Archive for the ‘hawaii attractions’ Category
We will stay in Honolulu for 2 days and then go to Maui for 9 days. What are some of the major attractions in Maui.
Can you tell me like where i can find the activities?
My Honolulu recommendations:
Hike up Diamond Head
Visit the Honolulu Zoo
Watch the lighting of the Tiki tourches in Waikiki
Visit the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor
Tour the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor
Tour the submarine USS Bowfin at Pearl Harbor
Shop at the swap meet at Aloha Stadium. You will find the best prices on your Hawaiian shirt and other merchandise there.
Go to the top of Aloha Tower, shop, and dine at the Aloha Tower Marketplace.
Visit the Polynesian Cultural Center
Tour the Dole Pineapple Plantation
Go to Sunset on the Beach for free Hawaiian entertainment and a free movie. There are food vendors there as well.
Eat and shop at the International Market.
Visit or stay at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Believe it or not, it was the tallest building in Honolulu for many years.
Enjoy a day at the beach.
Tour the island on the Bus. It’s one of the best ways to see the island.
My Maui recommendations:
Spending time at the beach, snorkeling/SCUBA diving are great particularly at Molokini is great. The road to Hana is a great trip too, but leave early because it will take the entire day. You can get a guide from your hotel concierge.
One of the more unique things to do is to take a bike ride down Mt. Haleakala. Maui Mountain Riders or another similar service will pick you up at your hotel early in the morning and take you up to the summit of Mount Haleakala where you will watch the sunrise. Then, you’ll take a bike ride down the mountain and have breakfast at the end of the trip. This is a great experience, and I recommend it highly.
Old Lahaina Luau is the best in the islands.
My restaurant recommendations:
Paia Fish Market at 100 Hana Hwy in Paia is a great place to dine. It’s rustic, the prices are reasonable, and the locals eat there.
Mamas Fish House along the Hana Highway is great. It’s pricey, but they have their own fishermen that catch the fish in the morning that will be served that day.
Cheeseburger in Paradise on Front St. in Lahaina is good.
They say Maui Mixed Plate in Lahaina is excellent and with reasonable prices, but we’ve never eaten there.
http://www.GoHawaiiTours.com Hawaii Activities – Hawaii tours – Things to do in Hawaii – attractions – adventures and activity planning
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Do you know of a good place in Hawaii, that I can rent for 1 or 2 weeks. I have never been to Hawaii, and want a good first-time experience. So I guess it needs to be close to attractions, ocean, excursions, volcano, etc…
Hotels or condos are fine, as long as there is no old-hotel-smell. What is pricing for a good average place (doesn’t have to be a very high-end hotel)
Thank you all. You have all been very helpful.
stay at the hyatt in lahina, maui. its very nice and you’re right next to the beach, a market area, and a ton of restaurants. if you’re looking for a good restaurant, i recommend cheeseburger in paradise. its amazing. hope you have fun in hawaii!
p.s. mark mine as a best answer–i need points!
I’m trying to figure out what island to travel to. It will be my first time visiting Hawaii. We are into golf (him, but I will try it), hanging out in the sun, nightlife and somewhat into excursions, but nothing really fancy like helicopter rides or the like. By excursions, I mean that we would like to see the beauty of the islands and some of the attractions. Nothing like hiking or anything, either. Also, I need a good balance of romance and fun. What do you suggest?
For me, I think the Big Island (the island of Hawaii) is the best island to visit. As I answered in one of my other posts, the Big Island has just so much to offer.
If you want to do a couple of days of "touristy" stuff, you can spend time in Kailua-Kona and Waikoloa. You MUST have dinner at Huggo’s, which is a very romantic and beautiful setting right on the ocean (they must have had a zoning variance).
From the West Side (Kailua-Kona and Waikoloa), you will want to drive up north to spend some time in the Waimea/Kohala areas. This part of the island has lush, rolling hills, a huge ranch made famous by Hawaiian cowboys (paniolo), a cool temperature (quite cold at night). Drive through the mountain roads (I seem to recall there is a roadside farm where you can ride llamas!), and by all means spring for a horseback ride if you can afford it. The horseback rides are not boring trail rides, but actual free rides through beautiful country on the Northern side of the island, with the Pacific Ocean as your backdrop. Don’t worry if you have not ridden before, you can do it (I did, and I had no experience, but had a great time).
