Top Destinations
Main Island
Daylight
Kauna’Oa Beach (2-4 Hours)
One of the most popular white-sand beaches in Hawaii, Kauna’Oa is located near the grounds of Mauna Kea Hotel. The beach is more or less private, but there are limited parking spots for the public. We wanted to get to the beach early to relax before it got too crowded and were accidentally one of the first people there. The security guard said they only let in the first 25 cars. We would recommend getting there around 8 am to secure your spot, especially if you are planning your whole day around this beach and are not staying at the hotel.
We did notice some beautiful larger lodges directly on the beach that would have made for an incredible spot with a larger group or family reunion. The resort is very nice, and there was a beautiful golf course hugging the beach as well.
Pololu Valley Lookout (10 min)
For a panoramic view of the Northeast coastline, the Pololu Valley Lookout is a very popular spot. A small parking lot allows you to get out and get a quick photo or enjoy the view. We added this as a short stop on our drive to Ziplining.
Kohola Ziplining (3 hours)
For a unique canopy zipline and high ropes experience, we chose to checkout Kohola Zipline. You make your way through the canopy and high ropes course doing a string of zip lines. There are 9 zip lines total with the last one being close to 100 yards to finish in style.
The excursion will be costly but given we had never done Ziplining before and had the unique views offered in Hawaii, we felt this made it worth the price.
For action shots of this specific excursion and to get a feel for some of the other major attractions in this post, you can check out this video montage of our trip here….https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpXng7t0Ucg
Waipi’o Valley Lookout (15 min)
Although our view was partially covered by some volcano fog, this was another beautiful panorama view. To avoid the fog, we would recommend going earlier in the day as it is common to see the fog in the afternoon.
We stopped at the main lookout along with a lot of other cars and tourists to get the classic view you see from this photo. Just to the left of this location is an extremely steep road leading down the valley. Make sure you do not take your car down to avoid damage or breaking any rental agreement contracts. This road is a well-known hazard.
Volcanoes National Park (Full Day)
Home to two active volcanoes, this national park is truly unique. The volcanic landscapes and lava viewing gave us a worthwhile experience.
We arrived at 7 AM and drove straight to the Thurston Lava Tube. This is the site of a cave or tube that had lava running through around 500 years ago. There is a short hike through beautiful forestry to get to the tube. This hike and excursion took us about 15 min since we were the only ones there this early in the morning.
We drove down Chain of Craters Road to the end to view the Sea Arches. This is the starting point for a 10-mile round trip hike to have a chance at seeing lava. We were about to embark on a very long, and very hot, hike but then another couple told us it would be easier to bike from the opposite side which still provided a good view and is a bit easier and more time-efficient. We decided to do a sunset lava viewing by the same method they recommended. We used the rest of our day time to enjoy the park.
After enjoying the Sea Arches we started driving back to check all the sites we passed on the initial drive. We stopped at the Pu’u Loa Petroglyphs. There was a small nature hike built around these Petroglyphs to help keep these preserved.
There are multiple craters and lookouts throughout the park and on Chain of Craters Road. The most memorable was the Kilauea Iki trail. We hiked down to the base of a crater which used to be the home to a lava lake in the mid-1900s. This was a 4-mile round trip trail to get to the base of the crater from the backside after hiking through the surrounding greenery. The total hike took us about 2 hours as we stopped at the base to appreciate the uniqueness of the plant life and observe steam vents.
After an action-packed morning, we drove to check out the Kilauea Visitor Center. The visitor center provides a lot of resources on sites to see in the park, has a gift shop, and has a lot of information on the Volcanoes and formation of the Hawaiin Islands. We enjoyed a 20-minute video called “From the Fire From the Sea”, and Learned about the origin of the Hawaiian islands, their nature, their animals, etc.
We heard there may be a chance to see lava so we drove to the steam areas and the lava viewing at the Jaggar Museum/Volcano Observatory. Here we saw two lava pit’s that were active which was our first view of lava on the trip. An employee said the two lava pit activity is extremely rare, so we felt fortunate. This view was from very far away, as is all lava viewing, so all visitors are protected.
As of May 2020, the Observatory and Jaggar Museum within the Park remain closed after structural damage was done during May 2018 caused by explosions from Halemaʻumaʻu.
Punalu’u Black Sand Beach (1 hour)
Not your typical beach with smooth sand, this “Black sand” is actually small remains of lava and is not as comfortable as sand when walking around with bare feet. The major reason this beach has become so popular is the chance to see a Sea Turtle. The day we visited we were the only ones there because it was raining and gloomy. The water was very rough and did not appear to be a good place to swim or snorkel. Part of this may have been the weather. We were lucky to see a single Sea Turtle on the shore which made this excursion exciting, but if you are looking for a nice relaxing day on the beach with nice water, and no tourists looking for turtles, there are better options.
