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Hawaii is make up of a chain of islands including the major islands of Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Maui and Hawaii (The Big Island). The other major island is Niihau which is forbidden to non residents of the island. Hawaii enjoys a tropical existance with snow to be found at the top of the mountains of The Big Island. The state of Hawaii has no common border with any other state and is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean.

The Hawaiian Islands are one of the most beautiful places on earth. The weather is friendly. The temperature ranges from 60-90 degrees all year long. It's a little warmer in summer, and a little cooler in winter, but every day is a beach day for somebody. The environment is friendly. The physical beauty of Hawaii is almost unparalleled. Majestic mountains were created millions of years ago by volcanic activity that thrust these islands three miles from the ocean floor. Wave action across endless eons of time created coral reefs, and then battered and broke them to create miles of white sand beach. Our position at the center of the Pacific ensured that almost every plant and animal who would find a home here would come as an invited guest.

There are no strangers in Paradise. Perhaps the most beautiful part of Hawaii is the genuine warmth of our people. We call it the spirit of Aloha. It has allowed a melting pot of cultures from all over the world to find common ground, and a new home, in this most gentle of places.

Kauai
Kauai is as close as one can come to the fantasy world of "Bali Hai." The Garden Island, as it is nicknamed, is a tropical paradise blessed with a mild climate, wide sand beaches, and waterfall etched mountains. It is the oldest and most northerly of the Hawaiian Islands. It was the first of the Hawaiian Islands that Captain Cook visited and it was the last of Hawaii's independent kingdoms. The first successful sugar plantation was established here in 1835. Only on Kauai does the Mokihana berry grow and it was here that the legendary race of little people--the Menehune--flourished.

Maui
Maui, the Valley Isle, has a land mass area of 728.8 square miles and is the second largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It has a population of about 104,000 mostly a melting pot of descendents from Hawaiian, Japanese, Philippine and Chinese cultures.. The Country of Maui is comprised of the Islands of Maui, Lana`i, Moloka`i and the uninhabited Island of Koho`olawe. The country seat of Maui is Wailuku. Two volcanoes rose from the sea to form Maui. Mauna Kahalawai, the area known as West Maui, is the oldest. Its highest point is 5,788-foot Pu`u Kukui. The dominating dormant volcano of Mt. Haleakala makes up the entire southeast portion of the island and rises 10,023 feet above the sea. The island has some 120 miles of coastline ranging from rocky seacliffs to lava fields and long stretches of golden beaches.

"The Valley Isle" is a wonderfully diverse blend of beautiful resort areas, small town charm, lush tropical rainforests, and even a dormant volcano. While visiting you can take a sunrise bike ride down Haleakala, snorkle in Molokini crater, ride the road to Hana, or simply lounge on one of Maui's many beautiful, sun-drenched beaches.

There are waterfalls all the way from the airport (Kahului) to Hana, lovely tourist place.

Oahu
Oahu, nicknamed 'The Gathering Place', is the most populous, most developed and most well known of the Hawaiian Islands. The names and images most commonly conjured up by the mention of Hawaii are all here: Honolulu, Waikiki, Pearl Harbor and Sunset Beach. The state capital, Honolulu, is the major exit/entry point for travelers. Honolulu and Waikiki form a relentless urban area of freeways and high rises that resembles a hybrid of Miami Beach and downtown Tokyo. The vast majority of the island's tourist infrastructure is located in this area.

Outside the urban perimeter are all the beaches you could wish for, aqua-blue bays, fluted mountains and valleys carpeted with pineapple fields. The island's surf beaches (try Banzai Pipeline, Sunset Beach, Makaha) are legendary, but there is also great bodysurfing (Makapuu Beach, Waimea Bay), windsurfing (Kailua Bay), snorkeling (Hanauma Bay) and diving (Three Tables and nearby Shark's Cove).

Waikiki
Many visitors are dismayed by Waikiki, a high-density beachside extension of Honolulu which is crowded with package tourists, shoppers, restaurants and nightclubs. It's not exactly picture-book Hawaii, but it has a rhythm and pace that will attract nightowls and singles who like to recover from their hangovers on a decent city beach. The Moorish, pink-turreted Royal Hawaiian Hotel is a survivor from the days when Rudolph Valentino was a romantic idol and people came to Hawaii by luxury liner. South-east of the city is Diamond Head, a tuff cone and crater formed by a violent steam explosion. Its 760-ft (228m) high summit forms the backdrop to Waikiki, and is one of the best-known landmarks in the Pacific. It has a good hiking trail and there are fantastic panoramic views from the top.

