Hawaiian Island Guides: Matchups, Map, Timing, Costs
Guides for choosing a Hawaiian island: Maui or Kauai, Maui or Oahu, Big Island or Maui, the islands map, best time, cheapest island, families, island hopping.
Which Hawaiian Island Is Best for Families?
Oʻahu for lifeguarded beaches, Maui for variety, say the guides. Then the age, weight and health limits tour by tour, from a Waikīkī snorkel to the helicopters.
Read guide →The Best Time to Visit Hawaiʻi
May sits outside the wet season, hurricane season and big winter surf; January to March is whale peak. Each island's weather, and the 2026 storms, dated.
Read guide →The Big Island or Maui?
Big Island vs Maui: the Big Island for Kīlauea, Maunakea and room to roam; Maui for beaches, Haleakalā and a compact base. No lava promised in 2026.
Read guide →Which Hawaiian Island Is the Cheapest to Visit?
Oʻahu: the lowest 2025 hotel rate of the big islands and $238 a day per visitor. Lānaʻi costs the most. The 2026 room taxes, and what $1,000 or $5,000 buys.
Read guide →How to Hop Between the Hawaiian Islands
Between most islands you fly: Hawaiian (now on Alaska's AS code), Southwest, Mokulele or Lānaʻi Air. One ferry, Maui to Lānaʻi, none to Molokaʻi. How many to see.
Read guide →Map of the Hawaiian Islands
How many Hawaiian islands are there? 137 named, eight main ones: seven inhabited, six open to visitors. Each island from Niʻihau to the Big Island, mapped.
Read guide →Kahoʻolawe, the Island You Cannot Visit
Why you can't visit Kahoʻolawe: a US Navy bombing range from 1941 to 1990, uncleared ordnance, a state reserve. Who may go, and Hawaiʻi's other closed island.
Read guide →Maui or Kauaʻi: Which Island Suits You?
Maui vs Kauaʻi: Maui for variety and a summit sunrise, Kauaʻi for cliffs, quiet and trails once its storm-closed parks reopen. Size, visitors and hotel rates.
Read guide →Maui or Oʻahu?
Maui vs Oʻahu: Oʻahu for Honolulu, Pearl Harbor and half the hotel rate; Maui for couples, beaches and Haleakalā. Visitors, costs and flights side by side.
Read guide →Already picked your island? Compare the tours, island by island →