A terrific way to learn about Hawaii’s lifestyle and products is to attend the Made in Hawaii Festival that runs from Friday, August 15 through Sunday, August 17 in Honolulu. More than 420 booths will display and demonstrate locally-produced food, books, gifts, fashions, plants, art, crafts, and other products. In 2007, 36,000 people attended, and even more are expected this year.
If you expect to be in Honolulu while the Festival is going on, try to take it in. Nine of Hawaii’s top chefs will be providing cooking demonstrations, and that will give you a great opportunity to sample our locally-grown and produced food and ingredients. Hawaii’s tropical climate provides a year-round growing season. That creates flavors that are more intense than are the flavors of greens grown in “seasonal” climates. In Hawaii’s farming areas, plants grow in volcanic, muddy soil that’s fertile, easily worked, and loaded with minerals.
Some of Hawaii’s famous — and most honored — performers will also be showcased on the entertainment stage.
Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, August 15 and Saturday, August 16; and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, August 17 at the Neil Blaisdell Arena and Exhibition Hall. Admission is $3 per person. Children six years old and under are free. You can get the full scoop at the Festival’s Web site: www.madeinhawaiifestival.com .
There’s always neat stuff like this going on all our islands. Check out our Hawaii Vacations Website , or call 1-800-843-8771.
You may be aware that United Airlines will be laying off 7,000 workers and cutting its U.S. capacity by 16 percent. The job cuts represent about 13 percent of United’s overall payroll of 52,500 workers. That news had Hawaii’s travel professionals getting all huhu. United accounts for 18.3 percent of the capacity of all flights to Hawaii, and United is the biggest carrier for Mainland-to-Hawaii routes, with more than 20 daily flights.
The airline, however, has announced that it will not reduce the number of flights it operates to Hawaii, one of the few markets not affected by the flight cutbacks, and anyone who has booked a Hawaiian vacation with United as the airline has no need to worry.
That sound you hear is the collective sigh being breathed by the travel pros and United officials here in the islands.
Ahab and Quint had their fictitious quarries in “Moby Dick” and “Jaws” respectively, but real people have a similar — and equally challenging — quest every year at this time in the famous warm and deep fishing waters off the Kona Coast, on Hawaii’s Big Island. The prey is the Pacific Blue Marlin – specifically one that weighs more than a half-ton called a Grander. The annual event is the Hawaii International Billfish Tournament (HIBT), now in its 48th year; the “Grandfather of All Fishing Tournaments.”
The top prize (There are ten in all) is the prestigious Governor’s trophy, awarded to the boat that earns the most points based on the cumulative weight of all the billfish and tuna it catches. Billfish must weigh at least 300 pounds to qualify; tuna 100 pounds. The prizes are trophies; the $3,500-$5,000 per-boat entry fees are reimbursed only by the thrill of the chase. Participants are urged to “tag and release” – to get the leader in hand and tag the fish with an official tag, then disengage the hook or cut the leader as close to the hook as possible and release the fish alive and capable of survival. (Tagging and releasing is not essential; a lot of good fish for eating are caught.)
But the grand prize is the Grander. Fewer than 70 Granders have been caught in Hawaii waters in the last 70 years; in the tournament, boating one is rare, indeed. Blue Marlin can swim at speeds of up to 50 mph, leading to exciting chases, and the angler is equipped with a mere rod and reel. Once hooked, Granders have been known to turn, leap and become predators — 1,000+ pounds of spear-armed fish lunging back at the angler or an onlooker on the boat.
If you happen to have a sturdy fishing boat in your back yard and want to get it some exercise, you might consider registering it for next year’s tournament. If not, and as a fisherman you’re intrigued by the challenge, you can charter a boat in Kona for HIBT. Pick an Aloha Travel agent from our Hawaii Vacation Website or call 1-800-843-8771. We’ll get you started with the right source for the tournament and arrange for a great vacation surrounding the event.
Someone on the mainland calls his Hawaii-resident casual friend and says, “A guy who works with me is taking his family to Hawaii for a couple of weeks next month. He doesn’t know what to expect, or even where to stay. Can you help him out?”
This is big trouble for the local guy. A whole family is coming to his island with no place to stay. His casual friend knows he has some extra space and lives near the beach. (In Hawaii, we ALL live “near the beach.”)
