Kauai, St. John, Moorea/Bora Bora in French Polynesia

[sea-nile]

BabaAus,
Is Kauai better thatn Maui?

[TropicAtHeart]

Kauai has more beaches then all the Hawaiian islands combined. It is the oldest of the chain and has the most waterfalls and vegitation. It is very natural and most of the island is unihabitable due to the mountains. Some that have only cruised the islands end up prefering Maui maybe because of they never got to see Kauai very well. It's an explorers dream. That's why the movie studios find it easy to film here because for the most part it's still in it's natural state. Also, the best beaches (north shore) are not crowded and no hotel strips like Maui. No building can be taller than a coconut palm. Marriott resort is a paradise with the biggest gardens of the hotels (1300 koi in their lagoons!). Some may prefer Maui if they are single and looking for night life. Kauai is more laid back. We like Kauai and St. John if that tells you a bit about our style. Oh, and my other favorite place in the world is Switzerland! That place is heaven on earth. Clean fresh air and peaceful.

[sea-nile]

Thanks!
I didn't think that I would find such great information about Hawaii on this forum! Kauai sounds perfect!

[TropicAtHeart]

If you get to go to Kauai try to do a helicopter ride if you can. It was the highlight. It's the only way to see the unaccessible areas of the island. The waterfalls, valleys, majestic peaks will leave you in awe!!! It's a mystical paradise. We went with Air Kauai. Huge windows, big new A-Star copters with noise cancelling headphones. About a one hour flight including into the mouth of the wettest place on earth where there were so many waterfalls cascading down into the crater you can't count them all! Also, Kauai's plumeria trees bloom abundantly throughout the summer months. My wife made her own double plumeria lei just picking plumeria blossoms that are everywhere. You can see my reviews of the Kauai Marriott at tripadvisor.com and nearby dining options.

[Coden]

Thanks everyone!! I've really enjoyed reading all of the information in regards to Kauai and the FP. We've been wanting to get to both. Hopefully we are in '09. Fingers crossed.

Our son did a study abroad on Kauai and Loved it there and his pictures are awesome. I have found that there are many, very reasonable, places to rent. It is just the dang time it takes to fly from here to there. Ouch!!

[TropicAtHeart]

This is an old thread I started years ago, but thought I'd let everyone know that we did go to French Polynesia and have continued to return there. We use points to travel and have found ways to fly and stay free in French Polynesia. In fact, we love it so much there we've been back 4 times, stayed mostly on Moorea and Bora Bora and planning another points trip back to FP in 2018. We plan on visiting the atoll region and staying on Tikehau as well as Moorea and Bora Bora. We're currently planning another trip back to St. John, USVI and BVI in 2017. The one thing St. John has in much more abundance compared to FP are turtles. We've seen them in the lagoons of Bora Bora, but due to hunting over the years by Polynesians they don't have the population of turtles like you find in USVI/BVI. But, attitudes are changing in FP and conservation is working to bring back the turtle population there.