Hawaii: Oahu or Maui, Stopover or not?

Hey all,


As my eldest son is 19 and is planning to be on an internship placement this summer we are planning to take a 'mini summer holiday' at Easter to hawaii. Three of us, me and two sons 19 and 15. Any recommendations Oahu vs Maui. We have been to caribbean and mexico a lot (every year for the past 8 years!) and so are used to the chilled, beach, casual holiday so whilst we still enjoy that, we also want some more things to do resaturants, evening entertainment etc.

Also we need to decide whether to stopover in LA for 1 or 2 days or whether to just travel straight through and deal with the jet lag face on ): Would be great to hear of anyones experiences and recommendations!

My recommendation would be to do both .They're very different islands. However Maui might just be a tad too sedate for your boys. There's way more to do on Oahu
Whatever you decide make an ocean view room / condo a priority ( both islands have spectacular sunsets).
The onward flight from LAX is 5 hours so I'd recommend a stopover.
There are a few carriers to choose from but I've no complaints with HA ( even in Y :0 lol).
If you want any more info feel free to drop me a PM .
DL

Not sure who you are flying with, but a load of people much prefer San Francisco as a stopover over LA.

We have done both islands and they are very different, much prefer Maui. Either way rent a car and explore the island.
Maui has amazing beaches that won't be as busy as Oahu, plus the road to Hana which is a must.
Definitely need a stopover, the jet lag is bad so it's best to try and adjust and rest up a bit before heading to the next destination.
We did LA (Disneyland , Santa Monica) on the way out and SFO on the return journey.
If you are going to SFO do the 1 day tour with Dylan's Tours , it's awesome !

Hope that helps

Thanks for all the recommendations! We are planning Virgin Atlantic to either LA or SF and then on from there probably Delta or Hawaiian. In terms of stopover do you think overnight is long enough (arrive evening, leave next morning) or do you think longer is needed to tackle the jet lag. (I think its costing more with a longer stopover + already been to SF and LA before)

It all depends how quickly you get over Jet Lag and if you want to look around L.A/SF. I would recommend stopping over though even if it is just an airport hotel. We came back without stopping last time and regretted it.

I would take 3 nights in SF or LA on the way there and then fly home from Hawaii in one hit.

In terms of airports, I would avoid LAX if possible. It's an absolute dive. SFO is a much more civilised place to fly from/through.

One stopover alternative to SF/LA is Seattle. Very nice city for a short break and non-stop flights to Hawaii with HA/DL/AS.

I think we'll most likely try and stopover in SF then. I had in my mind that we would do the whole trip in 11 or 12 days. With a 1 or 2 day stopover do you think that is enough or do you think we'll need longer to fully appreciate the island?

I did it in 2010 with my parents and brother, I was 18 at the time and my brother was 21. We flew to Vegas, stayed for 3 nights then flew onwards with HA in Y and stayed in Oahu for a week. I reay enjoyed it there but mostly for the sunbathing, although I did a day tour of the island and that was amazing. The flight from Vegas was 6 hours and it was our second time in Vegas but I love the shopping and it was my brothers 21st so he was loving it all!

I've never been to Maui but Oahu was enjoyable, there's some shopping and nice places to eat. And of course, the beaches are lovely.

I think we'll most likely try and stopover in SF then. I had in my mind that we would do the whole trip in 11 or 12 days. With a 1 or 2 day stopover do you think that is enough or do you think we'll need longer to fully appreciate the island?

If you only have 12 days in total, I would spend 2 nights max in SF on the way out and then back in one hit.

Hawaii is so far away it's worthy of at least 10 days.

Having done the UK - Hawaii trip a number of times now I did it the first time with only a 2 hour connection in SFO. Once was enough by the time we got to Kauai we were totally wrecked and took a few days to get over it. Coming back was even worse, a late night flight out of Maui to SFO getting in there about 6am followed by a midday departure back to LHR almost ruined the entire trip.

When we go out to Hawaii now we always stop off at least overnight in either Los Angeles or San Francisco, the latter being my preferred option. San Francisco whilst a bit touristy in places is a nice relaxed place to be and the airport is a much nicer experience all round. And the airport hotels are pretty reasonable and well priced if you don't want to venture far from the airport.

As for which island to go to, I have never stayed on Oahu as its just to manic for me, Maui on the other hand is a great place to relax, depends upon what you want out of your trip. As a first time trip I would do both, inter-island flights are easy enough to get so why not spend a few nights on each island. If you want something even more off the beaten track then Molokai is the place (but don't tell everyone).

For years we always flew United out of SFO or LAX using miles to upgrade, this year we're doing Hawaiian as they have some really good prices from SFO to HNL. HA first class was a third of the price of UA when we booked. OK it's only USA domestic first class but its still a nice way to arrive.

Enjoy your time on wherever you decide to stay you'll have a great time. In a weeks time we're heading back their again with Virgin UC to SFO before HA to HNL and then on to Molokai, with the all important stopover in San Francisco.

[honey lamb]

I went to Hawaii after a few days in SFO and was really relaxed when we arrived. However on my return we flew DL, on what was a superb flight and arrived in SFO at 6am. We were flying out that evening on VS but we had booked an hotel in Burlingame for a few hours. Aer John managed to sleep but I didn't.

We checked out at the usual check-out time and I was as jet-lagged as bedamned but Aer John was as fresh as a daisy (mind you he was only 14 at the time ) We had been met by a mutual friend who was 19 and was our self-appointed chauffeur to the airport. I can remember staggering towards the VS check-in barely able to walk from tiredness. In the CH the acting manager at the time (well known to earlier V-Fliers) took one look at me and said, "I know what you need, madam. Champagne!" She was right! I slept like a baby on that flight.