Honolulu
Sure, it's got wide beaches, waving palms and balmy weather, but Honolulu isn't just the tropical splendor you used to see on Hawaii 5-0. As the only US city located in the tropics, the only one with a royal palace and the only one that can claim an equal blend of Western, Asian and Polynesian influences, Honolulu offers visitors a cornucopia of cross-cultural attractions.

Culture
You'll find yourself disappointed if you've come to Honolulu to 'get away from it all' - it's among the world's most visited locales - but with a little perseverance and a fair amount of planning, you'll find there's plenty of elbow room for all. The valleys above the city have lush forest reserves and often-empty hiking trails. And within an hour's drive of the capital, you can find tranquil coves for swimming and snorkeling, quiet gardens and towns so small and peaceful that you'll almost forget the throngs on the beaches.

The Hawaiian culture thrived in virtual isolation from disease and pests, maintaining and expressing itself dynamically in a purely oral language. Every Hawaiian wind and rain, cloud and sea, plant and animal, had a name and its rightful and purposeful place in human existence. The Hawaiian mind was in tune with and sensitive to its own world, but, as proven in recent history, tragically susceptible to the onslaught of the outside world, blow by blow, beginning with foreign diseases which devastated the native population and decreased it from 300,000 in the early years of first Western contact in 1778 to less than 50,000 some 95 years later.

The traditional religion gave way to the zealous teaching of Christian missionaries. Enterprising Western capitalists permeated the chiefly Hawaiian ruling system to insure the success of their investments. The culture that once stood alone was now being rapidly changed from the invasion of foreign ways to the last of tragic infringements, that being the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchial system of government by American business interests, the Queen herself being imprisoned. And since the legality of this overthrow has yet to be addressed, many Hawaiians view what has happened as the imposition of American governments from Provisional to Republic, from Republic to Territorial, and finally from Territorial to Statehood in 1959.

Impositions and all their ramifications upon the Hawaiian host have always been accepted and handled in a most gracious and trusting manner. This custom of the Hawaiian host we know so well today as the Aloha Spirit. But we witness the, or breath of life first breathed by their 'ancestors upon this land, as endangered and on the verge of extinction, along with so many forms of life to be found only in Hawaii. Engulfed in a new sea, the Hawaiian now sets sail, on the merits of his rich Polynesian heritage and with new leaning, on a journey for the preservation of his life.

Hawaiian tradition tells us the gods themselves gave birth to the Hawaiian islands and that the first man to dwell on them came also from the gods. The stories of the volcano goddess Pele tell of Pele's creating these volcanic islands as they are today. Another account speaks of the evolution of life in Hawai'i from the smallest coral polyp to man himself. And so, according to Hawaiian mythology, the arrival of man voyaging over the open ocean to Hawai'i occurred after the Hawaiian people and islands had already been created.

Today we recognize the Hawaiian as a part of the Polynesian race, extending all the way to New Zealand in the southwest, to Easter Island in the southeast, and to Hawai'i north of the equator, forming the expansive triangular area of Polynesia. The first Polynesians migrated from Southeast Asia as a seafaring people, who spread over an area of the globe larger than that covered by any other people until the 18th and 19th centuries, when Europeans began exploring various parts of the then known world.

Hawaii has some of the best deep sea fishing in the world. They also have some of the best skippers that will make your fishing trip successful. Marlin go over 1,000 pounds in these waters.

All fishing equipment with instructions, cooler with ice and an experienced Captain and Crew. In Hawaii, it is customary that fish caught remains with the boat to defray cost of miscellaneous boat expenses.

Anyone can catch fish in Hawaii. There is no prior experience or fishing license required to catch big game fish. All you need is a little luck and the desire for lots of fun and excitement on the water.

In Honolulu there is the Academy of Arts. This museum of world art includes a permanent collection of over 34,000 art works. The museum is located in downtown Honolulu on the corner of Beretania and Ward Avenue. An active program of special exhibitions is scheduled throughout the year.

Things For Families To Do In Hawaii