Hawaii information about Hawaii vacations blog

North Hawaii’s spacious four bedroom historic home with sit-down gourmet kitchen, offers privacy yet is walking distance to shops and restaurants and only 25 minutes to best beaches and resorts. The perfect gathering place for a small group or multi-generation family vacations. Sleeps 8 comfortably.

From the listing:

Built circa 1917, it was solidly constructed as a gracious family residence. Not “plantation-style”, but actual plantation-era, older Kohala residents recall it as the place they came to get their marriage licenses.

Hey, even if you’re not in the market for a million dollar historic home in Hawaii, go check out the pictures of this place! It’s amazing! I’m not one for window shopping–I hate looking at things I’ll never be able to afford. But this is history! I always like it when someone takes a piece of history and preserves it. What a great Hawaiian bed and breakfast this place would make…

If you visit Hawaii, even if it’s just once, and you want a taste of the real, less-developed, wild-side of Hawaii, you should go to Hana. The road to Hana is famous as one of the most scenic routes on earth. The north and east sides of Maui are a far cry from the crowded, commercialized, and touristy west and south sides. If you’re a nature lover, hiker, or just don’t like crowds, then Hana is a must see for you.

Hamoa Beach Panorama by by Robert Henrikson, Pan Magic

East Maui has all kinds of cool things to do and see, including Hamoa beach which is consistently voted one of the best beaches on earth. Here’s what James Michener had to say about it:

Paradoxically, the only beach I have ever seen that looks like the South Pacific was in the North Pacific. Hamoa Beach on Maui Island in Hawai’i; a beach so perfectly formed that I wonder at its comparative obscurity. Formed into the shape of a half moon, it is rimmed by boulders of lava and guarded by tall volcanic needles. Pandanus [Hala] trees line the shore, which offers a crescent of black and silver sand.

And right smack dab in the middle of all that Hawaiian paradise is the Hana Country Cottage Maui Vacation Rental House. This state-of-the-art, solar-powered home sits on four gorgeous acres with an ocean view right out of your Hawaiian dreams. The house is big enough for a group or a large family, and is one mile from the Venus pool, a popular swimming hole, and two miles from Hamoa beach!

This holiday rental home is, considering its size, surprisingly affordable. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, and 2600 sq. ft of living space, with ocean and big island views. Warm, country-style vintage furniture fills the house with Hawaiiana charm.

The Hana Country Cottage is romantic yet practical, providing all the comforts of home, such as: DSL, a full kitchen, washer-dryer; and king size bed with a view. The Red Sands Beach is very special, and is just 15 minutes away, in Hana Town. The protected waters are great for snorkeling. The Seven Sacred Pools in O’heo Gulch, is just five miles away. Swim in the many gorgeous pools, or hike up to the huge waterfall, through giant bamboo forests.

See Hana. And reduce your carbon footprint by staying in this solar powered Maui vacation rental!

What is already one of the most affordable bed and breakfasts in Hawaii, the historic Hale Hookipa Inn in Makawao, Maui, is now offering 20% off any room you stay in between now and the end of October. This end of the summer discount will also save you 10% if you book a room for a future stay before that date.

This means you could stay on the slopes of Mount Haleakala, only a short drive from the entrance to the National Park, and a short drive to the famous windsurfing beach (Hookipa), save 20%, and be stylin it in one of the coolest places to stay in Hawaii, and old Portuguese farm house in the Hawaiian rodeo meets new age art colony town of Makawao (yes, they have a great steak house there). If you volunteer while you’re on vacation, you could save an additional 5%, and have 5% donated to the organization for which you volunteer.

Where else in the Hawaiian Islands are you going to find a deal like that?

Volunteer vacations, or voluntoursim, is the new eco-tourism, where you put even more than your money toward a good cause; you donate your time, energy, and sweat. Even less than active folks can get out there and lend a hand while they’re on vacation.

My friend Cherie and I have created a new site for Volunteering on Vacation in Hawaii. We’ve listed several vacationing volunteer opportunities already, and more will be coming soon. Plus, Cherie is putting her money where her mouth is when it comes to encouraging vacationers to volunteer while they’re in Hawaii: she’s offering a 5% discount on stays at her upcountry Maui bed and breakfast to guests who volunteer! And, she’ll donate an additional 5% of the total of your stay at the Hale Hookipa to the cause for which you volunteer!

If you have, or know of, other volunteer opportunities in Hawaii, be sure to let us know! Even you folks traveling with young children can find a “voluntourism” opportunity to fit your needs! Cherie is a long-time resident of Maui, knows a lot about the island, and writes a regular Maui blog: Hookipa Aikane (home sharing friend). Her volunteer vacation efforts were recently recognized by O Magazine!

Most of the volunteer opportunities listed so far are environmental in nature: cleaning up garbage, eradicating invasive species, and planting native ones. Habitat restoration and protection takes a lot of work and is extremely important in a fragile environment like Hawaii’s. We hope to add more cultural, historical, and community projects in the future. All of these projects are educational and take place in scenic areas that you might not otherwise see.

So, take advantage of this new source for volunteer tourism in Hawaii. Let us know if you know of any other organizations in Hawaii in need of volunteers. And, of course, we’re always looking for sponsors!

