The server at Alaia places a bowl in front of me full of tender baby arugula topped with red and golden beets, slices of watermelon radishes and thinly sliced hearts of palm. Everything except the hearts of palm was grown at a nearby farm. That may not sound too unusual, especially in Hawai‘i where restaurants […]
Growing up in Hawaiʻi, I’ve eaten a lot of custard pies. It’s a thing here in the Islands, and everyone seems to have an opinion—sometimes a strong one!—about how to eat it. Some prefer eating custard pies warm, others chilled. But the one thing we all agree on: the custard needs to be creamy and
It’s not every day you walk through a forest of Honduras mahogany trees in Hawai‘i—or anywhere, really. And yet, here we are, standing among more than 85,000 of these trees, planted in perfect rows on the Wai Koa Plantation, a 500-acre working farm on the north shore of Kaua‘i. Wai Koa is the largest mahogany
Every Thanksgiving for decades, the Kualoa-Heʻeia Ecumenical Youth (KEY) Project on Oʻahu has been cooking hundreds of turkeys in an ʻimu, a traditional underground oven. In fact, this practice is so popular, it’s become a tradition in the Islands, with groups and organizations offering the same service: For a fee, people drop off their Thanksgiving
If you’re heading to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park anytime soon—and you really should!—you should know the national park is undergoing a massive, two-year construction project to repair, improve and remove damaged buildings and infrastructure at the summit of Kīlauea. That means you can expect—and should prepare for—delays at the entrance station, temporary area closures and
For months I’d tolerated a pain in my neck that, in recent weeks, had radiated down to my lower back. Nothing—not massage or yoga or stretches I learned through hours of YouTube videos—offered much relief. I was at the point where I would try anything, including spending an hour in a hyperbaric chamber. On my
In Hawaiʻi winter brings cooler weather, humpback whales and, of course, massive surf to north-facing shores. Surfing—or heʻe nalu in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language)—is believed to have originated in ancient Polynesia and brought to the Islands, where it thrived. Once a sport reserved for aliʻi (Hawaiian royalty), commoners were allowed to hit the waves when
If you’ve ever explored the Kaʻena Point Natural Area Reserve on Oʻahu westernmost promontory, you’ll know how special it is. Not only is it one of the last intact sand dune ecosystems in the main Hawaiian Islands, but the area is also home to wedge-tailed shearwaters, Laysan albatross and Hawaiian monk seals. (Winter months bring humpback whales
Years ago, I went on a ghost tour with Native Hawaiian storyteller Lopaka Kapanui, visiting haunted spots on Oʻahu. It was early evening, the sun had long set. We were standing in a remote area on the windward side of Pali Highway. And this is when Kapanui, who runs Mysteries of Hawaiʻi ghost tours, tells
Move over, Molokini. Kāʻanapali Beach is now the No. 1 snorkeling spot on Maui, according to our 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards. Not that should be a huge surprise since the popular West Maui beach—27 miles west of Kahului Airport—has been on the list for years. (Rounding out the Top 5 are Molokini Crater, Honolua Bay,
Social media is ablaze with photos of what people are calling the “comet of the century.” More like “comet of your lifetime.” Sightings of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS started on Oct. 11 in the Northern Hemisphere, with people in Hawaiʻi flocking to southwestern coastlines just after sunset for a glimpse at this icy visitor from beyond Pluto.
Getting to Hawaiʻi is expensive—then traveling to Hawaiʻi Island just adds to that. And that’s just the airfare. There are hotel and car rental costs—especially if you’re on the Big Island, where there’s no public transportation. So here are some free things you can do to cut costs and still enjoy your Hawaiʻi vacation. 1.
