Going with my wife end of May - beginning of June, flying into Oahu on a Saturday night and out of Maui the following Saturday night, flying between the two sometime in the middle of the week. Planning on going over to Maui Wednesday late afternoon, effectively giving us 4 days on Oahu and 3 on Maui. Any reason to do more or less time on each?

We've been to Hawaii before for our honeymoon but stayed on Molokai the entire time.

Will be surfing, hiking, freediving and maybe scuba. Appreciate any input, thanks!

Don’t discount the possibility of surfing the North Shore of Oahu in early June.

With manageable crowds (though nominal size for Hawaii but fun for an East Coaster).

That's a really good time of year for surf in Town. High probability of at least some S Hemi swell and chance for calm winds in the morning which can make some of the Diamond Head spots an option for light crowds with unusually clean conditions. Black Point area can be good under those circumstances if you can figure out how to access the spots and navigate your way to the lineup. West Maui and Kihei area have plenty of surf spots on offer when a good S Hemi is running, and trades in these areas mean clean conditions. BUTT, as you probably know or should be able to figure out, in general the spots are more abundant and of higher quality on Oahu. Ho'okipa is pretty much always working, and can be a blast for us FL folks. Of course, an off season swell could bring some surf to the North Shore(s). More likely later in the summer, but you never know so keep your eyes peeled. Even if it's flat, a trip to the 7 Mile Miracle is a must...like a pilgrimage to Mecca. My wife and I loved summer beach days at Leftovers, and you can find plenty of fish to shoot in the channel between there and Alligator Rock. Hawaii is about much more than surf, so IMO the time split you have planned is the way to go. Fantastic hiking, Arizona Memorial, Hana highway, Haleakala, diving, bodysurfing, and some great food (poke!!! although I hear Irifune is closed ). I'm jealous...have fun!

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"If I say it's safe to surf this beach, captain, then it's safe to surf this beach!"

Be aware that at "times" (of the day and week) inter-island seats can be scarce. Especially since Island Air went tits up. Pin-the-tail-on-your-dates/times and make your inter-island flight reservations as soon as you can.

Where are you staying on each island? What does wifey like to do?

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Dora Hates You

Thanks for the tips so far guys, really appreciate them! We'll be visiting the North Shore a couple days whether there are waves or not

dingpatch - I'm hoping to nail it down in the next day or two and book them, we transferred a bunch of Amex points to Hawaiian Miles and booked the LAX-HNL and OGG-LAX legs on points, will do the same with HNL-OGG but trying to decide which day. For now there are award seats still available on the inter-island flights we're looking at but I don't want to wait too long. Wife is super into anything outdoorsy, she's amped to do a lot of hiking and hopefully a shark dive with One Ocean Diving, and she's very supportive of me surfing a lot which is great. On Oahu we will be staying some or all of the time with a friend of hers who lives in Kailua, other than that lodging is up in the air, that's our next step after the flights!

Take her to a Luau at the Polynesian cultural center, jump rock at Waimea , check out Yokohama bay , Nuuanu Pali lookout is a must view , parking in Waikiki stinks - so park at the Marriot Surf and Spa self park $32 a day if you have to . Swim with the fish in Hanauma bay then check out Blow hole around the corner.Get a shave ice in Haleiwa at Matumoto or Aoki's . Have fun and good luck . PS the food trucks are awesome

Less Oahu, more Maui! Haleakala is epic! Nothing like what you expect Hawaii to be. Bring warm clothes it can be 35 degrees and windy up there at 10000 ft

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"I remember South Africa in the late 70's, sleeping on the beach at J-bay, smoking ganja with the blacks. On weekends we'd go to the pub in East London to drink beer and fight with the Afrikaners. They liked to fight, I liked to fight. It was a good time"

What all3 said!

Do the Old Lahana Luau on Maui; only the story of Hawaiian Hula https://www.oldlahainaluau.com, no "Polynesian" with the flames and such. Excellent! The Cultural Center on Oahu is Mormon, no alcohol! Now, yes, sure, sure, sure, luaus are for "tourists" and all that rot, but to go to Hawaii and not go to one is akin to going to Orlando for vacation and never going to a "park"!

Check the Maui Sunset as a place to stay on Maui. We've stayed there 4 times.

And, as per usual, while on either island check out the local places that have been on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives for the very best grinds.

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Dora Hates You

Edited: 01/13/2018 at 05:16 AM by dingpatch

or stay at Lahaina Shores fronting the 3 best summertime breaks on maui  and drive to la perouse

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"I remember South Africa in the late 70's, sleeping on the beach at J-bay, smoking ganja with the blacks. On weekends we'd go to the pub in East London to drink beer and fight with the Afrikaners. They liked to fight, I liked to fight. It was a good time"

2nded for Maui. What they said. Hookipa is super fun on any swell, including what would be blown out anywhere else. Mama's Fish House is prob the best food I've ever had. Tons to see w really different landscapes. Making myself jealous...

One of the coolest things my wife and I did on Maui was a helicopter tour. Went over the crater at Haleakala, rain forests, Hana pools, etc. Pilot would hover ten feet away from 300 foot waterfall, so close the rotor draft would blow the leaves of plants clinging to the cliff-side. We did the sunset tour which included landing on a grass covered mound near the coast and sipping champagne as the sun set. Entire flight including the pilots conversation with us recorded by a nose mounted video camera. Blue Hawaiian Tours. Epic...

was in maui last may with family and just a heads up on haleakela - you need to make a reservation with the national park to access for sunrise... 

new policy, caught us by surprise since prior visits it was open on first come first serve basis.

same comments.  More Maui less Oahu.  Especially on the dive front.  Molokini has a killer wall.  You can shore dive little beach.  Do the drive around the backside!  Haleakala for sure, just be prepared for feeling the abrupt altitude change and give yourself plenty of time to get up before sunrise.  Then you have Honoloula and all the bays around there.  I've only been to each island once on two seperate trips, but I'd go back to Maui 100 times before Oahu.

Went to oahu early june '96? I think, forecast was for 4-6ft south swell and 6-8ft NW. landing in honolulu we could see waves pumping and hundreds of people out on south shore. went to the north shore and there was a pack of 20 people on each break, rockys, gas chambers, OTW, rockpiles ect. About 40 at pipe and 30 at sunset. Conditions were epic! but what I realized was that these were all people that lived there. No surf tourists in june, town guys were surfing town. Still had one of the best days of my life at sunset.

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"I remember South Africa in the late 70's, sleeping on the beach at J-bay, smoking ganja with the blacks. On weekends we'd go to the pub in East London to drink beer and fight with the Afrikaners. They liked to fight, I liked to fight. It was a good time"

This has all been super helpful, we booked our flight over to Maui a day earlier than we had originally planned. Thanks again for all the insight!

That's pretty awesome