Hawaii Holiday Guide

Airlines such as British Airways, Continental and American Airlines all fly to Hawaii from the UK, but flights generally involve a stop-over in the States, which is great if you fancy exploring Los Angeles or San Francisco for a few days while on holiday in these regions.

If you're just visiting Oahu and spending most of your time in the Honolulu or Waikiki area, then the public bus system will more than meet your needs. If you want a bit more freedom to explore further afield then a hire car is the best option. There are also lots of inter-island flights, too, if you want to see more of Hawaii's islands. Flights last between 20 and 45 minutes.

You're spoilt for choice when it comes to fantastic beaches. On Oahu, the beautiful Hanauma Bay sits within the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, and has world-class snorkelling and scuba diving. Only 2,000 visitors per day are allowed on the beach so get there early in the high season. Lanikai Beach is about a mile long, and is great for windsurfing and kayaking. Many visitors head to Sunset Beach on Oahu's North Shore, a Mecca for big-wave surfers. If you're new to the sport, then you're better off just watching the pros here, as the waves are monstrous.

On Maui, Kaanapali Beach is a good all-rounder where you'll find swimmers, snorkelers, body boarders, surfers, kayakers and scuba divers all enjoying the waters together. It's one of the best places for water sports in Hawaii. Wailea Beach is another good all-rounder that’s great for families as it's wide with lots of good shady spots. On Big Island, the Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area has one of the longest and widest sandy beaches. It's also the most popular beach on the island and has excellent public facilities and lifeguards on duty every day.

Oahu is the most developed island with big cities (such as Honolulu and neighbouring Waikiki), excellent beaches and a lush, mountainous interior. It's the home of historic Pearl Harbour and the North Shore, famous the world over in surfing circles. Just watching the expert surfers tackle the gigantic waves will take your breath away.
Maui, Hawaii's second-largest island, has lots of quiet beaches and picturesque hiking trails. The 10,000-foot Haleakala volcano has terrific lunar-landscape trails for walkers and the Hana Highway is ranked as the most spectacular coastal drive in Hawaii. The main attractions on Hawaii, "The Big Island", include the spectacular Waipio Valley, the Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park and Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park, which is full of ancient temples, royal grounds and ancient burial sites.
It's great to do a bit of island hopping and Kauai, "The Garden Isle", should be on your island hit-list. As the name would suggest, the lush green countryside is stunning and places of interest include the 22 miles of coastal cliffs on the Na Pali Coast, along which you'll find a spectacular trail and the Waimea Canyon - the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific".

Molokai is the most traditional Hawaiian island, where there's little sign of development and mass tourism. It's a place where you can enjoy quiet hikes in the rainforest, and it's also home to the world's highest sea cliffs in the wilderness area on the North Shore. Finally, if you really want to get away from it all, Lanai, once a pineapple plantation, is very small and extremely exclusive, and has only one town.

If you want to try some traditional Hawaiian food, dishes include kalua pig (a whole pig roasted in a pit-like earthen oven), laulau (fish, pork and taro wrapped in a leaf bundle and steamed) and pipikaula (beef jerky). The islands are a paradise for fruit lovers and you'll never be far from a juice or smoothie bar. "Hawaiian Regional" cooking mixes and matches the cuisines of Hawaii's different ethnic groups with delicious results. Try kiawe-grilled fresh shrimp with taro chips, wok-charred ahi with island greens, or Peking duck in ginger-lilikoi sauce, for example.
If this all sounds way too adventurous,  never fear, as the mainland USA influence on the island's cuisine is ever present. Enjoy your favourite fast-food outlets, pizza restaurants and coffee chains.
Again, Waikiki is the hub of things when it comes to nightlife. It's packed with cinemas, bars, clubs and theatre companies and it's a good idea to get hold of a copy of the Honolulu Weekly newspaper for entertainment listings to get a low down of what’s on while you’re on holiday there.

Many of the big holiday resort hotels have Hawaiian-themed nights, where you can expect hula dancers in leis and songs played on a ukulele. In fact, local music is played everywhere and you'll always find a party or two (or three or four) in the popular surfer hangouts.

Waikiki's the main centre for shopping, where you'll find everything from tacky tourist tat to locally produced arts and crafts. Hawaiian shirts and plastic hula dancers are always popular buys, but Hawaii's famous flower leis (garlands) don't usually survive the trip home, so leis made from shells are another option – they are expensive, though.

If you want to purchase locally made goods, look for baskets and place mats woven from the leaves of the hala tree, or bowls and gourds shaped to bring out the natural beauty of local hardwoods such as koa. Macadamia nuts make popular gifts - especially when covered in chocolate.

If your kids love the beach, then they'll certainly love Hawaii with its huge range of water sports. Otherwise, the Hawaii Maritime Center in Honolulu has a great collection of old sailing ships and Polynesian canoes, and in the nearby Chinatown they’ll find fire-breathing dragons, mystic moon cakes and noodle factories to explore.

More than half of the North Pacific's humpback whale population spend their winters in Hawaiian waters, so if you want a family experience which will certainly never be forgotten, book a whale-watching cruise and try to catch a glimpse of these beautiful mammals.