The recommended action is for the Hawaii resident to refer his friend’s friend to Hawaii Aloha Travel (hawaii-aloha.com or 1-800-843-8771).
But if he is stupid enough to say, “Sure. Have your friend give me a call,” he is doomed.
To begin with, he will have to put those people up. At his place. Regardless of how many of them there are. (Hopefully it will be four or fewer.) He can swing that, of course, by borrowing a cot and a futon and relinquishing his spare room, and destroying his routine for the necessary week or two. That’s pretty easy.
But now he will have to pick his guests up at the airport. His car probably isn’t big enough, so he will have to either recruit a friend to provide and drive another vehicle, or rent a van.
Now he feels he has to entertain them! Bad thought. That could cost big bucks. Does he want to take them to Sea Life Park? Good idea/bad idea. The admission into that marvelous facility is reasonable enough, but they’ll want to do the neat stuff. They’ll want to swim with the dolphins, of course. That costs between $100 and $200 a swimmer. Hanging out with the stingrays costs $15 a hanger-out. Encountering the sea lions costs $70 - $100 per person. Plunging into the Hawaiian Reef Tank to mingle with eels and turtles costs $60 per mingler. Doing a gamut – playing with dolphins, stingrays, penguins, sea lions and wolphins – runs from $300 to $340 per person. Sea Life Park is a good suggestion … but for heaven’s sake we can’t afford to host the tour!
Whatever we do, we local residents must avoid the temptation to show off our exquisite Hawaiian Regional Cuisine. Sensational as they are, we must resist Roy’s, avoid Alan Wong’s and eschew Chef Mavro. If we have to take our guests somewhere, we take them to Zippy’s, a popular family chain with local comfort food. It’s okay to send guests to the special places where the menu prices hover at about $40 per entrée with the rest of the menu a la carte, but we can’t consider taking them there!
If we want to show off our island (and of course we do), a personal “circle-island” tour will occupy an entire day and use up a tank full of the most expensive fuel in the country. The Iolani Palace Grand Tour? Polynesian Cultural Center? A Haleakala Sunrise tour? A tour of Kauai’s Na Pali coast? A Kilauea Volcano Tour? We’re talking serious time and/or money here. And we can’t even consider having parties at our homes, where friends can help entertain these people whom we barely know. The guests’ kids will terrorize everyone who comes, and at least six people will be offended by one faction or another … with us being burdened with the blame for all of it.
So if you’re considering a trip to Hawaii and have been referred by a friend to someone who lives here, call Hawaii-Aloha Travel first. We’ll do all the heavy lifting. Then you can call that friend in Hawaii and arrange to buy him a cocktail – and spare him the burden of hosting your vacation. He’ll appreciate your aloha.
If you live somewhere such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston … well, almost any U.S. metropolitan area, you put up with horrendous traffic.
Those of us who live in Hawaii bitch about the traffic all the time, too.
This is not a “commuter” place. We have a pretty-good bus system on Oahu, but that’s about it. For those of us who drive, there’s a freeway system on Oahu, and it’s free. No tolls. Between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., it’s easy going. We start early here. Heavy rush hour begins at 5:30 a.m. and lasts until 9:00 a.m.; begins again at 3:30 p.m. and lasts until 6:30 p.m., and it’s a hassle both ways. When there’s a big event at Aloha Stadium or in Waikiki, traffic is both chaotic and slow.
If you are a visitor with a rent-a-car, Waikiki is all one-way streets and there are frequent events that create changes and detours.
On the outer islands, there aren’t many roads, but the populations of all the islands are growing and the populous areas are nothing but traffic snarls, with insufficient roadways and inadequate control. Even on Oahu, the western part of the island is usually a mess. A $3.7-billion elevated rail system has been approved to help alleviate that problem, but infighting continues in order to determine the type of system that will be implemented – steel wheels on steel rails, rubber tires on concrete, magnetic levitation or monorail. The committee that was set up to make a recommendation has gone for steel and steel, but now the decision falls into the hands of the municipal politicians, and that’s always fun. Some of them, along with a public groundswell, are trying to kill the whole caboodle by having it placed on the ballot this fall.
Drivers, you will find, are a little strange here. We slow down to let people into the lanes ahead of us, even on freeways. We wave thanks when granted that courtesy. Slow drivers hang in the left lanes – presumably because they perceive less traffic there since no one is ahead of them. No one signals a left-hand turn … until actually making the turn. Most of us have no idea how to enter a highway from an on-ramp. We stop, then have no way to regain merging speed.
