Go Visit Hawaii

Wow! What a great year it’s been here at Go Visit Hawaii! I’ve gotten to go to Hawaii every day, even if it’s only been via this blog. A year ago, I hardly knew how to spell blog. Now, a year later, I’ve written over 500 posts.

I’d like to thank all the readers, commenters, and subscribers. You’ve given me inspiration to provide the best Hawaii vacation advice that I possibly can.

I’ve made some wonderful new friends from writing this site. That’s been a great benefit that I never anticipated. There are some people I’d like to thank for their ongoing support and encouragement. They are Cheryl, Evelyn, Chris, and of course my wonderful husband, Andy. Thanks y’all, I wouldn’t have made it this long without you!

Aloha Airlines is ceasing operations beginning March 31st.  for more information about the closure and timeline, see these articles:

• First News on Aloha’s Closure
• Frequently asked questions about Aloha Airline’s closure
• Hawaiian Airlines to add 6000 interisland seats and $49 fares.

Dear Dollar Rent A Car,

The Dodge Caliber you rented to us from KOA (Kona Airport) was dirty and roach infested. The car hadn’t been cleaned in who knows how long. There were candy wrappers and other bits of trash that were in the car from prior rentals.

The worst part of our rental experience was that the car was infested with roaches. We didn’t discover the roaches until well into our trip. The first one popped out in broad daylight. As we became more aware, we would see many, many others both day and night. It was particularly disgusting to have to get into the car at night. At least a half a dozen roaches would scatter when the interior lights came on as we opened the door.

Dollar should implement a form of quality control with a decent standard of cleanliness. I have heard from others renting with Dollar from the Big Island that our experience is not an isolated incident. Apparently your employees know of this problem. When we returned the car and informed the Dollar representative that the car needed fumigating, the representative’s response was a nonchalant, “Oh, it was bad?” Our experience was completely disgusting.

Sincerely,

Sheila

www.GoVisitHawaii.com

————————————————————————————————————–

Now a note to Go Visit Hawaii Readers -

When you are in a tropical environment, you’ll find tropical bugs. Sometimes you must take the good with the bad. We’ve rented cars plenty of other times in Hawaii and have only had one other incident of roaches in the car. (The other incident was a convertible in Kauai.) Please don’t let this incident put you off of a vacation to Hawaii. Use this letter and following advice to be more aware and prepared.

I hope that you find your rental car is cleaner than ours. The best way to check to see if your car has roaches is to look for them at night when you first open your car door. If roaches are roaming the shock of the interior car lights will cause them to scatter for a dark area. You’ll have to watch closely, once we started watching for roaches in our car, we were amazed at how many we spotted.

To avoid roaches in your rental car:

• Avoid renting a convertible. Prior renters may have left the top down at night which welcomed bugs of all kinds to hitch a ride.
• Ask for a low mileage car. The longer a car has been in service, the higher the chances that there will be roaches.
• Avoid eating in the car and if you do, promptly remove all wrappers, left overs, drinks, etc. Don’t provide food for the roaches.

If you do find you have roaches, here’s what I suggest you do:

• Contact the local rental desk and tell them you want to exchange the car for a cleaner, newer model.
• If it is not convenient to exchange the car, then fumigate the car overnight. Save your receipt and ask the rental car company to reimburse you when you return the car.
• Keep all your luggage, backpacks, etc securely closed. It might be a good idea to bring some zip-lock baggies and trash bags to try to cover and seal off any bits of food and your luggage.

I hope you’ll find your rental car both clean and bug-free. The next time I’m in Hawaii, I’m going to take a proactive approach and fumigate the car early on during my stay.

As mentioned in an earlier news roundup, the Halema’uma’u Crater recently exploded again for the first time since 1924. It is now spewing out a plume of ash.  (This crater is located on the Big Island at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.)

Hawaii Volcano Observatory has set up a web camera of the ash plume at the crater. The images are updated periodically. Use this link to see the latest views.

The photo to the left is from the March 28th web camera at 3:47pm Hawaii time. Try if you can, to check out some nighttime images where you might see some incandescence.

Cafe 100 in Hilo is a great place to get good cheap eats. They have many, many menu choices, but we had to have one of their Loco Mocos. What’s a Loco Moco? It’s a local dish you’ll find throughout Hawaii. It usually includes generous scoops of rice, eggs, hamburger patty, and brown gravy. We had the Cafe 100 Super Loco with all the above mentioned items plus, potato and macaroni salad, spam, and Portuguese sausages. Our plates were mounded high and we couldn’t finish all our food.

Finding a place like Cafe 100 was a real treat for us. For the most part, it seemed that the clientele was local. We enjoyed soaking in the local scene and culture. The price of the food was another plus. Our Super Locos cost less than $5 each - $4.65 if I remember correctly.

The restaurant’s set up reminded me of the old drive-in style restaurants. The menu is posted on a large white board with individual letters. You order your food at a window and they issue you a number. When your order is ready, they will call your number. There were plenty of covered picnic tables available. The staff was friendly and the eating area was kept clean.

