One of the great things about living in Hawaii is that when friends and family come to visit we get to play tourist with them. This weekend my cousin and his wife from Miami came to visit us and we got to experience some fun places we haven’t been to in a long time. It was so much fun I had to share our experiences.
Miami is another tourist destination but nothing like Hawaii. One of the big differences I noticed is our beautiful mountain ranges. As we drove to Waikiki from the airport my cousins could see mauka (toward the mountain) up into Manoa Valley. As we drove down the H-1freeway they could see the Honolulu skyline and Diamond Head. We checked them into their hotel and 30 minutes later we were at the Hula Grill celebrating the restaurant’s fifth anniversary. I could feel the Aloha spirit all around Waikiki. People were friendly and smiling and it made me proud that we have such a wonderful opportunity to help folks plan vacations in Hawaii. Next we took a walk down Kalakua Avenue and showed them the beautiful Royal Hawaiian Hotel and the Moana Surfrider. The great thing about these hotels is that you can just stroll onto properties and hang out; there so much Aloha spirit and history that you feel very welcome. Both properties are very beautiful and you can relax while having a drink and watching a wonderful Hawaiian sunset. The Pan Pacific Festival was happening in Waikiki that evening so we spent some time enjoying this wonderful event. I especially enjoyed seeing the festival and other activities through my cousins’ eyes; the multiculturalism, the beauty and excitement of being there was overwhelming.
On Saturday we started very early. My cousin told me about all fun they had doing simple things such as enjoying the sunrise, taking pictures of the beautiful scenery from the hotel room, and getting food at one of the ABC stores. After picking them up we drove up to a beautiful rainforest in Manoa with a trail that leads to a waterfall. Later, we went to the Waioli Tea Room, a wonderful restaurant located the heart of Manoa. As if that wasn’t enough, we took them back to the East side of the Island to our home in Hawaii Kai and took a little boat ride on Kuappa Pond.
Sunday was just as much fun but with a little twist. It was my cousin’s anniversary so we took them to Hanauma Bay for snorkeling. They had a great time enjoying the beach in this beautiful sanctuary. Unfortunately, when we returned to the car I discovered that I had my keys in my pocket while I was swimming. Little did I know that would cause my car not to start! We had plans to go to dinner in the evening in just a couple of hours. I thought to myself “What a bummer!” along a few other choice words, but my cousins were so relaxed it didn’t even faze them. They took the bus back to their hotel and we had our car home (only 3 mile away). We ended the night at Alan Wong’s, our favorite restaurant. I am not a food blogger so I will spare you all the details. I will tell you though, our meal was just incredible and I highly recommend you check out Alan Wong’s restaurant when you’re on Oahu.
We actually enjoyed being tourists again, seeing and experiencing Hawaii anew. It was the perfect end to a perfect weekend in Paradise.
A couple of days ago my wife (@alohayaling) and I got to play parents for a few hours in Waikiki to a 3 1/2-year-old boy. We have no children of our own by choice. Yaling loves kids and it’s been awhile since I’ve done anything like that so we thought it would be wonderful time. This experience reminded me how great Waikiki is for kids and how little things can be so wonderful to a child.
We started off walking in Fort DeRussy Park where this little guy took pleasure in just about everything around him. He pointed to the trees, found cool looking bugs, ran back and forth in different directions, and even found a dollar bill on the ground! Unexpectedly he had to go to the bathroom in the middle of our journey. We took him to the nearby Nike Store where he was able to take care of business. I helped him wash and dry his hands, and Yaling adjusted his pants. It’s weird how all of this came natural to me because I actually never did it before!
The store became an adventure in itself. He looked at colorful sneakers and wanted them all but settled for a little soccer ball to give to his Daddy (he wanted to use the dollar he found earlier). We went up and down the elevator and marveled at the bridges that connect different parts of the store inside the building. The adventure ended up with us looking at cannons and airplanes at the Army Museum.
