For a Free No Obligation Cruise Vacation Price Quote Click Here   or call     (866)-972-6244

Hawaii

Introduction to Hawaii Hawaii Travel Basics

Hawaii Attractions and Activities

• Haleakala: A dormant volcano on Maui which is over 12,000 feet above the ocean. Its crater is 25-square-miles in size and clouds often cover its upper half by midday with snow falling once in a while on its peak. During World War II, Marines trained for battle in the Pacific on the slopes of Haleakala and now it is popular for visitors, who drive to the summit of Kalahaku or Leleiwi Overlook to see the sunrise. There are a few tours who offer some very exciting bike rides down from the peak.
• Hana Highway: A famous road on the island of Maui which was chopped out by hand with a pick and shovel in 1927. This treacherous road is only 52 miles long but is reputed to have 56 bridges (each with room for only one car to pass at a time) and over 600 curves. Therefore, you don't want to drive it at night. So get an early start to enjoy the beautiful drive and stop to enjoy a swim in the waterfall pools.
• Kodak Hula Show: A historical look at the islands through the beauty of the hula, performed by those who know it best, Hawaiian resident dancers. Held in Kapiolani Park in the Waikiki Shell, on Oahu, this free hula show has operated here since 1937
• Kalaupapa: The mule ride to the former leper colony begins with a trail through Palaau State Park. It then descends down a 1,700-foot-high cliff, the highest sea cliff in the world. The boundless beauty you will experience as you negotiate down this 2.9-mile trail, with its 26 switchbacks, leaves most people completely speechless. After a two-hour descent, riders dismount and board an old school bus for a four-hour tour of the peninsula. This remote area formed a naturally bounded prison for leprosy victims back in the late 1800s. Victims were dropped ashore here, sometimes right in the water. Hawaii ended its policy of isolating sufferers in 1969, and all were free to leave. However, some chose to stay and remain on Molokai.
• Polynesian Cultural Center: In addition to all of the cultural exhibits, Hawaii's favorite visitor attraction has the most authentic luau and the largest night show on Oahu.
• Spouting Horn: The Ocean sprays up through a large hole in some shore lava a few miles from beautiful Poipu Beach, Kauai making an eerie hissing noise. The ancient Hawaiians believed that Kaikapu, a lizard goddess, was trapped by a clever fisherman in the lava tube and the hissing is the sound of her angry roar.

Restaurants & Cuisine:

• Alan Wong's Restaurant: Hawaiian regional cuisine which features locally raised and grown product on Oahu.
• Ambassador Fine Dining: Fine Island dining. Luscious entrees, fresh fruits & vegetables, baker's best breads, melt-in-your-mouth desserts on Oahu.
• The Anuenue Room: Hawaiian-French cuisine with plantation style elegance and live entertainment on Maui.
• Bistro Molokini: Open-air Bistro with exhibition kitchen & wood-burning oven. Mediterranean cuisine with Hawaiian flavors on Maui.
• Brick Oven Pizza: Family pizza restaurant nestled in the upcountry setting of Kalaheo, Kauai.
• Cafe Hanalei: Classical continental cuisine with oriental overtones and breathtaking views of Hanalei Bay, Kauai.
• Furusato Japanese Restaurant: Specializing in authentic Japanese cuisine prepared with only the freshest ingredients on Oahu.
• Gaylord's at Kilohana: Dine in the covered courtyard of a 1935 Plantation Owner's home on Kauai.
• Ihilani: Hawaiian Monarch Palace setting overlooking the Pacific. French Mediterranean cuisine on Lanai.
• Imari: Japanese fine dining; Serving teppanyaki, sukiyaki, shabu-shabu, and with a sushi-bar all made with the freshest ingredients. Beautiful setting surrounded by a Zen garden and a Koi pond on Hawaii's Big Island.
• Island Breeze Luau: At the King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel on the Big Island of Hawaii.
• Ka Ohelo Dinning Room: Experience award-winning cuisine while overlooking the breathtaking Kialuea Volcano on Hawaii's Big Island.
• Kaanapali Mixed Plate: All-you-can-eat value menu with decor reflecting the multi-cultural makeup of Hawaiian society on Maui.
• Leilani's on the Beach: Island fresh fish and steakhouse on the beach in Kaanapali, Maui.
• Pacific Grill: Wok, grill, rotisserie specials from the Pacific Rim on Maui.
• Spats Tratorria: Featuring exquisite Northern Italian cuisine in a cozy and intimate atmosphere on Maui.
• Sunset Terrace Drums of the Pacific: Best luau in Maui with fire dance performance, all-you-can-eat buffet & open-bar. Texas Rock -n- Roll Sushi Bar: American BBQ and creative Japanese sushi with live music on Oahu.
• Uncle Billy's Fish & Steakhouse: Fresh fish & steaks with live entertainment & hula show nightly on Hawaii's Big Island.

