Going to Hawaii for the first time, need advice

[streetjudge79]

I'm planning a trip for about 10 days to Hawaii. I haven't been on a plane since I was 15 (i'm 37 now), Scared to death of planes but Hawaii is one place I want to see before I die and young enough to snorkel. Any suggestions on great hotels on a beach,snorkling spots, etc? I'm leaving from Miami most likely , how long of a flight is it?
I'm thinking of doing a cruise through all the islands instead of staying that long in one hotel. I'll probably stay two days before the cruise. Any advice or photos of snorkling there would be great! Thanks
Steve

[Diveshaman]

What island are you thinking of hitting? I was a liveaboard dive yacht captain for Aggressor fleet out there in Kona, HI for 6 months. There are a number of great spot on the main island that I would highly recommend. If you are looking for day trips and such you can't go wrong with most of the day runners that run out of hotels. If you would like specific names of companies for day charter or liveaboards let me know I would be happy to provide. I mainly dove from Kona Pier to the South end lava flows. So many caves, coves, inlets, lava tubes, depending on the year Whales, dolphin mating, nightly manta feedings along with macro endemic species like no other.

[streetjudge79]

Well, I'm not sure where I'm going yet, probably the main island if I don't do the cruise thing. I'm looking for good beach spots that I can snorkel and see moorish idols, tangs, etc. Do you know of any good hotels on the beach that aren't an arm and a leg?

[Diveshaman]

If you are up for it rent a car, plan to bring a sleeping bag and you should be set. Drive thru the lava flows and you will find a number of beach coves where you can snorkel from. You can't go wrong. Get a map which show the various bays and bring your mask and snorkel. They will all have tons of tangs and idols for you to watch. One of my favorites is Manukia Bay. All the hotels are pretty expensive but once you get there things become easy going. Just get a room for the first few nights to assure you have something and then start asking around. I forget how to spell but it is call the Kama Inna and it is the local discount given. Talk to anyone and they will point you in the right direction. I have had locals open there doors and even allow me to camp on their property. Any time I was on shore I would just hit the road.

[Dave Legacy]

I just got back from a week in Oahu and I got a number of days and a bunch of hours of snorkeling in. I did a little at Shark's Cove on the North Shore and a lot at Hanauma Bay. I saw a bunch of Moorish Idols on the North Shore, but a bunch of Green Sea Turtles, 2ft+ Parrotfish, Snowflake Eel, bunch of tangs, and a large octopus.

[streetjudge79]

Looks like the wife and I decided on Oahu for 10 days. Dave Legacy, did you take any underwater pics? I'd love to see!
Also any advice on where to stay, etc?
Thanks
Steve

[streetjudge79]

Also, how long was the flight?

[JokerGirl]

The flight is about 8-10 hours from LA to Hawaii - Add in your connecting flights on the mainland, and you're usually looking at around 13-16 total hours of flight time.

[coral diver]

actually as soon as the plane takes off from LAX to Honolulu is 6 hrs not counting the delay in LA and about 6 to 7 hrs from Florida to LA

[gregmoeck]

just got back from Maui, 13 nights. Maui has superb shore snorkeling, turtles on almost each snorkel. You basically see everything.

[Maika'i]

LA to hawaii is 4 hours maybe 5. "local" in hawaiian is kama'aina. sometimes they ask you for your ID to prove it so if you showed them a florida license you would look bad.

[ngn8dogg]

i think the best snorkeling is on the big island, But kawaii is my favorite

[ngn8dogg]

la to hawaii is 6 hours

[sunfishh]

The best way to find snorkeling spots in Maui or Oahu is to get the books Maui Revealed and Oahu Revealed. There is so much to do on those two islands that I personally would not waste any time on a cruise, but I am not a cruise kind of guy.

[Tremont]

If you go to the big Island, check out the Kapaho tidepools near Pahoa (just don't leave anything in your car out in that area). I spent almost two weeks on the big island a few years ago - if you are looking for a vacation where you can spend a lot of time exploring by car - and great snorkeling, I would highly recommend it.

