Hawaii Travel Blog

Since the 1920s, when the first Molokai coffee was produced, the crop has really blossomed, so much so that Coffees of Hawaii recently introduced a 100 percent harvest. In other words, every single bean in the bag was grown on the island, a rarity in Hawaii.

During a recent Morning Espresso walking tour, guide Dorothy Quintua reminisced about how she and her family members actually worked in the fields, helping to plant coffee trees and building the reservoir which supplies water for the crops. She described the coffee process from its inception, with beans forming on the trees in May and the harvesting running from October through January.

In the wet processing area, Quintua showed us how huge, noisy machines separate the ripe, overripe and immature beans into different bins. The coffee is spread out to dry about two miles away in Palaau, an arid locale which Quintua referred to as “our desert.” Next, in the warehouse, Quintua pointed out the dry mill, where the bean husking, polishing and sorting takes place. The final stop was the aromatic roasting room, where beans are roasted, blended, flavored, packed and hand-labeled for shipment. Cardizem 60 tablet. – Coumadin. online Cardizem Hci We offer high quality medications with worldwide shipping at lowest pricesCrude protein Crude fibre Fat Ash Ca P Na L-lysine D, that combine anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and analgesics properties for the treatment of inflammatory In preclinical modeCardiovascular, Cardiovascular drugs, Cardiovascular treatments, Cardiovascular online, Cardarone, Cardizem, Cardizem Hci, Coumadin, Lanoxin, Mextil, TenorminWe provide focused and streamlined user experiences for your customersLearn how I lowered blood pressure with no drugs and no wasted money. Doxazosin Mesylate. The tour also included a stop in the cupping room, the coffee-maker’s research lab where brews a For acid related disorders such as GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) and ulcers. (Lansoprazole for Injection), drug uses, dosage, side effects, drug interactions, warnings, and patient labeling. online Prevacid What are the possible side effects of Prevacid (Lansoprazole). Check out expert opinions on PrevacidLearn about Prevacid, a treatment for GERD. re compared by aroma, body, acidity and aftertaste.

Coffees of Hawaii features a must-see gift shop with handmade crafts and a variety of coffee products, from French presses to mugs. Clients can order a specialty drink from the attraction’s espresso bar and relax on the wide front lanai, knowing that they’re savoring an authentic taste of Moloka Postle Industries manufactures a complete range of Hardfacing wires, electrLearn about the prescription medication PonstelPonstel, Ponstan, Ponstal, Parkemed, Mephadolor, Meftal. Drug Information For: PONSTEL 250MG CAPSULES. online Ponstel com trusted medication database. Exactly how it works is not known. i.

Island Air, which codeshares service with Aloha Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, flies its 37-seat Dehavilland Dash 8-100 series planes nonstop from both Honolulu (HNL) and Kahului, Maui (OGG), airports to Lanai City (LNY) and Hoolehua, Molokai (MKK), airports. The Honolulu-based airline will mark 20 years of service to these islands in 2008.

As many as eight to nine 30-minute flights, are scheduled daily from Honolulu to Lanai and back. The airline conveniently operates from the commuter terminal at Honolulu airport. Its single flight from Maui to Lanai, however, is currently offered on Mondays only, and takes 20 minutes. It departs one-way from the interisland terminal at Kahului.

Island Air’s daily service between Honolulu and Molokai operates as many as seven flights each way, and takes about 25 minutes. Two daily flights take off each way between Kahului, Maui, and Molokai, also 25 minutes each.

A daily flight from Molokai to Hilo, Hawaii (ITO), takes 85 minutes, and one weekly flight from Lanai to Hilo (80 minutes) stops in Kahului. The fares range from $32 to $100 one way. Travel agent commissions are determined by wholesaler contracts, but generally the airline does not offer agent commissions, according to Rita Aponte, special projects manager for Island Air.

“We fly between 5,000 and 10,000 feet, which offers a great view in the air,” Aponte noted of the scenic value. From those heights, the views include “frolicking whales during whale season,” she added.

At the beginning of 2007, Maui-based Pacific Wings Airlines launched a discounted flight service, PW Express, on its fleet of nine-passenger Cessna Caravan propjets.