Events:

• January: Hula Bowl Mauifest Week - Special events precede this premier football game for the best of the best on the island of Maui.
• February: Annual Captain Cook Caper Fun Run - 2, 5, & 10k runs on Kauai.
• March: Annual Honolulu Festival - Promotes cultural understanding, economic cooperation and ethnic harmony between the people of Hawaii and the Asia-Pacific region.
• March: Annual Kona Stampede Rodeo - Highlighting the rodeo is the Poo wai u and the double mugging, among other events. Held on the Big Island of Hawaii.
• May: Annual Lei Day Celebration - The festival includes the traditional Lei Day Queen and her court, an adult and youth lei contest, craft demonstrations, and entertainment all day at Honolulu, Oahu.
• May: Annual Samoa Festival - Samoa is the featured culture for the festival which includes demonstrations and performances in the Samoan village. They also have competitions for high school and university clubs from around the islands for the best in basket weaving, coconut husking, banana peeling, as well as Samoan oratorical skills, ability to play the music, and to perform traditional dances. Held on Oahu.
• May: Annual World Fireknife Dance Competition - Fire will light up the night once again in Laie, Oahu. This test of champions has competitors from around the world. See who can brave the flaming nifo'oti while twisting, turning and inventing routines never seen before.
• June: King Kamehameha Celebration Floral Parade & Na Hana No'Eau Festival - Dazzling floats, sensational Pa'u riders, and excellent marching bands abound in this parade on the island of Oahu. The parade is followed by a festival with arts and crafts demonstrations, food booths and entertainment.
• September: Aloha Festivals - Hawaii's largest multicultural festival featuring Hawaiian music and dance as well as a variety of cultural exhibits and performances. Enjoy concerts, street parties, children's events, contests and more. Held all over the islands.
• October: Ironman Triathlon - Approximately 1,500 competitors will try to complete a 2.4 mile ocean swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run on Hawaii's Big Island within 17 hours.
• November: Kona Coffee Cultural Festival - Hawaii's oldest food festival to celebrate Kona's famous harvest features more than 30 community events on Hawaii's Big Island.
• November: Triple Crown of Surfing - The longest and most successful professional surfing series in the world on the north shore of Oahu.
• December: Honolulu Marathon - The 26 mile scenic course includes amazing views alongside world renowned Waikiki Beach and Diamond head on Oahu.
• December: Honolulu City Lights - The city's 65 foot Norfolk Island pine will be lighted and is followed by a light parade in Honolulu, Oahu.

Landmarks:

• Battleship Missouri Memorial: Where WWII ended with the surrender of the Japanese forces on Oahu.
• Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Hawaii's oldest continuously operating hotel, Volcano House, perches on the rim of Kilauea Crater. Mark Twain visited in 1866, the year it opened with a grass-thatched roof and only four guest rooms. Now it has an oversize lava rock fireplace and beautiful wooden coffee tables of native koa and monkeypod. The second hotel building, which was constructed in 1877, is the beautiful Volcano Art Center and is a good place to buy the paintings and crafts of the locals. Across from the hotel, the Visitor Center can arrange for rangers to take visitors on educational nature walks and tell the story of Pele, the fire goddess whose anger causes the volcanoes to erupt according to legend. The Park is located on Hawaii's Big Island.
• Holualoa Kona Coffee Company: 300 acre Kona coffee estate. Free farm & mill tours on Hawaii's Big Island.
• Hulihee Palace: Summer residence of Hawaiian royalty. The museum, operated by the Daughters of Hawaii, houses a collection of Hawaiian artifacts and personal memorabilia of 19th century Hawaiian royalty on Hawaii's Big Island.
• Iolani Palace: The only official palace in the United States was once the official residence of the last monarchs of Hawaii, King Kalakaua and Queen Liliuokalani. Visitors must cover their shoes with bright cotton booties to protect the floors and then follow a guide wearing a colorful muumuu on a tour back to the 1800s on the island of Oahu.
• Kalalau Lookout: Located in Kauai, this lookout has a great view of the Na Pali Coast.
• Lahaina: A historic town dating back to the 1800's on Maui.
• Puu Kila Lookout: Overlooks "the wettest spot on earth" on Kauai.
• Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park: Centuries ago, on Hawaii's Big Island, this desolate but beautiful spot was a place of refuge for criminals and outcasts. Now it offers the chance to learn a little history as you view the exhibits or walk along the 1871 Trail.
• USS Arizona Memorial: One of Hawaii's most popular visitor attractions commemorating the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in World War II. A boat ride takes visitors out to the memorial, which floats above the famous sunken ship just off of the island of Oahu.
• Waimea Canyon State Park: Hawaii's "Grand Canyon" has an impressive lookout point, in Kauai.

Museums and Exhibits:

• Alexander and Baldwin Sugar Museum: Award-winning museum in a turn-of-the-century sugar plantation superintendent's residence, located across from Hawaii's largest, still-operating, sugar factory on Maui.
• The Arizona Museum: Displays include historical photos and other artifacts of World War II on the island of Oahu.
• The Bishop Museum: A grey, gothic-style stone building in a Hawaiian residential area, its extensive collection of Hawaiian and Pacific Islands artifacts makes it a great place to visit. Started by Hawaiian princess Bernice Pauahi, the last descendant of the royal Kamehameha family, for her own collection. It now holds over 20 million items. It contains seashells, historic photos, colorful feather-decorated capes, and an amazing 50-foot sperm whale is suspended from the ceiling in the delightful Great Hawaiian Hall at Oahu.
• The Contemporary Museum: The only museum in the state of Hawaii devoted exclusively to contemporary art. Presented in two locations in Honolulu. The Spaulding House features rotating exhibitions of contemporary art, an eclectic museum shop, a garden cafe and a library. The beautiful preserved exterior maintains a subtle blending of Asian and island features. The garden provides both a natural setting for viewing art works and a quiet place for contemplation and renewal. The First Hawaiian Center is flanked by a dramatic art-glass wall consisting of 185 prisms and is a superb location to view art by artists with a strong connection to the islands.
• Hawaii's Living Village: Multi-cultural living history museum sharing the legacy of Hawaii's plantation era on the island of Oahu.
• Kokee Natural History Museum - Hui o Laka: Koke'e Natural History Museum. Heart of Koke'e and Waimea Canyon on Kauai.
• Lyman Museum: Nationally accredited. Natural and cultural history exhibits. Internationally renowned collections on Hawaii's Big Island.
• U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii: exhibiting Hawaii's Military history in Waikiki. Oahu.