Day One Wake up with the sun at the summit of Leahi (aka Diamond Head). Its moderate, 1.6-mile jaunt up the famous summit will give you a bird’s-eye view of Waikiki, Honolulu and West Oahu. Skip the food vendors at the park, and drive to local favorite Waiola Shave Ice for your reward—a round of […]
The light from the low-hanging full moon can’t penetrate the dark depths of the ocean, instead leaving a shimmery glow on what looks to be an endless abyss. In the predawn hours, the 23-foot fishing boat I’m sitting aboard is being launched down a ramp and into the waters off Pohoiki on the Big Island
The view is so extraordinary you can’t take your eyes off it. Walking into St. Regis Princeville’s restaurant Makana Terrace, I’m immediately stunned by the panoramic views of the gorgeous, green Hanalei Mountains, named Hihimanu, Namolokama and Mamalahoa, with thousand-foot-high waterfalls flowing down their sides. It’s a view that can only be described as absolutely
The sun is falling quickly in the sky, surrounded by a hazy, brilliant vog-induced glow, and the red dirt at my feet is turning the rich, red-orange color of fire. An elevation of around 1,600 feet may not sound remarkable, but standing at the edge of Lanai’s western uplands of Keahiakawelo, it feels as though
When the Hokulea first sailed around Hawaii in the early ’70s, many described it as the most beautiful thing they had ever seen. Its magnetism drew people to it and brought with it a resurgence of Hawaiian pride. “Hawaiian families would picnic and spend a whole day at the beach just to stare at the
Alex Aiono, the 21-year-old singer-songwriter and Radio Disney show host, who’s amassed 4.6 million YouTube subscribers and 2.1 million Instagram followers, just wrapped “The Changes Tour” in Hawaii with Australian-based singer-songwriter William Singe. Recently, Aiono talked with HAWAII Magazine about his debut single with Interscope Records, the upcoming Radio Disney Music Awards he’s co-hosting, and how he first learned
Standing at 44 stories tall and with 596 rooms, Hawaii’s second Holiday Inn Express opened this month in the heart of Waikiki. It’s the only Holiday Inn Express on Oahu (the first is in Kailua-Kona), and it’s being billed as “the largest one in the Americas.” Part of the Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts family of
Hilo surprised me. I’ve flown into Hilo a few times in the past and driven by it on a circle island road trip, but this is my first time actually visiting the third largest city in the state. What I didn’t realize was that there is so much to do in Hilo and I am
One of the things I love about being the editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine is that not only do I have writers on the ground looking for the best stories to share within our pages and online, but I also have all of you. Our readers have a pulse to what’s current and trending in the Islands,
For the past seven months, I’ve had to explain myself to others: I’m hiking the 11-mile Kalalau Trail on the Napali Coast of Kauai. I’ll be off the grid for four days and three nights with absolutely no cell phone service. I’m carrying with me food, some water and a tent. Yes, it’s dangerous. Yes,
Our 14-passenger Mercedes van is packed and we’re sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, as our Hawaii Forest & Trail tour guide, Joe, drives us up Saddle Road, bisecting the island between two volcanoes. We’re on our way to the summit of Mauna Kea to see the sunset and stars. “I remember the first time I saw the stars
Seeing the sunrise at the top of Haleakala (“house of the sun”) is a thrilling pilgrimage that many first-time visitors to the volcano make, but backpacking its trails to campsites or cabins miles past what can be seen from an overlook or visitors center takes the experience to another level. Its remote wilderness has a
