Anyone visit other islands during Aulani trip?

I would do maybe 75-90 minutes in advance with TSA pre-check. 90 minutes may be a little overestimated, but I always prefer to do that when dealing with the airport. We didn't know what to expect and arrived two hours prior which was overkill. Took us 15 minutes max to get through everything, without precheck, in Maui and Kauai.
Perfect, thanks so much!!
 
Thanks again for the great advice! We are DVC staying on points as well and will have a w/d in the unit (3 kids in our family so we need space and have a 2 bedroom unit) so re-wearing things might work out well and maybe I can cut our luggage in 1/2 that way. I think most of our lodging has a w/d in the unit for our entire trip with maybe the exception of our first place which is on Maui (2 standard hotel rooms) so I could do laundry at any of them really.

I do want to ask opinions on one of our transfers/flights if you don't mind.....We will have early flights booked for 2 out of the 3 transfers for sure, but I'm hung up on what to do for Big Island to Oahu transfer. We will have either 4 or 5 nights on Big Island. We have 3 days where we will explore things in the morning and then return to our condo for later afternoon/evening. We have one full free day following these partial planned days and then a full day doing a trip down to Volcanoes National Park. The day after this is when we have planned to transfer right now. My options for flights right now are 7am, 10am and 1:35pm. There is also a 5:30pm but I've ruled that one out as I think it's just too late since we will be early birds during our trip and possibly won't leave the airport until after 7:30. Here are my thoughts.....7am--normally this would be ideal, BUT I'm not sure how I feel about it after spending the prior day 'sightseeing' all day with a probable return time to our condo around dusk the night before.....10am--I almost feel like this wastes our morning,......we would need to be at the airport at around 8am so no time for anything at the condo other than packing up and leaving but then we would get to Oahu around 11, leave airport hopefully around noon---I guess it'd give us 1/2 a day to possibly see something in Waikiki area? This will be a Sunday and I'm trying not to do weekends at the beach so that kind of rules out surf lessons/canoe ride for this afternoon, etc. Possibility of maybe a late afternoon at Pearl Harbor?....prebook an afternoon tour??--really my only thought. We do not have planned hotel time at all in Waikiki--the pool is tiny and we just plan to utilize our room to sleep during these 3 days.......okay, on to 1:35pm......this pretty much wastes most of the day so I'm not a big fan of it either. We would have a leisurely morning at the condo....need to leave around 11 for flight. Would arrive in Oahu around 2:30, figure 3:30 or so to be leaving airport, hotel is about 30 min. away so we'd checkin around 4.......only thought on an activity I'd like to do that day still would maybe be the hike at Manoa Falls (website says hours are 8-4??....is this enforced?...sunset isn't until 6:30-7??)and dinner. We would wake early the next day to hike diamond head (pre-dawn) so we'd be turning in early this evening.
Now, my other thought is to stay on Hawaii Island that 5th night and take the 7am flight out the following day which is a Monday. This might be what I'm leaning towards because it gives us an additional flexible day on the the big island which is the largest and everyone recommends spending the most time here, BUT I feel it kind of cramps my plans for touring while we stay in Waikiki. If it helps any, this is what I have planned for Waikiki:
**visit to Pearl Harbor (I think we need around 5 hours here.....would like to do the Arizona obviously, but also the Missouri and our kids have never been on a battleship (we are from Missouri ;) ) and possibly the bowfin. We are usually pretty speedy museum tourists so I think 5 hours time will be fine to tour for us
**sunrise hike to Diamond Head
**Kualoa Ranch tour (times offered for our specific tour are 9am and 1pm....allowing 3 hours for the actual tour)
**Trip around the north shore (have this figured for after our ranch tour listed above if we do a 9am....or reverse if it's a 1pm..... would like time to stop at Dole for maybe an hour?...dole whip, maze or train ride possibly?)
**hike Manoa Trail
**surf lesson Waikiki (times offered are 8:30am, 10am, 11:30am, 1:30 and 3pm)
**canoe ride Waikiki (times offered are on the hour from 9am to 3pm)
**4:30/5pm dinner at Haleiwa Joes at some point (want to go to the location on this side of island I think)
That's my list of things I'd really like to include in our plan.....only thing I haven't worked in is some time at Kailua Beach which isn't a must do, but would be nice to see it and spend an hour or so there.
Our time for the above things would be either Monday morning (if we spent 5 nights Hawaii Island) to Wednesday afternoon or Sunday afternoon (if we left after 4 nights with one of the above listed flights) to Wednesday afternoon. I plan to transfer to Aulani later on Wednesday and we'll be there for 3 nights but I don't have any plans to leave the Aulani resort (we will have a car, but just have 2 full pool days planned with an early flight out on Saturday...flight not booked yet, but it's to Kauai and I want a full day there when we arrive--I expect it to be our favorite island).
I keep going back and forth with my plans.....seriously can't decide! Any thoughts or input/schedule suggestions would be appreciated!

