Hawaii travel guide

HAWAII

10 Hawaiian specialties to sample

Honolulu

NEWS, TIPS & BARGAINS

Aloha, construction zone

Honolulu — THE heart of Waikiki has long been a hodgepodge of high-end boutiques and crummy shops, luxury resorts and low-rent hotels, its main drag dominated by a boxy stone shopping mall with the aesthetic appeal of a medieval keep.

NEWS, TIPS & BARGAINS

Doing the island hop for less

THE surf's up and running fast in Hawaii — a fall and winter phenomenon that occurs when powerful North Pacific storms churn up monster swells. It's a great time to island hop in search of giant waves. And this year, it's cheaper than ever because an airfare war is roiling in the skies over the Aloha State.

THE INTERNET TRAVELER

James Gilden: Remember that trip to Maui? Soon your travel site will too

I visit my favorite travel website, ExpOrbelocity.com, in anticipation of planning a long weekend. My personal electronic travel agent at ExpOrbelocity.com greets me by name and asks me where I'd like to go. "Somewhere warm," I say.

POSTCARD FROM HAWAII

Ideal isle? You're getting hotter

More than 5 million tourists land in the Hawaiian Islands each year, many of them looking for the real Hawaii. And sometimes they all seem to be at your resort. How do you find the real Hawaii? Start on the Big Island, the youngest of the main islands that make up one of the world's most remote archipelagos. Despite a respect for the past, nothing is in stasis — not the culture, not even the land itself, which has grown by more than 500 acres since the most recent volcanic eruption began in 1983. — Sara Benson Lonely Planet

CRITIC'S CHOICE / HAWAII

How lost can you get?

When I say I sneaked onto the set of the popular ABC drama "Lost," trudging along a deserted beach and cutting through a bit of jungle to find the cast and crew, it sounds more intrepid than it actually was. In truth, I wasn't anywhere near lost; in fact, I knew exactly where I was: the North Shore of Oahu, the most commercial of the Hawaiian Islands, which only confirmed my suspicions as an avid "Lost" viewer that if the camera panned too far to the left of the deserted beach and the banyan trees, one would see a home, perhaps, or even a Starbucks.

Getting its sea legs

After a morning hike over the lumpy black lava that had engulfed roads and towns, spilled into the ocean and formed new earth, our small group was headed back in a van to the Pride of Aloha, docked in this small town on the Big Island's east coast.

CRUISE NEWS

Mary Lu Abbott: The U.S.-flag ship business takes baby steps in Hawaii

In an ideal cruising destination such as Hawaii, why is only one large cruise ship sailing inter-island itineraries? The answer is rooted in centuries-old maritime laws.

ON A BUDGET

Arthur Frommer: Scouting the globe for autumn bargains

Except for New England and other areas graced by beautiful autumn colors, September brings a slowdown in travel. Three popular places — Hawaii, Costa Rica and the south of France — turn far less expensive when summer turns to fall.

TRAVEL INSIDER

Jane Engle: Nonrefundable and mandatory -- does it still qualify as a tip?

Once upon a cruise, passengers practiced a genteel if arcane art: tipping the crew. On their last night at sea, they would slip cash into hand-lettered envelopes addressed to their cabin attendant, server, maitre d' and a flotilla of others.

SPECIAL HAWAII ISSUE: BIG ISLAND & MAUI

A thousand-in-one vacation

We were driving through a windy pastureland that could have doubled for the coast of Ireland.

SPECIAL HAWAII ISSUE: KAUAI

Time to savor the small stuff

Kauai is a romantic island, perfect for honeymooners with Bali Hai beaches, double rainbows and coconut groves. But a different side of Kauai awaited me, one not typically lauded in the glossy, gauze-lensed brochures.

SPECIAL HAWAII ISSUE: OAHU

Leaving the beach behind

We had every reason not to take a family vacation to Oahu last Thanksgiving. The kids would miss school. We hadn't cared much for Waikiki after our honeymoon a decade ago. It was the busiest time of year to travel. And my parents — ever lovable but occasionally trying — would be with us.

DESTINATION: WAIKIKI

A sea change on Oahu

THE editorial cartoon pictures two tourists being ejected from Hanauma Bay State Beach Park, one of Hawaii's most beautiful strips of sea and sand. One tourist dejectedly tells the other, "I didn't know about the test."

DESTINATION: KAUAI

The road to Kauai is an ever-inviting garden path

Hanalei, Hawaii

Soft on Maui's rugged corner

I fell asleep to the soft whirring of a ceiling fan and awakened at sunup to the chirping of myna birds outside my window. Wrapped in my Hana-Maui robe, I padded across gleaming wood floors to the wet bar, brewed a pot of coffee and slipped through the shuttered doors onto the lanai. There was no one in sight, just those birds hopping about on the rolling green lawn.

Big island bohemia

You goin' down?" The question came from inside a battered pickup truck to my right. Inside, a scruffy guy in his 40s, with a bushy auburn mustache and a ponytail protruding from a sun-bleached baseball cap, sat drinking Smirnoff Ice and smoking a clove cigarette. He had serious dude written all over him.

Going with the flow in Hawaii

It was almost like a twilight picnic before a rock concert. People milled about carrying backpacks, coolers and baskets. Flashlight beams swung in arcs across the path. Shouts, cheers and chatter added to the carnival-like atmosphere.