It’s not just tourists who flock to Hawaii in the winter: Humpback whales also come in droves and are especially visible from December through March. The Pailolo Channel between Maui and Molokai is the most popular place to view them, but you…
A young Japanese couple experiences a dream Hawaii vacation. They start the day riding horses along a dusty mountain trail at Kualoa Ranch. Then they cruise down Kalakaua Avenue in a convertible, lounge on Waikiki Beach and end the day parasailing.…
For an hour each month for the past four years, Shelley Umeda has put her face in the hands of aesthetician Susan Snyder, who steams and massages it, plucks out impurities and skims off a layer of dead cells to…
It was dark and raining when my plane touched down in Honolulu for my mini-vacation, so I used my GPS to guide me to where I would spend the next two nights. But, instead of taking me to Waikiki’s well-lit,…
Retail rents on Oahu have climbed more than 50 percent in the past decade, while in Waikiki, the increase has been 65 percent. And the biggest increases have come in the primest of Hawaii’s prime real estate: a half-mile of…
When Lawrence and Zachary Hester were booking activities for a family vacation in Hawaii, they noticed it wasn’t always a smooth process – so they took it on themselves to make a change. Their solution is FareHarbor, an online booking…
Aaron Okubo says organizations like Legacy of Life Hawaii saved his life. “Indirectly, I feel I’ve benefited from their efforts to encourage others to donate their organs and tissues for transplant,” reflects the 61-year-old senior program development manager at MC&A…
Disappointed with a neighborhood Santa Claus as a kid, Mike Ching has made it his mission for three decades to offer a better Santa experience for his clients. It’s all in the details. Some of his custom-made Santa suits weigh…
Justin Fagala of Pearl City holds the turkey while his son Christian holds the shotgun that bagged it. Hawaii Island’s Parker Ranch offers guided hunts of wild animals for one to four people. You can hunt goats and wild pigs…
If you have been admiring kiteboarding from afar, David Dorn says it’s time to try it yourself. Dorn is the owner of Action Sports Maui and has been teaching kiteboarding since 1997. Back then, he says, “It was more of…
Iselle battered Pahoa, then lava threatened to overrun it. This sleepy Hawaii Island town persevered, as did most of its businesses, but many other things will never be the same PAHOA, Hawaii Island – Petra Wiesenbauer, owner of Hale Moana Bed…
Brittany Thornton is an experienced interisland flyer. For five years, the licensed nurse lived on Kauai and would visit Oahu nearly every month to see friends, shop or work. Thornton would always check a large rolling suitcase, often half-empty, ready…
IF CARVING PUMPKINS during Halloween season is too conventional for you, Island Divers Hawaii offers the chance to do it underwater, which is as challenging as you would guess. “You go down there with high hopes that you’re going to…
JEANA IWALANI NALUAI calls her business a getaway from the masses. Hoomana Spa is on Piiholo Road near the Makawao Forest Reserve, an hour by car from Kaanapali and Lahaina and 40 minutes from Kihei and Wailua – the places where…
YOU PROBABLY KNOW THAT Newell’s shearwaters, the birds native to Hawaii that are also known as Hawaiian shearwaters, are a protected species. But did you know their protection extends beyond the shore, including enforcement on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of…
10 years after Norwegian Cruise Lines went all-American with its around-the-Islands cruises, the Pride of America still sails every week, each time at…
YOU ARE ENGROSSED IN the latest action movie, noise-canceling headphones in place, halfway through your book chapter or, worst, sleeping. The flight attendant comes down the aisle, interrupting everyone’s mid-flight routine, and says, “Please fill this out.” You get the…
The $572 million Ewa extension of Ala Moana Shopping Center, which is scheduled to open on November 12, has been an enormous undertaking. As Francisco Gutierrez, director of development at General Growth Properties, explains, the project will add 330,000 square…
Creator and His Product Richard Xie came to Hawaii for an MBA at Hawaii Pacific University and never returned to his native China. After graduation and a few stints in marketing for local wholesale businesses, he set out on his…
IF YOU'VE SEEN the moon, the rings of Saturn and other galaxies in sci-fi movies, you should check them out in reality. Stars Above Hawaii offers twice-nightly tours with its powerful telescopes and other equipment from the Ko Olina Resort. The…
TUCKED IN A CORNER of the Halekulani is Lewer’s Lounge, where everyone from jazz aficionados to the musically curious can listen to gifted musician such as Na Hoku-award winning singer and pianist Maggie Herron. Add a handcrafted cocktail and the Hawaiian…
THE TRAVEL CHANNEL named Kona’s manta ray night dive one of the top 10 things to do in your lifetime. As they feed on the plankton attracted to the flashlights held by divers and snorkelers, the gentle yet massive rays,…
Ex-Marine captain’s company, Keawe Adventures, struggled for four years until a concierge at the Halekulani gave him a chance. Now his business employs 12 people and focuses on small tours with six or seven visitors at a time. Makani Christensen…
THE OLD ADAGE still matters in Hawaii’s top hotels: Every little thing counts. That commitment to seemingly small things – greeting you by name when you check in, smiling at you with every interaction – has kept two hotels as the…