Ahalanui County Beach Park (1-2 hours)
A well known hot spring, this park is a nice spot for locals and tourists to swim in water that is naturally/volcanically heated to around 90F. This pool sits near the ocean so we were able to walk around a bit and explore the coast before enjoying the bath.
Akaka Falls State Park (1-2 hours)
Akaka Falls is a 440 ft waterfall with a surrounding nature hike with multiple viewing spots to enjoy the views. There was a tour guide giving larger groups more information on the history of the park so this would be an option as well. We eavesdropped on one group until the tour guide mentioned there have been tourists in the past who jump the barriers to get closer to the waterfall and have fallen to their deaths. He seemed to direct his warning at us as if he suspected this was something we were considering….don’t do it, kids.
Rainbow Falls (1 hour)
Nearby Akaka Falls, the now wimpy 80 foot Rainbow Waterfall in comparison is still another nice site to checkout. If you manage to plan this trip in the morning you will increase your chance of seeing rainbows within the waterfall as the morning sun reflects off the water particles coming from the waterfall. There is a nice viewing area directly in front of the falls, but you can also hike around the side and get a lot closer. There are also surrounding woods with very unique trees we enjoyed climbing.
Evening
Kalapana Lava Viewing (3 hours)
Following the directions from the couple earlier in the day, we drove to the end of Highway 130 to rent bikes and view the lava flow at night.
Upon arrival you will be able to park your car and rent a bike. There are many vendors for bikes, food, and other souvenirs. This is when you know you are in the right place. Once you rent a bike it’s about a 20-30 min bike ride to get to the viewing area. You will leave your bike and start a small hike towards the coast to get a good view of the lava. The lava hits the ocean and a thick cloud of smoke is produced. This smoke usually blocks the lava so doing this viewing at night is preferred. Most of the other tourists are aware of this as well, so there was a large crowd. To get a good viewing location or set up a tripod, you will want to get here before sunset to secure a good spot and have a chance at an incredible view. Upon the ride back in darkness we noticed a beautiful starry night sky. We also worked up an appetite with all the biking so we bought a Reindeer hotdog. Spoiler alert, it was delicious…
Kona Brewery
The first thing we did when we landed in Hawaii was to walk across the street of our hotel to find Kona Brewery. We had never heard of Kona but needed some food and celebration of surviving a long flight while being jet-lagged. We drank a passion fruit wheat and a honey wheat beer and got a delicious margarita pizza with balsamic vinegar drizzled on top. Upon returning to Milwaukee we started to notice Kona beers were available at most liquor stores and were pleasantly surprised.
Random Comment about Food
Loco Moco is a popular local dish: A beef patty nestled in a bed of rice with an egg balanced on top smothered in gravy. We ordered this at Aloha Deli, a small roadside cafe, but keep an eye out for this as this will be available at most places.
Lodging Recommendation
Aloha Crater Lodge
We stayed in Room 6, the orchid suite, which was a private entrance bottom floor room with a patio, attached terrarium, and a two-person shower. The Lodge also had a Tree house for use. We thought this was too unique and were completely blown away and caught by surprise upon arriving.
Maui
Daylight
Road To Hana (1-2 Days)
A 60-mile strip of road across the complete Eastern Coast of Maui, the Road to Hana is considered one of the must-do adventures in Hawaii. Our day on the Road to Hana was not as we had hoped, but we managed to make the most of our time.
Quick Note: We always prefer to save money and move at our own pace. We often find joining tour groups can be limiting and inefficient. Because we were always going to have a rental car to get around on Maui it made sense to drive and manage this trip on our own. Driving on the Road To Hana is not an easy feat. The roads are very narrow, there is horrible visibility, it gets very crowded, and you always want to be enjoying the views and not getting stressed out by the driving conditions. You are either pinned up against steep rock cliffs or steep drops to the ocean on this narrow road. Consider joining a tour group if you prefer a more stress-free and relaxed day. It may be required 2 days to get to all you want, but if you can afford that then it may be worth considering.
Our morning started with us waking up to a constant downpour and driving to a booked Snorkeling excursion only to find out it was canceled. Upon reviewing the weather forecast, we realized our full time in Maui would be hindered by rain. We immediately audibled and by 9:30 am had begun our trip down the Road to Hana in our rental car. We were determined to get a full day of adventure through the rain.
Twin Falls (30 min)
Our first stop was a short hike to see two small waterfalls. There were massive leaves from surrounding trees that we used as umbrellas to protect us from the constant rain.
