Two of Hawaii’s most-enduring homegrown sports events happen this weekend: The Ironman World Triathlon Championship on Saturday and the Molokai Hoe on Sunday.If you’re on the right island, you can watch at least one of them in-person.Kailua-Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii’s perpetually sunny west side, hosts the Ironman annually. The race—celebrating its 30th birthday this year—is the granddaddy…
The latest issue of Outside Magazine features 50 American “Great Escape” getaways. The focus? Places in our U.S. so far removed from typical vacationers itineraries, Starbucks wouldn’t consider setting up shop.A couple of Hawaii spots are highlighted: Peaceful Cove Cottage on Hawaii’s Big Island and Milolii Beach on Kauai.The Na Pali coast doesn’t get more remote than Milolii Beach, says…
Wheel of Fortune is in Hawaii. So are its celebrity hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White.After watching Wheel of Fortune for many years, I finally had a chance to hang out with Pat and Vanna at the Hilton Waikoloa Villageon Hawaii’s Big Island. In fact, I’m posting this article from the resort’s Malolo LoungeAmerica’s No. 1 syndicated series returned to…
And now, another pick from our 2008 “Best of Hawaii” cover feature.Pick up a copy of HAWAII Magazine’s current September/ October 2008 issue and you’ll find more than 91 reader and writer picks celebrating the best Hawaii has to offer.Our reader picks include their favorite beach, town, place to eat, advice for a trip to Hawaii and Hawaiian musician. Our…
The North Shore of Oahu’s winter monster wave season is three months away. The surf forecast today promises swells of two feet or less.Good time, we think, for surf fans to bone up on better days at the Honolulu Academy of Arts’ three-week wave film fest “Kowabunga! Summer Cinema Surf Safari.” A half-dozen films will get the big screen treatment…
Hawaii’s state champion Little League team returns home today as world champions.The Little League team from the Oahu suburb of Waipio—representing the United States—defeated Mexico 12-3 Sunday at the Little League Baseball World Series in South Willamsport, Pa. It was Hawaii’s second world championship win in four years. A team from another Oahu suburb, Ewa Beach, won the championship title…
CBS is readying a brand new version of its classic Aloha State crime drama Hawaii Five-O for the age of high-definition screens and reality television.Ed Bernero, executive producer of the network’s popular crime procedural Criminal Minds, told The Hollywood Reporter today that he was on board to oversee production of the new Five-O. The series will, once again, be filmed…
You ask, we answer.We have received queries from HAWAII Magazine readers regarding the recent incidents surrounding Hawaii’s sea turtles. Let us clarify the facts.On July 19th, beachgoers discovered the remains of a green sea turtle at Lanikea Beach on the North Shore of Oahu. Honey Girl—as she was known for her honey-colored shell—was found dead and partially buried in the…
It’s colorful. It’s thematic. It’s musical. It’s acrobatic. It’s French-Canadian.It must be Cirque du Soleil—coming to Hawaii for the first time ever this October, with its arena-touring show Saltimbanco.Saltimbanco is Italian meaning “to jump on a bench.” But anyone familiar with the 18 worldwide shows put on by these masters of circus reinvention knows a night with Cirque is much…
If you’re on Oahu this Saturday, stop by the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie for the annual Tahitian Festival, Te Mahana Hiroa O Tahiti.More than 100 dancers, ranging in ages 3 to 18, will compete in the dance competition. Unlike hula’s gentle moves, Tahitian dancing involves quick shaking movements to the sound of fast rhythmic beating Tahitian drums. It’s the…
Eddie would go.Perhaps you saw or heard the phrase somewhere here in Hawaii. On a t-shirt. On a bumpersticker. Maybe somebody even told you a story about the saying’s namesake, Eddie Aikau.Aikau was a noted big wave surfer and lifeguard, part of the crew for the Hawaiian long-distance voyaging canoe Hokulea’s second voyage, bound for Tahiti. Six hours into the…
It’s Aloha Friday, which means the end of the workweek, for me at least.To celebrate the impending weekend, I spent my lunch break near the ocean, eating endless amounts of Hawaiian food.Wish you were here?HAWAII Magazine was invited to attend the Aloha Friday Luncheon at Shore Bird Restaurant in the Outrigger Reef on the Beach hotel.On the menu: kalua pig…
