8 nights Aulani or 5/6 nights Aulani with 2/3 nights Maui?

justme0729

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 11, 2014
DH and I are planning to go to Aulani in December. We have been once before and we stayed for 8 nights and loved it. We hung at the resort, hiked Diamond Head, did a movie tour at Kualoa Ranch, hiked/ swam at Waimea falls, and did the catamaran from Aulani. This time, I am wondering if we should do 2-3 nights at Maui but I hesitate because it will be more money for hotel and flights (we're DVC so Aulani is free to us besides annual dues), we will lose some of our vacation time by going to the airport/ flying/ rental car/ checking in to a new hotel etc., and I don't know that Maui would lead us to different activities than we could do on Oahu? The only thing I want to do is the Road to Hana especially to see the black sand beach but there are beaches, hikes, and waterfalls on Oahu too that we could do. If we went to Maui, we would want to do a nice resort- maybe the Four Seasons, but we really love Aulani and worry that even a nice resort won't be as good as Aulani to us. What do you suggest? We aren't able to spend more than 8 nights.
 
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If you are going for only eight days, I would stay on the one island. Maui is stunningly beautiful and worth the stay but you need to stay longer than three days. The road to Hana tour is almost a 11 hour tour alone
 
My guess is you will see many more whales in Maui, and for that reason, I would stay in Lahaina for a few days.
 
If you’ve already been to Oahu and Aulani, definitely split and see Maui too!

If you do the road to Hana, I highly recommend leaving early in the morning, taking some food and drinks with you, and bug spray if you plan on any of the rainforest areas. Also take hand sanitizer because unfortunately the only negative thing I can say about Hawaii (and I mean only!!) is the public restrooms in general, and particularly along that route, are just nasty. It’s a LONG day, so I wouldn’t plan anything for that evening. The black sand beach (Waianapanapa) will absolutely blow you AWAY 😍
 


Is it Maui or nothing? What about Kauai or the Big Island? On our first trip, we did 6 nights at Aulani, 3 nights in Maui and 3 nights in Kauai. We found Maui was the most similar to Oahu. Kauai had the more remote, exotic feeling and the natural beauty was unreal - Waimea Canyon and Na Pali Coast were incredible.

IMO, since you've already spent 8 nights on Oahu, I think its worth the split stay with another island. I would recommend making an island hopping flight for either first thing in the morning or late at night so you at least have the full day wherever you are. We did mid-morning flights and it ate up the best part of our day.

We are planning a return trip next year for our anniversary and are opting to do the opposite. We've already island hopped, so now we'd like to spend the full time on Oahu.
 
Is it Maui or nothing? What about Kauai or the Big Island? On our first trip, we did 6 nights at Aulani, 3 nights in Maui and 3 nights in Kauai. We found Maui was the most similar to Oahu. Kauai had the more remote, exotic feeling and the natural beauty was unreal - Waimea Canyon and Na Pali Coast were incredible.

IMO, since you've already spent 8 nights on Oahu, I think its worth the split stay with another island. I would recommend making an island hopping flight for either first thing in the morning or late at night so you at least have the full day wherever you are. We did mid-morning flights and it ate up the best part of our day.

We are planning a return trip next year for our anniversary and are opting to do the opposite. We've already island hopped, so now we'd like to spend the full time on Oahu.
Definitely the highlighted part.
 

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