Category: Hawaii Travel & Vacation Info

For the most recent Hawaii Vacation Podcast, Aloha Bruce and Yaling Fisher offered listeners some important information about “Big Island Pro’s and Con’s.” It got us here at the blog thinking in terms of “dos and don’ts” for Big Island visitors. New restrictions at Waipio Valley came immediately to mind. Back in February of this […]

Hawaii Tourism officials released Hawaii visitor arrivals and spending numbers for February 2022, which indicate a near return to pre-pandemic levels. This was not unexpected, but it is remarkable: those 2022 arrival and spending numbers are nearly back to normal even with just a trickle of visitor traffic arriving from Asia and other international markets. […]

First, some facts about flying to Hawaii: I love to travel. I view air travel with the same loathing as anyone would fear a root-canal or an IRS audit. I’ve just returned from a trip to Denver. We flew direct on United. Our return trip was on the final full day of Hawaii Safe Travels […]

Nuuanu Valley on Oahu is one of the most historically significant neighborhoods (or collection of neighborhoods) in all of Hawaii. Its importance goes back to ancient, pre-colonial times, through the establishment of the Kingdom Hawaii and its overthrow a century later in 1893, right through to the present day. The valley begins at the Nuuanu […]

Aloha Bruce made another one of his casually astute observations on the latest Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast: most people booking a Hawaii vacation want to plan a day or two to “splurge” on their holiday budget. An expensive dining experience, perhaps, or a helicopter tour. Maybe a night in a luxury suite at an exclusive […]

Ownership of the Royal Lahaina Resort will be taken over by the locally-owned real estate investment firm BlackSand Capital. The Royal Lahaina is hugely popular among visitors and island-hopping residents because of its ideal location in Kaanapali, highly competitive rates, and world-class amenities. It also happens to be the top-selling resort property in Hawaii Aloha […]

After having done the obligatory “tourist-y” trip into Lahaina on Maui, we decided on outdoor activities for the next day. Our next excursion would be to see the petroglyphs in Olowalu (which are not at all far from the bustle of Lahaina). They are estimated by scientists and cultural experts and practitioners to be over […]

Our Hawaiian Airline flight from Honolulu to Kahului was uneventful, which was enough to make me nearly ecstatic. In the nights before the trip, I had fever dreams of getting seated near some violent anti-mask wingnut of the variety that go instantly viral on social media. Please, no, I begged the Cosmos. We boarded without […]

As Aloha Bruce has noted many times on the Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast, finding transportation options for a Hawaii vacation is exceedingly difficult and expensive. In early July, the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) announced the launch of the “Maui ALOHA Shuttle”, with service from Kahalui Airport to the resorts of Wailea and West Maui. It […]

The University of Hawaii Public Policy Center (UHPPC) has just released the results of a survey conducted by Anthology Research. A recent Honolulu Star-Advertiser headline construed the results of the survey of 700 residents to indicate that a majority of “Hawaii residents support limits on tourism”. Sure, 52% is a majority. But the margin of […]

Waikiki’s Diamond Head is arguably one of the most recognizable natural landmarks in the world. It’s been a picture postcard image of paradise for generations, and it towers in the background of countless millions of vacation photos taken by giddy beach-goers. Beyond that iconic image, Diamond Head, or “Leahi” in the Hawaiian language, has been […]

The Hawaii Tourism Authority has released its statistics for December 2019 Oahu vacation rental units. The numbers suggest that Oahu’s crackdown on illegal vacation rentals is having a significant market impact in The Gathering Place. The numbers include the supply and occupancy rates, as well as average daily price. The numbers do not distinguish between […]