For our upcoming trip we booked our reservations 60 days out for Pearl Harbor, doing the deluxe package that includes all the major offerings there.

Unfortunately, read that not only is the work not completed on the Arizona, but that the contract hasn’t even been awarded yet. Sigh. If the weather cooperates the boat still will go near enough to be able to see things from a distance though.

Curious, how long are you allowing to drive to Kualoa Ranch from Waikiki area?

The ‘horrendous’ Oahu traffic jams I keep seeing mentioned are starting to have me think it’s wise to build an extra half hour into all our travel.

We went in June 2017–me, DH, and kids 16&13. We spent two nights in Waikiki at the Marriott using reward points. We used those days to see the free hula show on Waikiki Beach, hike Diamond Head, snorkel at Hanauma Bay, and take surf lessons. We also got lucky enough to catch part of the King Kamehameha day parade :). On our checkout day, we went to see the King Kam statue all draped in leis (awesome!!) and Iolani Palace. We then boarded the Pride of America cruise for 7 nights.

On Maui, we did the road to Hana, going as far as Hamoa Beach and back the same way. We stopped at several waterfalls, the free botanical garden to see rainbow eucalyptus, (my favorite part) Waianapanapa Beach, Koki Beach, and Hanna Beach. On our second day, we drove up to Haleakala, but not for sunrise—we just didn’t want to do that early day. It was still awesome. We then drove upcountry to see all the cattle farms (DH raises cattle) and had lunch at Ulupalakulu Ranch. We also did a little wine tasting across the street. We popped into Makawao on the way back and got donuts on a stick :)

On the Big Island, we did VNP—watched the lava in Kilauea crater, hiked Thurston lava tube, and had lunch and souvenir shopping at Volcano House. We went into Hilo to see Rainbow Falls and the giant banyan tree there. We also did a little shopping and mailed some postcards. On Kona day, we were planning a canoe tour, but the beach was closed due to a sewage spill :( We hit Kona Brewing Co (my favorite beer) for lunch anyway and did a little more shopping. We got back on the ship early to do a kukui nut lei making class.

On Kauai, we snorkeled at Poipu Beach, where we saw three monk seals snoozing and hanging out! Plus numerous chickens LOL. We also drove up Waimea Canyon and all around the island, which is absolutely gorgeous. We were going to do some ditch tubing, but it was canceled due to heavy rain the day before. Our second day was just a morning, and then the ship slowly cruiser up and down the Na’pali Coast—ahhhhhhmazing!!

By this point, we were pretty tired, so Aulani was to be our “hang out and relax” time, which we totally did. But we still did Pearl Harbor and the swap meet one day, and one North Shore day. We were seriously tempted to do Hanauma Bay again, but Aulani was too awesome to leave much :). We did the Paradise Cove luau also.

That’s probably way more than you wanted to know, but it was epic and I can not WAIT to get back!! Maui and Kauai next time...

I settled upon 3 nights in Waikiki, will use as base for Pearl Harbor, Hanauma Bay & kualoa ranch.

Three nights at aulani, not sure I’m going to want to leave it to tour but the dole pineapple place seems convenient enough, even if on our last am when heading to port for our cruise on NCL POA. It seemed the easiest and cheapest way to get a feel for the other islands.
 
For our upcoming trip we booked our reservations 60 days out for Pearl Harbor, doing the deluxe package that includes all the major offerings there.

Unfortunately, read that not only is the work not completed on the Arizona, but that the contract hasn’t even been awarded yet. Sigh. If the weather cooperates the boat still will go near enough to be able to see things from a distance though.

Curious, how long are you allowing to drive to Kualoa Ranch from Waikiki area?

The ‘horrendous’ Oahu traffic jams I keep seeing mentioned are starting to have me think it’s wise to build an extra half hour into all our travel.



I settled upon 3 nights in Waikiki, will use as base for Pearl Harbor, Hanauma Bay & kualoa ranch.

