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it easy: get a nice room, for the duration of your visit, at Lahaina (Click here) or Ka’anapali (Click here). Immerse yourself in Lahaina’s whaling history in town and at Ka’anapali’s Whalers Village Museum (Click here), enjoy some old-school aloha at the Old Lahaina Luau (Click here), take a whale-watching cruise (Click here), and for a thrill, try ziplining (Click here). As for beach time, make do with Kapalua Beach (Click here), Ka’anapali Beach (Click here) and Honolua Bay (Click here), and take one afternoon to visit Haleakalā National Park (Click here).

Finally, stay in one of Lana’i’s world-class resorts (in Lana‘i City, Click here; at Hulopo‘e and Manele Bays, Click here) for three or four nights. Things have been a little hectic so far, so play a round of golf (Click here), snorkel at Hulopo’e Beach (Click here) or take in the vistas from the Munro Trail (Click here). To really get away, rent a 4WD and head for the Garden of the Gods (Click here) and Polihua Beach (Click here).

See the Transportation chapter for details on island hopping by air (Click here) and/or boat (Click here).

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THE BIG ISLAND, MOLOKA’I & KAUA’I Two to Three Weeks

If you want to live in the scenery (not just admire it), consider combining the Big Island, Moloka’i and Kaua’i, which offers the hiking and backcountry adventure of a lifetime plus lots of ancient and modern-day Hawaiian culture. It’s 550 miles (that’s driving, not hiking).

This trip is for those who consider a six-hour hike a half-day’s work and who prefer their ‘view lanai’ to be a patch of grass outside their tent flap. Don’t camp the whole way; mix in enough hotels to keep this a vacation. Start on the Big Island and get a comfy B&B in South Kona (Click here) for a few nights. For ocean adventures, hike to secluded, gorgeous Makalawena Beach (Click here), kayak and snorkel at Kealakekua Bay (Click here) and snorkel or dive at night with manta rays (Click here) around Kailua-Kona. In Ka’u (Click here), bunk in a VW bus at Lova Lava Land (Click here), and go caving at Kula Kai Caverns (Click here), hike to Green Sands Beach (Click here), and take the Road to the Sea (Click here). Then spend three nights camping and hiking in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park (Click here). Spend a night or two in Hilo (Click here), and day-hike one of the big mountains, either Mauna Kea (Click here) or Mauna Loa (Click here). Next, camp at Laupahoehoe Point (Click here) or Kalopa State Park (Click here), and explore Waipi’o Valley (Click here). If you’ve got the time, consider backpacking to Waimanu Valley (Click here).

Next, spend three to four days on Moloka’i. Good camping is scarce, so stay in a condo or B&B in Kaunakakai (Click here). Day one: explore East Moloka’i (Click here), checking out Halawa Valley (Click here) and perhaps Moa’ula Falls (Click here). Day two: penetrate the raw forests of the Kamakou Preserve (Click here). Day three: trek to the Kalaupapa Peninsula (Click here).

With five or six days in Kaua’i, spend three camping and hiking at Koke’e State Park (Click here) and Waimea Canyon State Park (Click here), then boogie up to the North Shore (Click here), mixing some camping at ’Anini Beach (Click here) or Ha’ena Beach (Click here) with lodgings in Hanalei (Click here). Swim, snorkel and surf, but don’t leave without tackling the Na Pali Coast’s amazing Kalalau Trail (Click here). All in all, this trip is a hiker’s dream.

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History

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POLYNESIAN VOYAGERS

ANCIENT HAWAI’I

CAPTAIN COOK & THE DISCOVERY OF THE WEST

KAMEHAMEHA THE GREAT

MISSIONARIES & WHALERS

MONARCHY & THE GREAT MAHELE

KING SUGAR & THE PLANTATION ERA

OVERTHROW & ANNEXATION

PEARL HARBOR & THE JAPANESE PROBLEM

THE 50TH STATE IS PARADISE

HAWAIIAN RENAISSANCE

SEEKING A SUSTAINABLE BALANCE

TIME LINE

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Want a history of Hawaii you can finish on the plane flight over? Grab A Concise History of the Hawaiian Islands (1999) by Phil Barnes, which captures a surprising amount of nuance in 90 crisp pages.