Living in Hawaii Island’s Puna district is hard. Most of the subdivisions are off the county water line and many still lack paved roads. There’s also the fact of living on an active volcano with a history of suddenly disrupting everyday life. Puna residents have long needed to adapt to the unforgiving landscape in whatever […]
Everyone loves spotting Hawaiian monk seals along Hawaii’s shores. They’re an adorable reminder why Hawaii adopted the animal as its state mammal. Known primarily for its plump figure and lounging attitude, here’s some extracurricular information on our favorite beach-goers. They have many names Although referred to in English as the Hawaiian monk seal for its
“This is the fish of the future,” David Lukela, chef de cuisine of Beachhouse at the Moana, tells me on a sunny Waikiki afternoon. The fish in question is the Hawaiian Kanpachi, a premium member of the amberjack family that has caught the attention of the culinary world. Dubbed by some as “the wonder fish”
When many visitors step out of the plane and breathe in Hawaiʻi’s air, the first thing they often say is “it smells like flowers.” These six iconic flowers, although not all of them are indigenous, capture the romance and tropical beauty of the Islands. Plumeria Few flowers remind people of Hawaiʻi more than the ever-present
Detail on the black-sand grains of Pailoa. Photo: Daniel Sullivan/HAWAIʻI Magazine Waianapanapa State Park is a popular stop along Hana Highway—the 64.4-mile Road to Hana, known for its 620 curves, countless waterfalls, lush green scenery and remote hidden beauty. At around mile marker 32, 2 miles outside Hana Town, a sign directs you toward the
So, this is what Hawaii really looked like, I think to myself, as I ascend up a sunlit valley on the north shore of Kauai, warmly enveloped by 120 species of native and indigenous plant life. Limahuli Garden and Preserve. Photo: Kicka Witte/HAWAIʻI Magazine I’m wandering through Limahuli Garden’s most vital and awe-inspiring acreage, a section
“Look for the blue stones.” It was the first piece of advice photographer Daniel Sullivan received from Native Hawaiians he spoke with as he began a nine-day hike on what today is known as King’s Highway, a once-vital road built by the island’s Native Hawaiian settlers originally circumnavigating all of Maui. Upon its construction over
In the beginning, there’s a garden. But for those embarking on the Islands’ most celebrated road trip, like so much of the sprawling vegetation along and up East Maui’s mountainsides, it’s easy to cruise right past without proper notice. Just 15 minutes into what’s projected to be a two-and-a-half hour escapade to Kipahulu, I can
The wood-burning fireplace in the dingy, barely insulated state cabin at the Lodge at Kokee on Kauai wasn’t enough to keep me warm that first night, so I had donned everything I had in my backpack: a long-sleeved shirt, a thin hoodie, two pairs of socks and a rain jacket. It worked out, since that’s
If you’ve ever caught sight of a pueo, the Hawaiian short-eared owl, perched and looking at you with its wide, intense stare, or seen one flying in the air with its elongated wings, swooping over a large, grassy field, you know immediately that you’ve just witnessed something special. “I can’t think of any other animal
One of Hawaii’s most beautiful scenic byways is a 19-mile stretch of road on Kauai’s warm and sunny south shore. It is a gateway to adventure and an interactive storybook of the people and places that define the tiny town of Koloa. Holo Holo Koloa Scenic Byway highlights two dozen points of archeological, historical and
Walking so far up into the clouds along steep switchbacks and knife-edge ridges that the view below is hard to distinguish between sea and sky. This is the Waihee Ridge Trail on Mauna Kahalawai, also called the West Maui Mountains. The 2.5-mile hike is known as one of the most scenic treks on the island, and
