Our guide to cruising Hawaiian Islands in a week
Slightest did we know that 2021 would be a year to visit the state of Hawaii twice. This wasn't some travel revenge post 2020 but we liked Big Island so much (you can read all about it here), that we took the excursion to visit the remaining three islands in mid November 2021. To be honest, this was a total surprise for me as all the planning for the trip was done by my husband , after all it was my birthday month.
Here is a one week itinerary to visit the 3 Hawaiian islands in a week. If you want to get detailed itinerary for each one, head on the links below.
Day 1 : Fly to Maui, The Valley Isle of Hawaii
Depending on where you start, I would recommend arriving in the daytime in Maui. Firstly because being compelled to roam the day helps fight jet lag and you get accustomed to the Hawaiian time. Secondly on the budget friendly side you dont have to pay an extra night at your resort/airbnb. Here is how we spent our first day:
Rented a car (this time it was black jeep wrangler, one of my bucket list) at noon and headed straight to do a hike at the Waihee Ridge Trail. This a 4 mile hike with some stunning views and exciting ridge like walking.
By evening, we were exhausted with the travel and the hike and decided to end the day with a sunset right across the resort.
After a satisfied viewing of the sunset, called it for the night at Kohea Kai Maui, Ascends Hotel Collection as we had a full week ahead of us filled with adventure and crazy eats.
Day 2 : Road to Hana, Waianapanapa State Park , Waimoku Falls
After a good nights sleep, we woke up around 4AM to get a head start to the Road to Hana. Partly I was so excited to see some roads filled with lush vegetation that I couldn't sleep more.
ProTip: Dont forget your breakfast, you are not going to get anything for at least around 9AM along the road to Hana.
We reached around 9AM at Waianapanapa Black Sand beach. Make sure you have reservations to visit here as there is limited parking and beach is a small one. We spent around an hour or so enjoying the views and the coarse black sand beach.
Next stop was Haleakala National Park. This was our 8th national park of the year. Wohoo!!. We hiked the Pipiwai Trail right up-to Waimoku Falls.
After getting some good steps in, we drove all the way circling Pilani Hwy to Haleakala Volcano. Do not forget to cover yourself with a sweatshirt as it can get cold at 10000 ft at the crater. The views were so worth the drive, I felt we were transported to another world.
After this, we ended the day by loading our bellies at Paia Fish Market in Kihei.
Day 3: Swim at Maui beaches, Fly to Honolulu
Since we stayed at Kihei, the nearest local beach for us was the Ulua Beach at Wailea-Makena. This one has shower and changing room facilities. We enjoyed swimming and snorkeling for like 2 hours before our bellies started complaining for food.
Our next stop was the Kaanapali Beach walk to get the gist of the luxurious Maui resorts. This is a good walking path along the beach if you want to splurge or see people splurging at their vacation.
We stopped at the Lahaina Front St for some food and then headed to the beach for an afternoon nap at Ukumehame Beach Park, you can find plenty of spots along the HI-30 to park and rest on one of the branches on the beach.
After enjoying a power nap, we boarded our flight to Honolulu. Don't sleep on this one as its super quick and secondly you don’t want to miss the Lanai Island right from the window seat.
Day 4: Sunrise at Diamond Head, Cruising all over HI-H3, Ho’omaluhia Botanical Gardens
We started Day 4 with a hike to the Diamond head to witness a beautiful sunrise across Honolulu.
Next we were headed to the beautiful town of Kāneʻohe. Along the way we visited Frankie's Nursery for some fresh Hawaiian grown fruit.
After taking in the beautiful scenery of Kaneohe , our next stop were the gates to the heaven aka Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden. We literally spent a good 3 hours roaming this garden.
Our next stop was the Nu‘uanu Pali Lookout and the Pali Notches, a place of great historic significance.
At 6PM, we reached on time for the sunset at Waimea Beach which was very close to our resort.
This is the first time, we repeated our dinner same as Day1 at Paia Fish Market.
Pro Tip: Choose your meals carefully as dining out at Maui can be pretty expensive.
Day 5: Lanikai Beach, Dole plantation, Lanaikea Beach, Kualoa Ranch
We started the day by taking a morning dip at Lanikai Beach, watching the sunrise on the horizon.Alternatively you can take a hike to the Lanikai Pillbox. You can read about the parking scene at the Maui in the detailed blog post.
From there we headed to do some touristy stuff like visiting the Dole plantation.
We also were grateful to see some green turtles at Lanaikea Beach.
Our last excursion for the day was an ATV ride at Kualoa Ranch.
Day 6: Fly to Kauai, Sleeping Giant Trail, Napali Coast
We caught an 8AM flight to Kauai, The Garden Isle.
On reaching Kauai, we instantly hit the Sleeping Giant Trail. This is a 3.4 mile moderate hike with good incline. The last bit is a bit strenuous, however the views are all worth it. My advice is take it slow, because the last thing you want is to get injured in Hawaii.
After a long hike, we drove to Port Allen Marine Center to voyage the Captain Andy's Sunset dinner cruise all the way to see the Napali Coast.
Day 7: Ko`kee State park, Lydgate Beach Park, Pu’uokila Lookout
Started the day with Kauai Coffee Company and ate loads of fruit at various fruit stands.
Next we went swimming to the Lydgate Beach Park.
Day 7 was all about splurging, drinking and fine dining at and near Hilton Garden Inn Kauai Wailua Bay.