If you travel with children, keep in mind that many hotels in Hawaii offer special programs for kids. The sessions are fun for youngsters and they give you the opportunity to enjoy some adult time on your own – maybe at a beachside bar, in the surf, or just on the beach. In the meantime, your children can learn boogie boarding, ceramic painting, fishing, lei making, and much more. They can create lava-filled volcanoes that actually smoke. Some learn the hula; others learn to paint Hawaiian tapa cloths.
A number of hotels offer excursions to fascinating attractions and locales on their islands. Night adventures are available too, so parents can sneak off for a romantic dinner or bawdy show while the kids are crab hunting, decorating cookies, or learning Hawaiian culture. An added bonus, they can make new friends to communicate with when they return home. In addition, you can find services in Waikiki that offer babysitting and tours for little ones.
Get in touch with me and I can tell you about hotel activities for children and make sure the accommodations will be appropriate for your whole family.
A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to meet a gentleman by the name of Joseph Correa. Among other things, he’s been very active in restoring Hawaii’s shoreline and seawalls using native Hawaiian plant species. That’s an interesting enough subject in itself, however, as we were talking, we got off into a very interesting topic about the Duke Kahanumoku statue. It turns out he knows a lot of interesting things about this famous memorial to the legendary surfer. In fact, he was actually the person that delivered the statue where it currently rests today.
He pointed out to me that it’s common knowledge that Duke is not facing the ocean but instead the hotels across the street. This was done so that when people took pictures the ocean would be behind the statue. What a lot of folks don’t know is there are some unusual irregularities with statue that most people won’t notice.
The first thing is the actual shape of the surfboard itself. Joseph says the curvature is going the wrong way and should be the opposite direction. Some say there should be no curvature at all because the boards Duke used were made of balsa wood and had no curves in the first surboards.
Another interesting observation that Joseph makes, is that in the early days, there was no wax to keep surfers on their boards. To solve the problem of slipping off the board, surfers would carve scratches into the balsa wood which would allow for a better grip for the feet when riding waves. If you look closely at the Duke, Kahanumoku Statue you’ll see the scratches on the bottom of the board. If Joe’s observations are correct, that means that the surfboard is actually backwards and the scratches are on the wrong side of the board.
While this is hardly earth shattering news you may want to take a look at at it yourself when you visit Wakiki. The statue sits right across the street from the Hyatt Hotel and if you want to have some fun you can actually wave at a camera which is broadcasting live 24/7 in front of the statue. People from all over the world call up their friends on their cell phones and wave at the camera.
OK, maybe not physically hazardous, but definitely mentally hazardous. Customers tell me when they shop online for Hawaii Vacations they can go blind looking at all the choices. Every day we receive calls from people who don’t seem to understand the difference between what travel agents do and what online megastore sites such as Travelocity, Priceline or Expedia do when booking a vacation. When you book with us you are booking your trip with a real person who lives in Hawaii, not an automated online system.
Unfortunately, very often people are deceived by what they see online and think they are getting a great deal when often they are really not. For example, you may see a great deal on a hotel but think that breakfast or parking is included when it’s not. Another common mistake folks make is they do look closley at airfare and later discover that there are long layovers or flights that take you backwards to go forward.
All of our agents are trained professionals who know the current prices on the various megastore sites; we see the same things you see. Very often travel agents, especially those of us in Hawaii can meet and even beat those great prices offered by online travel sites. The main difference between travel agents and the online travel sites is that we provide you personalized services to make sure your trip is handled right. So in other words, you can get the same or cheaper price with travel agents but with the important value of service. An added plus to using a Hawaii travel agent is that you are contributing to the local economy without costing you a single penny more.
Booking a Hawaii Vacation can be complicated. I can’t tell you how many horror stories I’ve received from people who have booked their Hawaii trips online and have been disappointed because they didn’t make informed decisions. Getting good customer service is a huge issue for most people when booking Hawaii. Keep in mind when you’re traveling to Hawaii you’re not traveling to a mainland destination and that’s a big difference! In fact when you ask people who post negative comments where they booked their trip, most of them will say "I booked it online" without any human interaction. This is a big mistake!
