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Hawaii Travel Guide

Hawaii lies in the North Pacific, about five hours flight fropm Los Angeles. The island is most popularly recognised for Waiki Beach where much of the States tourism is centred around, particularly those visiting from Europe and Asia. Apart from its golden white sandy beaches, Hawaii offers an extremely diverse countryside with wild canyons, lush tropical rainforest, snow capped mountains, desert landscapes, volcanic lava fields. It also boasts several iconic attractions including Pearl Harbour and is famous for its Elvis Presley screen settings and the Rogers & Hammerstein 1949 musical "South Pacific".


Waikiki Beach, Honolulu & Oahu Island
 Waikiki Beach is Hawaii's great attraction. The beach is fantastic, with loads of action, lots of people and plenty of water activities including year-round surfing (best in Summer). There are lots of great beach restaurants, bars and some nightclubs, and there is extensive shopping, both in boutique shops and at the nearby huge shopping mall at Ala Moana. A must visit for anyone attracted to people, action and entertainment.

Honolulu is a modern city adjacent to the beach enclave of Waikiki and offers tourists shopping, restaurants, a thriving china town and the navy setting at Pearl Harbour which was attacked by Japanese during WWII. The grave of the sunken USS Arizona which is now a memorial to the tragic event is the States most visited tourist attraction.

Oahu is renowned for its championship golf courses which are both challenging and extremely scenic. Green Fees start from around US$150 which includes golf cart. There are more than 20 courses open to the public but such is its popularity that tee-off times must be booked in advance.


Kauai
Kauai, the garden island of hawaii, has lush tropical rain forest, dramatic coastlines, sandy beaches and lots of waterfalls. This is the least commercial of the main outer islands, with a laid back atmosphere. There are three main resort areas: Poipu Beach, Kapaa and Princeville, with the main town at Lihue in the south west. The Kalau Coast is the most scenic in Hawaii with dramatic cliffs. There is a good walking trail along the 20-mile inaccessable coastline with designated camping grounds along the way. Day tours by boast and helicopter offer alternative views of this dramatic coastline The unusual desert-scape scenery of Waimea Canyon along the dry south coast of Kauai is a popular day trip and ofers good walking trails.


Maui
Maui is the second most visited destination in Hawaii and offers an almost continuous string of beaches along its south-west coast with the luxury resort setting of Waimea and the sprawling beach settlement of Kihei. Maui offers some of the best snorkelling in the State as well as the opportunity to see humpback whales off the coast between November and May.

The charming town of Lahain on West Maui is a popular tourist setting with art galleries, historical whaling buildings and fine restaurants. To the north are the beach resort areas of Kaanapali and Kapalua with several golf courses. The winding road to Hana on the east coast offers one of the great drives through rainforest and past numerous waterfalls. There are a few bed and breakfast guesthouse along the wet east coast. Also of much tourist interest is the dry volcanic moonscape setting of Haleakala National Park, high up in the central plateau.


Big Island Hawaii
The dry and sunny west side of the Big Island, protected by the towering snow capped mounatins of Mauna Lea, has most tourist appeal with gold sandy beaches and the main airport which is both domestic and international. Much of the coast is covered in sharp volcaic lava flows of earlier centuries but mega resort complexes have been built here offering championship golf and the best diving and gamefishing in Hawaii. The town of Kailua is another popular tourist centre and although lacking beaches, makes a good base for exploring. The Big Island is rich in archaeological sites with several impressive and accessable heiau's (ancient temples) along the west coast as well as petroglyphs.

Volcano National Park offers the most active volcano in the world - Kiluea. The lava flows are continuous but extremely slow and tourists can view the spectacle up close. Black sand beaches also feature along the south coast, formed from the black volcanic rocks. There's a small settlement at Volcano with lots of quaint guesthouse and restaurants. and its well worth spending at least one night here.

The northern coast of Waipio offers stunning coastal cliffs, rich farming valleys and tropical rainforests abd also has many hidden historical sites. It's a good place to explore, get away from mainstream tourism and find a small guesthouse or mountain retreat.


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Hawaii Travel Guide

This Hotel Picture Guide is brought to you by South Pacific Picture, the photographic division of Pacific Travel Guides. This leading independent travel publisher is based in Fiji and aims to provide unbiased travel information to help potential holiday-makers plan their trip to the South Pacific. We do not sell individual hotels, tours or packages - we simply provide an overview to help you make the decision and provide links for you to make further enquiries and bookings. All the pictures in this website have been taken by us and try to show a true representation of our destinations. No picture has been staged - all were taken as presented.

 Our small team of researchers travel around the south pacific on a regular basis to update our guides and to ensure their accuracy. Please feel free to contribute your own travel experiences to pass on to fellow travellers.

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 Last Updated
09 January 2010
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