Wailuku Town is a historic neighborhood on Maui filled with art galleries, street murals, boutiques and local small local businesses just three miles east of ʻĪao Valley. On First Fridays it’s buzzing with locals celebrating Maui artists, chefs and music, and day-to-day it’s where Maui government conducts business and travelers stop by for an afternoon […]
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 the mai tai is Hawai‘i’s official cocktail, then POG is its official juice. Unlike Green River or Melona—flavors revered in Hawai‘i but not from Hawai‘i—POG was created on Maui at Haleākala Dairy (now Meadow Gold) in 1971. If you grew up here in the ’70s and ’80s you probably lived on the stuff. In
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
Picture relaxing in Hawai‘i. We’re pretty sure you imagined a beach. Hawai‘i has some of the best ones in the world, from the glittering sands of Lanikai on O‘ahu to the jet-black sands of Punalu‘u on Hawai‘i Island. And some of these beach locales have more than just sandy shores: You’ll find great restaurants, cute
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
I’ve never found anything plain about vanilla. As a kid, I favored the richness of Baskin-Robbins’ French vanilla over gaudier rivals like Pink Bubblegum and Oregon Blackberry. And that small flat bottle of vanilla extract I’d use to make chocolate chip cookies was more than just an ingredient—it was something to savor. I’d inhale the
The first humpback whale of the 2024-2025 season was spotted off the coast of Kāʻanapali, Maui, on Oct. 8 by Capt. Matt Talbot and his crew. “Our crew and guests were ecstatic to be able to witness the season’s first sighted individual making its way through Maui Nui just a mile offshore, marking the start
It’s almost Halloween, and there are lots of spooky, festive fun to be had. Here are our picks for Halloween events you don’t want to miss. O‘ahu 3rd annual Halloween Surf-Off 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, The Ritz-Carlton O‘ahu, Turtle Bay For one of the more unique takes on a costume contest, head to the
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,
The early morning sun streaks through monkeypod trees as my wife, Kaila, and I walk the aisles of the Kapi‘olani Community College Farmers Market, run by the Hawai‘i Farm Bureau. Here, dozens of local farms and businesses sell their produce and products every week. And, it turns out, it’s also the perfect starting point for
