The Hawaiian Islands



In the central pacific 2000 miles from the nearest continent lies the Hawaiian archipelago, a place of incomparable majesty and beauty. There are six islands to visit in Hawaii: Oahu, Maui, Kauai, the Big Island, Molokai and Lanai.

Interesting Facts:
  • Kauai's Waimea Canyon, "the Grand Caynon of the Pacific" is 10 miles long, and one mile wide.
  • Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island is the world's most active volcano.
  • Molokai's northern coast has the world's tallest sea cliffs.
  • Haleakala Crater on Maui is roughly the size of the island of Manhattan.
  • Nearly 10,000 humpback whales travel from the northern pacific during the winter months to breed in the warm Hawaiian waters.
  • Iolani Palace on Oahu is the only royal palace in the U.S.
Total Population: 1,290,000
Oahu - 900,00
Maui - 142,000
Big Island - 172,000
Kauai - 64,000
Molokai - 8,000
Lanai - 3,200
Visitors per year:
Oahu - 4,600,000
Maui -  2,400,000
Big Island - 1,600,000
Kauai - 1,300,000
Molokai - 80,000
Lanai - 94,000
Islands at Glance

Although each island has a very unique character, they are all magnificent and each one offers an abundance of Hawaii’s most precious qualities: warm weather, great beaches, and beautiful scenery. Rest assured you can’t make a mistake in chosing an island.

Oahu

For many, Oahu is defined by Waikiki and Honolulu. Waikiki (technically a district of Honolulu), is certainly Hawaii’s most charismatic city and the tourist epicenter of the state, absorbing thousands of new tourists daily. A great microclimate, inexpensive hotels, lots of shopping, and a world renowned beach are enough to lure vacationers the world over. At the same time many are put off by the crowds and bustle of Waikiki and Honolulu, and by association, dismiss Oahu altogether. But Oahu offers much more than just Waikiki.

The eastern coast, hemmed in by a dramatic mountain range, is home to 3 of Hawaii’s best beaches. Through some rare miracle, there are no hotels on this side of the island – instead a large selection of vacation homes can be found in the seaside towns that line the coast. And with Waikiki tourists rarely venturing too far from the security of room service, the eastern coast offers a more relaxed vacation while still being within 30 minutes from the shopping and excitement of Honolulu.

Oahu’s north shore, a surfing Mecca in the winter months, feels quite out of place - being much less populated than the rest of the island and somewhat isolated (60-70 minutes from Waikiki and few shopping choices). While not as picturesque as the East/Southeast sections of the island, the north and northeastern shores are endowed with many miles of beaches.

The central, west and northwestern sections are where most residents live. While the NW coast has many nice beaches, these areas don’t offer the typical holiday experience and are more suitable for subsequent visits.

Oahu currently offers a large selection of vacation homes including some truly opulent residences, but the county is reviewing zoning laws which could dramatically change the rental landscape. Condo choices are less interesting than the other islands, although the Ko Olina resort area offers new developments and Turtle Bay Resort on the North shore has a large selection. For a family vacation, Kailua and Lanikai on the east coast can't be beat, offering many homes close to the beach. Waimanlo, just to the south of Kailua, offers a more affordable selection of accomodations.

Maui

Maui is the second most popular island receiving about 2.4 million visitors a year (Oahu received 4.6 million in 2007). However, Maui’s population is around 140,000 compared to Oahu’s 900,000+ and tourism greatly influences the character of the island with many resorts, hotels, and new condo developments. Maui is sometimes called the playground of the wealthy. Indeed, there are many expensive accommodations, but Maui caters to all. The island’s popularity and reputation as a playground for tourists is well deserved. Maui delivers more sand and sun than any other, thanks to an abundance of nice beaches lining its long west coast*. In Hawaii, the western shores have the best weather as mountains disarm rain clouds that come with the trade winds from the NE.

While Maui’s west coast is dry with little vegetation, the south eastern section is very different with lush tropical rainforests and waterfalls. The price for visiting this sparsely populated region is a tormenting highway (the Hana highway) that snakes its way along the coast.

