way to Hawaii - no matter which island - for only 3 days is absolutely nuts. Go to the Caribbean instead.
Fishy, thank you very much for your input, I appreciate it. Firstly, we already did the Caribbean, now we're on to the next. I agree it's too little time, but for all intents and purposes I don't have a better option. I mean, how many times can we go to Miami, Cali, and the Caribbean for a few days?! We'll let this trip whet our palate for another time.

Secondly, my thought was to fly business for the very reason that we shouldn't arrive exhausted, though I know that does't always work that way...

Re. flying nonstop, sorry if I wasn't clear. Obviously I don't expect to fly direct to Maui or any other island, I meant to HNL, and from there my question was and is, which island(s) should we spend our time on, taking a Shabbos minyan into consideration (but w/o being stranded on Oahu). Re. Shabbos, we plan on keeping one day.

So, which island? :)

TIA!

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1016 on: December 04, 2014, 03:15:34 PM »
Only KOA and HNL have a minyan on shabbos.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1017 on: December 04, 2014, 03:18:34 PM »
This article here lists the options you have in biz with lie flat seats - http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/11/21/why-arent-there-nicer-seats-to-hawaii/. Seems the only one not to HNL is to OGG from DFW with AA, though it is angled a bit.

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1018 on: December 04, 2014, 03:19:01 PM »
Economy there are probably all about the same, maybe Hawaiian has the edge.
Though they do charge for luggage. Any way to get out of that? (Dan's corp only works for paid tickets I assume, correct?)
UA at least I get the free 1/2 for cardholders...
As far as seats DL had the best seat to Hawaii on their A330 out of ATL. Otherwise it's the United direct on the 767, or via SFO on the 757 and 767 (both lie-flat).
Are DL's seats out of ATL on biz so much better than UA out of EWR that it's worth making a stop?!  ;) Lol!

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #1019 on: December 04, 2014, 03:24:13 PM »
Only KOA and HNL have a minyan on shabbos.
Thing is, my impression from your TR's is that out of the 4 islands, those 2 are the least 'honeymoonish' if you will ;).