Hawaii Honeymoon - Oct/Nov 18!

[Lolly90]

Hi Everyone!

With only 50 days to go, I thought it was about time I got started with my pre-trip report.

This trip is a very exciting one, as we are visiting the place at the very top of my bucket list - Hawaii and it's our honeymoon!

Hawaii certainly isn't a cheap place to visit but I think this is probably a once in a lifetime trip. This will be our 5th visit to the US together & our 12th state!

I feel I'm a bit behind with planning this trip, as I've been busy planning our wedding but now that we're married I can focus on getting this trip organised.

Who's Going -

Me - Laura, 28
Husband - Mark, 27

This is us on our wedding day, almost 2 weeks ago!

When We're Going -

18th October to 3rd November 2018.

We will be in Hawaii for 14 nights but due to long flights & time differences we will actually be away for 16 nights.

We tend to book our flights in January, as I find this is when they're cheapest for when we like to travel (Sep/Oct) and this year was no different.

We are flying from Heathrow to LAX, with Virgin & have a 2.5 hour layover here before our next flight to Honolulu (Oahu) with Delta. Our total travel time going out is about 19.5 hours!

Originally our returning flights were also supposed to be via LAX but due to Virgin changing some of their flights we are now gong via Seattle. So, we will be flying from Lihue (Kauai) to Seattle with Delta, where we have a 9 hour layover before returning to Heathrow with Virgin. Total travel time home is around 24 hours!

We booked our flights through Opodo, for £830 each.

I can't say I'm particularly looking forward to the travelling part, but I'm sure it will be worth it.

Where We're Going -

It took us a little while to decide which Hawaiian islands we wanted to visit & with 2 weeks we thought it would be best to stick to only 2 islands.

We decided to make Oahu one of our choices, as this will give us the opportunity to visit Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, film locations & a lot of the shops & restaurants that the other islands don't tend to have.

We will be staying in Waikiki on Oahu, for 5 nights.

We were then torn between Kauai & Maui, both look so beautiful. We eventually decided on Kauai, as it's less built up than Oahu & Maui & after seeing photos of the island online, it's exactly what I pictured Hawaii to be like.

We will be staying in Poipu on Kauai, for 9 nights.

I'll be back with another update soon, with what we have booked up so far & what we have planned (once I've actually done some planning!).

Thanks for reading

I've tried to include the costs of as many things as I can, thought this might be helpful to anyone planning a trip in the future.

Updates:

Where We're Staying

What We've Booked - Part 1 - Part 2

What We've Got Planned - Days 1 to 4 - Days 5 to 8 - Days 9 to 13 - Days 14 to 16

[Aliloo]

It's very worth it... I went to Kauai a few years ago and it's beautiful. Congratulations on your wedding! x

[KarenG]

How wonderful! Congratulations on your marriage

We will be in Hawaii at the same time as you. We visited for the first time last October / November and had a wonderful time on 'Oahu and Maui. This time we are there for nearly three weeks and are going to Big Island as well as revisiting 'Oahu and Maui.

Where are you staying on Waikiki? Have you booked your Pearl Harbour tickets in advance? (I have a feeling you can't tour the memorial at the moment, but could be wrong).

Finally, I'd love to know how your outbound journey goes - I'm guessing we are doing the same as you looking at the timings. We are VA outbound from LHR at 9am ish with 2.5 hours at LAX and then onward to HNL with Delta. It would be good to know how you find the timings, if you have a chance to post.

Have a wonderful honeymoon!

[Princess Alison]

We went to Kauai two years ago and it is absolutely stunning. I soooooo want to go back! Poipu is a great choice as it gets the most sunshine and really you can reach the north coast very easily.

Looking forward to hearing what you have planned!

[Mary A]

We're hoping to go to Hawaii next year, or 2020, so following. Any tips from seasoned Hawaii Dibbers gratefully received!

[donna252]

Congratulations on your wedding!this trip sounds amazing!

[Eeyorefanuk]

Hi 👋
You will not regret it!
We have been lucky enough to go twice
First time wakikiki followed by a DCL Hawaii cruise 💗
Hoping for next year maybe Oahu and Maui?
I just love the feel of Hawaii
Trust us to fall in love with something so far away 😂

[Lolly90]

Originally Posted by Aliloo

It's very worth it... I went to Kauai a few years ago and it's beautiful. Congratulations on your wedding! x

See more...

Thank you It's so good to get replies from people who have been, I couldn't find much on this forum when I did a search. If you have any recommendations, please let me know!

Originally Posted by KarenG

How wonderful! Congratulations on your marriage

We will be in Hawaii at the same time as you. We visited for the first time last October / November and had a wonderful time on 'Oahu and Maui. This time we are there for nearly three weeks and are going to Big Island as well as revisiting 'Oahu and Maui.

Where are you staying on Waikiki? Have you booked your Pearl Harbour tickets in advance? (I have a feeling you can't tour the memorial at the moment, but could be wrong).

Finally, I'd love to know how your outbound journey goes - I'm guessing we are doing the same as you looking at the timings. We are VA outbound from LHR at 9am ish with 2.5 hours at LAX and then onward to HNL with Delta. It would be good to know how you find the timings, if you have a chance to post.

Have a wonderful honeymoon!

See more...

Thank you How lucky that you've been before and getting to go again!

We are staying at Coconut Waikiki. Yeah we have our tickets for Pearl Harbor booked, it said on their website tours are temporarily suspended because of an issue with the loading ramp. I think they are doing a narrated tour around the harbour instead but hopefully this is fixed before we go.

Yeah that sounds the same as our flight I'll try and remember to let you know how it went.

Thank you, I'm so excited now

Originally Posted by Princess Alison

We went to Kauai two years ago and it is absolutely stunning. I soooooo want to go back! Poipu is a great choice as it gets the most sunshine and really you can reach the north coast very easily.

Looking forward to hearing what you have planned!

See more...

I'm so glad you enjoyed Kauai! It took me a while to decide between North & South shore, but I read South shore is better in October.

I booked up a couple more things today, so will posting our plans very soon

Originally Posted by Mary A

We're hoping to go to Hawaii next year, or 2020, so following. Any tips from seasoned Hawaii Dibbers gratefully received!

See more...

How exciting Yes I agree, any tips would be great

Originally Posted by donna252

Congratulations on your wedding!this trip sounds amazing!

See more...

Thank you very much

Originally Posted by Eeyorefanuk

Hi 👋
You will not regret it!
We have been lucky enough to go twice
First time wakikiki followed by a DCL Hawaii cruise 💗
Hoping for next year maybe Oahu and Maui?
I just love the feel of Hawaii
Trust us to fall in love with something so far away 😂

See more...

So lucky to have been twice! I'm a bit worried about that happening to us too I'm treating this trip as if we'll never get to go again but if we love it so much we will have to go back

[KarenG]

Have you read natsynoo's trip report? I think she stayed at the Coconut

Last time we were just around the corner - Waikiki Beach is wonderfully walkable. If you do get a chance to post your flight experience I'd be very grateful - I'm slightly nervous about the connection. I'm normally quite relaxed but with a longish second flight I'm keen to get on the one we are booked on, if at all possible.

[Eeyorefanuk]

We have stayed twice at outrigger Waikiki beach but checking prices out of curiosity this year it is so much more expensive 😢 so will be nice to hear your thoughts on your hotel

I think next time I might try direct in one day.

Can’t wait to hear more updates

Ps don’t forget groupon we got a good deal on whole day tour of the island

Making my list for next time already 😂