I love the Hawaiian islands…. As I’m sure you know.
My favorite of all is the Big Island of Hawaii. It’s more of the real Hawaiian experience. The volcano, the rainforest, the beaches…. Awesome.
Oahu (Honolulu and North Shore Pearl Harbor), is big urban and tourist trap-ish.
On the Big Island, you need a rental car. It’s 3 hours drive across or down in any given direction.
Fly in to Kailua- Kona. If you don’t want to be in a touristy area, stay away from Waikoloa Beach Village – which is a big resort area (my apartment is in there… it’s full of golf courses and condos.)
If you want a non touristy area to stay in, you should consider the outskirts of Kona town toward the south or even the captain cook area which is quirky small town with few amenities and no hotels – but you could probably find an Airbnb there.
The other side of the island is Hilo the rainforest which is a bigger town and a bit more blue collar. Also where the black sand beaches are.
If you go in Jan, Feb or early March you should see the humpback whales. Amazing.
Waimea is “up the mountain” and a sweet town with a nice farmers market a couple days a week and is quite a few degrees cooler than the coast. Like almost a 20 Degree swing.
I will be on the Big Island in February and have some meeting in Oahu with my guitar maker, Steve Sydow on Oahu towards the end of my visit..
Happy to talk about it more as I have been going annually for the last 10+years. It’s my favorite place.
Ps if you don’t want to deal with a lot of tourists, stay off Maui. 🌺
