Is Hawaii Overrated As a Vacation Spot?

Yes.

Were you on Oahu? Staying off the north coast is the way to go, super chill and way less people.

Sampson said:

if you're afraid of Spanish speakers

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in a sound system?

Sampson said:

I mostly just ate, drank, snorkled, did some hiking and hung out at the beaches.

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If this is all you're looking for then yes, Hawaii is overrated. Go to Cancun or the Riviera Maya and you'll get the same thing but from an all-inclusive resort (assuming you weren't at one in Hawaii)

Sampson said:

I guess if you're afraid of Spanish speakers or you don't want to/can't leave the country for whatever reason, it's good. But otherwise there's many other places in Latin America I that offer the same sort of experience.

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Not sure what you're afraid of, unless you mean like actually going outside a resort and partaking in the local life. Even then, you can find guides/help most anywhere.

North Shore of Oahu is heaven on earth. Avoid Honolulu and it's possible to visit relatively cheaply

You really need to hit up multiple islands in Hawaii to make the trip worth it. One island by itself may not offer something new, but the islands collectively are so different from one another it keeps it interesting if you just spend a day or 2 on each island

I went to Maui a few years ago and loved it. Almost every vacation by the end I'm ready for it to be over. I could have used another week or 2 there.

Should have gone to Kauai before Zuckerberg buys the entire island

The resort/tourist areas are completely overrated and you're right OP, you would do better in South America/Carribean if you want to go that direction.

Off the beaten path though, especially if you rough it a little, Hawaii is totally unique. I lived there in Maui for six months and will never forget it.

Everybody I've known whose gone there has said it's amazing. A dream vacation of mine would be to go to West Coast US for like a ~5 days, do wine country, SF, etc, and then fly to Hawaii for a week. I've never done it and I'd love to, but the cost is prohibitive.

Hawaii is the best vacation spot in the world now apologize and buy me a flight there

Not for me it wasn't. Tons to do, easy to get around, and not that many people on the island of Kauai. It was paradise.

Hawaii was absolutely worth it. It's stupid expensive which is it's biggest drawback. However, if you love the outdoors, its a magical place.

Visiting the Haleakala crater was like a religious experience.

It's not overrated at all. Are there other beautiful islands out there? Of course. It's just stunning in its beauty.

I went last year, i i still think about it daily. it's also the vibe of the island, and people. Kind of hard to explain, but everything just feels so chill.

OP should have eaten more plate lunches, ramen and Huli Huli Chicken if he wanted to eat cheaper.

Depends on how much you can spend on a vacation there.

I went to Hawaii for the first time last year over Christmas. My wife and I stayed in Honolulu the entire time, and spent 75% of our time on the beach there. The rest we did some snorkeling, Pearl Harbor, hiking and rented a car for a day and drove all over the island. (due to circumstances it wasn't feasible for us at that time to visit the other islands). It was incredibly busy as Christmas is their busiest season.

That being said I absolutely loved it, and would love to go back another time. Definitely off-season and definitely to another island or two.

Then again I just love beach/ocean type vacations and as long as I have some sun, a book and some water I'm happy.

Sampson said:

I meant if you're an older American that watches Fox News obsessively and thinks a drug cartel operative will kill you if you go to Cancun, Hawaii may be better.

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...are you an older American that watches Fox News obsessively and thinks a drug cartel operative will kill you?

Edit: nevermind, I read your OP wrong.

Yeah, disagree. I've been 5 or 6 times, every time was amazing. Only way I'd say it's not worth is if all you want to do is go to the beach.

Fun fact about Hawaii: It's free and legal to camp on any public beach as long as you have a fishing pole.

I loved almost every aspect of my vacation there. So no.

CrocM said:

Fun fact about Hawaii: It's free and legal to camp on any public beach as long as you have a fishing pole.

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And you don't mind being surrounded by homeless people.

Maui is paradise. Lots to see and do. Great weather. Beautiful beaches. It's just the right size too.

I think you are using the word "overrated" incorrectly.
Overrated has no connection to value which seems to be your complaint.

The North shore of Oahu was one of my favorite places on Earth to just drive around. The road to Hana on Maui was equally amazing .

CrocM said:

Fun fact about Hawaii: It's free and legal to camp on any public beach as long as you have a fishing pole.

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So THAT'S why everyone got mad when I went all the way down Waikiki snapping branches

HStallion said:

And you don't mind being surrounded by homeless people.

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Um, no.

I've never heard anyone say that it was overrated.

Sampson said:

No.

