Hawaiian Island-Hopping Adventure

Sixteen nights island-hopping across Hawaii, self-drive with the flights included, finishing in Los Angeles.

O’ahu takes the first two nights, with Pearl Harbor, which is handled with the gravity it deserves and takes most of a day. Kaua’i follows for three, with a boat trip and snorkelling along the Na Pali Coast, which can only be reached from the sea or the air, and hiking at Waimea Canyon and Koke’e State Park.

The island of Hawai’i takes five nights, split between the volcano and the Kohala coast, with a private guided tour of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, an optional night snorkel with manta rays and a stargazing trip to the summit of Mauna Kea, which at nearly 14,000 feet above a dark ocean is among the best observing sites on earth and is used by the professionals for that reason. Maui closes the route with four nights, the Iao Needle, Haleakala, Lahaina’s whaling history and a snorkel at the Molokini crater.

Flights, including the inter-island hops, fully insured car hire on three of the islands, all the accommodation and round-the-clock support while travelling are included, and the price is quoted per person. Seventeen days is enough to give each island its own character rather than treating them as one destination. Separate hire cars are collected and dropped on each island. No wildlife sighting can be promised, and the Mauna Kea summit trip is weather dependent and a good deal colder than anywhere else on the route, since the summit sits above the cloud layer and often below freezing.