Covers the six Hawaiian islands, Key West, Nantucket, Hilton Head, Fiji and Bora Bora, plus the passport rules for US citizens.
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Six Hawaiian islands take visitors, and they are less alike than the brochures suggest. One is a city with a beach, one is a volcano the size of Connecticut, one is a single luxury resort and one has no resorts at all. We scored all six on the same six factors we use for every island on this site, and the top three finish within half a point of each other. Maui comes first by 0.2 points, on better beaches and thinner crowds than Oahu, which in turn wins easily on price.
October 2026 adds a complication. Three hurricanes touched the islands this year. Hurricane Lowell hit Kauai directly on September 7 and 8, the first direct hit since Iniki in 1992, and on October 19 the state still listed Koke'e Road and most Kauai state parks as closed. That is why Kauai sits fourth, not where its scenery would normally put it. Read the cards below for the reason behind each place, then the sections for how to choose between them.
At a glance
Best overall
Maui, 8.1/10: the best beaches and the most balanced trip, if you rent a car
Best value
Oahu: $139 a night in Waikiki on January 13, 2027, and 28 US nonstop airports
Best for adventure
Big Island: Kilauea, manta ray night snorkels and the emptiest roads of the big four
Check before booking
Kauai: Koke'e Road and most state parks still closed after Hurricane Lowell on October 19, 2026
Day trip, not a base
Lanai: the cheapest 3-star-or-better room was $1,959; the ferry from Maui starts at $30
The ranking
Score = the weighted average of six factors. How we score
Maui wins on the two factors that weigh most, beaches and things to do, both 9 of 10. The west and south shores have long, sandy, swimmable beaches, and inland you have Haleakala, the Hana Highway and, from November through April, humpback whales. It beats Oahu by 0.2 points on better beaches and thinner crowds. The catch is cost: the cheapest 3-star-or-better hotel in Kihei was $296 on January 13, 2027 and $216 on July 14, and you need a rental car. Kahului has nonstops from 18 US airports. Lahaina's Front Street reopened on August 1, 2026, but the town is still a construction zone, not a sight.
Oahu is second, and on value it beats every Hawaiian island: Stay Hotel Waikiki was $139 on January 13, 2027 and $169 on July 14. Honolulu has nonstops from 28 US airports, the most in the state, and you can skip the car and use TheBus. Pearl Harbor National Memorial is free to enter; Diamond Head is $5 a person plus $10 parking for non-residents. What holds it back is crowds: 5,665,698 air visitors in 2025 give it a crowd score of 3.9, the lowest in Hawaii. Pick it for a city, food and a budget; pick Maui for quiet resort coves.
The Big Island scores 9 for things to do, level with Maui and Oahu: Kilauea's episodes of lava fountaining in Halemaumau, manta ray night snorkels off Kona and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park at $30 a vehicle for seven days. It falls to third on beaches (7, with much of the shore lava rock) and on weather, because summer at the Kona gateway scores lower than on Maui. It is also the roomiest island of the big four, with a crowd score of 9.1. Kailua-Kona's cheapest 3-star hotel was $261 in January and $269 in July. Hurricanes Lala and Nolo flooded the southern Kau district in 2026; the Kona and Kohala coasts were largely spared.
Kauai's beaches score 8 and its scenery is the wildest in Hawaii, but two things pull it to fourth. Hurricane Lowell hit it directly on September 7 and 8, 2026, and on October 19 the state still listed Koke'e Road, all Kauai camping and every state park except Haena and part of Wailua River as closed. That cuts things to do to 7 and makes our verdict conditional, which costs 0.4 points. Haena and the Kalalau Trail reopened on October 15 ($5 a person plus $10 parking for non-residents). Kapaa hotels were $233 to $236 on our dates. Go now for the north and east shores; wait for Waimea Canyon.
Lanai has a perfect crowd score and dry, sunny weather, but value sinks it to fifth: 1 of 10. The only 3-star-or-better hotel Kayak could price was the Four Seasons Resort Lanai, at $2,642 on January 13, 2027 and $1,959 on July 14. Beaches score 6, because Hulopoe Bay is superb and the rest are for walking, and things to do 5. There are no mainland nonstops. For most visitors the answer is a day trip: the Expeditions ferry leaves Maalaea on Maui three times a day, takes about 1 hour 10 minutes and starts at $30.
Molokai is last, and that is about fit, not quality. Its weather scores 9.7 and it is the emptiest island we rank, with 23,482 air visitors in 2025. But beaches and things to do both score 4: Papohaku is a beach for walking, the south shore is shallow reef, and two or three days covers the sights. Hotel Molokai was $328 in January and $356 in July. There is no ferry; Lanai Air flies four daily round trips from Honolulu at $169 one way. Kalaupapa needs a guided tour, is reached only by air and admits no one under 16.
Each island gets a score out of 10 built from six factors: weather (20%), beaches (25%), things to do (25%), getting there from the US (10%), value (10%) and room to breathe (10%). Weather comes from 10 years of airport climate data and the Central Pacific hurricane season; value from the cheapest 3-star-or-better double on Kayak for January 13 and July 14, 2027; crowds from official visitor counts per square mile. Beaches and things to do are our editors' scores, with the reason written on each island page. An island whose own page gives a conditional verdict loses 0.4 points. The full method is in how we score islands.
