Skip navigation

Blue Hawaii

< Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Next >
  Top slideshows
Image: The Empire State Building at night
Getty Images
  The Big Apple
Long referred to as the center of American business, New York is a melting pot of cultures and landscapes. Take a visual tour of some of the Big Apple’s most famous attractions.
Image: Waimea Canyon, Kauai
Lonely Planet Images
  Hawaiian paradise
The Hawaiian Islands are the perfect vacation destination for travelers of all types.
Image: Mount Rainier National Park
Lonely Planet Images
  National spectacles
Nearly 400 national parks can be found all across America, and feature breathtaking vistas, rock formations millions of years old, and more.

Best snorkeling

Rentals are widely available at hotels and dive shops.

1. KAUAI

Tunnels Beach
The big draw here is an outstanding horseshoe-shaped reef that harbors myriad sea life and is a rare respite from winter's rough water on Kauai's exposed North Shore. Even so, snorkeling at Tunnels, where there are no lifeguards, is safest between May and September. Sharks and turtles are often spotted here, and the fish are copious.

Story continues below ↓
advertisement | your ad here

INFO: Hawaii State Parks (www.hawaii.gov/dlnr or 808/274-3446). Park on State 56, 4 miles west of Hanalei; Tunnels is a 0.25-mile walk down the beach to the east.

2. OAHU

Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve
This natural aquarium is actually a volcanic crater that collapsed 35,000 years ago. Fringing reefs make for mellow snorkeling and reef fish concentrations that are higher than anywhere else in the state. Get there early, as the parking lot often fills up.

INFO: Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve (closed Tue; $5 nonresidents, residents free; $1 parking; 7455 Kalaniana—ole Hwy./State 72; www.hanaumabayhawaii.org or 808/396-4229). From Waikiki take I-H1 (which becomes State 72) east about 12 miles to signed entry.

3. MAUI

Makena (Malu`aka) Beach Park
This strand in front of the Maui Prince Hotel offers good snorkeling on the southern side in the morning hours, with lots of live coral and turtles. South swells can create strong waves and bad conditions.

INFO: Maui County Department of Parks and Recreation (www.co.maui.hi.us or 808/879-4364). Park in the public lot just past the Maui Prince Hotel on Makena Alanui Dr. in Makena.

4. BIG ISLAND

Pu`uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park
In Hawaiian the name means "the sacred or sanctified hill at the place called Honaunau," and it remains a sacred place to natives. Honaunau Bay, just north of this national park, harbors an aquatic temple par excellence, teeming with healthy coral and fish.

INFO: Pu`uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park ($5 per vehicle; www.nps.gov/puho or 808/328-2288). From Kona take State 11 south to State 160 and follow it 3 1/2 miles to the beach.

THE KAYAKER

Paddling around blue bays and cozy coves is all in a day's work for Lauren Neaulani Spalding. Shy and self-effacing, the part-Hawaiian kayaker came out of nowhere last spring to make the U.S. Olympic team and compete in the two- and four-person flat-water kayaking events at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

Spalding has been exploring Hawaii's waters since she first dipped a paddle in at age 3, while hitching a ride with her dad across the nearly 9-mile Auau Channel between Maui and Lanai. "The ocean is very alive in Hawaii. You feel the energy, and it lifts you up," says Spalding, who believes each spot on the water carries its own spirit.

Her favorite place to pull strokes is Hana Bay near the isolated village of the same name on the eastern tip of Maui, her home island. "The coastline around there is amazing, so beautiful. It's not like anywhere else on Earth, with Haleakala rising to the sky in the background," she says. "You can see the snowcaps of the Big Island on clear days."

CONTINUED
< Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Next >

  MORE FROM ROMANTIC GETAWAYS  
  
Romantic Getaways Section Front
 
Add Romantic Getaways headlines to your news reader:
 

Resource guide