Jess Moss Travel

Tag: Tips for Friends

  • #EmailPost: How to Spend 4 Days on Kauai

    #EmailPost:
    How to Spend 4 Days on Kauai

    From: Jess Moss
    To: Friend asking what to do with four days on Kauai. (She’s staying at the Marriott in Lihue.)
    Date: July 3, 2017

    Subject: Hawaiiiiiiiiiii 🐳🌺🌈🌴🏄

    So jealous!!! And I can’t wait to hear all about it!

    Here are some of my fave things:

    Kauai:
    (You’re renting a car, right? You need one)
    -North Shore: Absolutely beautiful. Spend a day here (or more)! Hanalei Bay is my favorite beach in the world. You can do surfing lessons or stand up paddling here. Makena/Tunnels beach is known for snorkeling.

    -By your hotel: the Marriott’s on a little bay that is a good place for stand up paddling. It’s in Lihue so is close to the helicopter trips.

    -Helicopter: Def do this – schedule it early in your trip so you can scout out the island and find places you want to go back to – also if weather is bad you have time to resched. If you aren’t too freaked out by heights, do the “doors off” heli – you won’t get reflections in your photos that way. If you do a doors on one, wear dark colors so you don’t reflect in the glass.

    -Waimea Canyon: sometimes called the Grand Canyon of the pacific. Really cool and lots of hiking options.

    Here’s roughly what I would recommend:

    Day 1:

    helicopter ride, then check out Poipu on the south shore. Good beach there, you can often see monk seals! Also have some surf schools in the area I think. You drive through a cool tree tunnel to get there. There are a bunch of restaurants at the resorts, and some in Koloa. For nice meals, Beach House is always a top pick for romantic sunset dinners. One of my personal faves is Puka Dog, a Hawaiian hotdog spot that fills your hot dog bun with local fruit relishes and toppings. Soooo good!

    Day 2:

    Head up to the North Shore for the day. Stop for a pic at Waimea Falls, Kilauea Lighthouse, and the taro fields in Princeville. Head to the end of the road at Kee Beach and hike the first part of the Kalalau Trail (the epic hike you mentioned). I did the 2 mi trek in and back in like 3 hours, I think? It was tough, bring water and a snack. Then you can spend the afternoon in Hanalei or at Hanalei Bay. Hang out on the pier for sunset or head up to the St Regis for a drink at their incredible bar. Lots of cute local spots for dinner, I haven’t been there in a while though so you’re better off asking locally for recos 🙂

    Day 3:

    (I think this would be Friday). Head out to the west side of the island. Drive up to the Kalalau Lookout in Kokee State Park (where all those famous Hawaii photos are shot). If it’s cloudy be patient, they’ll usually blow through. Then check out Waimea Canyon for a hike. Also out there are some great empty beaches. Polihale is one, kinda tough to get to but it’s huge and deserted. Head into Hanapepe in the evening, they have a Friday night art walk. Alternatively you can go to Port Allen and hop on a sunset sail.

    Day 4

    Either go back to a spot on the island you want to spend more time in, relax at the hotel, or check out Kapaa and Wailua on the east side.

  • #EmailPost: Hawaii Honeymoon Calendar

    #EmailPost:
    Hawaii Honeymoon Calendar

    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
    ****
     
  • #EmailPost: Where to Stay on Maui

    #EmailPost:
    Where to Stay on Maui

    From: Jess Moss
    To: Friend asking which hotel to stay at on his honeymoon on Maui & the Big Island
    Date: June 19, 2017

    Subject: Re: Places to Stay on Maui

    Asking about these hotels:

    • Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club – Molokai, Maui & Lanai Towers
    • The Westin Maui Resort & Spa, Ka’anapali
    • Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa
    • Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort

    Those are all good!

    For the first three, Marriott, Westin, Hyatt, honestly I doubt there’s much difference between them since they’re all on the same beachfront and look like pretty similar hotels. There’s a beach path that connects all of them so you can walk between them all. The Westin is a bit closer to Whaler’s Village, a little shopping center, but again, I think they’re all pretty comparable.

     
    I haven’t seen the Andaz but I’ve heard good things – it’s newer than the others.
     
    Overall Kaanapali (where the first three are) is going to be a bit more happening than Wailea. I think of Wailea as being a little older and more upscale. Both are little beach communities, but I think Kaanapali has more going on, and it’s easier to reach Lahaina. That might be me though, I’ve always gravitated toward staying in West Maui vs the South Shore.
     
    Also, both are pretty resort-heavy areas. That means there will be plenty to do but it won’t feel as secluded/private. If you want a bit of privacy I’d recommend looking at Travaasa Hana for 1 night. It’s an all-inclusive on the other side of the island, so you drive the famous Road to Hana to get there, and then rather than turning around and coming back in a day, you spend the night in a little cottage and make your way back the next day.
     
    ****