Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hiking and surfing sound like Kauai is where you want to be. Yes, it's cool to hike through the volcano craters, but there are like 6 miles of hikes, that's it. Unless you are willing to hike at night to hope to see lava.

That being said, it's an easy flight from Kauai to the big island. I would spend the bulk in Kauai with a two nights at the National Park.

Hiking family here and this is exactly our plan. We're likely only to ever go once as a family, so waiting until DD is at an age where she'll most remember it (and be able to do strenuous hikes)...so probably not until she is 12+.

I love the Big Island and Kauai, and combining the two would be an ideal vacation for me. However, you cannot fly directly from the BI to Kauai or vice versa. All flights between those two islands involve a stop either on Maui or Oahu. Not a dealbreaker if you really want to do both, but count on killing a day traveling between the two islands.

Hmmm...is the Kauai/Maui combination any better?

You do have to go through Honolulu - but it's quick. We flew into Honolulu and then onto the Big Island to start the trip, when we left the Big Island with a 9am flight we were in Kauai by 1 -- we even did a NaPali coast hike late afternoon. Then few from Kauai into Honolulu on the last day and then flew out. The airports are so much smaller and laid back than most US airports -- nothing like the stress of changing flights in most of the US

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hiking and surfing sound like Kauai is where you want to be. Yes, it's cool to hike through the volcano craters, but there are like 6 miles of hikes, that's it. Unless you are willing to hike at night to hope to see lava.

That being said, it's an easy flight from Kauai to the big island. I would spend the bulk in Kauai with a two nights at the National Park.

Hiking family here and this is exactly our plan. We're likely only to ever go once as a family, so waiting until DD is at an age where she'll most remember it (and be able to do strenuous hikes)...so probably not until she is 12+.

I love the Big Island and Kauai, and combining the two would be an ideal vacation for me. However, you cannot fly directly from the BI to Kauai or vice versa. All flights between those two islands involve a stop either on Maui or Oahu. Not a dealbreaker if you really want to do both, but count on killing a day traveling between the two islands.

Hmmm...is the Kauai/Maui combination any better?

OP, we went to Hawaii (the Big Island) with our almost 4 y.o. and it was sheer misery. She did not adjust to the time change. There was so much crying...that trip cost us an arm and a leg, and we were at a fabulous resort (Four Seasons Hu-la-lai..sp?).

Anyways after that trip we decided that until she was 7, we would only travel north/south (in our own time zone).

Just something to think about. If you go, get him/her an eye mask...bring food (PB + Jelly fixins') so if s/he wakes up hungry and it's not room service hours, you can feed h/her. We were at a resort that did have a little store, but it was always out of bread.

We preferred the Makena area of Maui - south of Kihei (which is central but the hotels aren't as posh.) My friends likes the Kaanapali area (Westin.) There is a hotel with a japanese ofuno pool I am def going to try next time we are out there.
My brother lived in Kona which is central and has the stores & restaurants, convenient to both north (our favorite was Puako Beach and the Ritz area for turtle infested beaches) and south (Captain Cook bay - morning kayak with wild dolphins.) Trips to the east coast Champagne pools, black sand beach, observatory etc. take all day.
Get a copy of the "Revealed" guide book for whatever island you visit and def. rent a 4X4 vehicle, to get to the best beaches.

I love, love Hawaii. My kids have been twice, but it was because family members from the West Coast were going for a family occasion and I really wanted to join them.

I'll be honest -- it was pretty rough with little ones. The first time was no so bad because I only had one, and she was 2, so she slept at weird times anyway. The second time I had 3 kids and the older ones were no longer napping. Everyone work up at 2 a.m. for the first several days and WOULD NOT GO BACK TO SLEEP. There is not a ton to do at 2 a.m. in the morning. By 8, when normal people were waking up, my kids were pissy and irritable and stayed that way pretty much all day. They'd fall asleep in the afternoon, but then I'd be desperately trying to rouse them after a couple hours, so that they didn't just sleep through until midnight and wake up then.

We stayed 10 days so we did get past the worst of it, but I am still kind of traumatized by those first couple days, which were really awful and exhausting, with a lot of fighting and yelling among everyone.

We've done a lot of the same things that we could do in Hawaii in the Carribbean, Costa Rica, and Mexico. I'll be back to Hawaii again, I hope, but not until my kids are teenagers that hate to get up early. (If a teenager normally sleeps until noon, then they'd be getting up a 6 in Hawaii, right?).

Anonymous wrote:Hiking and surfing sound like Kauai is where you want to be. Yes, it's cool to hike through the volcano craters, but there are like 6 miles of hikes, that's it. Unless you are willing to hike at night to hope to see lava.

That being said, it's an easy flight from Kauai to the big island. I would spend the bulk in Kauai with a two nights at the National Park.

We took a helicopter ride to see the lava flows with our two kids (11 & 13) and that was a definite highlight of the trip and worth the cost. If you are lucky and the lava flows are reaching the coast you can also take a boat ride to see it -- we just missed that. The flows we saw from the helicopter reached the edge of the island and started falling into the sea a few days after we returned home.

I have to agree that 4 is too young - unless 4 is the youngest of multiple children? If it just the 4 year old I would wait. I grew up in Hawaii and did not take my kids until the youngest was 5 and the trip was long and hard on her. There are so many other great places you can go to that don't require so much travel. If I were you I would go to Kauai if you are still determined

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hiking and surfing sound like Kauai is where you want to be. Yes, it's cool to hike through the volcano craters, but there are like 6 miles of hikes, that's it. Unless you are willing to hike at night to hope to see lava.

That being said, it's an easy flight from Kauai to the big island. I would spend the bulk in Kauai with a two nights at the National Park.

Hiking family here and this is exactly our plan. We're likely only to ever go once as a family, so waiting until DD is at an age where she'll most remember it (and be able to do strenuous hikes)...so probably not until she is 12+.

I love the Big Island and Kauai, and combining the two would be an ideal vacation for me. However, you cannot fly directly from the BI to Kauai or vice versa. All flights between those two islands involve a stop either on Maui or Oahu. Not a dealbreaker if you really want to do both, but count on killing a day traveling between the two islands.