Na’ili’ili-Haele Hike (2 hours)
Edit: As of 2019, it appears this hike is now off-limits as it is private property of the East Maui Irrigation company. This hike was also clearly not a common or popular tourist attraction and was a bit more extreme and unsafe than other hikes. Unfortunately, we cannot recommend this any longer.
This hike became one of our favorite activities of the day, although there was a weird underlying fear that we should not have been there. For starters, the entrance was very difficult to find. Closely following the mile 6 marker was a section of tall grass on the right side of the road. We parked the car on the side of the road (not ideal and concerning) and found a small gap in the grass that was not labeled. We pursued this without even knowing if we were in the correct place and hiked to a river. After some boulder jumping we made it to the other side which was a beautiful bamboo forest. Because it was raining the whole forest was a complete mud pit and made for very difficult hiking. There was also no signage so we had no idea where we were going. After we were about to give up, we saw another couple hiking who told us where to see 2 of the 5 waterfalls. We followed their directions to see two incredible Falls from up close and personal without any other tourists. Without overstaying our welcome in what was an eerie but adventurous and beautiful hike, we went back to the car and continued.
Waikamoi Ridge Trail (1-hour max)
This was a short nature trail/hike. The hike is dense with trees and nature and had 3 viewpoints. The hike is mild so most should be able to manage depending on hiking ability. There are also picnic spots that make this a good place to stop for a snack or some lunch/dinner.
Wailua Overlook (10 minutes)
A small parking lot on the left side of the road past the Wailua Valley State Park is what you are looking for. You will climb a stairway to get a nice panoramic view of the Wailua. If the weather is cloudy/rainy similar to our experience this view will not be as memorable.
Three Bears (Waikani Falls) (1 minute)
This is the name of 3 Falls just off the road. Because there was no parking and already a backup of cars, we tried to catch a photo from the car and kept moving.
Pua’a Ka’a State Wayside Park (30 minutes max)
This is another popular picnic spot as you get farther down the Road. We took a minute to use the restrooms and stretch our legs with a 10-minute hike to cross a small stream and get close to the pool and falls.
Hanawi Falls (1 minute)
Given the popularity of the Road to Hana you will notice a lot of beautiful sites get overrun by tourists parking on the side of the road if there are no defined parking spaces. This makes it harder to enjoy waterfalls or other views that can be seen from the street. We were only able to drive by but didn’t manage to get a picture. Make sure to start your day earlier or come back to some of these spots the following day if you can avoid these crowds.
Wai’anapanapa State Park (1-2 hours)
Home to Pa’iloa Beach which is known for the black sand, this park provides a lot of nice trails, a small cave connected to the beach, and a hike up the coast to a Blow Hole where waves would crash into the rocks and soar up onto the high cliffs. The rain stopped for the whole time we were here which made it that much more enjoyable.
This was more of a well developed State Park so it would be an even nicer place to have a picnic or even camp out overnight.
Wailua Falls (10 minutes)
Oh look, another waterfall! This 100-foot waterfall is just off the side of the road and is very picturesque. Spend a few minutes to stop and enjoy the view.
Pipiwai Trail to Waimoku Falls in Haleakala National Park (2 hours)
“Don’t go chasing waterfalls” became the theme song for this day if you couldn’t already tell. BUT we had to check out one more, and we are glad we did. As we tried to beat the sunset, we started a quick 4-mile hike to a 400 ft waterfall (Waimoku Falls) through a variety of foresty and ecosystems. The highlight was a dense bamboo forest with a beautiful wooden path. We were the only ones on this hike this late in the day (it was also still raining), and this became the highlight of the day. This hike was the longest, had the most beautiful scenery, was the least crowded, and included a glorious waterfall.
Just as the sun was going down we started our trip farther south down the Road to Hana because we had planned to stay at a hotel that was closer to the southern end than the northern. As we hit the southern bend there was a sinkhole in the middle of the road. The police shut down the only road on this part of the island so we were forced to drive 90 minutes north up the Road to Hana in the other direction in the dark.
Haleakala National Park/Mountain (Half Day minimum)
Another major attraction on Maui, this park is home to a dormant Volcano that provides most of the excitement. The summit is the location of a crater and is well known for sunrise and sunset viewings because of the view above the clouds. This also provides an incredible place to see stars because the weather does not limit your views and you are high and relatively isolated to avoid light pollution.
We stayed at Kula Lodge at the base of the mountain so we could get up early and catch the sunrise. Given the poor weather conditions, by the time we made it to the first checkpoint, after 30 minutes of driving up the mountain, it was clear the weather was not clearing up and we were not going to any good views. The weather ruined any chance we had at enjoying this excursion so we cut our losses and left.
Lahaina (3 hours)
With our extra time in Maui we went to this peaceful and casual town for some shopping and relaxation. We loaded up on delicious local macadamia nut-based cookies for friends and family. Macadamia nuts are a relatively unknown but popular good produced in Hawaii. After some more souvenir shopping we got a 60-minute couples massage at Aloha Massage, they had just opened 2 weeks prior.