I hear the restaurant has been in business for over 50 years and may have been the restaurant that invented the Loco Moco. So, a restaurant in business that long can’t be half bad, right? You’ll find Cafe 100 in Hilo at 969 Kilauea Avenue near the intersection of Mohouli Avenue. They’re open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

On Kauai, I was once attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes in the middle of the day in a small forested area. I was only trying to take a ten minute walk through a wooded path on my way to a beach. Unfortunately, I wasn’t wearing mosquito repellent. I got about 100 yards into the path and realized that I might not have any blood left if I continued on the path. (Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration.) So, I ran out of those woods as quickly as I could. Unfortunately, I never made it to that scenic beach, but I had plenty of itchy red splotches to remind me of the attempt.

Unless you like the look and feel of itchy red splotches on your arms and legs, you’d be wise to be prepared to repel mosquitoes on your Hawaii vacation. Now, please don’t get me wrong. You are not going to get mosquito bitten the moment you step out of the airport. You just need to be prepared in case you plan on doing any hiking or exploring in wooded and rain forest areas. You’ll definitely need mosquito repellent there.

We all know that DEET is a very effective mosquito repellent, but it usually doesn’t feel nice on my skin. It feels greasy and not very breathable to me. Who wants to feel like they’ve slathered butter all over their body when they’re out for a hike? I read in Adventure Magazine that DEET can be a skin irritant and can even melt plastic. (Yikes!) DEET products usually don’t have a very nice fragrance, either.

I recently came across some new mosquito repellent products and strategies that I thought were interesting. I wanted to summarize these new DEET alternatives here.

1. Repellents Containing Picaridin
Picaridin is a relatively new insect repellent that is an odorless, non-greasy feeling alternative to DEET. It has been approved by the CDC as an effective protection against mosquitoes that may carry the West Nile virus. Avon (Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard), Off! (Skintastic Family Care Clean Feel), and Cutter (Cutter Advanced Insect Repellent Wipes and Sport Aerosol Spray) make product that contain Picaridin.

2. Treating Clothing with Permethrin or Permanone
I found this tip in December 2007/January 2008 issue of Budget Travel Magazine. A reader wrote that she and her husband treat their trousers and shirts by spraying a solution of Permethrin and water on them. The reader said that “More than once, we remained bite-free at jungle locations while other guests were suffering.” I found this link to purchase Permethrin. The description says:

Permethrin Concentrate is for use on clothing, tents or netting. It is safe for use on children’s clothing. The active ingredient (Permethrin) actually binds to the fabric being treated and is completely odorless after application. It is safe for use on natural and synthetic fibers. This treatment provides six weeks of protection. One 8 oz. bottle will treat 16 complete sets of clothing. Protection will endure through 6 launderings.

Permanone is another product that appears to have Permethrin in it. I found this product that you can use to spray on your clothing to provide up to two weeks of protection. The product description says that it “actually kills insects that come in contact with it.” Does this raise any red flags with you? I have to admit it makes me nervous.

One caution I’ve read several times about Permethrin and Permanone is that you should never spray it directly on your skin.

In shops that sell hiking and camping gear, you can find clothing that is pre-treated with Permethrin. ExOfficio is one brand that makes mosquito repelling clothing, though after 25 launderings or so, the treatment will wash out.

I’ve not tried repelling mosquitos with treated clothing. Have you? I wonder if you must wear a long-sleeved shirt and long trousers for it to work? If you wore shorts and short-sleeved shirt would there be enough of a repelling smell to ward off the mosquitos? Would there be too much exposed skin to tempt the skeeters to take a bite?

3. Plant Based Repellents
There is a product named Repel that is made of lemon eucalyptus oil that you apply to your skin. It’s sold in spray and lotion forms. It is claims to last up to six hours.

I’ve used the spray form and it seemed to work. The product has a greasy feeling and it has a heavy eucalyptus fragrance. So, other than the fact that it’s made from a renewable source, there’s not much of an advantage of using it over DEET products.

When I saw that the plant based product was plant based, I assumed that it was completely safe to use, however, there are precautions about using it. It is harmful if swallowed. After you have applied Repel, you are advised not to eat, drink, chew gum or use tobacco until you’ve thoroughly washed your hands with soap and water. When you out backpacking and hiking, it’s not always possible to thoroughly wash your hands after applying mosquito repellent. Another precaution to be aware of is that it is not advised for use on children under the age of three, where as DEET and Picaridin can be used on children as young as two months.

I found some reviews of Repel lotion on Epinions.com. So, take a look at what others have said about using Repel.

——————-

Cutter, a maker of insect repellents, has a pretty good comparison of the various repellents that you apply to your skin. Click here to see that brochure.

Have you tried any of these products or methods? What insect repellent do you use? Do any of these DEET alternatives interest you? I just tried Off! Family Care Clean Feel with Picaridin on a hike through a thick rainforest on the Big Island this week.  Though I saw many mosquitoes, my husband and I survived the hike bite-free.  Yay!
I hope you’ll find an effective product to help you prevent mosquito bites whether you plan to hike in Hawaii or spend an evening in your back yard this summer. Let’s find a way to stay bite-free.

