Aloha

Hawaii is about 2,400 miles southwest of US mainland. Hawaii's nickname is the Aloha State, and Aloha means love in the Hawaiian language, but it is also used as a greeting. Hawaii lives up to its reputation as being a beautiful and pleasant state with brilliant colored flowers, flowing palms, and magnificent waterfalls. On top of all that, the people of Hawaii are friendly and treat tourists wonderfully.

Before going to Hawaii their are a few things to think about. First of all, take some time to get acquainted with Hawaii's geography. Hawaii is actually made up of 132 islands, but people usually only think about the main 8 islands (Hawaii, Maui, Kahoolawe, Molokai, Lanai, Oahu, Kauai, and Niihau) The island of Hawaii is usually referred to as the Big Island, because it is the largest. The Big Island also has the only two active volcanoes. Maui is known as the valley island because of its large canyons. Kahoolaw is a rather small island and no one actually lives their but it is used by the military. Moolokai is known as the friendly island because of how wonderfully all guests are treated. Lanai is a island with many resorts as well as the Dole pineapple plantation. Oahu is known as the gathering place because of it being in the center of Hawaii's action. 80% of Hawaii's people live on Oahu. Honolulu and Pearl Harbor are both on the island of Oahu. Kauai is the Garden Island and, in my opinion, the most beautiful of the islands. Niihau is the forbidden island and you can only visit their with an owner's permission.

Quick Tips:

Before you pack, keep in mind that Hawaii is rather mild. The temperatures are usually in the 70s year-round. Their is regular rain and, in the highest points, you can even find snow.

And if you haven't noticed by now, the Hawaiian language used a ton of vowels. In fact, two consonants never occur without a vowel between them. Plus, all words end with a vowel and accent of most words fall on the next to last syllable. The Hawaiian alphabet has only 12 letters: A, E, I, H, K, L, M, N, O, P, U, and W.

A few things that you can't miss in Hawaii include: the fresh fruit, a luau (I was a little disappointed with this, but its just something you have to do in Hawaii), Volcanoe National Park, whale-watching (if in season, and I recommend Captain Dan), Pearl Harbor, Waimea Canyon, Akaka Falls, and scuba diving.

One other item to take note of, being that so many things are shipped to Hawaii from the US mainland or foreign countries, a lot of stuff seems more expensive when compared.

Best Way To Get Around:

In Hawaii, their are lots of different ways to get from one place to another. We island hopped via NCL cruise ship, and loved every minute of it (see review).

Hawaiian airports are pretty crowded because of Hawaii being such a huge tourist site plus local people do a lot of island hopping. The main airports are in Honolulu (on Oahu), Kahului (on Maui), Lihue (on Kauai) and Kona or Hilo (on the Big Island). We flew into Hilo and had no problems.

We also rented a car on each island we visited. The roads can be narrow, twisting, or steep, but not difficult to drive or to navigate. If you're a little directionally challenged, you'll do fine driving. After all, Hawaii is part of the US although sometimes it feels like you're in a whole different country. Plus if you do get lost, the people in Hawaii speak English and are more than willing to help you out.

Prior to booking the whale-watching tour, we were told that the end of March was getting late in the season to see any whales. The official whale watching season is from December (the best time) to early May.

We saw plenty of whales! We saw many whales from a far, one swam under the boat, and one jumped up extremely close to the boat. As far as getting pictures of the whales, it's pretty much hit or miss. (I did a lot of missing.) Whale-watching with Captain Dan was well worth the money (about $70/person for 3 hours).

Captain Dan also taught us a TON about whales. For example, About 60 percent of the North Pacific humpback whale population migrates to Hawaiian waters where they mate, give birth to and nurse their young.
And that, when humpback whale calves are born they weigh about 3,000 pounds. The calves are born beneath the water and need to be pushed to the surface by their mothers so they can take their first breath of air. Calves stay very close to their mothers for the first year as they feed on their mother's milk and learn to swim. A calf will consume about 50 gallons of milk per day and grow by about 100 pounds a day. But in the end, there's no better way to learn about whales than to experience them for yourself.

Although I wouldn't consider Pearl Harbor a fun and exciting part of our vacation, it is an important part of the Hawaiian experience. Every year over 1,500,000 visitors experience Pearl Harbor.

