Reddit reviews Maui Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook

I hope you have fun! This book lists lots of fun places to see. You should go around west Maui to the Blow Hole and there you'll find this cool heart shaped hole in the rock!

Pretty much buy Maui Revealed and have a good time.

Please note: it's Kihei, not Kehei

Also, don't try to cram EVERYTHING in. It'll wear you out and you'll never get to enjoy island speed.

There's nice beaches in Kihei, so you could even make sure to spend some days without ever driving. Just pop between the ocean and restaurants/bars all day.

I just booked flights to the Big Island from LAX for after Christmas and I felt lucky to be paying $1150 per ticket whereas normally one can get flights for about half that. So keep in mind what you're proposing is expensive. I think next year we are going to Florida instead because it's "only" $700 per ticket from LAX. You can expect lodging to be expensive too. That's a really, really busy week in Hawaii.

Now, with that said, my wife and I have visited all four major islands and Maui is our favorite. But everyone needs to see Waikiki (the tourist beach in Honolulu) at least once. So either of those would be great.

As far as what to do: Every knowledgeable tourist carries (or used to carry? Maybe everyone uses an E-book now) this book around with them everywhere on the islands. There's one for each island, so search Amazon for "XYZ Revealed" (where "XYZ" is the name of the island you plan to visit) or check your local bookstore's travel section. If you get that book now, you will enjoy reading it and planning the right activities for you.

Consider buying guidebooks for each island you're interested in, if you buy them used you won't even spend that much. That can also help you decide which island to go to.

Good luck!

You definitely need a car, unless you're just planning to just sit at the hotel bar all week. As far as a guide, I'd recommend this: http://www.amazon.com/Maui-Revealed-The-Ultimate-Guidebook/dp/0983888736 This is a pretty amazing book and covers everything you mentioned above, and more. You'll see this book on the dashboard of every rental car wherever you go, it's pretty much the bible of all things Maui.

On Kauai, if you do one helicopter tour on the islands, do it here. Hanalei is a great little town, and you can see the Napali coast from Kee beach. Probably worth a trip up to see the Canyon and Kalalau valley.

On Maui highlights are the road to Hana, and sunrise from Haleakela. If you like snorkeling consider doing Molokini from a boat.

On the big island I'd go to the Volcano, Waipio valley. If you like snorkeling, Captain Cook is great. Kona is famous for deep see fishing if you like that.

What else you do depends on what sort of holiday you want. Days by the pool, lying on the beach, historical state parks, botanical gardens. There's plenty of choice of things to do. I'd invest in the series of "revealed" guide books if I were you. They're really great help in planning.

Also, the big island is more "active", so if you want to finish your vacation in relaxing by-the-pool mode I'd plan to finish at the Hyatt (free nights) in Kauai which is spectacular.