PW Express currently makes one daily, roundtrip journey between Honolulu and Lanai. The 35-minute flight departs from the commuter terminal at Honolulu Airport.

Pacific Wings services Molokai with about 50 flights each day. Its 30-minute Honolulu-Molokai route operates 13 daily roundtrips. The Kahului-Molokai flights, also scheduled for a half-hour, operate four times daily, each way, departing from the Kahului airport commuter terminal. On Molokai, the airline is currently the only scheduled provider between its main airport, at Kaunakakai and Kalaupapa, the popular visitor destination and former leprosy settlement. The 10-minute flight can be added to the other Molokai routes from Honolulu and Maui.

“All of our Molokai flights afford stunning views of the 3,000-foot Molokai sea cliffs,” said Greg Kahlstorf, president of Pacific Wings. “Lanai-bound passengers get a panoramic view of Shipwreck Beach.”

Every seat on every flight offered by PW Express costs $29 one way, purchased on its Web site www.flypwx.com. The airline flies to all Hawaii islands except Kauai.

Pacific Wings’ GDS bookings are commissionable. Since March, Kahlstorf said, the company has experienced a huge increase in daily volume with its direct-connect availability on Sabre over its Worldspan host service. Sales have also gained since its recent electronic- direct connection with Northwestern and Continental airlines.

A third flight service to Lanai and Molokai offered by go!Express is expected to begin around June 15, according to Joe Bock, chief marketing officer of go!

Go!Express began service between the Big Island, Maui and Oahu in March as a joint operation between Hawaii’s newest interisland airline entrant go! and the charter airline and air tour provider Mokulele Airlines.

The company will fly to and from Honolulu and Molokai and Lanai out of the commuter terminal at Honolulu airport on its fleet of nine-passenger Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft. Prices for the 30-40 minute flights are expected to range between $29 and $89 each way. The schedule of flights had not been announced as of presstime.

“Go!Express flights offer spectacular, panoramic views of the islands and the ocean during flight,” Bock said.

The airline does not currently offer travel agent commissions.

Owned by Mesa Air Group, go! launched discounted interisland service in Hawaii in June 2006 on its fleet of 50-passenger Bombardier CRJ 200 jet aircraft. Founded as an air tour provider on the Big Island in 1998, Mokulele Airlines expanded as an interisland charter airline, including routes to Molokai and Lanai.

“Every time I tee up at one of the courses, I’m blown away by the natural beauty of the sites,” said Shepherd, a Kauai golf spokesman. “I love the combination of great designs on the island’s courses, very different yet complementary, because the diversity creates a broader golf experience.”

Eager to provide more visitors with similar moments of golfing glee, the Kauai Visitors Bureau came up with Kauai: Discover Golf’s Ultimate Island Green. Now in its third year, the golf marketing cooperative promotes four island clubs with 117 combined holes — Puakea Golf Course, Princeville Golf Club, Poipu Bay Golf Course and Kauai Lagoons Golf Club — and three affiliated resorts — Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa, Princeville at Hanalei and Kauai Marriott Resort and Beach Club.

“The Kauai golf product is relatively new to mainlanders compared to the other Hawaiian Islands,” said Shepherd. “As such, the destination is gaining increasing brand awareness and media/consumer interest.”

Nature plays a role in making Kauai a perfect place for a golfing vacation, said Shepherd.

“Kauai has the least development of any of the major Hawaiian Islands — just 3 percent — so the result is a plethora of unspoiled beauty,” he said.

Given that Kauai offers some of the world’s most breathtaking terrain, the golf course architects — including Robert Trent Jones Jr., Jack Nicklaus and Robin Nelson — clearly were inspired as they created memorable fairways and holes.

Thanks to the marketing cooperative, island courses have started promoting golf together, resulting in easier access to the greens and more appealing rates for clients. For instance, Poipu Bay, Princeville and Kauai Lagoons are teaming up on the Kauai Golf Challenge, which provides one round of golf at each of the courses, shared cart, use of the driving range and other course amenities for $390 per person. For golfers craving more playing time, add a fourth round at Puakea or Kiahuna by booking the Kauai Ultimate Golf Challenge for $470.

