Hawaii holiday help...

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Richard Peters

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Hi all, I wonder if anyone can help me...

My better half and I want to go to Hawaii at the end of Sept. Today we are booking the flights from London to San Fran, where we can hopefully stay with a friend, and so now we need to book the hotel and Hawaii part of the trip.

However, we have no idea at all which island is the best bet or what part of what island to stay on. I will be taking my camera but not the big guns (unless there is suitable wildlife to warrant a 200-400?) and have the plan of doing landscapes and time lapse mostly - I hear there are some of the best views of the sky at night from parts of Hawaii?

So I was just wondering if anyone here has any experience of hawaii and could offer some tips on where to stay etc as we literally have no idea, and don't want to fly all that way to be disappointed.

We want a mixture of city and quiet, with more emphasis on the quiet (read as, romantic) aspect and I of course want to make sure wherever we stay has some good photo ops.

So, any advice appreciated in a very big way from anyone who has been to and/or photographed there way around the place :)
 
I stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village at Waikiki on Oahu island.
It's pretty much city but also quiet as it is literally on the beach in large grounds so away from the noisier parts of the city.
For photos I utilised island tours; one on a minibus and one on a helicopter. The minibus one was better for pics obviously and it took you to some pretty spectacular places. A Japanese temple, some really high cliffs (that I struggle to remember the name of) with a great vista etc. The helicopter was good for pics of Pearl Harbour, the valley the dinosaurs ran down in Jurassic Park and Magnum's house :clap:
The only disappointment photo wise with this island is no active volcanoes to shoot and at the time a plane between islands was much too expensive for the distance. A total eclipse of the sun made up for that as a view but I couldn't get a decent shot of that with the P&S I had at the time :bonk:
 
I stayed at Waikki a few years ago, before my DSLR days, so only had a compact with me. Waikki has a lovely beach as you would expect, and with a long range zoom could get some great surfing shots (as you have to go out quite a way for the waves). My wife and I liked it there, although is a bit touristy, great for beach and people watching. Cheesecake Factory is a great restaurant too!

We went on a hike in the hills which was good, and also Pearl Harbour. With hindsight it would have been great to hire a car and go around the island to the quiter bits, but we were only there for 5 days and had just come from Vegas so wanted to chill out and do nothing!

I doubt you would need any of the big guns, not a lot of wildlife iirc.
 
Haven't done it yet but it's on my list of places to do within the next couple of years or so. I wouldn't dream of going all that way and not seeing the volcanoes and Pearl Harbour.
 
There is a lot to see, but much of it is very commercialised. Do not miss a trip to Pearl Harbour, go on board the Missouri, and take a shot from the front of the ship, looking back over the big guns. The light is brilliant for photography. A trip to Waimea Falls would be good, lots of bird life. Even on Waikiki you will be able to get superb beach shots where you seem to be alone.
Make sure you pick up the discount books which all the Japanese tourists have, they enable you to eat half price in the best restaurants. Visit all the big hotels and eat in their restaurants, the food is great.
I would take a wide angle and long range zoom lenses, plus a polariser and ND filter.
 
Personally, I would not spend any time on Oahu, except to go to Pearl Harbour. If it is landscapes you are interested in, then I would recommend Kauai - much less commercialised and some gob-smacking scenery - Na-Pali coast, Waimea Canyon, Mt Waialeale (extinct volcano and the wettest place on earth). A helicopter trip is a must.

The last time I went to Hawaii, it snowed :( Maui in February, very scenic but not as tropical as you may think!

Wherever you go, have a great time.

Jenny
 
When I went to Hawaii I stayed on the Big Island for a week and then finished with three days on Oahu, at Waikiki.

Big Island has the active volcano, Kilauea, which can be visited by air or overland. We stayed at Kona, which is quiet (it seems to shut at 10pm) and went whale watching, if you don't see whales you get another trip free, we saw lots but from quite a distance, as the boats are not allowed to get too close, so a good telephoto is a must.

If you go to Pearl Harbour, sit on the right hand side of the boat as you go to the Arizona memorial, for a better view.
 
Just a quick update. All booked now, flying in to San Fran for a couple of days, followed by 6 days in Maui before back to San Fran for another 3 days. A nice bonus is I've managed to get hold of a 14-24 and 16-35 VR for testing and reviewing on the blog whilst I'm away, will pick them up once I get to San Fran. So should hopefully get some great opportunities to test these two out for a nice head to head comparison.

Roll on 24th Sept!! :D
 
Remember to get Lei'd when you get there! Also, there is no clothing too casual to wear over there. I had the first week of my honeymoon there earlier in the year, on Oahu and also stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village hotel. Could not recommend Waikiki enough for a couples or family holiday. As it was the honeymoon though I left the DSLR - didn't want to make my newlywed a photo widow as I'd have been too distracted. Still got plenty of decent shots with the small Lumix compact though. Never made it to any of the other islands but I will go back one day for sure.
 
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