The Arizona Memorial is open daily from 7:30am to 5pm. First they show you a 20-minute documentary film about the attack, then there is a boat trip to the USS Arizona Memorial, which took about 45 minutes. Then you can visit the USS Missouri Memorial, which is the ship where Japan signed the the papers to surrender with the allied nations.

Pearl Harbor is very quiet and honorable. Think about it as a grave site where 1177 men lost their lives. Beware of taking really small children, but it is a learning experience for older children (and adults too). It gives a little perspective on the sacrifices other people have made for our freedom.

The best time to visit is in the morning before the tour buses arrive. Their are also some pretty major security regulations in place. Purses, bags, backpacks, camera cases, and diaper bags are not allowed in the visitor center or on the Memorial tour.

Hawaii's Volcano National Park is located on the Big Island. This national park contains two of the world's most active volcanoes. The first volcano, Mauna Loa, is the tallest mountain on Earth and the other volcano, Kilauea, is known for spitting lava in the Pacific and transforming the island.

Visitors have the option of hiking on lava trails to get an up close and personal look at the land. There is also scenic drives that wind through the Ka`u Desert and a rain forest. Within this scenic area you can see birds and other wildlife, like the Nene in the pictures attached. The Nene is species of bird that is down to about 1,000 world wide.

The day we spent at the Hawaiian park it was very cold and windy (not what I expected for my first day in Hawaii). The cool damp weather really took away from enjoying the park. A couple of hours at the park was plenty of time their for us. If you are more of a hiker, you could spent a lot of time in the park.

We rented a car to get the park, but I know that you can also take tours by bus and small van operate daily from many Hilo and Kona hotels.

Instead of going from hotel to hotel and spending hours of time flying from island to island, we went on the Norwegian Cruise Line. We were able to go to five different islands without ever having to packing up our bags.

The cruise ship offered so many different tours. Our favorite tour offered by NCL was snorkeling. One good thing about booking tours with the cruise ship is that if the bus or van taking you has problems, like a flat tire and you get late boarding the cruise, the cruise ship will wait for you. However, if you go do your own thing and get a flat tire and are late getting back to the ship, it won't wait for you. Our favorite tour that we book independently was Whale Watching with Captain Dan in Kona (see review).

Of course we all have to eat, and the food was great. We always ate breakfast on the ship and we would skip lunch because we were out exploring (maybe just ice-cream or something to hold us over) and then we ate dinner at night back on the ship. Mostly we just wanted to take advantage of tasty yet free food on the ship.

One of the most memorable parts of the cruise were getting to meet the other passengers and the crew. The crew always aimed to please and they had a lot of interesting stories. (It was amazing to learn about how they work for 5 months with not a single day off and then they return home for one month and are back for their next 5 months. Or that three crew members have to share one of those tiny rooms while they are living on the ship.)

There are also a lot of great prices for NCL cruises available. Some are even featured on IgoUgo deals of the week.

Overall, the cruise was great. We loved the service, the food, the drinks, and the entertainment that we went to was great. Without a doubt, this is the way to experience the Aloha State.

Beautiful! That is the only way to describe this island. If you appreciate scenery then this is the island for you. Kauai is the most lush of the major islands. We rented a car to better explore the entire island. The best drive is up the western side of the island. Our ship came into the port at Lihue. Lihue has many plants and animals that are not found anywhere else in the world. At the Kauaui Musem (also in Lihue) you can see native feather capes and photographs of plantation life. Then we headed towards Wailua Falls Picture attached). Next we got on back on Route 56 and saw Lydgate State Park. Here you can see the ever beautiful Hanamaulu Beach. There are also natural "pools" that holes that edged by volcanic rock. We didn't have enough time to stop for a dip, but I heard it's very nice. This park (like the rest of the island) has so much history. The Lydgate Park was once so holy that only the priests and royalty were allowed to enjoy it. Several early temples still stand here. Next, we headed farther north you come to the Fern Grotto. This is known as romantic spot were many couples go to have their picture taken among the ferns on their wedding day (do to our restricted schedule we had to do a bit of drive by viewing). Then continued to head north to Wailua River State Park. Wailua is another ancient location that was once used for human sacrifices.

