Pono Kai, Kauai

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

We try to spend 2 weeks a year at Pono Kai. Since the flight is long and costly (unless you travel from west coast) we usually recommend to the friends that might us our other weeks to go for at least 10 days. Stop at Oahu first to see Pearl Harbor. Then on to a relaxing week on Kauai.

Over the years we keep increasing the amount of time we spend in Hawai'i. Our first visit was 6 days/5 nights. Then we bought a timeshare and our next visit was seven days.

Then we started adding on a couple of days either at the front or the back in order to match the days when we could get reservations using frequent flyer miles. We figured that wasn't a big deal because it was just more time in Hawai'i and by using FF miles it was actually cheaper to spend more time in Hawai'i. Plus, after the long trip to Hawai'i it made sense to extend the time so that we got more benefit from the FF miles cashed in and the time spent in transit.

Then I was feeling frustrated because I didn't feel as if I could really relax while we were in Hawai'i because if we were only there for a week plus a few days I felt pressured to cram in everything we wanted to do. Even though we might have just arrived in Hawai'i I was still feeling that we really didn't have much time left.

So then we started adding a second full timeshare week to our visits. Now in general every other year we spend two weeks on Kaua'i. The other years we spend one week on Kaua'i and one week on one of the other islands.

Of course, now were at the point where we're bracketing out two timeshare weeks with a few days on the front and back to accommodate frequent flyer availabilities and to burn off the miscellaneous points we have left over in our DRI account.

So this year we're going to be in Hawai'i for three weeks. Give us another five years and I bet we'll be up to a month!!!

[SteveChapin Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close SteveChapin]

Thank you for the information. We have never been to Hawaii but would like to go sometime and this helps me in my planning. Maybe a 2-3 night stay on Oahu and a 4 night stay in Kuaui at Pono Kai. Would you recommend that??

I think you'll want a least a week on Kauai; there's just too much hiking to do! Plus trips up the river by kayak, snorkeling excursions ...

I think a minimum of 7 days on Kauai plus whatever time you want to spend in Oahu will be satisfying. 4 days in Kauai will leave you stressed about all the stuff you didn't do!

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