“Kauai’s number and quality of amenities means there’s something for everyone, depending on the chosen facility,” said Shepherd. “The island is quaint enough that getting from one course to another isn’t laborious.”

Recent national accolades earned by Kauai courses have helped the marketing cooperative gain steam. Several courses made the 2006 Conde Nast Traveler Reader Survey’s “Top 100 Golf Resorts.” The North Shore’s Prince Course was recently rated the number one course in Hawaii by Golf Digest magazine, with the Kiele Course at Kauai Lagoons ranked ninth and Poipu Bay Golf Course ranked 10th.

Of all the venues on Kauai, clients may recognize Poipu Bay first and foremost because it hosted the prestigious PGA Grand Slam of Golf from 1994-2006, providing the course and the island with invaluable international media coverage. The high-profile event has moved to Bermuda this year.

“The longstanding tenure of the event on Kauai is perhaps as great a testimony of the golf destination’s high quality as possible,” said Shepherd. “The move wasn’t a sign that Kauai no longer holds the allure necessary to keep this lustrous event. Instead, it’s indicative of the radical changes occurring with tour pros, who are dealing with a whole new schedule and set of venues and dates. In other words, professional golf is reinventing itself.”

After winning last year’s PGA Grand Slam of Golf, Tiger Woods told the press he loves Kauai and wishes the tournament wouldn’t leave the island. Coming from the best player in the world, that’s high praise indeed.

To book the Kauai Golf Challenge or Kauai Ultimate Golf Challenge, contact any of these golf courses directly:

In contrast, other major cruise lines operate foreign-flagged vessels that are required by maritime laws to visit a foreign port. They thus can’t replicate NCL’s Hawaii-only itineraries.

The interisland concept was considered an innovative, but risky, strategy for a major cruise line when first announced. And it now appears that the challenges of operating three American-flagged vessels (including Pride of Aloha and Pride of America) proved a bit more daunting than originally envisioned.

In an April 10 statement, the company noted: “NCL’s substantial 2006 losses, reported in February of this year, have been caused by downward pricing pressure in the Hawaii market following the addition of Pride of Hawaii to the fleet last summer, and the steep increase in the amount of foreign flag competition entering the Hawaii market from the West Coast.”

At the cruise industry conference in Ft. Lauderdale, cruise3sixty, held March 30-April 1, NCL Corporation president and CEO Colin Veitch acknowledged the unexpected obstacles the line had faced in training and retaining crew members for its NCL America vessels. But, he nonetheless gave no hint of the news to follow.

“We take this action with regret, but sure in the knowledge that a temporary retrenchment is the right thing to do for the good of the business and the good of Hawaii in the long run,” said Veitch in the April 10 statement. “We remain committed to building a strong U.S. Flag cruise business home ported in Hawaii, and we need to make sure that our other two ships, Pride of Aloha and Pride of America, are able to achieve acceptable profitability before we can confidently re-introduce Pride of Hawaii.”

In some ways, added Veitch, the company was a victim of its own success. “We have demonstrated that Hawaii is a highly attractive cruise destination, and Hawaii now has four times as much capacity serving it in 2007 as it did in 2004 when we started NCL America,” said Veitch. “We are now very hopeful that this latest measure will make the critical difference in ensuring the success of this important venture.”

Veitch added: “We continue to have a vision of a strong domestic cruise industry in Hawaii and firmly believe that the combination of steps we have now taken will result in a strong NCL America delivering the best cruise itinerary anywhere in the world with the very highest standard of service at sea.”

The Pride of Hawaii, meanwhile, will be renamed Norwegian Jade and redeployed in Europe as part of the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet. The ship will be re-flagged into the Bahamas registry and undergo a short wet dock in Honolulu in February 2008. Modifications will include the addition of a casino and new artwork on her hull, replacing the vibrantly colored floral lei that has been the ship’s trademark.

After a series of repositioning cruises, the newly-renamed ship will arrive in Barcelona to begin sailing an array of European itineraries to the Eastern and Western Mediterranean, Baltic, British Isles and the North Cape.

The line has offered a full refund to guests booked on Pride of Hawaii beyond its last sailing in January 2008.