Hawaii trip- Oahu vs Maui Updated

Maui is much more relaxed and laid back, more of a vacation vibe.
Oahu includes the major city of Honolulu and is a lot more traffic and I guess you could call it city life. There is still a ton to do in Oahu though.
We spent a week in Maui and did a day of sightseeing in Oahu including Pearl Harbor.

Oahu is a LOT more populated. As a result it has way more bars, restaurants and nightlife, and things to do I guess, but is also much more crowded, much more traffic, and is a bit more hectic. Some parts of Honolulu can be fairly seedy.

I spent 10 days on Oahu and saw the whole island. Had some great meals. I can live without Waikiki. I thought the Windward side was incredibly underrated and relaxing, and the Northshore was beautiful. Pearl Harbor is cool. The interior of the island is beautiful. There is a LOT to do.


Maui is a different vibe. Some people refer to it as the middle point between Oahu and Kauai. It is much less populated than Oahu but much more populated than Kauai, so it still has some really nice restaurants (Mama's Fish House being the most famous high end one), but also has some incredible nature and is more laidback. There's still great stuff to do like the Road to Hana and Haleakala. But its a much more relaxing and chill vibe. You def don't need 10 days on it like Oahu.

If I was going back to one, it would probably be Maui. I just really enjoyed it.

Both are very expensive but I found Oahu to be a bit pricier than Maui.

Maui - then a day / night to see Pearl Harbor.

Why not both OP? I lived there for 3 years and the islands have different things to offer.

How much time are you planning? Pearl Harbor, the North shore waves, etc. are sights to see on the Oahu.

Volcano National Park is well worth the visit to the Big Island.

But if you simply want to relax and get away and enjoy the islands Kaui and Maui are hard to beat in that aspect.

I have only been to Oahu, because we were going to do Pearl Harbor on that first trip. Turns out the Arizona Memorial was closed for repairs, but we did get to see the outboard side of Big Mo which is not on the regular tour, so that was different.

Having said that, Oahu gets a bad rap. Every time we got out of Honolulu was a good trip. Oahu is NOT packed. We did go in the low season (Late April/early May), but we were often alone/nearly alone on several beaches. Honolulu/Waikiki is packed. FFS, that's the most famous beach in the world. The North Shore is packed.

Pick another beach - the Lost arrival beach, for example, or any of another 6 or 7 beaches not on the Northshore or Honolulu and you will get 100% the Hawaii experience.

Now, we will go to Maui next time, if we go back.

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Oahu is NOT packed

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Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat

Oahu can get pretty damn packed man

I also stayed at Hale Koa. it was nice but I definitely liked other parts of Oahu better than Waikiki

You'll fly into Oahu. Stay a day or two--hike Diamond Head, go to the North Shore to see gnarly waves, and check out Pearl Harbor.

Then get thee to Maui. Less crowds, nicer beaches, cool small towns, the road to Hana, watching sunrise on Haleakala then biking down.

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Sunday till Saturday.

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Short trip. I would just pick one island. Probably just do Maui unless you really really want to see things like Waikiki, Diamonhead, and PH.

You can always go back and do another island.

Kauai > Big Island > Maui > Oahu

Big Island is my personal favorite though, but of all my friends and coworkers who go there, this order would probably be the order of favorites...Maui and Big Island are pretty interchangeable though.