Hawaii for Christmas??

[Kaelle]

We are considering a holiday to Hawaii over X-mas with our four children (14,12,5,3). Anybody have any tips on hotels and pros and cons of the different islands?? Thanks!

Am not going to even think about replying until jealousy level has gone down!!!

i was lucky enough to go to hawaii a few years ago. don't have time to post on this now but will get back to you later. it's fantastic!

yes please, could you squeeze a family of 4 in your case?

the person i'm supposed to be meeting with is late, so i've had time to put a few thoughts together after all!

Here is the Lonely Planet Guide to the various islands, plus other useful info and links.

I chose to avoid Oahu (where Honolulu and Waikiki beach are) as I'd heard it was extremely developed and chose to go to Maui instead. I think this would make an excellent family holiday destination, especially for your older two. There are marvellous tropical beaches, excellent scenery for touring and lots of activities available such as snorkelling, whale watching (in season), cycling down volcanoes (the outside of course), and surfing lessons. These might not be so suitable for your younger two of course. It's a cliché, but it really is tropical paradise.

Here is link to Visit Maui , which contains accommodation listings plus other useful info. I stayed in Lahaina, which is the "capital" of Maui. There are a few historic buildings to visit if you are interested. There are hotels all around the coast however, plenty of choice.

I also took a trip to "The Big Island" of Hawaii to see the active volcano there. It was really interesting to see the lava flows and spectacular formations of volcanic rock.

Downsides:

• A very long flight from the UK
• Expensive - many things imported from the US (1,000m away) although you can get group discounts on certain activities
• Not much remains of the indigenous culture except rather tacky events for tourists or at least i didn't find it

Went 2 yrs ago with just dd who was about 14mths. we went to maui. worst bit was really long flight- we went to california then onto honolulu and finally to maui, so 3 flights, and big time difference gave dd horrible jetlag and she was up at 2am ready for the day. (limited options in hotel room at that time of day!). The island was lovely and felt v safe. I travelled around a bit with dd alone as dh was on a work thing, and felt quite happy on bus/taxis. There were lots of times I wished we had had older 2 with us to see things so must have been good family things. We stayed at ritz carlton hotel. V expensive (we werent paying) but v luxurious, not much for kids though, also on a bit of the island that is really windy all year round. great at peak season when too hot elsewhere but at time we went, made it too cold really. On the way back, we stopped in san diego for a few days and i wished we had just had the whole holiday there-easier to get to, fab hotel and beach,so much for children (zoo is fabulous) and then I really wished had taken boys! have a lovely holiday (just thought you may be in the states and all this flight/jetlag stuff is rubbish?)