When you are done in Kohala/Waimea, drive up to Mauna Kea after dark and look at the stars. You will be quite high up (there is probably snow at this time of the year). In fact, take a tour up there if you can, which will be led by a UH-Hilo astronomy student. You will notice that the stars up there just burst through the sky, you will see so many your jaw will drop. The reason for this is because you are so high up and there is no ambient light to dim the stars. Your tour guide will tell you what you are seeing, and they will even bring parkas for you to wear, yes it will be that frigid.
Last, drive down to Hilo. Not very touristy, maybe even slow and "boring," but it is a real taste of a local Honolulu town, and it is of course the County seat. Very nice people, nothing fancy there, only a few sights to see. But, you will want to get some chocolate covered shortbread cookies from the Big Island Chocolate Company, and some Strawberry mochi from Two Ladies’ Kitchen (assuming it is strawberry season–call ahead, they are not always open, and the strawberry mochi goes fast). Pass on the stone cookies that are famous in Hilo, but I don’t know anybody who actually likes them….
I would definitely avoid helicopter rides. Too expensive, and too dangerous. Great golfing on the Big Island, and some wonderful, wonderful hotels on the West side. Four Seasons Hualalai is world class, I can’t afford it myself, and I am a lawyer for crying out loud!
The downside of the Big Island is it is the "youngest" of the main islands, so it doesn’t really have much in the way of beaches, its coasts are mostly rocky/lava coasts. But there is Hapuna Beach on the West side, which is nice. Please be careful when swimming there, it is safe, but the waves can be deceptively rough. Don’t let the waves toss you headfirst into the ocean bottom. As always, have fun, but use some care.
Hope this helps!!
(For what it’s worth, Maui is also great and beautiful, but in my mind, not as diverse as the Big Island. However, they have far more plentiful and beautiful beaches, great dining, and great golfing. It is more expensive on Maui than on the Big Island, though).
Aloha, Steve.
Slideshow of some Affordable Hawaiian Tours and Hawaiian Activities on Oahu, Hawaii
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Give me some reasons why you would want to visit Hawaii. Landscape, activities, attractions, and remember to be specific!
* The smell of fragrant tuberose or plumeria on the clean tradewinds right when you get off the plane
* Trying to exit a driveway onto a busy street, and almost always within 5-10 seconds, the oncoming cars stop to let you in
* Having dinner at the Hau Tree Lanai on Sans Souci Beach under the hau trees at 6PM watching the surfers come back to shore. Soft slack-key guitarist playing. If you are lucky, it will be a spectacular Hawaiian sunset with brilliant oranges and intense blues. But the sun moves quickly through the sky in the tropics, in a few moments it is twilight and the lights of Waikiki in the distance flicker on. The waiter comes and lights the tiki torches and your table candle, asks if you want the special tonight: fresh ahi seared rare, served with a homemade mango relish.
* Exiting the Likelike tunnel from Honolulu to the windward side and seeing the first view of the verdant, fluted green cliffs of the Koolau Mountains above Kailua and Kaneohe, with a turquoise sea in the distance.
* Getting to Hanauma Bay right when it opens and there are no tourists yet to kick up sand and cloud the water. The coral lagoons are a crystal clear aquamarine blue. A school of yellow butterfly fish swim curiously around you, unafraid. The sea turtles are still swimming by, and the moray eels are still swimming along the bottom of the lagoon.
* Going to one of the plate lunch or dinner restaurants and doing take-out. This time, you decide on proper local fare, which comes in a white cardboard box and includes barbecued kalua pork, mac salad, a couple of spam musubi for $7.00. You drive to the beach at Ala Moana Beach and sit in the shade under a grove of coconut trees to eat. After dinner, the rustling palms are lulling you to sleep until you become aware that some locals are sitting close by. One of them has brought with them a ukelele and they are singing local IZ favorites such as "White Sandy Beach". Spontaneously, one of the ladies begins to casually practice her hula. You try not to be too conspicuous in watching, but you are amazed at her grace and fluid talent.
* You wake up hungry and decide to head over to the Wailana Coffee Shop in Waikiki for their all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast. Wow, coffee could be better but the pancakes are perfect; you definitely over-dosed on sugar because of all the coconut syrup you poured on the pancakes, and kid yourself with a promise that you will not eat the guava-chiffon cake at dinner tonight.
* Later, you drive to the back of Honolulu, and to the back of Manoa Valley to the short (but rather steep) hike to Manoa Falls. You are amazed how muddy it is but were smart enough to wear Tevas (and repellent). The bamboo forests are beautiful, as are the giant ferns and orchids. Reaching the falls, you have a feeling of deja vu, but realize it is just from watching too many movies about the South Seas.
