Wish you were here?

Can’t blame you.

Here’s almost the next best thing. We’ve collected links to a handful of Webcams around the state offering live views of our beaches and—well, pretty much just our beaches.

Want to see the sun set over Hanalei Bay on Kauai? Click the Sheraton Princeville’s beach-roving camera below.

Got friends staying in Waikiki? Tell 'em to stand in front of the Duke Kahanamoku statue fronting Kuhio Beach and then give you a call, while you click the “Waikiki Beach” cam.

It’s almost sunset here as I’m posting this. Click now and you won’t miss it.


Kuhio Beach, Oahu: A view of the folks wading in the surf off Waikiki.

Click here.


Waikiki Beach, Oahu: More a view of the Duke Kahanamoku statue than a beach view, but, oh well.

Click here.


Waikiki Beach from the sky, Oahu: Point a camera at the top of the 31-story Sheraton Waikiki towards Diamond Head or the surf below, mix a mai tai, enjoy.

Click here.


Sunset Beach and North Shore of Oahu surf spots: Check the wave action at some of the best surf spots.

Click here.


Hanalei Bay, Kauai: The sunsets are terrific from this Webcam at the Sheraton Princeville Resort.

Click here.


Kaanapali Beach, Maui: The weather and ocean action on one of West Maui’s best beaches, fronting the Sheraton Kaanapali Resort.

Click here.


Hilo Bay, Big Island: A so-so view of the bayfront. At least you’ll be able to tell if it’s a sunny or rainy day in Hilo town.

Click here.


The South Kohala Coast, Big Island: From the rooftop of the Mauna Lani  Resort.

Click here.
 

Have a favorite Hawaii Webcam we missed? Leave us a comment below.
 

 Just hitting news stands is the April issue of Golf Magazine, with its 20th anniversary list of premier golf resorts, picked with the help of 8,000 readers.

Of the 75 resorts, Hawaii has nine.  Top rated was the Four Seasons Resort Lana'i at Manele Bay, praised for its “pristine” golf experience.

Also receiving honors was Manele Bay’s sister property on Lanai, The Lodge at Koele

There were three prime golf resorts on the Big Island: Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Mauna Lani Resort and Hilton Waikoloa Village.

Two on Maui: the Grand Wailea Hotel & Spa and the Kapalua Resort.  And two on Kauai: Grand Hyatt Kauai and Princeville at Hanalei.

We especially enjoyed that Golf Magazine included both maps and  temperature reports for each of the resorts.  When we checked, it was in the mid-70s at all the Hawaii resorts, but at the American Club in Kohler, Wisc., it was a brisk 30 degrees, a bit cold for golf.  But maybe we’re just wusses from living in Hawaii so long.




 

29 inches.

That’s the amount of rain that fell on Hilo, my former hometown, between Friday evening and yesterday.

Overloaded streams flooded more than a hundred homes in the Waiakea Uka suburb upslope of town. Flood control channels overflowed into Hilo’s picturesque bayfront area. Landslides closed highways and roads along the Big Island’s Hamakua Coast. Schools closed on Monday.

A usually dry mini-ditch between my mom’s and neighbor’s homes turned into a raging torrent that carried rocks from up to a quarter-mile away down our cul de sac.

Cleanup began this morning around Hilo, as rains finally began to subside. A flash flood watch, however, remained in effect.

Hilo is as well known for its wet and rainy days as Kailua-Kona on the west side of the Big Island is for its dry and sunny ones. But don't think that Hiloans are blasé about deluges like the one that struck their town and the island of Kauai this weekend.

In high school, we'd compare one monumental Hilo rainstorm to another.

“Remember the March 1982 storm? That was serious, man. We were riding bodyboards down our street,” a classmate might say. “Nah, the January 1986 one was bigger. My neighbor’s Chevy got washed down the gulch,” I might have answered, trying to one-up him.

My mom has lived in Hilo her entire life, and loves it there. But by Sunday evening, even she’d had enough of the weekend's never-ending downpour.

Grousing by phone, she said, “I’m sick of this. We just had rain like this at New Year’s … I’ve been indoors for three days.” Pause. “Is it raining in Honolulu?”

“Uh, no. Just overcast,” I answered, quietly, trying not to sound like I was bragging.

“Mother Nature needs to spread the love,” she finished.

Spoken like a true Hiloan.

Here’s a YouTube video we found of Hilo's Waiakea Uka area on Saturday, the worst day of the storm.

 

This morning, the National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for Hawaii.

Yes, you read that right: A winter weather advisory.

Rain poured in downtown Honolulu earlier today, but it’s nothing compared to Maui and on the Big Island.

As many as three inches of snow may fall on the summits of Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea and Haleakala. Freezing rain and scattered snow showers are forecasted for this evening, with temperatures in the low 30s.

So yes, Virginia, there is snow in Hawaii. It certainly does get chilly here in the Islands! Why right now, it’s a frosty 72 degrees in downtown Honolulu. Even though the sun is now shining brightly, I’m wearing a jacket to ward off the chill.

Photo taken on 1/29/08 at 12:27 p.m. from the CFHT Telescope, courtesy of the Mauna Kea Weather Center