When planning your vacation to Hawaii, an important decision is how to travel to the islands. You also need to decide if you will travel between islands or stay on one island. If you want to island-hop, you need to decide which islands to visit and how to travel between them.
Geography
Hawaii is a chain of islands that include 8 major islands. However, 2 of the islands are not accessible to the public. Because Hawaii is a string of islands, visitors must either travel to Hawaii by boat or by plane.
Types
One way to travel to Hawaii is by airplane. The majority of the planes to Hawaii depart from west coast airports. However, some flights depart from other cities, such as Chicago and Dallas. Most flights from the mainland arrive and depart from Honolulu International Airport (HNL) on Oahu. You can also fly directly into Maui, Kauai and Hawaii’s Big Island. The other way to travel to Hawaii from the mainland is by boat. Several cruise lines offer cruises from either the west coast of the United States, Canada or Mexico. The travel time depends on the departure city and the itinerary of the ship. However, the average is 2 to 3 days.
Significance
Considerations
When determining how to travel to and around the Hawaiian Islands, you should determine if you want to primarily spend your time on one or two islands or if you want to see multiple islands. If you want to visit primarily one or two islands, then you may want to travel to the island by plane. If you would like to visit another island, you can then take an inter island plan to the island or a ferry. Because of the time and expense involved in island-hopping, it would be difficult to see all of the islands this way. If your goal is to see all of the Hawaiian Islands, then you may want to either take a cruise to Hawaii from the mainland or take an inter-island cruise once you are in Hawaii.
Misconceptions
Many people think that it is easy to travel between the Hawaiian Islands by boat. Although ferry service is available between a few of the islands, it can be a rough boat ride. However, it is a short and easy ferry ride between Maui, Lanai and Molokai.
Resources
Hawaii’s Official Tourism SiteBy: Jennifer Gregory
Jennifer Gregory has over 14 years professional writing experience. She has traveled around the United States and Europe. Her favorite vacation was taking her children to Maui, Hawaii.
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