Three nights at aulani, not sure I’m going to want to leave it to tour but the dole pineapple place seems convenient enough, even if on our last am when heading to port for our cruise on NCL POA. It seemed the easiest and cheapest way to get a feel for the other islands.
I am bummed as well about the length of time it’s takinf for the Arizona repairs....probably won’t be completed for our trip in July either :(. I think my plans for Waikiki are remaining the same I posted up a little ways. We will arrive on island early morning and head straight to our hotel to leave our bags. From there I think we are going to take the ‘long’ way to Kualoa Ranch. I planned to leave our hotel around 10?? And stop by Dole on the way up through north shore. We won’t be making other stops (but will have the next day to do so) on the way to the ranch. We will need to be at the ranch at 12:15 for a 1pm tour. I’m allowing a little over 2 hours but that includes what I expect to be a fairly short stop at the Dole Plantation......I’m also hoping to leave from our hotel before 10am, but that will just depend on checkin time, etc. I think it’s generally a 45 min drive from Waikiki but I think allowing an extra 30 drive time would be a great idea. The ranch requests you to checkin 45 minutes before tours I think. I hope that helps in your planning!
 
I am bummed as well about the length of time it’s takinf for the Arizona repairs....probably won’t be completed for our trip in July either :(. I think my plans for Waikiki are remaining the same I posted up a little ways. We will arrive on island early morning and head straight to our hotel to leave our bags. From there I think we are going to take the ‘long’ way to Kualoa Ranch. I planned to leave our hotel around 10?? And stop by Dole on the way up through north shore. We won’t be making other stops (but will have the next day to do so) on the way to the ranch. We will need to be at the ranch at 12:15 for a 1pm tour. I’m allowing a little over 2 hours but that includes what I expect to be a fairly short stop at the Dole Plantation......I’m also hoping to leave from our hotel before 10am, but that will just depend on checkin time, etc. I think it’s generally a 45 min drive from Waikiki but I think allowing an extra 30 drive time would be a great idea. The ranch requests you to checkin 45 minutes before tours I think. I hope that helps in your planning!

It certainly does help, thank you! Haven’t decided on which tour(s) at the ranch, so many interesting things to do there it’s difficult to pick & choose. Trying not to bring the whole disney commando thing along this trip.

Our flight doesn’t get in until 11:30 am, no NS from our neck of the woods so overnighting in SEA. Figure by the time we shuttle off to pick up rental and drive into Waikiki proper, might as well just make it our beach area day. Plan on grabbing the hotel breakfast & then out of town the next two days, wandering back in time for our hotel’s free happy hour :). Will get plenty of nice beach time at Aulani :)
 


I know it sounds crazy, but the best inter-island excursion we've ever done was to Kalaupapa, the former leper colony on Molokai. You can arrange it in advance through Aulani's online tour activity site or directly with a couple of airlines, but you should set it up before your arrival. Fly into Kalaupapa directly; the mule ride down from topside in Molokai is difficult. The setting is one of the most beautiful in all of Hawaii, and the history is moving and not at all gross. Although the area is of special interest to Catholics (it's where Father--now Saint--Damien worked in the 19th Century), we are Jewish and found our visit to be a rich spiritual experience. I've recommended this to friends, every one of whom has reported back that it was as wonderful as I promised.
 
Last year we did a week in Oahu and a week on the Big Island. On the Big Island we did 4 nights on the Kona side and 3 nights on the Hilo side. It was a great trip and we were there while the volcano was erupting. Very cool!
 


Been researching the Kona area of the Big Island - its hard to decide which coffee farm to tour. Has anyone done any you would recommend? I was recommended to Greenwell Farms by someone and it looks promising but the more I look, the more I doubt myself. lol
 
Oooh this thread is super helpful! We are planning on Aulani for March 2020 using our points,but this time adding on a second island (Kauai I think, as we have done Maui a few times, or perhaps the Big Island). Just trying to figure out the logistics of it all.
 
If one decides to do a brief trip report of Aulani & Waikiki area along with islands on their cruise :), sounds like it might be helpful. :snooty:

Wonder where it should land? Here, DVC trip reports or elsewhere.
 
Been researching the Kona area of the Big Island - its hard to decide which coffee farm to tour. Has anyone done any you would recommend? I was recommended to Greenwell Farms by someone and it looks promising but the more I look, the more I doubt myself. lol
Not sure when your trip is or if you are still looking for info, but I went on the Greenwell Farms tour May 2018. It was fine. The best parts were that it was free and easy to get to with lots of parking.
What I liked better was the Kona Coffe Living History farm. I went here the same day as Greenwell Farms. It is the preserved home and coffee farm of a local family. I liked the glimpse into how a small farmer really lived. It is located just a few miles south of Greenwell Farms.
 
Not sure when your trip is or if you are still looking for info, but I went on the Greenwell Farms tour May 2018. It was fine. The best parts were that it was free and easy to get to with lots of parking.
What I liked better was the Kona Coffe Living History farm. I went here the same day as Greenwell Farms. It is the preserved home and coffee farm of a local family. I liked the glimpse into how a small farmer really lived. It is located just a few miles south of Greenwell Farms.
Thank you - I will look into that one
 

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