When you book with Hawaii-Aloha.com you’re booking your vacation with a real person, not a faceless online travel website. You may have found us online, but once the initial interaction with our website is completed, all your other interactions are with real people.
I guess what I’ve been trying to say all along is book with us and we’ll have your back.
A Hawaii vacation is a big investment in most cases. It’s a vacation of a lifetime for most people. A frequently asked question is whether or not to purchase travel insurance for the trip.
In general, it’s really a good idea to get some sort of protection in case something goes wrong or plans change. But before you do, you should know what kind of restrictions and cancellation penalties exist in the different elements of your package. For example, if you purchase bulk airfare (pre-purchased airfare from a supplier like us), there may be a cancellation penalty you can pay and not lose all of your money. On the other hand, if you purchase published airfare (airfare purchased from directly from an airline or online provider such as Travelocity or Orbitz) it often is completely non-refundable. Therefore, knowing the actual terms and conditions can help you to make the right decision. A good travel agent will always go over all options and the restrictions before you purchase your trip.
Travel insurance can include some or all of the following elements, cancellation, baggage or personal affects coverage, emergency medical coverage and accidental death. The price will be determined by the cost of the trip and the age of the traveler. I’m a travel agent and not an insurance agent so I always assess the needs of my clients by going over the basic options and then refer my customers to outside travel insurance professionals who specialize in travel insurance coverage.
Another popular way to protect your trip is to use a cancellation waiver. Waivers are not insurance and are only offered by wholesalers and suppliers who work with travel agents. This kind of waiver is less expensive than insurance but only applies to changes or cancellations before you travel. Waivers are less expensive than travel insurance and also allow you cancel for any reason before you travel. The only drawback with a waiver is that it doesn’t cover things like baggage loss or damage or for anything that happens during your trip, which is less likely to happen.
This may sound a little self-promoting but I really believe that using a travel agent to book your Hawaii vacation is also a form of protection. In the case of our agency we always step up and go the extra mile when unforeseen issues come up. For example, if your plane is delayed, we’re right here in Hawaii and can help reschedule your flight and find a hotel room if necessary.
I can say from experience that 98% of our bookings go off without a hitch; nevertheless it does make sense to understand what your risks are and what your plan is in case you become one of the unfortunate folks who have an unforeseen problem.
I think one of the most important things you should do before you take a Hawaiian vacation is to learn as much as you can about this wonderful place. This is one of the main reasons I blog every day. I think Hawaii travel blogs are the best resources to learn about what’s happening in Hawaii. I embrace them all and I encourage you to read as many as possible before coming here.
Our whole little company is based on this principle. When you get involved with us you speak directly to someone who is either born or raised here or have lived here most of their lives. This is not to say that other travel agents aren’t very knowledgeable about Hawaii but it certainly does give us an advantage because all we do is focus on Hawaii and everyone who works here are from islands.
With this in mind, you can imagine how excited I was to hear that a group of top bloggers were coming to Hawaii.
Starting today (May 27th, 2009) bloggers will be arriving in Hawaii for the So Much More of Hawaii blogger tour. The brainchild of Christine Lu, and sponsored by the Hawaii tourism Authority, bloggers will embark on a seven day trip to Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. Each of the participants have varied interests from ecology to bargain-hunting and they will be paired up with Puka Shell Tour guides who will act as hosts and have volunteered to accompany these folks along their journey. They will blog about their experiences and also meet local folks on each of the islands at "tweet-ups", which is an outgrowth of the social networking tool "Twitter" at which people meet IRL, "In Real Life", Face to Face.
This is a fantastic concept and one which you can experience too! All you have to do is connect with people here. With today’s technology it’s really easy. There is a huge Hawaii stream of Twitter folks and bloggers you can connect with in a real way. Just join Twitter and start following the folks from Hawaii. Of course we can make it very simple too, just give us a call and connect directly with someone who lives and works here.
