Need advice on Hawaii

[snookers]

Hello all, my bride of thirty years and I are planning a trip to the Hawaiian islands this December and would like to tour the islands on a bike. Does anyone have any info on motorbike rentals on the islands, if any are available. Any info pertaining to must see places to see and stay are also welcome.

[advenbob]

Have rented bikes on Maui and the Big Island. Harleys. I think you might find a BMW rental on Ohau, but not too sure. Harleys are readily available.

What islands are you going to visit? After Pearl Harbor, there are many places on every island to visit, some well known, some not.

If this is your first visit, I would suggest Maui. It is not as crowded as Ohau and has many places to visit, and activities to keep you busy. Direct flights are available from most west coast airports.

bob

[snookers]

If this is your first visit, I would suggest Maui. It is not as crowded as Ohau and has many places to visit, and activities to keep you busy

Yes this will be our first visit and since that is the case, I hope to see as much as possible during the ten days that we would like to spend here. I realize we won't be able to see everything but we'd like to have a better insight to what is out there so we can make some choices. Accomodations will be number one on the list as we plan on going after christmas and staying for new years

[advenbob]

I visited Maui for Christmas every year for about 10 years, the last year, someone from NY was blowing his horn at a stop light. Time to leave.

I always stayed at a condo. Found them less expensive in the long run. Would arrive at the airport around 3 pm, get the rental car, head across the Island, stop and pick up some groceries along the way, check in and head to Lahina for dinner.

I'll make a list of condos I have used along with resturants, places to visit etc for you and hopefully get it out this pm.

bob

[MAYLETT]

Maui's great, motorcycle or not, but if the motorcycle is to be ridden for the sheer pleasure of riding the motorcycle in Hawaii, I'd opt for the Big Island because, well, it's bigger and less crowded. Maui has some great roads, but the island is smaller and the traffic is thicker. The Big Island has some long, wide-open roads that twist and turn for miles and miles with nothing more than light traffic and incredible scenery.

The only BMW rental location I know of is on Oahu. Could be wrong, but you'll likely be riding a Harley on either Maui or The Big Island. I'm not at all sure about Kauai. I was there just last year, but it wasn't a motorcycle trip.

[advenbob]

Places to stay- condos
I have stayed at both of these and they are very nice. Located just above the Kaanapali resort area, it is a short drive to Lahina, or Whalers Village in the resort.

1. Aston Mahana at Kaanapali- My first choice
2. Aston Kaanapali Shores- My second choice, they are seperated by an Embassy Suites, there is a little resturant at the Shores

Groceries are available just up the road a short distance

Resturants- some of my favorites

Kimo's www.kimosmaui

Cheeseburger in Paradise- right on front street in Lahina www.cheeseburgerland.com

Leilanis on the Beach - In Whalers Village in Kaanapali www.leilanis.com

Pineapple Grill - up the road a ways to the Kapalua resort area www.pineapplekapalua.com

Chart House - Lahaina

Everyone wants to attend a Luau, there are many to choose from. One I liked was at the Wailea resort area - Grand Wailea, you can google for info

A trip to Maui is not complete with out a trip to the Haleakala Volcanno. All the way to the top for sunrise. It can be a couple of hours drive, so you leave around 2:30-3 am to see the sunrise. It is very, very, very cold, since you are at 10k feet, and it can be windy. Breathtaking. Leave the volcanno early to miss the downhill bike riders, or this is an activity you might consider

Whale watching out of Lahina harbor. You do not realize how large they are until they swim under the boat and you get a very good look at their size.

Horseback riding is available, along with plantaion visits and other activities

I would plan to go out and about for a day, then relax at the beach/pool for a day. Don't try to see/do everything on one trip, you will be exhausted.

Harley rentals available on Maui. We have also rented Harleys on the Big Island.

Have a great time

bob

[dbrick]

Mary and I and various members of our family always enjoy the Napili Point Resort, really a low-rise condo. It's pleasant and low key. Honokeana Bay (just out your window!) has nice snorkeling and there's usually big sea turtles about. If you want a beach, hike up the short trail to the beach at Napili Bay.

I'd suggest a night or two in Hana. The distance is not great physically, but the road is so curvy it'll take you two or three hours to drive it. Most tourists don't stay; Hana is small and other worldly. Drive further east along the road to O'heo Gulch and the little church where Lindbergh is buried.

Makawao is a neat little bit of the wild west, right in the islands.

[snookers]

Thankyou all so much for the wealth of info here.....now I have to do my homework and search out these places

[SeabeckS]

Whilst doing that homework, I'd recommend you consult a good guidebook or two. Best guidebooks IMHO for Hawaii is the series by Andrew Doughty, published by Wizard Publications. He's done separate guidebooks for each of the islands...ie, Kauai Revealed, Hawaii the Big Island Revealed, etc, etc. with regular updates.