-Tre

[streetjudge79]

Thanks for the info guys.

[percula99]

The Kapoho tide pools were awesome. I swam with a school of very large Naso Tangs. There are all kinds of fish and corals in a sheltered area. Even if the ocean is raging, the tide pools are sheltered and you can swim without worrying about the ocean. Some pools have very strong currents however and if you don;t swim against it the current will take you to other pools. It's quite cool.

http://www.letsgo-hawaii.com/kapoho/ (http://)
http://www.hawaiiweb.com/hawaii/html/beaches/Kapoho_Tide_Pools.html (http://)
http://www.letsgo-hawaii.com/snorkeling/ (http://)

My wife and I took a cruise from San Diego to Hawaii. My favourite thing of all the whole trip (even beetter than the snorkeling) was renting a convertible (Sebring) and driving up the Oahu coast on a sunny day. We found deserted beaches all over the place, it was paradise.

I am trying to find one more link that has all the dive sites on all the Hawaiaan islands. If I find it again I will post it here for you. Have fun.

[percula99]

Found it. This site is quite useful.

http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/Hawaii/index.htm (http://)

Go to a Luau if you can. We went to one at the Hyatt Regency on Maui and it was incredible. Well worth the money. Took a submarine ride on Maui also. I am sure they have all these things on Oahu also.

http://res.atlantisadventures.com/tour_info.php?site=8&tour=45 (http://)

We rented our cars from this site.

http://www.discounthawaiicarrental.com/?gclid=CLSo1cSMjZECFUtyOAodXGKJGA (http://)

[streetjudge79]

None of your links work, but thanks for the info.

[percula99]

You're right, none of them work, as is. That's strange. Sorry about that. However, if you just copy them and paste them in the address menu at the top of a new window you will get to the designated pages. When do you leave?

[streetjudge79]

We are going next September , the prices are better then.

[Tremont]

I've snorkeled all over Maui/Hawaii. TBH, despite what most of the guide books say, I liked the big island the best. Pristine snorkeling without the crowds, even the places described in the guidebooks were usually pretty deserted. Because there are less crowds, there tends to be more fish and more coral since people aren't stepping on it all the time. The only major drawback is if you leave your car somewhere alone, you are almost guaranteed to have your car broken into - looking for piles of shattered windows on the ground is a good way to determine the safety of you car (better yet, just leave it empty a window rolled down and the trunk open).

To me, Maui was over hyped. All of the spots were packed with tourists (I saw kids harassing turtles wherever I went) and I wasn't very impressed by the coral. The only place I went that really impressed me was all the little coves around La Perouse Bay. Not so great on coral but the fish were incredible and it was mostly deserted. Molokini was underwhelming, may have just been an off day when I went.

-Tre

[philter4]

I'm not sure where some of you get your flt times, but I go to HI at least twice a year, and from Sacramento (where my parents live so I go there first to break up the flt times) to Honolulu is under 5 hours, I just returned from a collecting trip on oct 14th(see reef fish forum for pics) and it was 4 hours 39 mins with the tail wind.

I don't snorkel much, the fish I like to collect and keep are usually in deep water so I scuba, but if you want to see morish idols they are everywhere, at all of the boat ramps I saw morish idols while were were putting the boat in the water. We collected several young morish idols while were diving and though I didn't bring any back on this trip, in 2006 I brought 9 back, 7 of which are still alive.

[streetjudge79]

I looked in the reef fish section, did not see a thread on your collecting trip, can you link it?
Steve

[x2uranium]

Streetjudge good luck, I just got back from Maui and the snorkeling was incredible right off the beach at almost every spot. Sea turtles are everywhere, and be prepared to move there. Im trying to sell my house as we speak to move there lol.

[philter4]

I'm not sure how to post a link, but if this doesn't work go to reef fishes forum, the last post was dated 10/25/08 so go to the posts from that date and it is titled "I just got back from a short trip to HI"

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1495777

[streetjudge79]

That's awesome, thanks for posting the link.

[murphysfish]

LOTS of sun tan lotion

[x2uranium]

True, the sun at 9 am will even fry you.