Then we headed up towards Kilaueo National Wildlife Refuge. Here we saw lots of birds some with massive wingspans. We caught a couple seals napping on rocks. We also saw a neat lighthouse there and some beautiful places to just look out and enjoy the view. As we continued on we drove through some really narrow roads, and in particular a bridge than was only big enough for one family sized car/van to fit through at a time. Then we came upon the caves at Haena. The Hawaiian people say that the legend says the caves were created by the goddess of volcanoes. The story goes that while she was searching the lava for burning fires, but when she found the water below the ground she fled the island. (I attached a picture of one of these caves.) We continued on a bit farther (now going East on 56) to Kee Beach. The beach has a unbelievable view of the water and offers a lot to snorkelers. We had already gone snorkeling on trip, so we didn't go again. But, we heard that their are many tropical fish to be seen just of the beach here. From here you can't go any farther East because of the huge cliffs. The only way to see these cliffs, or Na Paili Coast State park is by hiking or boat. Luckily, our cruise ship went around this island so we were able to appreciate every angle of its beauty.

One back at Lihue we spent the nigh on our cruise ship. The next day we traveled the road South/West to Walimea Canyon. I would compare the awe-inspiring canyon to the Grand Canyon back in the United States. This drive is also beautiful as it explores the other opposite coast of Kauai. Although this drive doesn't have as many little stops of things to see along the way, seeing Walimea Canyon is surely worth the drive. Overall, this is the most glorious of the major Hawaiian Islands.

Oahu is nicknamed the "gathering place". This is probably becuase most of the Hawaiian people liveon the Island of Oahu. We started our road trip at Waikiki beach/Diamond Head Area on route 72. Waikiki is worth seeing but it's a little over-crowded and not nearly as lovable as many of Hawaii's other beaches. Diamond Head is right over Oahu's most southern tip. We did a little exploring over the dormant volcano and then we took the military tunnel into the crater. Here, we took a short but very steep stair up the 760 foot tower. The view of Waikiki, Honuolulu, and the Koolau Mountains is like no other view. If you can handle the trek, it's worth the view. Then we continued the roadtrip to Koko Head Regional Park. This is where the beach and steep mountians meet. Hanauma Bay is a marine preserve that is part of this park, also worth a couple hours of you time. We did a quick pit stop at Nuuanu Pali State Waside to take a moment to appreciate the beautiful cliffs. Our next little stop was at Hoomaluhia Botanical Gardens on Route 83 near Kaneohe. This Garden consists of 400 acres of garden that contain native Hawaiian flowers and we just walked on the well trails and took it all in. Then we continued north on 72. This stretch of road is called the "Kahekili Highway". Along the way there's all kinds of places to jump out and see plantations, a statue of Buddha, peacocks, little huts with thatched roofs, and off course the mountains and ocean. Then we came upon Kualoa Regional Park. This is more farm land with lots of papayas and roadside stands. We continued to head North then around to the East edge of the island. We went past Malaekhana State Recreation Area and finally stopped at Waimea Bay. We watched some huge waves come to shore. This area is known for being the most daring place for surfers to catch some waves. We sat and watched some surfers and, from what we saw, it looked pretty wild. We came to Pupukea Road to the ruins of Puu O Mahuka Heiau, which is the largest and most sacred site in Oahu. Here, we saw some beautiful landscapes and more botanical gardens, as well as archaeological artifacts. Like so many places in Hawaii, there is such a strong connection between Hawaiian history and modern day-to-day life.

This road has to be one of the most beautiful and scenic roads that I've ever been on, but drivers beware because some parts of the road are narrow and their are a lot of sharp turns. In other words, the drive is unforgettable for more than one reason.

Our cruise ship came into the port at Kahului, so we rented a car there and got on Route 36/360. Our first stop was at Hookipa Beach Park. This is yet another beautiful beach that appeals to windsurfers. We only had a short pit stop here and continued onto Twin Falls. Here you can see a pair of very nice waterfalls. This is where the highway becomes a little more difficult, because the road goes over the sleeping giant volcano. This volcano, Haleakala, is about 10,000 feet high. Our next stop was at Kaumahina State Park. This is worth the stop. The vegetation is very lush and the overlook of Honomanu Bay is beautiful. The jagged rocks and the coastline make an awesome view. Next, we continued to head southeast and stopped at Keanae. Here again, there are lots of native and exotic trees and flowers, and they have all of the names posted, so we knew exactly what we were looking at. Our next stop was at Wailua's Miracle Church in Wailua. As with everything in Hawaii, there's a story to go with this neat church. The story goes that, when the people decided to build this church, a huge storm came and left behind all the coral and other supplies needed for the church. Then, a short time later, when the community was finished with their church, another storm came and washed away all of the extra supplies they needed, and left behind the perfect little church.