During our trip to the Big Island we wanted to take a sailing tour.  At first we were torn between taking a whale watching tour and taking a sunset sail.  After considering our options, we decided that the sunset sail with Ocean Sports was our best option and best value.  For $100 per person, here’s what we experienced:

• Shuttle pick up from our resort to Kawaihae Harbor
• A generous open bar.  The friendly crew was very attentive and always asking if they could get another drink for us.
• A buffet dinner with salad, ribs, tropical chicken and potatoes. The food was actually fairly good considering it was buffet style served on a catamaran cruise.
• Whale watching.  As it is humpback whale season in Hawaii, we were able to see several whales up close and personal.  One whale actually decided to approach the boat and give us a gentle nudge.  It was hard to believe I was actually seeing what I was seeing.  Watch the video below to get an idea of what this experience was like.
• A beautiful Kohala Coast sunset and view of the Big Island.
• Champagne toast at sunset.
• Shuttle return from the harbor back to our resort.

Overall, we had a very nice tour and I would recommend Ocean Sports tours to my friends. 

Here are some points for you to consider when you are booking a sailing tour:

• If you are on the Big Island during whale season (officially between December 15th and April 15th) then it is very likely that you’ll see whales during a snorkel sail or sunset sail.  So, in effect, you get a free whale watching tour in addition to your snorkeling or dinner sunset sail cruise. Overall, it’s the better value, however you won’t receive the whale sighting guarantee that you would get with a designated whale watching tour.
• We were told that whale watching tours from the Kohala Coast area tends to be better than from the Kona area.  The reason that the Kohala coast is better is that the water is shallower near the shore as compared to the Kona area.  So, the whales like to nurse and raise their calves in the safer, shallower waters. 
• If you book more than one of Ocean Sports tours, you can ask for a 20% discount off the second tour.
• Another company from the Kohala Coast area that we also considered was Red Sail. 

Have you gone on a Big Island sail?  What was your experience?

I think the best restaurant on Lanai for an amazing view is the Challenge at Manele Clubhouse restaurant on the Four Seasons Manele Bay Resort grounds. The restaurant is perched on a cliff with a tremendous view of Sweetheart Rock (Puu Pehe), Hulopoe Bay, and the island of Kahoolawe off in the distance. I recommend getting a table under an umbrella on the lanai. The restaurant serves nice sandwiches, salads, and such. The prices aren’t cheap, but the view makes it worth the price. The restaurant is open for lunch only from 10:30am to 4:30pm.

I’m shocked to see the bad news that the Molokai Ranch is closing down at the end of the month.  In addition to the ranching operation, the company also had the largest vacation lodging facilities on the island.  If you were booked for a Molokai vacation at the Molokai Lodge or Kaupoa Beach Village, you’ll need to find other alternatives.  As far as suggestions for where else to stay, look for a condo via VRBO or consider the 2-star Hotel Molokai.

Source: Honolulu Advertiser article. 

After a stroll around the shops at Mauna Lani, we decided to pop into the Tommy Bahama’s Cafe for some drinks and appetizers.  Though we were familiar with the Tommy Bahama brand, we had never heard of their restaurants.  Apparently there are several others.   

The Scene
The cafe is located on the second level above a Tommy Bahama retail shop.  The immediate view is of the parking lot, however, the distant views of the Mauna Lani resort grounds are pleasant.  There are tables on the lanai and tables indoors, though the restaurant was open air throughout.   

As you would expect, the restaurant is very tastefully decorated in an island motif. I did find it odd that the decor was Caribbean themed.  When in Hawaii, I prefer a Hawaiian theme. 

Live music was playing, which was pleasant, however it was also more of a Jimmy Buffet type music.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I like Jimmy Buffet music, but when I’m in Hawaii, I want to soak up all things Hawaiian.  So, I would have preferred music with a local vibe. 

The Service
We arrived at about 7:30pm and were surprised to be seated immediately.  Our server started out being attentive, then he was assigned two nearby tables of six people each.  Then we were kicked to the curb.  We had to wait long periods of time just to order our appetizers, wait for drinks, etc.  As an example of the wait, we probably had to wait 15 minutes or longer just to order our appetizers.  At this point, frustrations mounted and our plans of sharing a slice of Pina Colada cake went out the window.  We are very easy going people, but when we get bad service, we can’t wait to leave.

The Food
We ordered three appetizers to share and they were tremendous.  We ordered Big Island Goat Cheese, coconut shrimp, and Antiqua quesadilla.  (You can see the full dinner menu here.)  All their appetizers are large portions and extremely sharable.

Final Thoughts
Now, I ask myself, "Would I go back?"  Even though the quality of food was quite nice, the prices were high. Appetizers ranged in price from $13.50 to $19.50.  Dinner entree prices start at $31.50 (pasta dish) to $42.50 for the evening special.  For those kind of prices, I’d rather go to the Hualani Grill at the Four Seasons.  I’d rather dine a a place with more of a Hawaiian influence.

.