Whales in Feb any island?/ POH relocation cruise/hotel help

[suzy5555]

I just impulsively booked POH relocation cruise Feb 4 because I felt somewhat cheated on the cruise part of our recent Oct. cruise. My DH wants to whale watch and it is my understanding that Maui is the best island for whale watching. Because this is peak season, the hotels are outrageously priced. I've been looking at condos that were recommended on this site and all are booked. This is sea days only cruise that starts in Honolulu and ends in LA. We want to do a pre-stay arriving Feb 1.

 

My questions are:

1. If we stay in Maui - do you have any suggestions of where to stay for under $180/nt (I'm so spoiled/thrifty/cheap;) - I usually Priceline my hotel rooms - but I don't think it is possible during peak season)

 

2. If we stay on Oahu or go to another island, will we see whales? If so which island? I haven't priced the other islands yet - I just assumed they will be less expensive than Maui.

 

Mahalo

[lfdianne]

Did you look at hotels/condos in Napili? Or the Kaanapali Beach Hotel is usually less expensive than the major chains. Whale watching in Maui is phenomenal.

[Ka Honu]

Lahaina Roads (Maui) is certainly the "best" place to watch whales but you're pretty much guaranteed to see at least a few on a whale watching cruise out of Honolulu at that time of year.

[poolhall junkie]

Do a search on South Kihei.Rates between $150.00 and $200.00 for a nice place and great beaches.You can see whales from the land.Maui is a great place to whale watch.Travel Hero.com is one to check.:)

[boulders]

You can also see whales from shore off the South Kohala Coast of the Big Island. The best area to stay in is the Waikoloa Beach Resort. There are plenty of condos to rent off vrbo. My favorite condo development in the area is Hali'i Kai (haliikairesort .com). Their Ocean Club sits right on the ocean where you can likely see whales in Feb.

 

There are plenty of whale watching trips from Kailua-Kona. Captain Andy's is highly recommended.

[DonahCBrown]

I just impulsively booked POH relocation cruise Feb 4 because I felt somewhat cheated on the cruise part of our recent Oct. cruise. My DH wants to whale watch and it is my understanding that Maui is the best island for whale watching. Because this is peak season, the hotels are outrageously priced. I've been looking at condos that were recommended on this site and all are booked. This is sea days only cruise that starts in Honolulu and ends in LA. We want to do a pre-stay arriving Feb 1.

 

My questions are:

1. If we stay in Maui - do you have any suggestions of where to stay for under $180/nt (I'm so spoiled/thrifty/cheap;) - I usually Priceline my hotel rooms - but I don't think it is possible during peak season)

 

2. If we stay on Oahu or go to another island, will we see whales? If so which island? I haven't priced the other islands yet - I just assumed they will be less expensive than Maui.

 

Mahalo

 

 

Big Island and Maui will both have plentiful whales. I live on the Big Island, and know a lot more about our condos and conditions so I'll speak to that. The Kohala coast on the Big Island you can see whales from the shore line, easily, or you can take an excursion from Kona. The North Kohala area that borders on the Alanuihaha Channel between the Big Island and Maui also is a good area for whale watching.

 

Kona condos are less expensive than the ones on the "Gold Coast" in Waikoloa. Try homeaway.com for a pretty comprehensive listing - they've taken over VBRO, Great Rentals, and quite a few of the other 'rent by owner' sites. In Waikoloa, rentals that are 'upslope' and away from the beach in Waikoloa Village are substantially less than the beach resort complexes, and you are about 6 to 7 miles from the beach, down hill. It is a residential community with a small shopping complex, and there are a few vacation rentals and a time share complex as well.

 

Check the reviews on TripAdvisor for condo complex evaluations, and shop the 'specials' for cancellations, etc. on the rent by owner sites. You should be able to find a pretty nice place in Kona or Waikoloa Village for the price point you suggested, but you won't be in one of the really fancy Waikoloa resort complexes for anything under $250+ a night, high season. You might also want to check the time shares. Folks sometimes rent out their weeks for fairly reasonable prices. Hilton has a time share place at the beach resort, and there is at least one other time share complex there as well.

 

Hope this helps. E-mail with any specific Big Island questions.

[suzy5555]

Thank you everyone for your replies. They have been and will be very helpful. I finally found a rental for my short 3 day land stay in Kahana.

 

We are going back to Hawaii with some friends in May for a 9 day land stay. They have never been to Hawaii. I'm thinking that have to go to VNP so I'm thinking of splitting our trip to stay on two islands - Big Island and Kauai. Unfortunately the first and last of the days are travel days. We will arrive on a Thursday. Plans are to be on Big Island Friday, Saturday, Sunday - fly to Kauai on Monday - mainly rest that day, then have Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in Kauai - fly home Friday.

