Where’s Your Dream Trip?
Will you be taking a vacation in 2011? Man, I wish! Not counting visititing family, the last real vacation I took was back in 1982, 29 years ago. That was to Hawaii, my second trip there.
If you don’t have friends that already live there or you’re not going with someone who has already been there, then I suggest signing up for tours or you’ll seriously not know the best things to see.
Island hopping is exciting as each island is not only different in terms of beauty, but also of the people that live there. I’ve been to Hawaii, Kauai, Oahu and Maui. Spend as much time as possible on each island so you can experience each one in its entirety. It’s no fun spending hours at the airport to get to the next island and then hours deplaning and getting to the hotel. It takes massive amounts of time away from relaxation and site seeing. To make up for it, like I said, stay as long as you can afford to.
Hawaii
Hawaii is the youngest of the islands and still under volcanic construction. Visit the Hawaii Volcanoes Nation Park. We stayed in Hilo the first night. I got the biggest kick out of how open everything was, like hotel lobbies and restaurants…no glass on the window openings. Breakfast was a trip in itself. It had rained the night before and our table was right next to one of these windowless openings. I could reach my hand out and touch the still wet leaves of the hotel’s jungle-esque landscaping. I can still picture in my mind the almost florescent colors of the hot pink impatients against the black volcano rock in the planters. There are several black sand (and green) beaches throughout the islands, the Big Island is home to the famed Punalu’s Black Sand Beach.
Oahu
Ohau is the most populous of the islands. My advice, stay away from Waikiki. It’s a city and it totaly destroys the laid back island adventure. Only go there if you absolutely must. Visit everything else. Checkout the North Shore and visit where the Banzai Pipeline surf events take place. Beautiful beach. The hit TV show LOST was filmed on Oahu and you’ll certainly recognize some of the spots as you make your way around the island. We had spent all week on the other islands and when it was time to go home, going to the airport in Waikiki was like a wet blanket on what was a wonderful trip. The stress, the hurry, the crowds. Game over, just like that. It was sad.
Maui
Maui is the most expensive of the islands, but you must experience the Road to Hana. Drive slowly and safely and respect the fact that people actually live there. It was heart breaking to see that a local boy was hit by a car driven by a tourist when we were there. Check out some of the Road to Hana videos on YouTube.
Kauai
Kauai is home to the Fern Grotto. If you want truly Hawaiian food, skip the hotel restrauants and go with the local family owned places you’ll find in the little towns around the island. The hole in the wall cafes. The Spouting Horn blow hole is also here. Very fun to watch, but it depends upon the tide.
Hawaiian Island Guide Books
I was in a used book shop in my hometown in CA browsing the travel section. I found a book called The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook: Kauai Revealed by Andrew Doughty. This is NOT your typical guidebook. He’s written books on all of the islands and I just HAD to have them. The pictures are beautiful and since he updates the books frequently, they are the most up-to-date and accurate island guidebooks you’ll ever find. Buy them all!
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G’Day! Admin,
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Keep up the posts!