If you visit Hawaii, you should spend at least a little time on a boat. If you really want an adventure, try a sail boat. There is nothing like cruising silently through the whitecaps, only the sound of the sea and the wind in your sails… The views of the islands are spectacular from the boat… And there’s the occasional stop for snorkeling… Maybe sail out to Molokini, do a little scuba diving…

Of course, sailing is an adventure for which you’ll want to be prepared. Salt spray, cool air, possible foul weather…all call for sailing gear like foul weather gear for your protection and safety. And, of course, so you can look cool! Our new friends at Whitecaps Foul Weather Gear have a huge selection of foul weather gear, rain gear, sailing gear and sailing accessories.

Check out their full line of sailing gloves. Sailing footwear like sailing shoes and warm, dry socks are very important when you’re out on the ocean. You’ll need to choose from a big selection of sailing bags, sunglasses and other sailing accessories, and maybe even a hand-held portable GPS system. Make sure your kids are safe and comfortable with junior sizes of foul weather gear for kids. They also have a large selection of women’s foul weather gear.

Heck, even if you’re not going to do much sailing, this gear (especially the really cool sailing jackets) is just plain stylish and functional for any outdoor activity loving person on vacation in the many varied climates of the Hawaiian Islands. From freezing temps at sunrise on Mount Haleakala, to a Kona storm while you’re sailing the rough water between islands, Hawaii’s weather can get quite foul, and Whitecaps Foul Weather Gear is the perfect place to stock up on the sailing apparel and accessories you need.

The Holo–holo O’ Wahine, or Women’s Walkabout run by Cherie of the Hale Hookipa Inn, has been changed to May 12 - 18, 2009. You can read more about this year’s walkabout in this post at Cherie’s Blog, Hookipa Aikane on Maui Hawaii.

I spent a lot of time on this blog helping friends from Hawaii market their Hawaii-based businesses. These hard times are spreading everywhere, and I’ve had a big drop in requests from friends in Hawaii for my internet marketing skills. So, as a free service to all my friends struggling to get more traffic to their Hawaiian web sites, I’ve started a blog to help them get the most from their sites: Internet Marketing and Organic SEO from Bald Mt. Press.

All you Haoles can use this help too!

This is not, of course, new material. Tons of search engine optimization experts have written billions of words about how you can get more business from the internet. I have tried, though, to make it a little more interesting for the non-technical people who might need a little help. I know how hard it is to live in Hawaii. When we lived there for a year, I had three jobs. It’s expensive, exhausting, and difficult to have paradise in your back yard. That’s how I got started in internet marketing: helping people who were too busy running their business to market themselves on line.

For those who still want to hire someone else to handle your internet marketing, I hope I’ve provided a resource that will make it easy to better understand the strategy I use. One strategy I’ll mention here: Hawaii Stuff. That’s my site about Hawaii that gets over 4500 unique visits per month. That’s a lot of eyeballs (mostly there for the eye candy like Hawaii pictures), and they are an intricate part of my marketing strategy. Some of those visitors will follow links to my client’s sites, but all of the search engine spiders will. That site works as link-bait and link-juice, and helps my Hawaii clients in a way that few internet marketers can.

This kind of specific content has helped other clients as well. My organic gardening web site helps organic farming author Mort Mather, these organic Kona coffee farmers, and a Maui bed and breakfast with organic food growing on the grounds. And my small business site helps all my clients.

So, remember me when you’re trying to squeeze every last dime you can out of your marketing budget. Anything worth doing is worth doing right.

Hawaii Beach Weddings are so spectacular, so romantic, and so memorable, that it’s hard not to want to be married on a beach in Hawaii. In these tough economic times, I’ve read that many people are cutting back on their wedding extravaganzas in order to save money, and not build up so much debt. One great way to save money on your wedding is to have it in the same place you’re having your honeymoon!

I read about a couple that, in order to cut down on expenses (and the carbon foot print of a large wedding with people flying in from all over the place), had a very romantic and environmentally sensitive wedding, followed by a series of parties across the country, where they traveled to see the people they loved, who then only had to drive within their own region to visit the happy newlyweds. If I had it to do over again, I think a private, quiet, romantic wedding on a beach in Hawaii would be the way to go. Then a nice honeymoon in the Hawaiian Islands, followed by a victory tour of sorts to strategically located spots around the country, where we could have small parties celebrating the event! This is a great way to have an eco-wedding, using a lot less total jet fuel, and a lot more fun for the happy couple!

Oahu Weddings are particularly sweet, as the beaches are extremely beautiful, the services available are varied and convenient, the choice of lodging is huge, and the cost of the package can be easily designed to meet your budget. Waikiki Weddings in Honolulu and North Shore Oahu weddings are the two most popular Oahu wedding packages provided by this full service Waikiki Hawaii Wedding planner.

From intimate Hawaii beach weddings, to an affordable Hawaii Wedding package created specifically for your budget in these trying economic times, think outside the mainland. Think Hawaii!

My friends from the Hale Kilo I’a (house where you watch fish) on the north shore of Kauai have been renovating their Hawaii beach house rental. They have added new pictures of the place, which is absolutely gorgeous, with a big yard, a terrific beach, and a master suite with its own kitchen! The house is decorated with the art of former resident and academy award winning art director Tambi Larsen. Check out the site, and don’t miss the art, which is amazing.

My friend Cherie, who runs the Hale Hookipa Inn Maui Bed and Breakfast (and just started a new blog, Hookipa Aikane), is offering a snow-bird special discount on Maui B&B lodging! If you book a stay at her historic Hawaiian B&B before this Christmas, you’ll get an 8% discount! This is a great deal on what is already one of the most affordable places to stay on Maui!

So, book a flight to Hawaii now! Cherie notes in her post that Alaska Airlines has added new flights direct to Maui. And here’s a great, inexpensive Hawaii car rental agency.