My point was that Hawaii is constantly hyped up as this awesome vacation spot, and it's good, but there are many places in Latin America that are just as good but less expensive. I was trying to think of a reason to justify that hype. It was a joke, but obviously not communicated well.

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Yeah that was my bad, didn't read your post properly. Joke was missed because of my reading skills lol

Go to Cancun. Eat and drink all day. It's seriously the best!

Sampson said:

No.

My point was that Hawaii is constantly hyped up as this awesome vacation spot, and it's good, but there are many places in Latin America that are just as good but less expensive. I was trying to think of a reason to justify that hype. It was a joke, but obviously not communicated well.

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It's actually not that expensive if you stay from the tourist haunts and the huge cities like Honolulu and Waikiki.

Kauai was one of my favorite vacations ever. I hiked 4-8 miles a day and loved it.

I didn't find it expensive, but I basically just hiked every day and ate out for dinner.

Sushi Girl and Hanalei bay for life.

Oahu is awful in general if you're looking for a more remote tropical island experience -- Kauai and Maui are much better in that regard. However, generally speaking, Hawaii is incredible -- there are too many irreplaceable geographic features that make it fundamentally unique. And if you surf, there's really nothing else like it in the world.

However, there are similar-ish experiences that can be cheaper. Bali, Indonesia, Fiji, Tahiti, etc are similar island destinations and some are significantly cheaper in respect to food and lodging -- especially Bali (your plane ticket will likely be the most expensive item).

Mainland Mexico (even parts of Baja during certain times of the year), Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama are all great spots too -- generally cheaper than Hawaii and a similar tropical experience, but they're completely different culturally and geographically... not really replacements for Hawaii, but great in their own right.

I went to Maui two years ago and it was amazing. Beaches different depending on which side of the island you were on. I went to the black sand beach , saw the rainbow trees (felt like I was in a painting), did the Road to Hana, went to Haleakala for sunset, snorkled, hiked, flew over the lava on the big island and along the sea cliffs. Just amazing.

If there's a comparable cheaper experience, let me know because I'm going there next.

Sampson said:

I guess if you're afraid of Spanish speakers or you don't want to/can't leave the country for whatever reason, it's good. But otherwise there's many other places in Latin America that offer the same sort of experience.

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Pretty much everyone on Costa Rica is bilingual at the minimum.

I've been to Maui and Kauai and I would say it wasn't overrated at all. It was amazing. Can you get a similar experience in Latam? Maybe? But when you add up the experiences (road to Hana, hiking, luaus, the unique food, biking down a mountain, etc) I'm not sure.

It's my goal to visit early next year.

I went to Maui this year which was my first visit to Hawaii. I found it to be amazing. Snorkeled with turtles, drove the road to Hana, did one of the smaller Luaus and just traveled around the entire island. I loved every minute of it. Im seriously considering my next vacation in Kauai next.

EDIT: my only gripe is that Maui's airport fuckin sucks.

10 day honeymoon on Maui, worth every penny and definitely not over rated. I've never had a more relaxing vacation.

Sampson said:

You can get pretty much the exact same experience in many parts of the Caribbean, Costa Rica, or Mexico for like half the cost or less. Also, depending on where you fly in from, a much shorter plane ride.

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I would personally rather go to Mexico, Costa Rica or most of the Caribbean over Hawaii, even if it was similarly priced, so yeah.
It's still really pretty and there are some amazing sites to see there, so I would definitely recommend people go there at least once, but as reoccurring vacation destination, I don't know. The towns all suck, most accommodation options are either super touristy resorts or just bad, the beaches are not that great if you're not surfing and the food sucks.

1. It takes an incredibly carbon-costly jet ride just to get there, so

yea way over priced. Head to Belize or somewhere like that. the flights are cheaper, pretty much everything is cheaper if you do it right, and you're at the second largest barrier reef in the world.

Maui is incredible to me; only vacation destination I've gone back to more than once and where I want to retire.

I go to Oahu about every two years or so. We have a timeshare there. It's a great place. Are there a lot of people at certain times? Yes. July 4th is the worst. But there's basically nobody around on Halloween.

Waikiki is the devil. Stay away.

Wet with family back in '04. Stayed in Honolulu and didn't really like the touristry vibe. My dad joked it was the Polynesian equivalent of Pigeon Forge, TN. The hotel had a small Japanese/Italian restaurant that was pretty amazing. Marinara was spicy as hell.

Also I ate so much pineapple it felt like part of my tongue dissolved.

The Hawaiian Islands contain all the earth's terrestrial biomes, except for tundra. There's no other place like that.

Hawaii is really nice, but I think there are better options for the money. It's a really expensive place to go.