Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [8]
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HALLOWEEN Oct 31
On Maui, Lahaina’s Halloween celebration (Click here) was once so huge it was dubbed ‘the Mardi Gras of the Pacific.’ It’s been scaled back, but it still includes a great street festival. Other towns also celebrate All Hallow’s Eve.
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NOVEMBER–DECEMBER
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MOKU O KEAWE early Nov
This new, three-night international hula competition on Hawai’i the Big Island (Click here) has a sister hula festival in Japan and it draws top Japanese hula troupes.
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KONA COFFEE CULTURAL FESTIVAL early Nov
For a fortnight during the harvest season, the Big Island celebrates its renowned Kona coffee with parades, concerts, a cupping competition, a coffee-picking race, block parties and lots more (Click here). For complete details, see www.konacoffeefest.com.
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’UKULELE & SLACK KEY GUITAR MASTERS CONCERT early Nov
On the Big Island, Waimea hosts two nights of concerts with Hawaii’s ukulele and slack key guitar legends, who also hold workshops and master classes (Click here).
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TRIPLE CROWN OF SURFING Nov-Dec
The North Shore in O’ahu– specifically Hale’iwa, Sunset Beach and Pipeline – hosts three of surfing’s ultimate contests from November through December, which are known as the Triple Crown of Surfing (p81); for complete details, see http://triplecrownofsurfing.com.
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E HO’OULU ALOHA late Nov
In Wailuku on Maui, this concert (Click here) – its name means ‘To Grow in Love’ – features Hawaiian singers and ukulele masters, as well as hula, crafts, food and more.
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HONOLULU MARATHON 2nd Sun in Dec
The Honolulu Marathon (www.honolulumarathon.org) is without a doubt Hawaii’s biggest and most popular, attracting 23,000 to 25,000 runners every year, making it one of the top 10 marathons worldwide. Anyone can enter. (For more marathons, p87.)
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CHRISTMAS SEASON Dec
Hawaii hosts a range of Christmas celebrations. Honolulu has Honolulu City Lights, starting in early December with a parade and concert and greeting New Year’s with fireworks. Other towns, notably Holualoa on the Big Island and Lahaina on Maui (Click here), have tree-lighting festivals.
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Itineraries
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CLASSIC ROUTES
O’AHU
THE BIG ISLAND
MAUI
KAUA’I
ISLAND HOPPING
O’AHU, MAUI & LANA’I
THE BIG ISLAND, MOLOKA’I & KAUA’I
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On the four main islands, one to two weeks allows a full experience of each island. To create your own multi-island trips, combine the shorter itineraries suggested in each chapter.
CLASSIC ROUTES
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O’Ahu One to Two Weeks
A week or two on O’ahu gives unrepentant urbanites a chance to combine big city and big waves – enjoying world-class snorkeling, windsurfing and, of course, surfing without sacrificing gourmet grinds (food), hula, ancient heiau or the concrete jungle. You’ll drive 125 miles or so.
Immerse yourself in Honolulu (Click here) and Waikiki (Click here) for four days. Between sessions at Waikiki’s beaches (Click here), eat your heart out in the city, tour Chinatown (Click here), visit the Bishop Museum (Click here) and ’Iolani Palace (Click here), see Pearl Harbor (Click here), enjoy some live Hawaiian music and hula (Click here) and tour Doris Duke’s incomparable Shangri La (Click here). Now relax. Heading east: spend a day snorkeling at Hanauma Bay (Click here). Then surf, kayak or windsurf at the beaches along Kailua Bay (Click here). Wind your way along the rural Windward Coast (Click here), saving a day or two to enjoy the North Shore (Click here) and the famous beaches around Waimea (Click here). In winter, watch big-wave surfers carve; in summer, snorkel with sea turtles. If the clock’s run out, drive along the scenic Kamehameha Hwy through central O’ahu (Click