SG, there is a thread on this topic at
http://www.cruisersforum.com/ as I recall. Perhaps because GW has only been there a short time, they haven't yet had a chance to visit the other (windward) side of their Oahu, Kaneohe Bay. We've boated around there while our son flew out of the USMC air base there and it is a wonderful place to base for a while. Protected anchorages, a breeze but no swell, bus service ashore (accessed via the YC) that will take you to various malls and superb hardware stores, and so on.
Having said that, my impression is that there are only a few 'pockets' thru-out the islands where protected anchorages are available; as a general rule, you are anchoring in bays adjacent to large islands which have their own micro weather systems and where the synoptic weather systems determine a great deal about 'where' you go and in what level of comfort. Given your location, I'd suggest you consider it not unlike cruising around Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and San Miguel islands, except that you need to add 'warm' and 'green', and increase the mileages in the passages between anchorages.
Jack