Today’s technology allows us to communicate in ways we have never done so in the past. It allows us to get information and make informed decisions. Social media venues such as Twitter and Facebook allows us to do it in a more personal way.
A big mahalo to the Hawaii Tourism Authority for embracing this blogger tour, Christine Lu for having the insight to make the connections, and to Neenz Faleafine who coordinated and supported this effort from its inception.
Bloggers on the tour reposted from @hawaii Blogging from the Aloha State and Beyond
One of the great things about visiting Hawaii is that you not only can experience influences from the Hawaiian culture but those of many Asian cultures as well. One such experience happened yesterday, the annual Memorial Day Lantern Floating Ceremony.
The Memorial Day Lantern Floating Ceremony comes from a Japanese ceremony with Buddhist origins in which participants launch lanterns into the water to mark the end of the Obon festival season. (The Obon festival is an event in which Buddhists pay homage to their deceased ancestors.) Lantern floating has become an Asian spiritual tradition which symbolizes the wish for all people to coexist together. In Hawaii this ceremony has been symbolic to remember loved ones who are deceased; it is the belief that the lanterns once released into the ocean will take with them prayers or wishes.
The ceremony is led by Her Holiness Keishu Shinso, the spiritual head of Shinnyo-en. The lanterns become available earlier in the day and people are able to inscribe personal handwritten messages to their loved ones. Monetary donations are voluntary and lanterns are available on a first-come first-served basis. The event takes place at Magic Island at Ala Moana Beach Park.
This year’s ceremony was attended by over 40,000 people in and more than 2000 lanterns were released into the ocean. It’s a beautiful sight to see what happens right at sunset. As night approaches the lanterns begin to glow in the distance which becomes a truly beautiful experience. Hawaii is such a multicultural place and lantern floating brings people from all cultures, nations and faiths together.
From festivals to parades, there are events like this and more take place all year round on the islands. If you need more information about when events are taking place, we will keep you posted here on this blog. Also feel free to give us a call and we’ll be happy to let you know what cultural experiences are happening during your Hawaii vacation.
(Note this is part 2 of our series on choosing the right location on Maui (click here for part 1)
Focusing on the south side you’ll find Kihei, home to lots of condos, one after another along the beach. While this is not my favorite location to stay, it’s certainly beautiful and can be a good choice. Be careful with your condo selection and check with a travel agent to make sure of your choices. If you’re on a tight budget, Kihei may be the right choice for you. You’ll find beautiful beaches at Kameole I, II and II, and many boat tours leave from nearby Maalaea Harbor.
At almost the tip of the southern part of the island is Wailea. Home to some of the most amazing resorts in all Hawaii, Wailea is my choice for honeymooners and those who are really looking for a vacation of a lifetime. Many five and six star accommodations are located in Wailea, but it is not only for the rich and famous, you can also find affordable condos here
as well, including the Palms of Wailea and Aqua Diamond Wailea Resort.Wherever you choose to stay when you go to Maui, make sure you do your homework to pick the best location to ensure you enjoy the vacation of a lifetime.
On the southern tip of the island is an area known as Makena. There’s only one resort in that area and it’s called the Maui Prince Hotel. The prices are pretty affordable and you get all the amenities of a major resort and the property is quite expansive. It’s truly are one of the most beautiful sections of beach in all of Maui and a short drive to the
beautiful Makena State Park.
About 25 miles to the east is Hana. If you’re looking at the map will be on the far right. Many people have heard of the road Hana which is a wonderful way to spend a day and experience a lot of natural beauty in Hawaii. You can stop along the way and see sacred Falls waterfall. There is only one major resort in Hana and it’s called Hotel Hana. It’s a beautiful plantation style resort making this a perfect quiet getaway with wonderful ranch cottages. This is a very pricey property a well worth the cost. I love to put honeymoon couples here and also like to split vacation to Maui with some time being spent in, and also time spent in Kaanapali. It’s almost like staying on two different islands.
