Hawaii is made up of six main islands, islets and atolls. The archipelago is located in the North Pacific Ocean and can be reached by air or by sea.
The most-visited islands are Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Island of Hawaii, also known simply as the Big Island. Lanai and Molokai are smaller and easily accessible by ferry from Maui. Each island is unique with its own vibe, appeal and attractions.
A fun way to get an overview of Hawaii and visit multiple islands is to take a cruise, but it’s also possible to take inter-islands flights. Once on site renting a car is ideal to explore all that the Hawaiian Islands have to offer.
Hawaii Cruise
For our first trip to Hawaii, we opted for a cruise roundtrip from Honolulu, Oahu. This was the best and easiest way for us to visit Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. For more information about what to see and do on each of these islands please have a look at our related posts.
We arrived one day before sailing day in case of flight delays that could arise from flying in from Montreal in the wintertime. All went well, so we had time to relax before embarking on our 7-day cruise. We also added a 6-day post-cruise stay in order to enjoy the beautiful and animated island of Oahu.
Overall, we enjoyed our cruise and liked what we saw. Unfortunately, we missed the port of Hilo, because during the first night at sea the cruise ship had to return to Honolulu to disembark a passenger. He had to be evacuated for health reasons (the good news was that the passenger was ok). While this sort of thing can happen, it was still disappointing to miss out on our visit to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Instead, we spent the day whale-watching from our cabin’s balcony, and it gave us a good reason to come back!
Back to the Big Island
Our second trip to Hawaii was dedicated solely to the Big Island. We stayed for 10 days, so that gave us plenty of time to visit all of what this island has to offer.
We enjoyed everything from the rugged lava fields to the rainforest, the freezing summit of Mauna Kea to the sunny Kohala Coast where the clear waters offer excellent scuba diving and snorkeling conditions. Our manta ray night dive was amazing and something that we highly recommend!
Back to Maui
We enjoyed scuba diving so much in Hawaii that we decided to go back for another trip. This time we picked Maui. We did visit this island with the cruise, but it’s impossible to experience all of what these islands have to offer in a single day. There is so much more to see and do.
We enjoyed being on the island for over a week being able to try local restaurants, relax on the beach, visit many attractions and of course scuba dive in the warm waters of Maui.
Revisiting Oahu
Our second trip to Oahu was mostly dedicated to scuba diving and we were lucky to enjoy six dives. There was lots of marine life to see as well as many interesting wrecks. We love hanging out with the Hawaiian green see turtles at Turtle Canyon!
Of course, we also drove around the island to revisit landmarks we had seen during our first trip. And we visited sites that we had missed on our first visit to the island including Pearl Harbor and the Byodo-in Temple.
This time we were staying in Ko Olina instead of Waikiki. It’s a lovely area and we appreciated having a car to get around as well as discovering a new part of the island. Our resort was a bit isolated and without a car we would have been limited in our activities and choice of restaurants.
Kona Manta Ray Night Dive
Our latest trip to Hawaii was dedicated to scuba diving. We chose to go back to the Big Island (our favorite island) for the Manta Ray Night Dive. And this time I had a camera to film the show. What a rush! An absolutely amazing must-do dive in Hawaii!
Conclusion
Hawaii has a lot to offer its visitors and depending on the type of adventure you are looking for there’s an island for you. We had the chance to visit more in depth the islands of Oahu, Maui and the Big island.
In Hawaii you can relish in awe-inspiring experiences like watching the sun rise above the clouds from the top of the Haleakala Volcano or seeing the sunset over a blanket of clouds at the Mauna Kea Observatory. You can also see bubbling lava spouting from Kilauea Volcano or explore the marvels hidden below the waves. These are only a few of the things that we had the chance to enjoy in Hawaii.
Related Posts:
- Things to Do and Places to Visit on the Big Island of Hawaii
- Must-See Places and Things to Do in Maui
- What to See and Do in Oahu, Hawaii
- How to Make the Most of Your Time in Port in Kauai
*Post updated in December 2020