Go Visit Hawaii

The Pololu Valley has to be in the top ten most beautiful scenes on the Big Island.  You can drive right up to the look out as I described here.  If you have about an hour and you are hankering for a hike, then follow the Pololu Trail down to the beach below. 

The trail head begins at the end of the paved parking area at the lookout.  This trail descends 420 feet along the face of a cliff.  The trail can be slightly technical at points, so wearing proper hiking shoes is advised.  We also brought our hiking poles which helped.  The hike to the beach takes about 20 - 30 minutes.  Do take your time and stop to enjoy the pretty views of the valley along the way. 

Once you get down to the beach, you can admire the depth of the valley and the strength of the ocean pounding against the black sand beach.  This beach is not for swimming, so don’t even think about taking a dip to cool off. 

The Pololu Trail can be very slippery when wet and we know from experience.  Just take a look at the photo on the left and you’ll quickly see why. Areas of the trail are simply steep sections of packed dirt. We were hoofing it as fast as we could on the way back up because we could see the rain headed our way.  We didn’t make it off the trail in time, so we experienced how slick the trail can be with just a little bit of rain.  To avoid rain, it’s best if you can time your visit for morning or very early afternoon. 

The state only owns the land along the trail and down to the beach, so that is the only area open for public access.  Any suggestion of hiking beyond the beach to the other valleys without a permit would be considered trespassing.  I also believe that the October 2006 earthquake damaged the trails beyond the beach. 

• Hyatt Resorts has a summer deal that includes a free night’s stay.  Hawaii has Hyatts on Kauai, Maui, and Oahu.  The Maui and Kauai locations have a 6th night free and the Oahu location offers the 4th night free.
• The month of May is also PGA Free Lesson Month.  You can get a free 10 minute lesson in Hawaii or at home.  Follow this link and enter your zip code to find participating locations near you. 
• I was recently quoted in the LA Times Travel Blog.  Mahalo to the LA Times for the mention!

Here are the latest Maui deals to catch my eye.  These are some really good ones, too. 

Wailea Grand Champions Villa
The Deal:  $179 for a one-bedroom villa or $196 for a two-bedroom villa plus a free compact rental car.
Why I like this deal: Wailea is one of the higher price tag places to stay with most rooms costing well over $300 per night. This deal is also great because it includes a rental car which will save you around $30 per day.  Plus, you know I’m a big proponent of staying in villa which is the fancier word for condo.  By the way, these villas seem to get high marks from TripAdvisor.    
Offer Valid Through:  Book by May 16th for travel between June 1 - September 30 (2008).  There is a 3 night minimum stay.
Special Rate Code: TZMAY08
For More Information: See this link.

Kaanapali Beach Hotel “Maui Spring Sale”
The Deal: Room and daily buffet breakfast for two for $179 per night.
Why I like this deal: The Kaanapali Beach Hotel is known as “Maui’s Most Hawaiian Hotel” and has won awards for it’s dedication to Hawaiian culture. TripAdvisor guests generally give this hotel great ratings.  If you aren’t sure where to stay on Maui, then Kaanapali makes a great base for a Maui vacation. 
Offer Valid Through:  You must book before June 15, 2008.  This offer is valid for stays  between now and June 7 and  from August 16 through December 21 (2008)
Special Rate Code:  None specified for this “Maui Spring Sale”.
For More Information:  See this link. 

During my trips to Hawaii, I’ve rented convertible cars and soft-top Jeeps. I have to say it was fun to do, but not as ideal as I thought it would be. In this article I’ll share some of the reasons you might want to rethink renting a convertible car or soft-top Jeep. Before you reserve your rental, consider these points:

1. Convertibles cost considerably more to rent than compact and midsize cars. For example, I just searched Expedia.com and compared the rates. The daily rate for a convertible car was $52 while the rate for a mid-sized car cost $37. The daily rate for a Jeep Wrangler was a whopping $90!