Finally, while there’s some wonderful places to stay in bed and breakfast types of accommodations in other parts of the island, the only other hotels are located in Kahalui on the Northern side of the island. This is where the airport is located and this a very busy hub for business on Maui. The two hotels that are there are very marginal and are not recommended unless you’re staying there for a night or a really inexpensive place to stay. It’s about 20 minutes to the Wailea/Kihei area and about 45 to 50 minutes to the Kaanapali area.
(Note this is part 2 of our series on choosing the right location on Maui(click here for part 1)
There can never be enough pages in the world to hold an accurate characterization of the truly remarkable life and legacy of our beloved father Jim. He was a brilliant writer and creative director for over 50 years, with a long list of notable accomplishments, accolades and awards. He was uncommonly witty and wise. No one knows better than we his children how much our father Jim and mother Mary sacrificed to raise us to the best of their considerable abilities and to give us every opportunity and advantage. Dad managed to write and produce at the highest level while being loving, understanding and accessible at all times. We’ve been truly blessed to have been raised by our parents, and are happy they are now once again together as one. We are grateful to them for bringing so many wonderful people into our lives, and we thank you for being here today to celebrate the life of our debt, Jim went to a, who taught us all how to live with dignity kindness and love. Karen, Jamie, Shannon and Kevin
If you’re considering Maui for your Hawaii vacation you’re probably wondering where would be the best place to stay on the island. I often get this question and base my recommendations on customers’ individual travel needs. That being
said, here is some basic information that I think would be helpful to anyone who is considering a trip to Maui. This is general overview of the island and it’s always best to check with a travel agent to make sure you avoid any problems
with the location you have chosen.
Please note this is a Part 1 of a 2 Part series on this subject and focuses on the West and South sides of the IslandClick here for part 2.
When you look at a map of Maui, it’s similar to a sideways figure eight. We’ll start from the left side (northwest side) and work our way around the island. On the northwest side is Kapalua where you’ll find the beautiful beach at Kapalua
Bay. Although the trade winds can be strong, there’s true magic looking out across the Bay and relaxing here. Kapalua is considered a somewhat "high end" area. You’ll find the Ritz Carlton and Kapalua Bay Villas which are both
adjacent to two golf courses. One potential downside is a bit of a walk to the beach at Kapalua Bay from most of the resorts there.
Moving south from the northwest side is Napili. In this area you’ll only find condos, no major resorts or hotels. However, some of these condos are quite nice and even provide restaurants and spas on property. Many of the condos very
affordable and are located right along or across the beach. The area is perfect for families and small groups. The major attraction in Napili is Napili Bay. I always make it a point to snorkel there and I’m never disappointed. Napili Bay
is very safe and I often see beautiful sea turtles there.
Further southwest is Honokauai. This area is heavily populated with condos. Similar to Napili, Honokauai does not have any major resorts or hotels. Honokauai is one of my favorite places for visitors because it’s a bit closer to the action in Lahaina and Kaanapali. Unfortunately, some beaches are not conducive for swimmers due to coral rock. If swimming is a priority for you, make sure to find the right beaches.
On the west side is Kaanapali, one of the most popular resort areas on the island. Here you’ll find amazing resort hotels and wonderful condos. There’s lots of action; shopping and restaurants all connected by a walkway behind the
hotels with the Whalers Village the central focal point. You won’t feel isolated here, there is a lot to do and see. Kaanapali is a good mix of cosmopolitan and tropical activities.
Located nearby Kaanapali is Lahaina, the heart of Maui in many ways. Lahaina is home to Lahaina Town. This is an old whaling village which is now a promenade with museums, restaurants, shops and more. Lahaina is a wonderful place to stay for those who either can’t or don’t want to rent a car. Everything is centrally located and extremely easy to find in Lahaina. No traveling is necessary to enjoy numerous activities Lahaina has to offer. Don’t worry, you can find budget
friendly condos in Lahaina, including the Lahaina Shores and Aina Nalu.
.jpg)
.jpg)
A message from the family of Jim Winpenny