Maui, Oahu or the Big Island: which to pick
The top three are close enough that your trip, not the score, should decide. Use these rules:
Pick Maui if you want resort beaches every morning and three big outings: Haleakala at sunrise, the Hana Highway and a boat to Molokini or the whales. You need a car and a bigger budget.
Pick Oahu if you will not drive, want food, history and nightlife, or are counting dollars. Waikiki rooms were $139 to $169 on our dates against $216 to $296 in Kihei on Maui.
Pick the Big Island if landscapes matter more than sand: lava viewing, Mauna Kea, manta rays and black-sand beaches. It wins our Hawaiian island with teens ranking.
Pick Kauai if you have been to Hawaii before, want cliffs and rivers over shopping, and can work around the closures on the west side.
Lanai and Molokai finish fifth and sixth because they are small, with one good swimming beach between them. Both suit a second or third trip, not a first one. If cost is the deciding factor, our budget Hawaii ranking weights price more heavily.
The 2026 hurricanes: what is open
The Central Pacific hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, per NOAA's National Hurricane Center. 2026 was unusually active. Hurricane Lala in mid-August was the first direct hurricane impact on the Big Island since 1871, and Hurricane Nolo in late September flooded the Kau district there again. Lowell hit Kauai in early September; Nolo's winds cut power in West Maui and fed a brush fire at Olowalu.
The state parks division's October 19, 2026 update is the one to check. On Kauai, Haena State Park and the Kalalau Trail reopened on October 15, the Wailua River is open with limits, and Koke'e Road and all Kauai camping stay closed. On the Big Island most parks have reopened, but Lapakahi and part of the Akaka Falls trail are closed for fallen trees. On Oahu, the Keawaula section of Kaena Point is closed after road damage. Maui and Molokai parks are largely open again. Our hurricane season guide covers insurance and timing.
Combining two islands
Many visitors split a week: four nights on Oahu, then a short flight to a neighbor island. Inter-island flights connect Honolulu with Kahului, Kona, Hilo and Lihue. Only one inter-island ferry runs: Expeditions, from Maalaea on Maui to Manele on Lanai, three round trips a day, about 1 hour 10 minutes each way, from $30. There is no ferry from Oahu, and none to Molokai since the Molokai Princess stopped in 2016; Maui County plans one for 2029. Molokai is a flight: Lanai Air started four daily round trips from Honolulu on August 12, 2026, at $169 one way.
A good pairing for a first trip is Oahu plus Maui. A good one for a second trip is Maui plus a Lanai day by ferry, or the Big Island with a night on the Hilo side for the national park.
Flights, ID and what you will pay
Honolulu has nonstops from 28 US airports, Kahului on Maui from 18, Kona from 14 and Lihue on Kauai from 11, all of them in the western US. Lanai and Molokai have no mainland flights. From Los Angeles, Kahului is 2,483 miles (3,996 km); from New York JFK, Honolulu is 4,975 miles. These are domestic flights: you need a REAL ID-compliant license or a passport, and TSA charges a $45 ConfirmID fee if you arrive without acceptable ID. See our no-passport islands.
Since January 1, 2026, the state Transient Accommodations Tax is 11%, up from 10.25%, under Act 96, the so-called green fee. County lodging tax and general excise tax come on top. Our Kayak prices include them, but not resort fees or hotel parking, which many Maui and Waikiki properties add. Budget for park fees too: Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes each charge $30 per vehicle, and Haleakala's sunrise slot needs a separate $1 reservation.
Booking through these links supports this site at no cost to you. Prices move by date, so we do not print them here; the official prices we checked are in the page above.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Hawaiian island to visit for the first time?
Maui if you will rent a car and want beaches plus big day trips; Oahu if you want a city, more flights and cheaper rooms without a car. Both are easy first picks. Our first-timers ranking compares them directly.
Which Hawaiian island is the cheapest to visit?
Oahu. The cheapest 3-star-or-better hotel in Waikiki was $139 a night for January 13, 2027 and $169 for July 14, 2027, taxes and fees in. You can also skip the rental car. Lanai is the most expensive, at $1,959 to $2,642 for its cheapest qualifying room.
Is Kauai open after Hurricane Lowell?
Yes, with limits. Lihue Airport reopened on September 8, 2026, and Haena State Park reopened on October 15. On October 19 the state still listed Koke'e Road, all Kauai camping and most Kauai state parks as closed, so Waimea Canyon by road is off the table for now.
Which Hawaiian island has the best beaches?
Maui, which our editors score 9 of 10: Kaanapali, Napili and Kapalua bays in the west and Wailea in the south are long, sandy and calm on most mornings. Oahu and Kauai score 8. Watch for shorebreak at Makena and winter surf on north-facing beaches.
Can you visit two Hawaiian islands in one trip?
Yes. Inter-island flights link Honolulu with Maui, the Big Island and Kauai many times a day. The only ferry runs from Maalaea on Maui to Lanai, three times a day from $30. Four nights on one island and three on another is a common split.
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