2. Convertibles tend to be more bug infested. You really need to keep the top closed when you aren’t in the vehicle. Miiko Mentz recently shared that her family had rented a convertible in Hawaii. They left the top down for a few hours and when they returned, her daughter said, “Mommy, why is the floor moving?” While they had been gone, the car became infested with roaches. (All together now, eww!) My husband and I rented a convertible in Kauai, it was completely roach infested. As soon as we’d open doors at night and the interior lights came on, roaches would scatter for cover. (Be sure to see my article on Hawaii roach mobiles)

Just one more word on roaches - I am a big chicken when it comes to bugs. I know that in a tropical environment like Hawaii’s has, there are bound to be roaches. I have never let this stop me from returning to a place I love so much.

3. We found that we didn’t have the top down nearly as much as we anticipated. Sometimes we were happy to have the top up and the air conditioning on to escape the hot sun. Bear in mind, too, that sometimes a rain shower can sneak up on you with little warning.

4. The soft tops can make it easier for a thief to access your valuables. Cheryl recently shared a concerning incident in a comment on my article advising you to secure your valuables. Here’s an excerpt from that comment, “I just had a mainland customer last week who told me that they were on their honeymoon last month on the Big Island and pulled over to take a picture of the beach. When they got back a few minutes later, someone had cut the tarp to their rental Jeep and stolen all of their things. They had to spend the rest of the day at the Hilo police station instead of going to see the Volcano as planned.”

5. There is very little room to store luggage in a Jeep Wrangler. In fact, Jeep Wranglers barely have enough room for one carry-on or two. I like to travel light but not that light.

6. Renting a 4WD is a big waste of money. Why? Any off-roading is considered a violation of most rental contracts. Pick up the maps that the rental car companies offer. Turn to the page that shows the entire island. Take note of the areas usually marked in red. Look at the notes. Yep, it tells you where you can’t drive. Even some paved roads are forbidden. So, save your money and just rent a regular 2WD car.

I didn’t write this article to scare you. In fact, I hesitated on writing this article, but I eventually decided that it was important to share it with you. The information I’ve shared is something that I would have wanted to know before I selected a rental car for my first few trips to Hawaii. I think it’s important for you to know all the factors to consider before you commit to a convertible or Jeep. Again, I enjoyed some aspects of my soft top rentals, but knowing what I know now, I doubt I’ll ever rent one again.

Gulp! AAA says Hawaii vacations cost $793 per couple per day. Um - who on earth is compiling this data and have they ever been to Hawaii? Somebody is smoking some wacky backy if they think it’s going to cost a couple $793 per day for food and lodging alone. Honestly, in all our trips to Hawaii, we’ve never even come close to spending that amount per day. If you are staying at the Four Seasons on Maui or the Big Island, you could approach nearly $800 a day, but that is by no means near an average stay in Hawaii.

AAA based their estimates on hotel rack rates. Nobody pays rack rates. Let’s use some real data to estimate an average lodging and food budget. According to the latest hotel data, the average cost of a hotel room in Hawaii is $199 per night. For reference, we paid $150 per night for a nicely furnished, fully equipped, two-bedroom condo on the Big Island less than two months ago.

For meals, I’d estimate an average cost per couple as follows:

• Breakfast - average of $18 per person based on ordering breakfast in a resort from an a la carte breakfast menu. So the total cost per couple would be $36.
• Lunch - average of $20 per person, which would be $40 per couple.
• Dinner - average of $50 per person, which would be $100 per couple. I’m assuming resort prices for at least an entree each and sharing dessert. You might even be able to squeeze in some cocktails, too.

Of course, you could spend more or less, but I’m putting an average cost based on what I think is easily achievable at hotel prices. By the way, you can eat much cheaper than these prices outside of the hotel. From our travels to Hawaii, we would rarely spend that much money on meals.

So now let’s look at the total costs:

Lodging: $199 per day
Meals: $176 per day
Total: $375 per day

So, $375 per day is a far cry from $792 per day. Wouldn’t you agree?

