Hey folks - I'm taking my first ever trip (2 weeks) to Hawaii and I'm wondering if there is anything I need to know as far as must eat or do. And no I'm not getting married. Thanks
Which island(s)? On the Big Island, you can't go wrong with a day (or more) at Volcanoes National Park. I enjoyed my trip to the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut plant just south of Hilo, but that's because I like macadamia nuts -- the tour was kind of cheesy but the store was awesome. Also went deep sea fishing at Kona and there is a brewpub in Kailua-Kona which I enjoyed. On Maui, I've heard that the bike ride down Halakalea is incredible, but bring lots of layers because it is really cold up there. I think we're going to skip it when I'm there for my honeymoon in February. Maui (Kaanapali Beach area) has great snorkeling and beaches but that's kind of obvious. I've never been to any island other than Maui or the big island so I can't speak for Oahu or Kauai.
Thanks - I'm actually spending a week each on those two so that's useful, (especially the tip about bringing some warm clothes because I didn't think of that). What do you think about the food?
I enjoyed the heck out of the food there. Fresh fish everywhere, fish sandwiches for lunch, asian or fusion style fish for dinner. Man, I love fish. I suppose you should go to a luau and have some poi, just because it's a thing to do. I don't have any real specific restaurant recommendations. Generally for lunch we'd just stop at whatever lunch-type establishment looked good and grab a sandwich. Oh yeah, in the Kona harbor where the fishing boat charters leave from (about halfway between the Kona airport and the "downtown" area) there is a restaurant where they have... fresh fish sandwiches, and ice cold beer, yum. Kona has a ton of restaurants, and for some reason, the chains (Outback, Bubba Gump, Chart House) were packed while the local restaurants were not so crowded. *#*#*#*#, I can go to a freaking Outback anywhere. Go to one of the other places where you can get the fresh fish which you can't get back in Kansas, people! The Kona Brewing company is OK, sort of typical brewpub type food and beer, I liked it because I like beer. On Maui, we were staying in the Kaanapali Beach area and both Kaanapali and Lahaina (just south) had a lot of restaurants as well. Great places to walk around, check out the shops, the whaling museum in the middle of the Kaanapali strip, and lots of little restaurants to choose from and get... fresh fish sandwiches. You can also go for the plate-lunch type places, two scoops rice and all kinds of other stuff, more food than most people can eat. There are more upscale restaurants, who's that Roy guy, he's got a bunch of Hawaiian style restaurants that feature fresh fish. There it is, www.roysrestaurant.com, locations in Kahana (just north of Kaanapali), Kihei (southwest part of Maui) and Waikoloa (north of Kailua-Kona on the big island) -- not saying it's a great restaurant but it's pretty typical of the more upscale restaurants you'll see there.
Thanks again -- reading your post is getting me really psyched about going. Anywhere you can eat rice and fish every day is okay with me. I think Outback is pretty much dogfood so I'll be avoiding the chains. I really like Spam musubi - so I'm looking forward to the Spam options too.
Yup. SOB I wish I had my maps with me, but on the Big Island, if you drive north of Hilo along the coast you'll come across this one joint that is well known for their plate lunches. I wanna say it's an hour north of Hilo, but I could be wrong. Spectacular country. One of these days when I go back, I'm gonna hit the Kona side. Once again I wish I had my maps, but you could also drive through the meaty part of the Big Island and head into the domain of Parker Ranch (forgot the name of the towns there). What really got me was you go from the lushness of Hilo up into ranchland reminiscent of what you find here in Idaho. --------------- dark_knight...if you have the $$$, you may want to consider taking a helicopter tour of the isldands. It can get spendy though. ----- Oh yeah...Spam...man that place was EVERYWHERE. It's not that bad if done up right.
Some local advised me not to because they said that they don't report all the accidents because they don't want to scare off tourists. I think I'll pass -- save my money.
sunrise at 10k feet is amazing. it makes for a long day, because you have to "get up" at 2am to make it there in time. and it was absolutely freezing. according to our bike guide, haleakala has been known to see a smidge of snow of every now and again. overall, i thought it was great and i would do it again. i went with Haleakala Bike Company.
The Waipi'o valley on the Big Island is a hike well worthwhile. The Valley itself is real picturesque: You can also take horses/tourvans down as well, but we just hiked it, IIRC. The drive to the top of Mauna Kea is also nice. 4 wheel drive is recommended for the drive, but we got up both times without it. There are a bunch of observatories and stuff up there that you can't get into, but you can have the nice feeling that you're on top of a 13,000+ foot mountain, with all the nice views and everything. It's cold, and you'll actually see some snow during most times of the year (one year, me and my parents packed some of the "snow", aka hard ice, in the trunk and built a snowman on a beach in Hilo.
Oh yeah, my brothers took their kids down there when we were on the Big Island last year. They took the horse carts since my nephews range in age from 2 to 10. They said it was great. I wanted to go to the top but my parents didn't want to go any higher than the "visitor's center" which is at about 9000 feet. The visitor's center was pretty cool on its own. My fiancee likes observatories so we'll probably go all the way to the top when we go on our honeymoon next year. The rental car agreements mostly say "you can't take this car on the Saddle Road or to the top of Mauna Kea" but what they don't know won't hurt them. Just watch out for cows on the way down.
I was looking at a site, and apparently, there is one observatory up there that is open to the public. The Keck observatory. We sure didn't know about it when we went up: http://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/gen_info/kiosk/visitors.html Yeah, we always ignored that part of the agreement as well. Nobody makes a big deal about that out here in Colorado, where you can go on roads that are 11-13k feet high. Oh, the other thing I forgot to mention, even though it should be pretty obvious by the fact that there is snow up there sometimes, is that it's butt ass cold up there. Seriously, bring a jacket and long pants....
On Oahu, go to Hanama bay near Pearl Harbor. Rent some snorkling equipment, bring a lunch and spend the day looking at incredible tropical fish in a protected (from the waves) bay. Go to the north shore to the fresh water falls, as I remember it's about a three hour drive from Honolulu. As a kid my freinds and I loved to swim in fresh water. It was kind of a novelty. But for the tourist the senery is beautiful and its fun diving off the water fall into the water. Go see the Arizona memorial. That is real history. Poi sucks. I always hated poi. Japanese seaweed candy is intersting if not tasty.