In shopping centers, no one is polite. There’s no aloha. Most of the stalls are too small to accommodate SUV’s, which it seems most of us drive. We get a lot of door-dinging here.
Urban parking is impossible just about everywhere, just as it is where you live or work. And it’s expensive. Residents pay an average of $250 a month to park in business districts. One-day parking can cost up to $50. When the cost of parking is compared among U.S. cities, Honolulu consistently ranks among the top five.
We have no all-news radio stations here. A couple of stations will report major traffic problems when they occur outside of rush hours, but their listenership is very low at those times.
On the outer islands, we drive long ways to get to work because we like where we live. On the Big Island of Hawaii, most of the jobs are on the Kona (west) coast because of the visitor industry there. Hotel workers who live on the more-populated Hilo (east) side think nothing of driving from their side of the island to the other side and back every day, which can take three or four hours.
The windward side of Oahu embraces bedroom communities whose residents use two highways (the Pali and the Likilike) that cut through the Koolau mountains to Honolulu. When there’s an incident in or near one of the tunnels in either direction, traffic stops. Period. Landslides and flooding take their tolls, as well, and they occur pretty regularly.
In Waikiki, you can stay at your hotel, walk to most of the Waikiki attractions, take busses to the shopping centers and outlying restaurants, and use cabs when you need to. When you rent a car, you join the melee and become one of us. It’ll feel like home, wherever you live.
If you’re considering a vacation in Hawaii because you want to get away from everyday hassles such as traffic, you may want to consider one of the outer islands (Hawaii, Kauai, Maui, Molokai or Lanai). Talk to us. Pick an agent at our website (hawaii-aloha.com) or call 1-800-843-8771. You’ll wind up with exactly the vacation you’re looking for.
Sushi bars and restaurants are everywhere now, from Albuquerque to Albany and Walla Walla to West Palm Beach. Hopefully, you’ve discovered some near where you live and have entered the addictive world of sushi gourmandom.
If you haven’t, by all means dive in when you reach Hawaii. And don’t be put off with those "Yish! Raw fish!" remarks you may have heard from others who haven’t got their feet wet yet. Your first time will be an event you’ll never forget, and it surely will not be your last time.
Consider a California Roll as your first taste. It’s made with crab or surimi (imitation crab), avocado, cucumber and mayonnaise wrapped in rice, nori (seaweed or algae), and sesame seeds. This is one of the most popular sushi rolls. There isn’t any raw fish and, even if you aren’t familiar with Japanese cuisine, you aren’t likely to find it in the least way offensive.
Another good entré into sushi is tamago – an omelet made with chicken eggs, tuna stock, shoyu (soy sauce), and sugar or mirin (a Japanese cooking wine). It’s made a little like the way a French crepe is made. The first "crepe" is rolled up to one end of a special rectangular tamago pan and becomes the base for the next crepe. The second one, when cooked, is rolled inside to the other end of the pan. When the rolling process is repeated, the result is a thick log. (Tamago is often called a "thousand-layer omelet" because several layers are all rolled together.) The log is chilled, cut into sushi-sized pieces and served on top of a ball of vinegar rice. It’s mild flavor is delicious.
Just about all the rice used in sushi is su, or vinegar rice. A very specific amount of vinegar (sometimes with a little sugar) is expertly added to only the highest quality of rice.
Okay, let’s get to the fish. Fish is, after all, the most important ingredient of sushi aside from rice. It is essential that the fish is FRESH, and that’s something you never have to worry about in Hawaii. Just about any local fish you will be served in the islands will have been just caught, delivered to the auctions and purchased by the restaurant that very morning. Hawaii’s tuna – Albacore, Bigeye (or ahi), Skipjack (or aku) and Yellowfin – has a pleasant, delicate flavor (If it smells or tastes like "fish," it ain’t fresh). It’s used for sashimi (bite-sized pieces of raw fish often served with shoyu and wasabi) as well as the more richly-textured sushi. The tuna used in sushi where you live is probably from Hawaii. In Hawaii, of course, you know it hasn’t been frozen.
When you visit a sushi bar in Hawaii, try to sit right in front of the sushi chef. Introduce yourself and mention that you are a novice at eating sushi and you would appreciate any help and input that he can provide. He will become your friend.