I’ve written many articles on how to save money on your Hawaii vacation. Here are my top money saving strategies that will have you laughing at AAA:

• Save money in Hawaii by vacationing in a condo
• 5 best Hawaii vacation money saving tips
• 3 ways to have a luxurious Hawaii vacation on the cheap

I often post excellent deals here at Go Visit Hawaii, which will help you achieve a Hawaii vacation for far less than AAA’s estimate. (If you haven’t already, consider subscribing to my free updates via e-mail or RSS so that you’ll stay on top of the best deals.) Since I’ve been to all the islands, I’ve got a good perspective on where the nice places are and where you might want to steer clear of. Rest assured, I’ll never suggest you stay at the YMCA or a roach motel.

Just up the road (Waianuenue Avenue) from Rainbow Falls is Pe’epe’e Falls and Boiling Pots. You’ll find a parking lot and a short paved path that takes you to an overlook where you can see the waterfalls and the rounded out depressions in the rock. Depending on the water flow, the rounded out depressions, will appear like the water is boiling inside of them. From the photo below, you can tell it was relatively calm on our last visit there. We’ve seen the extremes here. Click on this link to see a photo of heavy flow from a previous visit. We took that photo after about 14 inches of rain in 24 hours. Big difference, huh?!

I know the tendency is to want to pronounce the name of these falls as “pee pee”, but the actual pronunciation is more like “pay-ah-pay-ah”.

There are restroom facilities here and plenty of paved parking. You’ll find these spot marked on our interactive Hawaii vacation map.

There’s lots of news on this Cinco de Mayo, so let’s dive in.

• The Maui Prince Resort has completed a multi-million dollar renovation.  I love staying at newly renovated hotels while everything seems so clean and fresh.  Here’s a link to their specials. 
• The Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki Beach is a top 10 family beach vacation resort according to the May issue of Parents Magazine.
• There’s a new memorial in south Maui honoring the 4th Marine Division of World War II.  Here’s the Star Bulletin story on the dedication ceremony held this weekend.  If you are going to be on Maui for Memorial Day, maybe that could be something meaningful that you could visit to observe the day. 
• The ninth chapter of the Carnival of Aloha is up.  It’s always interesting to see what other Hawaii bloggers have to share.
• Many thanks to all the folks who added a comment last week. I so appreciate all your kindness!  Lissette was randomly selected as the winner of the waterproof case.  When I contacted her to tell her she won, she told me she’s never won anything before.  Maybe this will start her on a winning streak.  I bet she’s planning a trip to Vegas right now.

When you are in Hilo, don’t miss seeing Rainbow Falls. The river flows over the arch shaped rock. The rock has a cave embedded in it. Legend says that Kamehameha buried the bones of his father in this cave.

This waterfall is easy to access just off Waianuenue Avenue on the northwest side of Hilo. From Hwy 19 turn onto Hwy 200 and follow until you see a fork in the road. Stay right on Waianuenue Avenue following the signs to the Rainbow Falls Area. There is plenty of paved parking and a short paved path to see the falls. This is a popular spot, so if it seems crowded and a tour bus is there, just wait for a few minutes for folks to clear out.

Tomorrow, we’ll go further up the road to Pe’epe’e Falls and Boiling Pots. In the meantime, please enjoy this brief video of Rainbow Falls.

As no surprise to us folks who love Hawaii, the islands are well represented on the 2008 Travelers’ Choice Top 25 list of US destinations.  In fact, six of the top 25 are located in Hawaii.  Three of them are on Maui. 

Here’s how the Hawaii locations ranked:

4.  Poipu on South Coast of Kauai

9.  Lahaina on West Maui

12. Wailea on South Maui

14. Honolulu on Oahu

15. Hana on East Maui

20. Kailua-Kona on the West Coast of the Big Island

What are your thoughts on the list?  Did TripAdvisor members get it right? I guess I’m a little surprised that Volcano or Hilo on the Big Island didn’t make the list.

Today, we complete the series on how to find the best Hawaii restaurants with a visit to the Big Island. Since this is our final restaurant visit, I thought I’d post a dessert photo (right) from the Hualalai Grille at the Four Seasons. This chocolate dessert tastes even better than it looks.