Maui's rental landscape is dominated by a very large selection of condos and townhomes. The south coast's Wailea resort is one of the finest, combining many sprawling townhome developments with impressive residences and a few luxury hotels. Just north of Wailea is the town of Kihei with a plethora of rentals. The Kaanapali resort offers some high density high-rise style condomimiums nestled among the hotels of the area, while Kapalua, just north of Kaanapali, offers some upscale town homes.

Beautiful vacation homes are scattered throughout the island although the selection tends to be sparse at locations close to the beach. Unfortunately, long ignored county zoning regulations have recently started being enforced with devastating effects on rental homes and B&Bs. See our discussion forums for more information.

*Kauai claims to have the most beach real estate but Oahu would disagree as much of Kauai’s 12+ mile mega beach is claimed by the military thereby rendering it useless. Still, it’s unclear which island has the most grains of sand as an official count has yet to be conducted.

The Big Island

The Big Island is bigger than all the other islands combined. The size is disarming for those who are used to the size of another island, but still manageable. The Big Island has a reputation for not catering to the beach set. That is very incorrect (see our interactive maps or photo tours). Like all the islands, one must be careful to match location to preference.

The Big Island offers the most diverse Hawaii experience at the cost of increased driving times. This makes it all the more important to insist on a longer vacation as a week on the Big Island is simply disrespectful.

Most Big Island visitors stay in Kona with its great weather, many shopping and dining options and wide array of accomodations. The waters off the Kona coast tend to be very clear and great for diving and snorkeling. The dry and barren Kohala region to the north of Kona offers spectacular beaches, brilliant weather, and many luxury accomodations.

The Puna region in the south east is a good base to explore the area (including Hilo) and launch expeditions into Volcanoes National Park. This area of the island receives a lot of rain and is very green. There are many affordable vacation homes and cottages to chose from. The pristine community/town of Volcano, at the entrance of the national park also offers many homes, bed and breakfasts and cottages. At an elevation of 4000 Volcano is much cooler than towns at sea level.

An important consideration when traveling to the Big Island is to forget anything you may have heard or seen about the Volcano – the problem being one of impossible expectations, set by the media and the Park itself to attract visitors. If you have any appreciation for geology and nature you will thoroughly enjoy the park. Just don’t expect to see any lava as the flows are often in areas that are inaccessible and under ground. Despite being the most active Volcano in the world, this is not the type of Volcano that will blow up like Mt. St. Helens. New eruptions are quite courteous in that they announce themselves ahead of time (in the form of earthquakes mind you). However, if you are unable to outrun lava flows that top speeds of 0.05 miles per hour you may want to stay away. Exploring the park takes at least 1 full day, more if you want to do some hiking. See our discussion forums for up to date information on what the Volcano is up to. Pollution can be a problem when the winds blow the volcano smog (VOG) across the island.

The Big Island has Hawaii's best selection of vacation rentals with a large selection of very high quality town homes and condos.

Kauai

Kauai is defined by its spectacular scenery and laid back personality. The island offers many uncrowded and secluded beaches. Like the residents of other islands, Kauaians welcome tourism but are deathly afraid of anything that could spoil the island, which, incidentally, includes everything. A popular bumper sticker reads “If you love Kauai, send your friends to Maui.”

Kauai’s north shore features beautiful mountain scenery and a host of hidden beaches. Although sparsely populated (perhaps 6000 residents in all the towns?), the area boasts an excellent infrastructure thanks to tourism with many dining and shopping options. In the winter the area receives quite a lot of rain, and far away storms send big waves to the coast – great for surfing but rendering many snorkeling and swimming spots unusable.

Many turn to the south coast for more reliable sunny weather during the winter. Poipu on the south coast offers many vacation homes, cottages, condos & town homes. Kapaa on the east coast offers the most affordable selection of rentals and also offers more shopping options that other areas. Mind you, although Kauai has some big shops (like Costco, Walmart, Sears etc.), the island caters to souvenir shoppers, not those looking for high fashion or exotic imports from the Orient.

Despite plenty of beach real estate and the spectacular Waimea canyon, the west coast of Kauai is sparesly developed. The true splendor of canyon area is experienced by hiking its many excellent trails.

Kauai has a terrific selection of rentals throughout the island.