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Marcus

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So, I’m planning to take a week of leave and go to Hawaii with the wife, looking at the last week of July/first week of August. I live in the greater Seattle area (I’m stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord), so I’m probably looking at about a 5-6 hour flight.

I’ve never been there. What are some recommendations for where we should stay and things we should do? I’m still recovering from ankle surgery so we might be limited on more physical activities (hiking, etc) although it’s entirely dependent on how I’m feeling at that point. If we have a preference, we would definitely like to do that stuff. Planning to spend a lot of time on the beach and at the bar, but I would love to get out and do more. Any tips for saving money or budgeting when planning or actually being there? For my fellow vets, any military resources that I could possibly take advantage of?

Tagging @gourimoko since he used to live there, but I know there have been others.
 
So, I’m planning to take a week of leave and go to Hawaii with the wife, looking at the last week of July/first week of August. I live in the greater Seattle area (I’m stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord), so I’m probably looking at about a 5-6 hour flight.

I’ve never been there. What are some recommendations for where we should stay and things we should do? I’m still recovering from ankle surgery so we might be limited on more physical activities (hiking, etc) although it’s entirely dependent on how I’m feeling at that point. If we have a preference, we would definitely like to do that stuff. Planning to spend a lot of time on the beach and at the bar, but I would love to get out and do more. Any tips for saving money or budgeting when planning or actually being there? For my fellow vets, any military resources that I could possibly take advantage of?

Tagging @gourimoko since he used to live there, but I know there have been others.
Not for vets specifically, but google Scotts Cheap Flights. I often see trips to Hawaii for less than 400 from the west coast.

As far as enjoyment, which island are you looking to visit? We just got back from the Big Island & Maui. I could recommend quite a bit. Given mobility issues, without knowing the extent, kayaking and tours that require less walking are a plus.

Saving money: buy booze from your local ABC store and just fill some type of bottle. Poolside drinks can get expensive. Food was mostly expensive anywhere I went, just try to get a little further from resort areas, but within reason so you arent spending the difference on a cab or Uber.
 
Not for vets specifically, but google Scotts Cheap Flights. I often see trips to Hawaii for less than 400 from the west coast.

As far as enjoyment, which island are you looking to visit? We just got back from the Big Island & Maui. I could recommend quite a bit. Given mobility issues, without knowing the extent, kayaking and tours that require less walking are a plus.

Saving money: buy booze from your local ABC store and just fill some type of bottle. Poolside drinks can get expensive. Food was mostly expensive anywhere I went, just try to get a little further from resort areas, but within reason so you arent spending the difference on a cab or Uber.

Regarding mobility issues, I’m supposed to be out of a walking boot in another 2-3 weeks, but will probably still be undergoing physical therapy. So, who knows. Getting better every day.

As for booze, yeah. I was going to just going to red solo cup it on the beach for the majority of the time.

As for the island of choice, I’m not really sure. A lot of people have recommended Maui, especially Kapalua. I’ve heard that Honolulu and Waikiki are pretty tourist-heavy, in regards to Oahu.
 
Regarding mobility issues, I’m supposed to be out of a walking boot in another 2-3 weeks, but will probably still be undergoing physical therapy. So, who knows. Getting better every day.

As for booze, yeah. I was going to just going to red solo cup it on the beach for the majority of the time.

As for the island of choice, I’m not really sure. A lot of people have recommended Maui, especially Kapalua. I’ve heard that Honolulu and Waikiki are pretty tourist-heavy, in regards to Oahu.
Cant really speak to those islands, but Maui is the shit.
 
Been awhile since I've been to Oahu and Maui. The couple times I went were during the off seasons. Oahu definitely will have more tourists, but is a fun place. Nice beaches. Plenty in terms of good night life, shopping and food. Public transportation was good enough and could get me to most places that I wanted to go in a reasonable amount of time. There is a lot to do there where that doesn't require a lot of hiking about.

When I went, Maui was more about the parks and nature, and the volcano. Really beautiful. Relaxing. Try snorkeling. You can always plan a day trip to Maui if you decided to stay on Oahu, or perhaps spend last two days there before heading back.

If anything, check prices for hotels and see which option is more attractive. I don't think you can go wrong with either location.
 
If you end up going to Oahu, Haleiwa Joe's was great.
 
Thanks everyone! We settled on Kihei, in Maui. Got a nice condo across from the beach. Planning to do a bunch of outdoors type stuff as best I can, definitely going snorkeling and would like to go hiking if I am able to walk normally.
 
Oahu is definitely on the list, too, and if we don’t visit during this trip we will probably stay there next time.
 
Lava is so dense apparently, that you can't actually sink into it. That is a plus
 
Truthfully, without hiking I think you're missing out on way too much of Hawaii to the point where I would delay it until you're well enough to hike. Now, a lot of it is personal preference, but I've spent 4 weeks on different islands and I've probably hiked 3 or 4 times as much as I've been on the beach. The mountains are just stunningly beautiful and extremely fun to hike.

