Kauai is also my favorite island. If you do end up going there, be sure to budget for a helicopter tour of the island. I almost passed on it due to the expense, but it truly was one of the best travel experiences I have ever had. The beauty of the island from a helicopter is so unbelievably breathtaking that it is hard to describe.
Off the beaten track, Molokai is amazing for it’s history. It’s got almost zero tourism and that’s intentional. There is one hotel. On Fridays the locals have a singalong that’s fun at that hotel. We stayed in a rental house, shopped for groceries. The main attractions of the island is 1) lack of tourism in general if that’s where you’re at; 2) you can arrange to go hiking with local Hawaiian families on their private property. We hiked to a waterfall and swam in its pristine waters with maybe five other people, with the owner of the land. They described the history of the area including the disruption of the American occupation and how their valley retains the local customs. You are taught to enter the area in a specific way based on those customs 3) the former leper colony is on this island, which is a moving and serious place to visit. It involves about a 2000 foot hike down a cliff to access. There are still some people with this disease who live there. If I had known that before I went, I might not have gone out of respect for their community. Nonetheless, the hike was amazing. If you can’t hike that much, there are mules that will take you down. The experience was profound. 4) Molokai also has great coffee (like Kona does) and has a teensie post office where you can mail a coconut back to your amazed relatives. Everyone I sent one to kept it. A great gift for mothers in law!
On the Big Island you can find places where you will be swimming alone, both in the ocean and in the lake under the waterfall.
@Dustyfeathers, love your description of Molokai. It is also our favorite island. We have friends who are native Hawaiians and they invited us to visit on our honeymoon. We have returned a number of times.
My understanding is that you need special permission to be allowed to go all the way down to the leper colony. There is also famous Molokai bread, that you have to wait in line at night to buy. It is indeed a fascinating place.
In kauai, there’s a place called Kuhio Shores. The condos aren’t fabulous, but they are perfectly fine, and I think it’s THE closest condo complex to the beach. Plus there’s a very nice restaurant right next door, and many restaurants at a shopping center nearby that you can walk to. When we stayed in Princeville, we stayed at the condos right next to the St. Regis hotel (May e Pu Poa?) They were ocean front, but to actually get to the ocean you had to go down a cliff. IT was a secluded beach, and very nice, but I like not having to work that hard better.
@CCDD14 Yes, we also went to the Big Island off the beaten track and also rented a house in the area with the lava flows (not the fresh ones that are still flowing but the recent once that have houses). Near there you can hike down to beaches with olive-colored sand (a geologist here will correct me I’m sure but I think it’s called olivine???), sea turtles, and native fishing practices and cliff diving. Hold onto the hands of kids because there are suddenly sinkholes to the ocean tens of feet below. We loved the Big Island for being able to find non-touristy things to do, like lava tubes in the middle of nowhere.
@HImom I was going to mention the bread–which is great and for those who don’t know, is baked at night and is distributed at a very specific time, fresh out of the oven and slathered in whatever toppings you want. The special permission for the hike to the colony I thought that guidebooks and websites would cover those details. For the hike to the colony you’re allowed to go at certain times in order to protect the community. We walked and on the whole I preferred that to riding the mule, not just for the exercise, but because on the mule you’re that much higher and looking over the edge of the cliff. The animals’ backsides I heard from mule riders weren’t all that comfortable! On foot, the path is wide enough and I felt more than safe. The path was physically put in, if I have this right, by Father Damien, the missionary who gave his life to serve the community, by bringing in basic necessities. The movie about his life is worth watching before going to see the area. The people sill living there can expect visitors during certain hours because you are scheduled to go down at a specific time and are requested to leave by a certain time. You are met by a guide while there, too. And the special permission (and fee) also provided a small bagged lunch. For the hikes into protected valleys, consulting websites will give you details but basically you call and reserve a time, pay a fee that’s not cheap but seems to make sense considering that this is a person’s private land and culture that they are trying to maintain sometimes against great odds.