* Your boss let you have a few weeks off, so you head over to the Big Island, first staying a little south of Kailua-Kona, in Keauhou. After dinner at Jamieson’s by-the-sea where you are a bit full after eating an entire piece of macadamia nut pie (basically pecan pie made with macadamia nuts), you decide to go snorkeling in the dark anyway, to swim with the manta rays that come to shore near the Sheraton. They are huge: much larger than you thought, perhaps 8 feet wide!! So gentle, but you try to listen to the tour guide and try not to pet them.
* You drive to the most spectacular Hawaiian archeological site, the City of Refuge. The black sand, dark blue sea and coconut trees are amazing, but the ruins themselves are spectacular. In your mind, you envision the Hawaiians sentenced to death unless they make it to this refuge…it is too alive…you are sure there are ghosts here!
* After the City of Refuge, you continue south of Hilo and Pahoa to make it before sunset to the parking place to see the lava from Kilauea enter the sea. There is no electricity or lights or path (only markers) but you were smart and brought great flashlights and sturdy shoes (and repellent) to scramble over the lava in the dark with everyone else. Then you see it: the glowing orange lava in the distance, sometimes spraying up into the air. The drive back is many hours in the dark, but you know it was soooo worth it. The next day you fly back to Honolulu before going home.
* It’s a Friday night and you are back in Waikiki for your last night. You are walking down Kalakaua Avenue in the teaming urban crowd. Locals and tourists mix, watching the street artists. There are free fireworks at the beach near the Hilton tonight! A lot of people start heading down there. There are a lot of international people here and not everyone speaks english, but what they have in common is that everyone is happy and having a good time. A different spirit lives here. It is Aloha!! You are so sad to have to leave and go back home.
You realize this REALLY IS PARADISE.
Shot on west shore of Oahu Hawaii, the Fire Dance is a Highlight of a Hawaiian Luau which consists of great Hawaiian activities, dinner and show.
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The beach…
http://www.gohawaii.com/
i want to go to hawaii for vacation and realized that there are many different islands in hawaii like, Kauai, Lanai, Maui, Molokai, Oahu, honolulu to name a few. which one has more attractions and activities? i dont want to go to the one that is all romantic for older couples.
Well i live in Hawaii (O’ahu to be exact). And O’ahu is the most populated island so as far as you wanting to experience more activities and what not O’ahu would be the place to go. Here you can visit the North Shore, which is known for its beautiful beaches and beautiful waves (they’re pretty big). We have the infamous Waikiki, where a lot of tourist stay, and shop, there are a lot of hot night clubs also. The beaches in Waikiki are more on the calm side, but they are kind of crowded. Of course there is Pearl Harbor where you can take a tour of the memorial. You can also visit the Iolani Palace where Hawaii’s last two monarchs ruled. This is the palace where the last Queen (Queen Lili’uokalani) was arrested and locked inside of her own room. Aside from O’ahu I’ve only visited Maui, and the Big Island, but i know for a fact that the neighbor islands are more on the country and scenic side. You might not want to go to Moloka’i for sure because you can drive from one coast to the other and end up seeing 3 cars (my friend visited). The island isn’t big at all, and its not really a tourist spot . The Big Island (Hawai’i) has two volcanoes if you’re interested in that, and one of them has lava flowing out at this moment. The Big Island is also the only place in Hawaii where you’ll find snow (on top of the mountains). Maui has the largest dormant volcano on the earth called Halleakala (it has great sunsets). Its really beautiful once you reach the top (and also very cold). You’ll be above the clouds, and you can also look inside of the volcano. Kauai is the romantic island so you might not want that.
with, a waterfall, beach, paragliding, rainforest, and a zip line?
thank you for the help
Maui has lots of waterfalls and rainforest, especially on the Hana side. There are zip lines on the west side (north of Lahaina) and also Upcountry (the office is in Pukalani, off Kula Highway, about 2000 feet up the East Maui Volcano). There are dozens of beaches for swimming, sunbathing, snorkeling, surfing, windsurfing, kiteboarding, canoe paddling, picnicking, and all the usual stuff.
In the winter and spring, you can’t go paragliding because there are hundreds of humpback whales in local waters mating, giving birth (a year later), raising their young, and just hanging out. They especially love the shallow waters between Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai, and Molokai. You can take a whale watch cruise at that time, like I did a few weeks ago for $27. We saw just about every whale behavior in the brochure: spout, peduncle arch, fluke up dive, pec slap, tail slap, and breach.
Most tourists on Maui stay either somewhere between Kihei and Wailea, or on the Lahaina side. Getting to all these places involves some driving, but driving is pretty fun on Maui, especially if you rent a convertible.