I haven't been to Kauai yet, but my rankings of the islands (with pretty big gaps in between)

1. Big Island
2. Oahu
3. Maui

I've never seen lava or been to a volcano until I went to Big Island. Most beautiful thing I've seen in my life, hands down. Hiked like 15 miles round trip and half a mile past the caution tape to see a giant lava crater, but it was so worth it. Pictures don't do it justice. Big Island also has a ton of extremely cool dried lava which makes for a really cool scenic environment. In certain areas, it kind of looks like hell. If you've ever played the new DOOM game, it looks like parts of the hell levels were taken from Big Island. Which is pretty bad ass.

Oahu has the best hikes IMO. Stuff for all levels and a pretty wide variety of duration. The food is amazing and there are a lot of cool spots like Electric Beach and Hatanauma Bay (much more touristy) where you can snorkel along the reefs.

Maui has the best waterfalls. The Road to Hana was by far the coolest part of the island. Also, if you want to see the sunrise in Haleakala, you need a reservation. Don't make the same mistake I did. I'm more of a mountain than an ocean person though so Maui wasn't my favorite. That's preference though. Wasn't a lot of good hiking. Red sand beach was really cool though and I highly recommend it.

Whichever island you go to, seek out the mom n pop shops (especially fish shops). They tend to be the cheapest and the best food. At least that I have had. half pound of steak, half pound of shrimp, and 2 sides for $16 at my favorite place to eat in Oahu. I've had the $$$$ places and the $ places... blindfolded I think most would prefer the $... Just check the places on yelp first

I don't think there is any military places to stay on Maui, but I know there are on Oahu and Big Island. My friend is active duty so when we went to Big Island we got a military cabin there for like $50 a night or something super low.
 
Oahu is definitely on the list, too, and if we don’t visit during this trip we will probably stay there next time.

If you end up on Oahu, let me know. Brother lives in Waikiki and have another friend there as well.
 
Truthfully, without hiking I think you're missing out on way too much of Hawaii to the point where I would delay it until you're well enough to hike. Now, a lot of it is personal preference, but I've spent 4 weeks on different islands and I've probably hiked 3 or 4 times as much as I've been on the beach. The mountains are just stunningly beautiful and extremely fun to hike.

I haven't been to Kauai yet, but my rankings of the islands (with pretty big gaps in between)

1. Big Island
2. Oahu
3. Maui

I've never seen lava or been to a volcano until I went to Big Island. Most beautiful thing I've seen in my life, hands down. Hiked like 15 miles round trip and half a mile past the caution tape to see a giant lava crater, but it was so worth it. Pictures don't do it justice. Big Island also has a ton of extremely cool dried lava which makes for a really cool scenic environment. In certain areas, it kind of looks like hell. If you've ever played the new DOOM game, it looks like parts of the hell levels were taken from Big Island. Which is pretty bad ass.

Oahu has the best hikes IMO. Stuff for all levels and a pretty wide variety of duration. The food is amazing and there are a lot of cool spots like Electric Beach and Hatanauma Bay (much more touristy) where you can snorkel along the reefs.

Maui has the best waterfalls. The Road to Hana was by far the coolest part of the island. Also, if you want to see the sunrise in Haleakala, you need a reservation. Don't make the same mistake I did. I'm more of a mountain than an ocean person though so Maui wasn't my favorite. That's preference though. Wasn't a lot of good hiking. Red sand beach was really cool though and I highly recommend it.

Whichever island you go to, seek out the mom n pop shops (especially fish shops). They tend to be the cheapest and the best food. At least that I have had. half pound of steak, half pound of shrimp, and 2 sides for $16 at my favorite place to eat in Oahu. I've had the $$$$ places and the $ places... blindfolded I think most would prefer the $... Just check the places on yelp first

I don't think there is any military places to stay on Maui, but I know there are on Oahu and Big Island. My friend is active duty so when we went to Big Island we got a military cabin there for like $50 a night or something super low.

Thanks for all of this!

There is a military resort on Waikiki Beach, can’t remember exactly what it’s called but it was about 60 a night. Unfortunately it’s booked out til sometime next year, so if we end up doing a return trip we’ll plan more in advance.

As for hiking I definitely agree. Prognosis is looking good (just got my boot off the other day) so I think I’ll be good to go by the time I leave (last weekend in July). So far we are definitely planning snorkeling, a luau, and Road to Hana. Wanna do as much as we can since who knows when we’ll be back?
 
Thanks for all of this!

There is a military resort on Waikiki Beach, can’t remember exactly what it’s called but it was about 60 a night. Unfortunately it’s booked out til sometime next year, so if we end up doing a return trip we’ll plan more in advance.

As for hiking I definitely agree. Prognosis is looking good (just got my boot off the other day) so I think I’ll be good to go by the time I leave (last weekend in July). So far we are definitely planning snorkeling, a luau, and Road to Hana. Wanna do as much as we can since who knows when we’ll be back?
I'll have my wife dig up the groups we used. Would reccomend 10x over.
 
Personally, I am planning a trip to Thailand for 4 weeks in May 2020. I will be travelling alone, but I haven't travelled alone before. It will be something new and I will know what it's like travelling alone....is it easy to meet people, I’m pretty confident and socialable, I try to book everything in advance through Travel Sites
 
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