Back on the road we headed to Nahiku. Here, the road is lined with endless rubber trees that were planted for plantation but, because of Hawaii's environmentg the trees grew but were unable to produce any rubber. Just past the airport, we stopped at Waianapanapa State Park. This park is known for its black sand beach. The sand is a result of lava coming in contact with the cool sea. Next came Hana, which is a nice little town. We stopped here for a bit to eat and to get gas; after Hana, there is no place to fill up. Then we continued around the southeastern corner of Maui and came to Haleakala National Park. Beware of this last stretch of road (only 10 miles but it feels a lot longer), it is so bumpy and narrow. To say the least, I got a little nervous at this point, but Haleakala is worth the experience. At the park, there are tons of little water holes and pools that come together and then flow into the ocean. It's a nice place to take a little dip to cool your nerves and prepare for the drive back.

This whole drive from Kahului to Haleakala National Park was about 60 miles, but it takes a little longer than you'd think just because of road conditions.

We spent two days on Hawaii's Big Island. One day, our cruise ship came into the port at Hilo and later, the cruise ship came into the port at Kona.

From Hilo, we explored the island by renting a car and heading north on Route 19. Hilo is one of Hawaii's largest cities and it does have black sand beaches. Hilo has nice safe beaches for swimmers who prefer calmer water. Our first pit stop was at Hawaii Tropical Gotanical Garden, which is a little ways past Papaikou. This garden offers 17 acres of more that 2,000 species of plants and boasts the World's Largest Assortment of Tropical Plants. Back in the car, we continued on to Laupahoehoe Park. Later, we heard that the waterfall at Akaka Falls State Park would have been a good place to stop and was worth going off the beaten path and taking the hiking trail to the falls, but we didn't have the time to stop here. At Laupahoehoe Beach Park, which is a nice stop for a picnic or to stretch your legs, but if you wanted to pass something up, this would be it. We went off of Route 19 and took route 240 to Waipo Valley Lookout. This visit spot is beyond beauty. Some people even refer to this place as the "Garden of Eden". Hawaiian Royalty nicknamed this six-mile area the "Valley of the Kings". I also saw shuttle buses here, so if you're looking for tours, they do exist. Waipo has many small streams, waterfalls, and fish ponds amongst all of the green vegetation. From here, we headed back to Hilo.

From Kona, we headed for Captain Cook, which is South on Route 11. At Captain Cook, we bought some gourment coffee to take home (excellent coffee), and went snorkeling at the Marine Life Consercation where tropical fish crowd around the coral reef. I highly recommend this stop. Once back on the road, we headed to Puuhonua O Honaunau Nation Historical Park. We took Route 160 (very narrow) across crusty lava and through a sacred area. Once in the 180 acre Park, there is an acient royal fish pond, a wall made of lava, and a heiau, a burial area for chiefs and other royals). Once back on Route 160, we drove through massive groves of macadamia trees. Our next stop was at Punaluu. This is America's southern most town and its black sand beach is suppose to be a popular beach for sea turtles. We had no such luck, and didn't see any turtles.

Our final destination on this road trip was Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The park itself is very large and has it's own scenic drive. (To read more about Vocanoes National Park, I have written another review.)

Overall, I think both drives are worth it. I came to Hawaii to experience it's beauty, and the best way to explore is to just get out there and drive.

When you're in Hawaii, you don't need to speak Hawaiian at all. Everyone can speak English, but many Hawaiian words are used here and there, and you can really impress the locals if you can use a Hawaiian words. So here's a few words that you can practice.

A hui hou kakou - Until we meet again
Aloha kakahiaka - Good Morning
Aloha'auinala - Good Afternoon
Aloha ahiahi - Good evening
Aloha 'oe - Good Bye
Inu - drink
Kahakai - beach
Kai - Ocean
Kala - Dollar
Kaukau - food
lua - bathroom
Mahalo - Thank You
Malu No - Reserved for ____(name)
'O wai kou inoa? - What is your name?
wai - drinking water