There is plenty of cooked sushi to try in order to familiarize yourself with the concept. There’s ebi, which is cooked shrimp; kani, which is cooked crab; anago and unagi, which are cooked eels; and tako, which is cooked octopus (think calamari).
Once you’ve become comfortable with the sushi concept, you can begin to eat from the raw side of the smorgasbord. The selections that are easiest to introduce yourself to are negi-toro maki, (raw tuna and onions, sort of like beef tartar); or a spicy-tuna maki, (tuna, mayonnaise, and flying fish eggs, with a southeast-Asian based hot sauce called sriracha, made in central California, and used for the better buffalo wings).
There are all kinds of etiquette rules sushi nuts follow. Don’t worry about them until … well, until you become a sushi nut yourself. Think that won’t happen? Ha!
Any Hawaii-Aloha agent can guide you when it comes to planning your dining experiences here in Hawaii. They’ve tasted it all! Pick an agent from our Web site (hawaii-aloha.com), or call 1-800-843-8771.
If you’ve decided to vacation on the beautiful island of Kauai, you can consider either the north or the south part of the island. Both are terrific for visitors, with wonderful stuff to see and do all in between. Up north, you have Princeville and Hanalei; at the south, there’s Poipu Beach. If you choose Poipu Beach, where you plant your towel in the morning probably will be determined by where your hotel stands on the beach; but actually, Poipu Beach has adjoining beaches with special characteristics of their own. Make a note if any of these sounds particularly interesting to you:
Lawai Beach If you like to — or want to — snorkel, here’s your spot. At the western end of the Poipu stretch, this narrow strip affords calm waters and great snorkeling, without a beach clutter of sunbathers and waders. Breaks from an offshore reef farther out attract local surfers.
Baby Beach This protected cove nestled between Lawai Beach and Poipu Beach is perfect for very young children.
Mahaulepu Beach This beach feels really remote. It’s two miles east of Poipu Beach and you’ll have to pass a security shack. (The beach usually closes by 6 p.m. in the winter and 7 p.m. in the summer). Mahaulepu is popular with visitors as well as locals, who come to wind surf, swim, snorkel, fish or just sunbathe.
Brennecke’s Beach Dr. Marvin Brennecke stowed away after the turn of the last century to reach Kauai, where he became a plantation doctor until he retired in 1972. He bought a lot on the beach east of Poipu Beach and built a house on it. The house was destroyed by hurricane `Iwa in 1982 and the lot was subsequently acquired by the county in order to expand Poipu Beach to the west. This is a very nice protected area for swimming, snorkeling, body surfing and boogie boarding; and offshore surf breaks attract the more experienced surfers.
Shipwreck’s Beach Shipwreck’s Beach is a long, lovely stretch of sand east of those five. Best suited for experienced surfers because of its short shore-break, is ideal to sunbathe and walk along … and you may want to extend your walk onto a spectacular shoreline trail that goes east for a couple miles.
As is the case with all the islands, we can help you focus on the areas and activities that will suit your preferences, and we’ll be able to suggest things that mainland-based agents have yet to discover. Pick one of our agents on our Website, or call 1-800-843-8771
Here’s a pretty amazing fact: More than ten thousand species of plants and animals reside in Hawaii, and nine thousand of them don’t live anywhere else in the world! Unfortunately, an alarming number is considered endangered.
Hawaiian monk seals got their name because their round heads are covered with short hairs, making them look a little like medieval friars. They live mostly on Kauai, but they appear from time to time on Oahu and southeastern Hawaii, where they can be seen napping alone on secluded beaches. (Most seals like to hang out in crowds, but not these guys.) If you do see one, don’t approach it or try to attract its attention. When officials are made aware of one’s presence on a beach, yellow strips are set up to protect it from your curiosity.
The Hawaiian green sea turtle, at about three and a half feet in length, is the largest hard-shelled sea turtle in the world. They often climb out of the water onto beaches to bask in the sun. They seem to especially like the black-sand Punaluu Beach on the south shore of the Big Island. Don’t touch, if you see one! Your body oils can damage their shells.
The nene goose is the official state bird of Hawaii and the rarest goose in the world. While still endangered, the nene has bred well in captivity and has begun to proliferate again in the wild. Most of them are seen in and near Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island, where they can hang out among the wild turkeys, pheasants and peacocks. Consider it good luck if and when you encounter one of those treasured creatures, but please keep your distance. We want to keep them around.
