Post #1466 by thejab on Tue, May 14, 2002 4:29 PM

I have been to 2 islands (Oahu and Hawaii) so I'll stick to those.

Oahu:

1. The Polynesian Cultural Center. Forget that it's run by the Mormon Church. It's lots of fun to wander around and see the various exhibits and shows and the evening show is amazing (don't miss it)! The luau was OK but not that great.
2. The La Mariana Sailing Club in Honolulu. It's a hard-to-find polynesian restaurant and bar with many items salvaged from old defunct tiki bars.
3. The Bishop Museum in Honolulu. Lots of original polynesian artifacts.
4. Have a Mai Tai at the New Otani Hotel in Waikiki under the Banyan trees and try to imagine Arthur Lyman playing (as he used to every week). It's a gorgeous beach front spot even without the sounds of Mr. Lyman and the Mai Tai is pretty good.
5. Have a drink at the House Without a Key bar on the beach in Waikiki at sunset preferably.
6. See Don Ho if you want to but expect crappy drinks and a terrible seating arrangement at cafeteria-like tables for lots of money.
7. Wander the grounds of the Royal Hawaiian hotel and stay there if you can afford it, or stay at the Hawaiiana Hotel, a much less expensive smaller 50's hotel in the heart of Waikiki with lots of tikis and 2 pools. I highly recommend it.

Hawaii (the big island):

1. See the Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park, including a restored temple with many tikis.
2. Hike a volcanic crater at Kilauea and maybe see lava flow at night (from a distance)
3. Go to the beach at the Mauna Kea resort. It's open to the public and it has the best velvet soft sand and excellent snorkeling at each end and it's not too crowded. It's the best beach I have ever been to.
4. See the historic town of Hilo on the east side with many waterfalls and orchids everywhere.
5. See the Waipio valley in the northeast, an incredibly steep canyon with a black sand beach at the base.
6. For lodging, may I recommend the Tiki Hotel on the ocean in Kailua-Kona. It's small with kitchenette units (with tikis on the doors) that look out over the ocean and there's a lava rock pool. Get a ground floor unit and you have a private patio overlooking the ocean. The staff is super friendly and it's inexpensive.
7. Camping is excellent on the big island if you want to rough it. There are secluded camping places where you can pretend you're on Gilligan's Island.