If you’ve been to only one Hawaiian island, you certainly have not seen them all. Each of the Islands that make up the Hawaiian archipelago has it’s own vibe, although the Polynesian culture runs through each island is rooted in ancient traditions, each island is it’s own identity. If you’ve never been to Hawaii, if you can afford the time and money, you really should see them all.
Best way, I recommend is a cruise. You get a few sea days on the way out and back to the mainland to enjoy the vessel, it’s amenities and aclimate to the time zone shift. Hawaii is 5 or 6 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, so if it’s noon in New York City, it would be 6 am in the Pacific. The cruise ship also will stop at the major places like, Hilo or Kona on the Big Island “Hawaii”, Kuaui the Garden Island, Maui and the Road to Hana along with the major urban center of the Pacific ocean, Honolulu on Oahu.
I’d like to give you a run down of my favorite experiences on each Island that can be acomplished in a short time in port. Then in another article, I’ll do some deep dives into great places to visit that take a couple extra days in order to really get the experience specifically Honolulu, Oahu, and the Big Island.
When we used to stop in The Islands when sailing on Princess Cruises ships, we really had a routine of things we enjoyed participating in on land and knew we could do within our alloted shore leave. In Honolulu we navigated the island via public transportation. Both the bus and trolley around the city and Waikiki were excellent, reliable ways to navigate the area to see more than one famous landmark. The other ports, we often walked or used a bicycle. By visiting each island via ships multiple times, we really had a taste of everything the Hawaiian Islands have to offer.
When leaving Los Angeles, via ship, there were four sea days on the way out covering three time zone shifts of an hour each.
When we fly here from Detroit, we have a few lay over options, Los Angeles, Seattle and/or Honolulu are the most popular ones through Delta. We are loyal to Delta as our frequent flyer status is Platinum and with that we get early boarding, a free bag, there might be other perks that I’m not thinking of. I also have a Deta Skymiles credit card that gives me points toward free flights and upgrades. That card also provides me and my companion one free checked bag.
The first port during the cruise is on the Big Island of Hawaii, either the coffee centric community of Kona on the dry side or Hilo on the tropical rainy side. Both communities have great dining, beaches, access to the volcano and famous water falls. The Big Island is home to the active volcanos Mauna Kea and Kilauea. Volcano National Park is pretty much smack in the middle of the island. Saddle Road bridges the mountain across the middle of the island making the long route around the outside of the island cut in half or more. Local commuters are grateful for the split as it’s really reduced the commute for workers from Hilo coming to the Kona side for their jobs. Doesn’t sound far, but in reality, Hilo is 1.5 hours for the 79 miles to Kona on Saddle Road. On the jungle route to the North past Honukaa it’s more like 2.5 for the 75 miles. Most roads here are 2 or even one lane and speeds of 35-55 mph. It’s no place to be if you’re in a hurry. Loads of time following others all going one side of the island or the other.
Some of the most beautiful things to do on the Big Island, and all the other Hawaiian Islands is head to the beach. Some of my favorite Big Island beaches have either black sand, or this grey and tan shade to them. Lots of the local beaches have lava rock shore lines. If you travel to the Kailua Kona coast, you’ll see alot of the black rocks dotting and monopolizing the shoreline. Some great local spots are the Old Airport Beach also called Kailua Beach, Anaeho’omalu Bay (A-Bay for short), Spencer Park for the Western side and on the jungle side, check out Richardsons Beach for black sand, the Beatiful rock formations at Lauphoehoe Point Beach Park near Pap’aloa and if you have a longer time, see the only Green Sand beach at Ka Lae. I swear you can put your face in the water with a mask on anywhere you want to swim and you’ll see fantastic under water creatures. Even sitting on the shore, we’ve bumped into many sea turtles, birds of all shapes and sizes, a seal, watching from afar there are humpback whales and dolphins.