I have to say that finding great restaurants on the Big Island seems to take a bit more effort from my experience. That being said, we’ve definitely found some winners. I think that the addition of the Queens MarketPlace in Waikoloa and the Shops at Mauna Lani have added some nice new alternatives for those staying around the Kohala Coast.

As with the other islands, we’ll start with TripAdvisor, move on to guidebooks, and finish up with my personal picks.

TripAdvisor

Thousands of TripAdvisor members rate Hawaii restaurants. I’ll organize the TripAdvisor restaurant listings by geography. Some of the geography they use is a bit odd, but we’ll make it work for us. We’ll start on the Kohala Coast/Waimea area and work our way around the island counter clockwise. So as not to create information overload, I’ll try to only list the areas that you’ll likely be nearby.

Kohala Coast (Including Hawi, Waimea/Kamuela, Waikoloa)

• Hawi and Kapa’au Restaurants (These small towns on the northern part of Hawaii have just a few restaurants.)
• Kawaihae Restaurants (There are only two restaurants listed here, but they very well liked and recommended by locals.)
• Kamuela Restaurants (This is where TripAdvisor uses some strange geography. They lump in restaurants in Waimea (Kamuela) with restaurants at the Mauna Lani resort area and Mauna Kea/Hapuna Beach areas.)
• Waikoloa Beach Resort Restaurants

Kona Coast

• Kailua-Kona Restaurants (TripAdvisor lists over 100 restaurants here.)
• Keauhou Restaurants
• Captain Cook Restaurants

Hilo Side

• Volcano Restaurants
• Hilo Restaurants (There are over 100 in total)
• Pepeekeo Restaurants (There is only one restaurant listed here, but it’s the popular What’s Shakin’ place that’s known for their smoothies.)
• Honokaa Restaurants

Guidebooks

• Fodor’s has an interactive list.
• Frommer’s also has an interactive list.
• Hawaii The Big Island Revealed is usually very reliable guidebook for restaurant recommendations.

Go Visit Hawaii Picks

The following restaurants are ones that I particularly like.

Most Romantic: Brown’s Beach House at the Fairmont Orchid is located right beside the beach, with lovely sunset views. I also like the Hualalai Grille by Alan Wong at the Four Seasons even though it doesn’t really have a beach view, the atmosphere, service and food are romantic. Another restaurant worth mentioning in this category is the Coast Grille at the Prince Hapuna Resort which has nice outdoor seating and a sunset view. We liked the lanai seating by the railing.

Best Sushi/Seafood: Sansei at the Queens Marketplace at Waikoloa

Best All Around: Roys at Waikoloa. The food is great here and the prix fixe menu is well priced considering it’s Hawaii. The atmosphere is pretty lively, e.g. it can get loud in this enclosed restaurant. We liked the tables by the window that looked out onto the lake.

Best Fish and Chip Shop: Island Fish & Chips at the Kings Shops at Waikoloa. They have very good coconut shrimp and pineapple coleslaw. There are some good outdoor chairs and tables here that look onto the lake and golf course.

One of Hawaii’s More Unique Restaurants: Kilauea Lodge in Volcano. The atmosphere reminds me of an Appalachian mountain lodge with the historic fireplace.

Best Popsicle You’ll Ever Have: Hamakua Fudge Shop in Honokaa

Best Cheap Eats: Cafe 100 in Hilo

Best Pub Hawaii-Style: Kona Pub and Brewery in Kailua-Kona

Most romantic place to have ice cream after watching a free show: The Shops at Mauna Lani. You can get ice cream from the Foodland Farms grocery store or from the Marble Slab Creamery ice cream shop.

Top of My List for Next Time: Waikoloa Beach Grill and the Vanilla Luncheon at the Hawaiian Vanilla Company.

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I know there are some nice very readers who live on the Big Island, so I’d love for them to share their recommendations in the comments.

There are some restaurants that I’d steer clear of and I’ll mention them in the comments.