From: Jess Moss
To: Friend asking what to do on his honeymoon on Maui & the Big Island
Date: June 20, 2017
Subject: Potential Honeymoon Calendar
Cool, so here’s roughly what you could do:
12/27: Land, dinner, crash
12/28: Consider doing Haleakala sunrise (you’re going to be waking up super early cuz of the time difference, so might as well take advantage and do sunset at Haleakala this day since it involves waking up at like 4 am)
12/29 ~ 12/30: One of these days you’ll want to drive the Road to Hana, my favorite road trip in the world (unless you get car sick…). Rent a convertible for it!
12/31: Beach, boat, whatever you want!
1/1: am to HNL. Look into luggage storage at Pearl Harbor – it’s near the airport so if you get tickets beforehand you could time it to go from your flight rather than battling traffic to/from multiple times.
1/2: Oahu ~ Waikiki, Diamond Head climb, sunset sail
1/3: am to Kona.
Where to stay kind of depends on what you want to do on the big island. Volcanoes is a must, and it’s a long haul from either the kohala or kona coast. so here’s more of the breakdown:
A) kohala/waikoloa: closer to waimea valley/hamakua coast (hiking), mauna kea (stargazing), waimea (cowboy country). area is sunny and has lots of resorts and beaches/snorkeling.
B) kona coast/keahou: the sheraton is nice here, otherwise it’s a bit less resorty and more like a town. closer to coffee plantations, artsy enclaves and green & black sand beaches, and a bit closer to volcanoes.
…I think you’ll probably like the Kohala/ CoastWaikoloa are more, but there are plenty of forums online about choosing between them!
1/4: Celebrate Jess’s bday.
1/5: One of these days you’ll want to do Volcanoes NP. It’s a long drive (~3-4 hrs 1-way from Kohala and ~3 hrs from Kona? ish?) so it can be nice to spend the night out there. I recommend spending the night the day you explore, since seeing the glowing crater and lava at night is amazing when it’s on. There’s a place in the park called Volcano House, otherwise the town of Volcano has some b&bs or Hilo is kind of dumpy but is a shorter drive.
1/6: pm flight home
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