Whether you’re into eco-tourism – when you go to natural areas to conserve the environment and improve the welfare of the local people – or just like to get out there and do things away from the normal tourist stuff … Hawaii’s the place to do it.
Here at Hawaii-Aloha.Com, our agents can you set you up with just about any kind of adventure that appeals to you. You can bike in a rainforest or along a volcanic coastline. You can hike through upland meadows, streams, valleys, craters, molten lava flows, and wondrous gardens. You can kayak into sea caves and snorkel along the way. You can wander through a wildlife refuge or wade under a waterfall. You can tour to the top of Mauna Kea and encounter the largest collection of telescopes on earth. Perhaps the most exciting way to see any of our islands is by helicopter, when you can catch a lava flow or some visiting whales or the spectacular Haleakala on Maui or Waimea Canyon on Kauai. Hang gliders will be fulfilled and amazed on Oahu, Kauai, Maui or the Big Island; and, of course, deep-sea fishing is as exciting in Hawaii as it is anywhere in the world.
A portly Hawaiian entertainer, being interviewed on a radio show, admitted she didn’t know how to swim. The host was astounded and asked her how someone who had lived in the islands all her life had never learned to swim. Her answer: “I could never go a half hour without eating.”
It’s a funny line, but we take water safety very seriously in Hawaii and it’s one of our major concerns relating to our visitors. We urge you to heed the following advice and pass it on to anyone traveling with you:
The ocean can sneak up on you, even as you’re in it. The first rule followed by even the most expert local swimmers and surfers: DON’T TURN YOUR BACK ON THE OCEAN! Swim at beaches where there are lifeguards, and don’t swim alone. If you’re traveling alone, exchange greetings with someone swimming near you.
Supervise all young children while they are in or near the water. Wherever you live and swim, most drowning and near-drowning incidents happen in familiar surroundings during very short supervision lapses. Don’t let older kids watch younger kids in the water. They are not trained or mature enough to be given such a responsibility in the ocean (or in a hotel pool for that matter); and don’t rely on flotation devices for kids.
“Those waves don’t look that bad” is a phrase you should never use. If the surf’s up, stay out of it unless you’re a really-strong swimmer. Check for warning signs. A red flag signifies that there is the possibility of severe wave action. A yellow and red flag signifies the possibility of severe wind and wave action. In extremely severe surf conditions, the beaches will be closed.
Most of the really serious injuries that occur at Hawaii’s beaches are wave-related. Waves are probably the single most dangerous natural occurrence on any shoreline in the world. The force of a large wave as it hits the beach can be measured in tons per square inch.
You will hear warnings of rip currents. These are currents that can carry you from the relative safety of the inshore waters out into deeper water. You could walk into the surf without realizing that a strong out-going current can actually knock you off your feet and carry you out to sea. If you should find yourself in a current that’s taking you away from where you entered the water, keep in mind that panicking will only tire you sooner. Try to relax and go with the flow. Don’t attempt to fight the current. Swim across or perpendicular to the current’s direction. Rip currents eventually die out as they reach deeper water, at which point the current will release you. When it does, swim parallel to the shore and then make your way in. If the waves prevent your return to shore, continue treading water and stay calm.
Sorry if we’ve alarmed you with this. Those of us who live here adhere to the advice it carries as a matter of course. Your safety and your full enjoyment of everything these islands offer you are important to us. We hope you will be cautious as you enjoy
A terrific way to learn about Hawaii’s lifestyle and products is to attend the Made in Hawaii Festival that runs from Friday, August 15 through Sunday, August 17 in Honolulu. More than 420 booths will display and demonstrate locally-produced food, books, gifts, fashions, plants, art, crafts, and other products. In 2007, 36,000 people attended, and even more are expected this year.
Mahaulepu Beach
Dr. Marvin Brennecke stowed away after the turn of the last century to reach Kauai, where he became a plantation doctor until he retired in 1972. He bought a lot on the beach east of Poipu Beach and built a house on it. The house was destroyed by hurricane `Iwa in 1982 and the lot was subsequently acquired by the county in order to expand Poipu Beach to the west. This is a very nice protected area for swimming, snorkeling, body surfing and boogie boarding; and offshore surf breaks attract the more experienced surfers.
Shipwreck’s Beach