 

Donna - since you live on the Big Island - I do have a few questions. I love both sides of Big Island. I want our friends to experience both. But we really only have 3 days on the island and as you know - it's big. I definitely think they should go to the volcano. They are not beach/water people so I'm thinking Place of Refuge, Painted Church, etc might be good. I want to use our time there efficiently so any suggestions of where to stay (This time whale watching not a factor) and what to do for the 3 days will be greatly appreciated. Is Saddle Road easy to travel? We definitely will rent a car. Should we just move from hotel on one side to hotel on other side to save on traveling back and forth?

 

I thank everyone in advance.

[DonahCBrown]

Thank you everyone for your replies. They have been and will be very helpful. I finally found a rental for my short 3 day land stay in Kahana.

 

We are going back to Hawaii with some friends in May for a 9 day land stay. They have never been to Hawaii. I'm thinking that have to go to VNP so I'm thinking of splitting our trip to stay on two islands - Big Island and Kauai. Unfortunately the first and last of the days are travel days. We will arrive on a Thursday. Plans are to be on Big Island Friday, Saturday, Sunday - fly to Kauai on Monday - mainly rest that day, then have Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in Kauai - fly home Friday.

 

Donna - since you live on the Big Island - I do have a few questions. I love both sides of Big Island. I want our friends to experience both. But we really only have 3 days on the island and as you know - it's big. I definitely think they should go to the volcano. They are not beach/water people so I'm thinking Place of Refuge, Painted Church, etc might be good. I want to use our time there efficiently so any suggestions of where to stay (This time whale watching not a factor) and what to do for the 3 days will be greatly appreciated. Is Saddle Road easy to travel? We definitely will rent a car. Should we just move from hotel on one side to hotel on other side to save on traveling back and forth?

 

I thank everyone in advance.

 

With just three days, and interisland travel, I'd suggest flying into one airport and out of the other, and paying the 'drop charge' for the rental car - it will save you basically a full travel day and allow you more sight seeing time. Shop around the various car companies, too, some of them may not have drop charges.

 

In any event, I'd fly into Hilo, I'm assuming from Honolulu? - and rent the car, go up to VNP. My preferred lodging there is the Kilauea Lodge, but if you stay elsewhere, at least make dinner reservations there - best food in Volcano and some of the best on the island. Then you can go through the park during the day, if there is anything to see, you can go down for the after sunset show, then back up to the Lodge for dinner (they have a couple of really nice little cottages, btw - we rented one with some cruise friends who came to visit - two bedroom place, a bit down the road from the Lodge itself, and you still get the Lodge breakfast as part of the deal)

 

The next day, if you haven't had enough of VNP, you can still do about half a day there, then head for Kona - there are three ways to get there - First is the Saddle Road, which is forbidden on your rental car agreement, but is a decent enough road most of the way over, although the last bit coming down from the Army base to Mamaloahoa Highway is still pretty rough and you'll have to go slow. The principal reason the rental car companies don't want you up there is that there are no services - no gas station, no towing company, etc. if something happens to you, and you can mess up a car pretty badly if you run off the road or take the pothole riddled part too fast.

 

Second you can go left out of the Park on the Belt Road, towards South Point and then up to Kona, which is, in my opinion, a pretty but fairly boring ride, and also seems to take a really long time. You will see the black sand beach and COULD go to Pu'uhonua on the way.

 

Third, and my preferred route, is to turn right out of the Park, and go back through Hilo, along the coast past all the old sugar towns, up through Waimea (Kamuela) and then either take the Mamalahoa Highway (the upper road) or continue down to Kawaihae and take Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway (the lower road) along the coast.

 

The reason I prefer that route, particularly when I have visitors, is that there are so many places along the road to show them - you can have a look around Hilo, then, on the way out of town you can take the Onomea Bay bypass and see the botanical gardens, then you can stop at Lapahoehoe Point to see the memorial to the school children and teachers who were lost in the tsunami, or go to the train museum which is up on the main road, then you can take a rest stop outside Honoka'a at Tex Drive-in and have a malasaada (Portugese doughnut without a hole - wonderful, and they make them all day long so you can always get a warm one..) If you start early in the day, you can take a ride past Honoka'a to the Waipio Valley overlook, then go through Waimea, take a stop at the Parker Ranch historic homes, and still have plenty of time to make it into Kona before dark. If you are staying in the Waikoloa area, it is around 20 minutes or so from Waimea, Kona is another 30 to 40 minutes (can be more depending on traffic) from Waikoloa. Since you say you want to do Pu'uhonua and Painted Church, I'd suggest looking for a place in Keahou, which is another 5 miles or so beyond Kona proper. There are a lot of nice condos down there as well as the newly remodeled Sheraton and the older, but nice Keahou Beach Outrigger. As far as condos go, we used to stay at Kanaloa and, while it is older, the condos are nice and well maintained.

