“May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii.” In celebration of the beautiful art of lei making across the Islands, no matter what day May 1 coincides with, festivities will take place. This year, May Day falls on a Sunday making way for a variety of events leading up to it throughout the weekend. Oahu May […]
In the middle of the night, HAWAI‘I magazine editor Christine Hitt and I awoke to a torrential downpour. We had already been braving boisterous winds lashing down. Normally, this weather wouldn’t faze us. But tonight we’re camping in a small tent in Malaekahana Beach Campground in Laie on Oahu’s North Shore. The rain stopped about 20
Did you know back in the ’70s, Diamond Head on Oahu was the outdoor venue for a big music festival that was Hawaii’s equivalent to Woodstock? (Or depending on your age, to Coachella.) Remembered broadly as the Diamond Head Crater Festivals, sometimes called the Sunshine Festival, these concerts brought out heavyweights of the era like
It’s the next best thing to actually being there. Iolani Palace has debuted a virtual reality visitor experience, the first of its kind for a Hawaii museum. Now visitors can do an online walkthrough of the royal palace that was home to the Kamehameha and Kalakaua dynasties. Assembled with 3D scanning technology, the virtual model
A rock star of the art world touches down in Honolulu. Yayoi Kusama’s traveling work, “Footprints of Life,” is the Japanese artist’s first exhibition in Hawaii and its currently on view at Ward Village. The outdoor art exhibit has traveled through cities like Nagoya and Taoyuan prior to here. The use of polka dots figure
This story will seriously warm every corner of your heart. Oahu resident TJ Gorum lost his wallet this past weekend. He didn’t even realize he had dropped it in a parking lot earlier that day and probably would’ve been lost for good if it weren’t for the people who found it. In a Facebook post,
China Walls On your way to or from Hanauma Bay, turn makai (toward the ocean) on Lunalilo Home Road near the Koko Marina Shopping Center. This will take you to China Walls, a hidden lookout that’s an adventurer’s dream. The “wall” is actually a rocky cliff where people can sit, sun and snap photos. Come
The Aiea Loop trail is a popular hike along Halawa Valley in south central Oahu. You’ll see everyone on this hike, from small children and bounding dogs to trail runner and elderly hikers with walking sticks. We also saw a group of mothers, carrying their young children in hiking carriers. The 4.8-mile loop, although long, is
Affectionately known as the First Lady of Waikiki, the Moana Surfrider opened in 1901. Formerly called The Moana Hotel she became the first hotel in the Hawaiian Islands upon welcoming her first guests on March 11 of that year. A wealthy Honolulu landowner, Walter Peacock proposed building a hotel in Waikiki for the traveling elite
For many visitors to Hawaii, no trip to the Islands is complete without attending a luau. It’s an opportunity to learn about how ancient Polynesians first migrated to the Islands by way of voyaging canoes, only the stars above to guide them. Add in a few mai tais, a suitable spread of Hawaiian food and
As much of an annoyance vog, or volcanic smog, can be, it’s a part of island living. As we all respectfully understand, nature does what she does here, including filling our skies (and lungs) with the stuff courtesy of Kilauea’s constant activity on Hawaii Island. The toxic gas is attributed for causing headaches, watery eyes,
The newly opened The Tchin Tchin! Bar in Oahu’s Chinatown doesn’t look like your stereotypical Hawaii bar. And that’s not a bad thing. The renovated space features red exposed brick, dark leather couches and chairs, giving the upstairs loft an urban den feel. But walk past the long bar, through the double doors and outside