In January, we ran a list of our five all-time-favorite filmed-in-Hawaii movies.To the dismay of a couple of Indiana Jones fan forums, our list didn’t contain Raiders of the Lost Ark—partially filmed on Kauai in 1980. Our reasoning? There wasn’t a whole lot of Hawaii in it. But with the brand new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal…
Gladys Knight loves Hawaii. And Hawaii loves her.Knight rocked the Neal Blaisdell Arena this past Saturday at “The Rhythm of Romance 2” concert. As part of the second annual Hawaii Romance Festival, HAWAII Magazine was invited to hear the R&B superstar perform with the Matt Catingub Orchestra of Hawaii.We were also serenaded by singing sensations Aaron Neville and American Idol’s…
Longtime Honolulu-based Hawaiian fashion, gift and souvenir retailer Hilo Hattie was sold today to a California company.Hilo Hattie’s seven stores on Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island—as well as its online retail store—will continue business as usual.The 45-year-old company—and self-prolaimed “Store of Hawaii”—was purchased for an undisclosed sum by TOC Inc., which also owns the Hawaii franchise of Fantastic…
On a cold spring evening last month, Chicago warmly welcomed Hawaii ukulele phenomenon Jake Shimabukuro to the stage of the Old Town School of Folk Music.Shimabukuro, 31, played two shows at the renowned music school—one sold out, the one I attended a near sell out. I couldn’t see any flip-flops. But the audience was full of aloha shirts. I felt…
I’ve never experienced a Hawaii beach quite like Polihua, on the island of Lanai.One-and-a-half miles of white sand. Completely devoid of people.The latter has a lot to do with the 11 miles of unpaved road—half of it accessible only to four-wheel-drive vehicles—one must negotiate down Lanai’s dry, rocky, steep and scrub-brush filled north shore to get to Polihua.Once we guided…
You may have heard that many of us here in Hawaii eat Spam.Fried Spam, eggs and rice for breakfast. A Spam musubi before lunch. A spam musubi FOR lunch.Guilty as charged.In a state where every McDonald’s restaurant has a Spam breakfast platter on the menu, is it any wonder we put aside a day each year to celebrate our obsession…
Molokai Ranch closed earlier this month, forcibly relocating Aloha Music Camp.For the last five years, the Hawaiian music, dance and culture camp convened each summer at Molokai Ranch’s isolated Kaupoa Beach Village.This year’s camp—scheduled for June 22-28—will move to the Big Island’s considerably less remote Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort.The camp suffered an even more irreplaceable loss last week with the…
Hawaii has lost not just a legendary entertainer, but a respected cultural figure. A well-known Hawaiian music family has lost its much-loved matriarch.Winona Beamer passed away in her sleep this morning at her home on Maui, after a long illness. She was 84.Her sons are musicians Keola and Kapono Beamer—as a duo, best known for their 1970s hit “Honolulu City…
If you were one of millions of television viewers watching American Idol last night, you know that contestant Jason Castro sang beloved Hawaiian musician Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s arrangement of “Over the Rainbow.”The contestants were supposed to sing songs that inspired them. The dreadlocked, typically mellow Castro called the song “really magical. He really captured what the song was all about ……
This is the Konan High School Brass Ensemble from Ashiya, Japan. It’s a rocking ensemble. Check out this clip of the band playing today in Bishop Square, downtown Honolulu, outside the HAWAII Magazine offices. Honolulu has become a crossroads for East and West, so it’s no surprise that Konan High does a yearly band exchange with an Oahu school, Le Jardin.On Monday,…
We’ve been mesmerized by the current eruptions at Kilauea Volcano—and it reminded us of a remarkable educational film we once saw in school. You have to love the Web. The film Eruption of Kilauea 1959-1960 still exists and has been restored. And it’s still remarkable.A half-century is nothing to a volcano: This film, put together by the United States Geological Survey…
Yesterday was not just another day in the office at HAWAII Magazine.I hopped on a boat with the staff of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, as they went out on a routine research and rescue mission in the waters off Maui.This wasn’t like my commercial whale watching cruise last year. These were the scientists who watch over…
