Every Hawaiian Island has its own flavor. Different paces and feelings.
The Big Island will always hold a special place in my heart. Maybe because it was the first Island we visited?
But Oahu was special too. It was a much more urban Island. After all, it’s the “Gathering Place.” But Oahu will always be linked to Pearl Harbor for me. Very emotional. Everyone should visit the Arizona Memorial. Watching the History Channel specials about the Pearl Harbor attacks took me right back to the feeling I experienced the day of my visit.
Maui falls somewhere in between. It seemed to have more commercial/urban areas but there was a lot of unspoiled area too. Of the 3 islands Maui was the hardest to drive around. The “Road to Hana” was without question the most dangerous and challenging. Its the only island I did not drive around completely myself. We took the tour.
We didn’t get into the interior too much. That area is the wet section and is probably similar to the Hilo area on the Big Island. The road to the interior was washed out and closed. I hope to explore it more when I go back in February.
Maui was filled with things to do. We kept busy on the sea , in the air and under sea. We filled our days with sunset dinner cruises and luaus, helicopter rides over Haleakala and a submarine journey 127 ft under the sea. Great adventures all. And all in a tropical paradise.
So which Island do I like the best now? I’m still not sure. I’m beginning to think it depends on what I want out of the trip.
Its interesting that Sandy said the one regret she had about this vacation was that we didn’t go on the whale watch. That had been high on our must do list but the whales were just arriving while we were there. We probably would have seen some but the general scuttlebutt when i asked was that it would be a blow or a tail here or there. Not the wild antics Hawaii is known for. That comes later in the season. So we, or maybe it was me, made the decision not to include a whale watch trip this time. Maybe with the wisdom of hindsight, that was a mistake.
We’ll just have to time it better next time we go. And there will be a next time!