 

Day 3 is in Kona, and you go south to Pu'uhonua and Painted Church, and either have a late flight out that day or an early one on the next day to go to Kauai. I think you'll have to go through Honolulu to get there, but check with Go as they have an expanded schedule and I haven't checked it lately to see if they go direct from Kona to Kauai.

 

Hope this is helpful, and you can email me direct if you have other questions.:D

[suzy5555]

With just three days...

Hope this is helpful....

 

Helpful? This is beyond helpful - it's fantastic. I haven't known how to plan out this land stay because the only experience I have is with the previous October cruise.

 

I have the reveal books and maps so I could follow exactly what you were saying. This has been great help. If I have further questions, I will email you privately. Thanks again.

[beachchick]

With just three days, and interisland travel, I'd suggest flying into one airport and out of the other, and paying the 'drop charge' for the rental car - it will save you basically a full travel day and allow you more sight seeing time. Shop around the various car companies, too, some of them may not have drop charges.

 

I second this suggestion. DH and I have done it twice. As an FYI, we rented one time with Alamo and the other with Avis. Neither charged us a drop fee to pick up at Kona (KOA) and return at Hilo (ITO). Of course, our last land trip was almost 2 years ago, so who knows what fees they're imposing these days. I would definitely check to see which companies do and do not have the drop fee.

 

beachchick

[mktmzm]

I will be staying at the Keahou Racquet club from 2/19 - 2/24. My husband and I are doing a 15 mile Waterfall ATV tour on 2/20 and a snorkel trip on the Hula Kai on 2/21. We want to go to VNP in a day and also have dinner at the Kiluea Lodge. What else should we do and what route do you advise for us to see the most. We are willing to get up early and get back to Keahuo late. Also, should we go to Mauna Kea?

 

Also, we have 4 days on Oahu and I think we want to fly over to Maui for one of them. Can you offer suggestions for car rental, excursions, etc? We like to go "out on our own" as much as possible.

 

Thanks in advance..

 

Marcy

[DonahCBrown]

I will be staying at the Keahou Racquet club from 2/19 - 2/24. My husband and I are doing a 15 mile Waterfall ATV tour on 2/20 and a snorkel trip on the Hula Kai on 2/21. We want to go to VNP in a day and also have dinner at the Kiluea Lodge. What else should we do and what route do you advise for us to see the most. We are willing to get up early and get back to Keahuo late. Also, should we go to Mauna Kea?

 

Also, we have 4 days on Oahu and I think we want to fly over to Maui for one of them. Can you offer suggestions for car rental, excursions, etc? We like to go "out on our own" as much as possible.

 

Thanks in advance..

 

Marcy

 

 

It is going to be a long trip back to Keahou from the Lodge unless you're planning on staying overnight there, just so you know. It is very dark either way you go, but as you are in Keahou, it would probably be quicker to come back through Kau and up the coast. You might want to go over one way, and back the other, going through Waimea and up the Hamakua Coast to get to VNP, then return through Kau and Southpoint - you don't miss all that much doing that in the dark, just be really careful with your driving - it is very dark - no street lights, not many towns between Volcano and Keahou.

 

Mauna Kea is sort of a toss up - if you have the time, or a strong interest in astronomy, then yes, but sign up for a tour with someone who provides warm jackets and oxygen, and realize that no matter, you won't be inside the actual observatories, as a rule. You may not even go to the summit - the night time tours go to the visitor's center and use the telescopes there - larger than you usually see and there's a good set of exhibits and films at the visitor's center, but not the big ones like up at the summit. If you do a day time tour, you can see the outside of the observatories and on a clear day the view is amazing. In Feb. you might well be in the snow, too. We have snow on both Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa right now.

 

From where you are, you also want to do some snorkeling at Kahalu'u Beach Park, maybe take in the luau and show at the Sheraton - it is supposed to be a really good production - I keep meaning to get down there, and also take at least a half day to go to Pu'uhonua O Honaunau and Painted Church, and maybe a coffee plantation tour - Greenwell's or the Historical Society would be my suggestion - they're pretty much next door to each other, and on the way to Pu'uhonua.

[simonv]

Thank you everyone for your replies. They have been and will be very helpful. I finally found a rental for my short 3 day land stay in Kahana.

 

Excellent. I think Kahana is the best area for whale watching. In front of Kahana is the narrow channel between Maui and Molokai. Whales like the warm shallow water there. Just park yourself on the beach there and you can see the whale show to your heart's content. You couldn't have landed in a better spot.

[suzy5555]

I apologize. I got side-tracked from my original post when I started discussing my second land trip on the Big Island.

 

A new thread has been started about the Big Island

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=683568

 

Will you please post new comments about Big Island there?

 

Thanks