To kill time before we went to the airport, we ate at Down the Hatch and got the Lava Shrimp and Fried Calamari strips with two Mai Tais during happy hour.
Evening
Mama’s Fish House (2 hours)
Simply put, Mama’s Fish House is one of our favorite restaurants in the world and a huge reason we would recommend Maui to anyone is to get dinner at Mama’s Fish House. This beachside seafood restaurant provides incredible food, perfect drinks, relaxed and casual ambiance, and friendly staff. We came for a delayed Birthday celebration for Allison and were not disappointed. The bill was picked up by Allison’s Mom as her Birthday present and we were able to take full advantage of all the restaurants had to offer.
The restaurant is very expensive, so you will need to prepare accordingly, and may be difficult to manage if you are traveling on a tight budget. If you are on a honeymoon or like to treat yourself to one nice excursion on a trip this should be a contender. On our way out we saw a Sea Turtle laying on the beach on their ocean shore. Mama’s Fish House has it all.
Paia Fish Market (1 hour)
This dinner capped our exciting day on the Road to Hana in Paia. We ordered incredible fish tacos with unique coleslaw and cajun rice. We enjoyed the casual order at the counter ambiance. This has become one of the more popular restaurants and even chains now in Hawaii.
Kauai
Daylight
Poipu Beach (2-4 hours)
We spent our morning on this beach relaxing. While we were walking down the coast we were able to see three seals playing within 10 feet of us on the shore. A large crowd gathered and the lifeguards were warning people not to get too close to wild animals.
Tunnels Beach (2 hours)
Known mainly for the snorkeling, we bought snorkel gear and went to check this beach out. We were not disappointed. Amazing water, clean beach, and few tourists.
Anini Beach (2 hours)
We went to try another beach for Snorkelling. We heard Anini had the largest coral reef by the shore in Hawaii so we wanted to check it out.
This beach was perfect; great sand, hot sun, very private, open, but by the time we arrived in the afternoon, all the fish were gone so we had bad Snorkeling. Don’t make the same mistake we did.
Salt Pond Park (1-2 hours)
We came here to catch the sunset and relax on the beach. This appeared to be a nice family beach that was well maintained with good facilities for hosting picnics. We tossed a frisbee on the beach and enjoyed a nice sunset.
Safari Helicopter Tour of Napali Coast (3 hours)
When you get to Kauai you will hear about the Napali Coast. The northern coast of Kauai is known for breathtaking views and there are many options for viewing this beauty. There are some multi-day hikes to remote beaches, less difficult hikes to lookout points for various angles, boat tours, and Helicopter rides…
For us, it was between boat and helicopter since we did not have the time to execute a difficult and lengthy hike. We chose to splurge for our one excursion this trip on the Helicopter ride and WOW, what a memory.
Neither of us had been in a helicopter before so that alone was an experience on its own, but getting to see the coast and other parts of the island for a Bird’s Eye View is unforgettable. Wearing a full headset so we can communicate and hear more facts about the island made this more of a complete experience as well.
Quick Note: If you have not been in a Helicopter before, make sure you are prepared for a generally uneasy ride. Similar to a boat, you will be rocking back and forth and if you have any fear of heights this could make this experience more miserable than exciting. The guy next to me during our ride (6 passengers total) was puking into a bag they provided during our flight. If you have any concerns about this experience you can easily find an alternative option for this view, no reason to push your boundaries on a vacation.
We chose to buy the full HD video which was filmed from a camera mounted underneath the Chopper during our flight to capture all unobstructed footage. Given we will never take a more exciting Helicopter ride, we figured it was worth buying this footage.
Wailua Falls (1 hour)
Another picturesque waterfall, this is a pair of 170-foot waterfalls. We stopped to get a view of this site but did not have time to explore or hike down to the pool at the bottom for a better view.
Kauai Coffee Company (1-2 hours)
We visited the plantation for coffee samples and a walking tour. At the time of our trip they mentioned they are the largest coffee producer in the states which was an enormous surprise. Their plantation tour and customer experience were put together very well. Even if you are not a coffee snob you will enjoy what they have to offer.
Food
Lava Lava Beach Club (1-3 hours)
This was a very nice and fun themed bar/restaurant. The ocean view was lost on us as we ate on the beach in the dark, but they had good food, plenty of alcoholic beverage options, and lots of casual beach games. This would have been a great place to spend an afternoon.
Kalapaki Joes Sports Bar (1 hour)
After Poipu Beach we enjoyed brunch with more fish. I got the fish tacos which were worth mentioning and Allison got the fish salad.
