If you are planning to spend two weeks in Hawaii and are looking for an itinerary, you landed on the right page.
We never thought about visiting Hawaii, mainly because we were scared of the excessive cost of the flights to get to the opposite side of the world. The way in which we ended up opting for this trip, was the total opposite. We were looking for flights to any hot destination in November, and one of the least pricey options for those two weeks was a actually a flight from London to Honolulu (in the main Hawaiian island of Oahu) for only £500! We couldn’t quite believe our eyes, considering that this is the cost you would expect for a 6hrs flight to New York, not for a 24 hours flight with minimum one stop.
We are still convinced there was an error in the system, but we were fast enough to book the flight before the mistake got corrected. We had the first stopover in Vancouver and then arrived in Honolulu. The jet lag is as bad as it gets, 12 hours! The positive thing is that it’s easy to calculate because the “hour” sort of remains the same: if it’s 4pm it’s still 4 but am.
Ensure you have at least a full day if not two, to visit Pearl Harbour. We were lucky enough to hear a talk from witnesses that were kids living there when it happened. The Arizona memorial is impressive, as is the battleship Missouri. Other unmissable things to do in Honolulu are the Diamond Head hike, the Mai Tai sunset cruise, Waikiki beach, snorkeling in Hanauma Bay, dinner at Alan Wong, and rent a car for a day trip to see the big waves on the North Shore with a must stop at Leonard’s bakery to start the day with the right amount of sugar.
We stayed at Hotel Renew in Waikiki. One of the most affordable, still quite expensive, and nothing special but has everything you need and is in a good location.
10 days in Maui
You will not run out of things to do in Maui – there is a reason why it is considered one of the most beautiful islands in Hawaii if not the number 1. There is no risk that 10 days are too much, believe us.
The island offers a lot of activities and it’s so beautiful that it takes your breath away. One of our favourite days was at the Healakala crater, where you drive up through and above the clouds to reach a volcano at 3000 metres from the sea level. When you arrive you arrive up there it’s cold, and windy and the crater is of amazing shades of red and brown. You can see the clouds underneath you as you walk towards the centre of the crater. The walk takes up to 4 hours each way but it is truly amazing.
Another unforgettable day was the day we spent on the Lucky Strike, a boat that takes groups of 6 people for a full day of fishing. You leave before sunset, which also makes the trip incredibly scenic. We caught 5 big fishes in 6, and we ended the day having a barbecue to eat our catch with a couple of wonderful people we met on that day. We still look back at it as one of the best days of our life.
Other must dos in Maui are the Road to Hana, great day trip especially if you are driving a proper convertible Mustang (we called ours Sawyer – for every trip if we rent a car we give it a name and it is always a character from the tv series Lost); Kanapali beach, Kapalua beach (our favourite and great aperitivo!), Snorkeling at the Molokini crater, a Hula night is a must even if a bit touristy, and it’s plenty of great restaurants so you can try a different one every night!
We stayed at Royal Lahaina resort which was very good even though pricey (we had a good discount through a friend).
Hawaii residents are all very friendly, whether they are Americans, Japanese, or from any other nationality that have decided to migrate to this paradise on earth – and they will make your stay even more special.
