Traveling to Hawaii

I'm going to be heading off to Kuaui in about a month, and wanted to get input from the forum as to what a tikiphile might be interested in seeing/doing while there. I will do all the usual: snorkeling, surfing, hiking, mixing drinks in the hotel room, etc...

...but I'd love to see some things that might be missed by the casual traveler. I'm not in to any of the ATV trips or movie tours, and I'm not even all that interested in helicopter rides unless convinced otherwise. I'll likely rent a jeep and a bike and trek around on my own sans guide.

What I'd like are some suggestions of good places (if there are any) to get a decent drink, a good cheap meal, and a little local color.

Any nerdy cultural or historical tours would also be tops on my list, especially those related to the original native Hawaiians. I'm a sucker for anything along those lines.

So what's on my itinerary folks?

Thanks,

pele

Please check out this thread:

https://tikicentral.com/viewtopic-new.php?topic=216&forum=1

There may be others as well. Have a great trip!

Thanks, I wasn't sure how to approach that one in the search engine. I figured
"Hawaii" and "travel" would get me a huge mess of nothing.

Cheers!

Pele

Yes, have a super trip and, when you return please post some of the highlights and tips for us in the Hawaiian Vacation Tips thread. Mahalo!

-Weird Uncle Tiki

In Kapaa about 1/2 mile north of the Chevron, head right to the coast. Along the coast and just north of the river jettie, you'll stumble across the home of "Dean". He's a nice old local guy - traditional carver with a few works in his yard, perhaps a couple "in the works" and he might break out a few from his living room, too (pet his blind dog too, blind dog's like that!). Also, next to Dean's house is a house covered/surrounded with about 100 sponge/glass/plastic floats! He might have his "ice cold coconuts ovahh here!" sign out, too... take him up on 1 or 2 of 'em! He told me to come back for some carving lessons - but unfortunately I didn't take him up on it.

Go to "Puka Dog" in Poipu for an authentic Hawaiian style hot dog (coconut relish, pineapple relish, erupting volcano sauce, etc.). Duke's in Lihue is an idyllic setting with good food - nightime's best. Watch out for the bitchy waitresses at the Wake-Up Cafe in Hanalei - they're a tough crowd as I found out for myself even after I was warned. Tahiti Nui in Hanalei for a good mai tai although it's lost most of it's tiki allure over the years.

If you call me at my office, I'll give you the tel. nr. (it's on a biz card at my office) for a great hole-in-the wall restaurant with nightly local entertainment and THE BEST food that I had while in Kauai. It's also right next door to a vintage store that has some good local collectibles - though many were a bit pricey.

Aloha!!

Holden Westland
Tiki Farm
"Purveyors of Polynesian Pop Culture"
http://www.tikifarm.com
800.357.3360

[ Edited by: smogbreather on 2004-02-27 00:37 ]