We've done the Big Island, Kauai, Oahu, and Maui. The Big Island probably has the most variety of sea and landscapes, Kauai is known as the Garden Isle for good reason, we found Maui a bit mundane (except for the Road to Hana!), and Oahu had a ton of people. In ten days you could probably do two islands, the inter-island flights are reasonably frequent. Depending on the airline, it's possible to have a direct flight from the mainland, take an hop to another island, and return home from that second island. Otherwise you would have to go back and forth between islands for a return. Last trip we flew to the Big Island, then hopped to Maui for a few days, but then did take a hop back to the Big Island...that was a "bit" of a hassle, but not too bad either.

The guidebooks mentioned above have a website link for more info about accomodations, and we've found his ratings to be pretty accurate. I'd do some book research to learn about each of the islands, and lean towards just sticking to one island for the majority of the time, especially if you'd like to have some time to just kick back on the beach.

Personally I don't care much for the mega resorts, the smaller ones and/or private condos are better for a more engaging Hawaiian vacation. At the big resorts I've seen it seems like they're sort of designed to "keep" you in place. They want your money and know how to get it! LOL

My one special recommendation for the Big Island would be the Fair Wind Snorkel cruise to the Captain Cook monument. We've snorkeled many places in the Islands, this was BY FAR the best ever. They serve lunch on board, and anchor at a primo spot, takes a good part of one day to do this cruise, but well worth the time. Oh, they supply masks (even ones with prescription lenses) and fins, so it's quite convenient. For "beach" snorkeling the turtle watching at Kahalu'u beach in the Kailua-Kona region of the Big Island is mighty nice, but the beach area itself can be a bit crowded.

Now go and have fun!!!

Aloha, Bill J

[MLS2GO]

I rented a HD one day and a R1150R the next day. Riding the HD gave me 50 states on a HD. I have started over to get 50 on the BMW. The single most squared off tire I have ever seen was on the R1150R. It is in the shopping district of Honolulu. It was called Big Kahuna Rentals.

[SNOONE]

I rented a HD one day and a R1150R the next day. Riding the HD gave me 50 states on a HD. I have started over to get 50 on the BMW. The single most squared off tire I have ever seen was on the R1150R. It is in the shopping district of Honolulu. It was called Big Kahuna Rentals.

Must have been the same tire on the same bike I rented from the same guy!!!

[snookers]

I would like to thank all those who contibuted to this thread. Tomorrow, my bride and I head home from Maui, which was the fourth island on our sixteen day adventure. We started off in Oahu, visiting Pearl harbor, an aqaurium near Waikiki beach, climbed Diamond Head, attended a luau at the Polyenesian Cultural Center and did the obigatory shopping at the International marketplace. Next we went on to Kauai......what a gorgeous island.....we went snorkeling at the north end of the island at Annii (sp) beach and swam with sea turtles, and then snorkled at the south end beaches and seen scads of tropical fish. We also went zip lining with Kauai backcountry adventures, who I would totally recommend for a grat time. Even had time to put back some wahoo and mai tai's.
On to the Big Island where we did some whale watching and enjoyed a tour of the Kona Brewing company.........great beer tasting time;(included in the tour);and great beer all around. A trip to Hilo, and a stop at the black sand beach where we spotted nine sea turtles and the opportunity to see red hot lava at Volcano's State park. Then on to Maui where I am as now. Eats at Kimo's, whale watching from a dinner table at the Canoe restuarant a trip to see the sunrise atop the summit of Haleakala. We wern't able to rent a BMW but we did get a Harley, and much to my suprise, since I'd never rode one before, I enjoyed the ride. So once again...thanks to you all for your input, we had a great vacation !!

[samthg]

Your definitely doing what you 'should' on the islands. IMHO, there really is nothing like swimming with the sea turtles!

Congratulations on 30 years

[RINTY]

...Aston Kaanapali Shores...advenbob

We just spent two weeks at the Shores:



It's a condo hotel, so the suites are large:





and fully equipped, including washer/dryer.

...the Haleakala Volcano...advenbob

We brought some cold weather gear (trailhead is at 10,000 feet), and hiked down into the crater:



This is a surreal place:



We went down to the first cinder cone, Ka Lu'u oka:



There were these cool birds on the trail:



After all this strenuous activity, we went to our favourite hang out, Captain Jack's, in Lahaina:



We also shot some whales (our point and shoot was on the wrong setting for this one). They are numerous, this time of year:



We visited the Frank Lloyd Wright designed clubhouse, at the King Kamehaha Club:



Spotted this 993 in the parking lot; it would never get out of 3rd gear, on the island:



This guy was fishing near Nahuna Point:



Parachute boarders at Kanahaha Beach:



This was our first visit to Maui, and we really enjoyed it.

[snookers]

Rinty.............seems you had a great vacation, and had my bride and I went to Maui a few weeks later, we may have bumped into each other as we also stayed at the Aston Kaanapali Shores, a resort we hope to return to someday.




When we were there, we met up with a couple of young wild boar hunters, who had their quarry already loaded. All this right across the road from the opening of the Hyundai PGA golf classic