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Fodor's Hawaii 2001
"Fodor's guides cover culture authoritatively and rarely miss a sight or museum." - National Geographic Traveler
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No matter what your budget or whether it's your first trip or fifteenth, Fodor's Gold Guides get you where you want to go.
Color planning sections help you decide where to go with island-by-island virtual tours and cross-referencing to the main text.
Full-size, foldout map keeps you on course.
Insider info that's totally up to date. Every year our local experts give you the inside track, showing you all the things to see and do -- from must-see sights to off-the-beaten-path adventures, from shopping to outdoor fun.
Hundreds of hotel and restaurant choices in all price ranges -- from budget-friendly B&Bs to luxury hotels, from casual eateries to the hottest new restaurants, complete with thorough reviews showing what makes each place special.
Smart Travel Tips A to Z section helps you take care of the nitty gritty with essential local contacts and great advice -- from how to take your mountain bike with you to what to do in an emergency.
We've compiled a helpful list of guidebooks that complement
Fodor's Hawaii 2001. To learn more about them, just enter the title in the keyword search box.
Fodor's Compass American Guides Hawai`i: A full-color guide, providing in-depth coverage of the history, culture and character of Hawai`i.
Fodor's Exploring Hawai`i: An information-rich cultural guide in full color.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
DESTINATION HAWAI`IJust try to describe Hawai`i without saying "paradise." It's nearly impossible. In this place of ineffable beauty, the word is not a cliché but a fact, even an understatement. Eden may greet you on a heroic scale, as at Waimea Canyon on Kaua`i, or may appear in the palm of your hand, as when you hold a native Lokelani rose. The pleasures come in forms that are material and sensual, as well -- consider the beguiling shopping and the inspired cuisine created in kitchens energized by world-class chefs. You can also get physical. Go birding, hiking, swimming, or waterskiing, or pursue almost any other outdoor sport known to man -- even snow-skiing or snowboarding. Or simply head for the nearest perfect crescent of palm-shaded beach and do nothing at all.
OahuOahu is the most visited Hawaiian island, yet even here grandeur reveals itself at every turn. The monster winter waves along Oahu's North Shore are worth driving from Honolulu to see. Inside the "tube," time stands still: master surfers experience a space like the inside of a glass cathedral, a roar like a jet engine's, and unparalleled exhilaration. Novice-friendly waves roll in at Honolulu's famous Waikiki Beach, where just about anyone can hang ten on a rented surfboard under the supervision of an experienced instructor.
MauiThe last two decades have brought golf courses and luxurious hotels, tourists and traffic, to the second-largest Hawaiian isle. But the landscape surrounding Haleakala, the world's largest dormant volcano, remains preternatural in its loveliness. All over the island, but particularly here, lush forests keep company with strikingly red and desert-like terrain, and some of the flora and fauna are rare even in Hawai`i. At Lao Valley State Park, wind and water have sculpted impressive rock spires. All over Maui, rainbows hover over the mists and waterfalls shower the mountainsides.
Big IslandIf you like your paradises uncrowded, you'll like the Big Island. Of all the Hawaiian Islands, it's the youngest. Inland, ancient Hawaiian ruins and sleepy and not-so-sleepy towns with melodic names punctuate a landscape of tropical forests, lush pasturelands, and barren lava fields. Rainbows arch over gorges and shimmer near sparkling cascades as at Rainbow Falls, outside Hilo, the county seat. Here and there you'll see ancient stone heiau and statues, perhaps of the war god Ku. And the volcanic activity that created the entire chain still percolates impressively -- over the last 10 years, lava on the coast has added some 70 acres to the island.
Kaua`iThe elemental forces of nature have given much of Kauai a chiseled beauty. Pure glorious scenery is the result -- and the reason that many a visitor is drawn to Kaua`i. Kaua`i is about grandeur and Creation outdoing itself. The stunning vistas of the ocean and a mountain named Bali Hai on the northern coast will teach you that lesson. So will viewpoints like Canyon and Kalalau Lookout, with their panorama of jagged mountains and lacy cascades, not to mention the natural water show on the south shore at the Spouting Horn and the perfect dunes and spectacular sunsets of the west at Polihale Beach.
Moloka`iIf, more than anything else, you come to Hawai`i to rest your body and soul, give serious consideration to basing yourself on the "Friendly Isle." This is where Hawaiians themselves vacation, drawn by the island's peace and quiet and its great beauty. Moloka`i is so mellow that few other sights are musts. But most visitors do take in at least part of the 53,000-acre Moloka`i Ranch with exotic animals, and Kaloko'eli Fishpond, a distinctive structure built by the earliest Hawaiians. Many endangered species survive at the lush, wet Kamakou Preserve.
Lana`iMany of the new visitors to Lana`i check out the Garden of the Gods, north of Lana`i City. The strewn boulders look merely curious at midday, but as the shadows lengthen, the place becomes eerily beautiful. The Munro Trail will take you to Lana`i's highest point, whose commanding view encompasses most of Hawai`i's other islands. Or sign up with
Trilogy Excursions for a trip to sea -- for snorkeling lessons, or just some old-fashioned horsing around.
