The Unofficial Guide to Hawaii

List of Maps

Acknowledgements

About the Authors

Introduction

Making the Most of Your Hawaiian Dream

About This Guide

PART ONE Getting Acquainted with Hawaii

About the Aloha State

Choosing Your Island

The Islands by Geographic Area

A Brief History

Hawaii's Diverse Population

Local Customs and Protocol

PART TWO Planning Your Visit

Best Time to Go

Gathering Information Before You Leave

Packing Wisely

Getting to Hawaii

Car Rentals

So Many Islands, So Little Time

Suggestions for Special Travelers

Tying the Knot

PART THREE Accommodations

Where to Stay

Getting a Good Deal on a Room

Other Ways to Stay

Hotels Rated and Ranked

Hotel Profiles

PART FOUR Aloha! Welcome to Hawaii

When You Arrive

Things the Locals Already Know


PART FIVE Getting Around

Transportation Considerations

Public Transportation

PART SIX Excursions

Adventures on Your Own

Cruising Hawaii

Other Touring Suggestions

Tour Companies

PART SEVEN Attractions

Attraction Profiles

PART EIGHT Great Outdoors

Hawaii by Sea: Get Wet

Hawaii's Top Beaches

Kayaking: Different Strokes

Scuba: Dive, Dive, Dive

Snorkeling: Exploring the Undersea World

Surfing: Catch a Wave

Windsurfing: Ride the Wind

Charter Sportfishing: Reely Big Ones

Whale Watching

Shark Watching

Hawaii by Land

National and State Parks

Camping in the Wilds

Bicycling: Pedal Power

Horseback Riding: Back in the Saddle

Hawaii by Sky

Spas: For Your Health


Golf: Tee Time

Spectator Sports

PART NINE Dining and Restaurants

Experiencing Hawaii's Multicultural Cuisine

The Restaurants

More Recommendations

Restaurant Profiles

PART TEN Shopping

Specialty Shopping

Shopping Centers

Swap Meets and Flea Markets

PART ELEVEN Entertainment and Nightlife

Hawaii Nightlife

Performing Arts

Dinner Shows

Before- and After-dinner Lounges

Dance Clubs and

Rick Carroll, AUTHOR OF MANY HAWAII BOOKS, is the creator of the best-selling Hawaii's Best Spooky Tales series and Madame Pele: True Encounters with Hawaii's Fire Goddess. A former daily journalist at the San Francisco Chronicle, Rick wrote award-winning travel and feature stories about Hawaii and the Pacific for The Honolulu Advertiser and United Press International. His new book, IZ: Voice of the People (the Biography of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole), is now in national release.

Marcie Rasmussen Carroll, freelance travel writer and former communications director for the Hawaii Convention and Visitors Bureau, wrote political, environmental, and other news for the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury-News, and United Press International in Atlanta. She was a journalism fellow in Asian studies at University of Hawaii and in energy studies at Stanford University.

Together, the Carrolls, who moved to Windward Oahu in 1983, collected and edited the anthology Travelers' Tales Hawaii: True Stories of the Island Spirit, which one reviewer praised as "the best collection of contemporary Hawaii travel stories."

Candy Aluli has lived in the Islands since 1983, residing first on Kauai, then on Oahu, and now on Maui. A marketing consultant and freelance travel writer, Candy has collaborated on other Hawaii guidebooks and travels extensively between the Islands for both business and pleasure.