Fly cheap between Hawaiian Islands NOW

We just island hopped virtually yesterday from Maui to the Big Island. But this is much better. Here is our Best Hawaii Vacation blog Interisland Flight Special Alert for everybody who is visiting Hawaii in September. Hawaiian Airlines offers Island Hop Hawaiian Style at $24.99 Interisland Fare One Way, which includes tax!

Hawaii Traveler Alert:

Sign-Up by 8/31/2009 + get this Hawaii Interisland
Flight Special for 9/1 - 9/30/09

- The $24.99* Interisland fare inclusive of U.S. tax is applicable to one way routing
- You'll get unlimited Interisland trips at this low fare
- Reservations must be booked via HawaiianAirlines.com from 08/24/2009 - 09/30/2009
- Travel must be completed by 09/30/2009
- The $24.99* Interisland fare inclusive of U.S. tax is good for coach class travel booking class 1
- Discount cannot be applied to tickets purchased before sign-up
- Interisland flights booked with this special promotion are eligible for HawaiianMiles Mainland Madness credits.

Read more about this Cheap Hawaii flight between Hawaiian Islands in September 2009. Hawaiian island hopping as cheap as it gets! Don't miss the deadline on 8/31/09 for your September Interisland travel for this Hawaiian Airlines flight special. Aloha, Pua Hawaii Vacations

Tags: Best Interisland Hawaii flight, cheap Hawaii Island hopping

Big Island Places to Visit - City of Refuge

It's time to island hop back to the Big Island after we spend some time on Maui dealing with the current abundance of Kihei condo short sales and the question 'Is it a good time to buy a Maui condo?' Maui condos are also getting some special attention this fall because condo vacation rental rates are lower than ever for the 2009 fall season. One reason for us to share with our Best Hawaii vacation blog visitors Best Fall Airfares from Seattle to Maui. After Labor Day, flight tickets are outrageously low. It's time for a Maui Beach vacation in Kihei!

If you are not a beach bum but prefer adventure, the Big Island is right for you as we pointed out in many previous posts such as 'Which Hawaiian island is your favorite island?' My favorite saying about a Big Island vacation is this Hawaiian island offers 'adventure beyond the ordinary'! Where else can you see a live volcano or go ski in the morning on a snow covered mountain and swim in the warm waters of the Pacific in the afternoon. Those who plan their Big Island vacation now, might want to peruse our previous Big Island vacation articles.


Here is another of those special Big Island adventures, which actually allows you to combine learning more about ancient Hawaiian traditions and culture with having the best Hawaii snorkel experience. It's a visit to the City of Refuge or Pu'uhonua o Honaunau, National Historic Park. The park is located on the southern Kona Coast. Take Hwy 11 to Hwy 160 and continue downhill 4 miles to the entrance of the park.


The visitors Center is open 8am - 5:30pm. A self guiding tour takes you through the grounds: The Royal Grounds and the Place of Refuge. With Honaunau Bay offering an easy canoe landing place + the availability of drinking water, it was the perfect place for the ali'i (Roayals) to build one of their major residences there. The Royal grounds were separated from the pu'uhonua, place of refuge, by a massive stone wall built about 1550 - 10 feet high + 17 feet thick! - and still standing today. Can you believe that?!


So, what's the story behind the City of Refuge? In ancient Hawaiian life, activities were regulated by 'Kapu'. If a 'kapu' was broking, Hawaiians feared that their gods would get mad at them with an earth quake, volcano eruption or tidal wave. To 'prevent' that they tried everything to catch the kapu breaker. A kapu breaker was sentenced to death, unless he/she managed to reach pu'uhonua, which meant absolution by a priest and a safe return home. Tough times, I'd say.


See for yourselves how ancient Hawaiian ali'i lived. When you walk those ancient sacred Hawaiian grounds, you might get transported into the past and feel the spirit of old Hawaii. We did not feel any goose bumps as some visitors report when visiting ancient heiaus in Hawaii. Get back into the presence by swimming and snorkeling in the ocean waters of Honaunau Bay. Don't forget your snorkel gear, as Honaunau Bay is one of the best snorkel spots on the Big Island. It is also a great place to see the Hawaiian green sea turtles.


You want to share your personal City of Refuge experience, we'd love to hear from you. Have a wonderful time on your Big island vacation. Aloha, Pua Hawaii Vacations

Tags: Best Places Hawaii, Big Island vacation, Best Things to do on Big Island

Best Flight Offers from Seattle to Maui

Aloha to everybody who loves a Maui Hawaii vacation,

Let's stay for today's Best Hawaii blog post kind of within the topic we talked about 'Is it a good time to buy a Maui condo NOW?' We heard from Maui realtors in the South Kihei condo area that the months January through April 2009 had been really slow with interested buyers in Maui condos. Summer 2009 showed a big slowdown in vacation rental requests but on the other hand, more "Mainlanders" showed up interested in buying Kihei condos at 'bargain' prices as investment and as a vacation rental and a place to stay warm during cold winter months!

For all those, who are still looking into buying a Maui condo now or are getting ready for a Maui vacation during fall season, there is great news out there for Maui travel, especially for travelers from the Pacific Northwest, from Seattle and Portland. I came across those new best flight offers from Seattle to Maui through a Maui Twitter friend whose tweet I actually retweeted for our best Maui vacation visitors yesterday:

RT @MCIMaui New Direct Alaska Airlines Flight from Portland to #Maui: Will more competition mean more affordable... http://bit.ly/17sif9

It's pretty amazing how things come and go around through social networks like twitter. Anyways, my Maui Twitter friend had picked up the good Maui travel news from the Maui Real Estate Directory Blog, which wrote on a post 'Will more competition mean more affordable flights to Maui?': "As of July 3rd, a convenient new flight via Alaska Airlines is taking passengers direct from Portland, Oregon to Maui, Hawaii. Alaska offered three flights weekly at first, but as of August 7th, service will expand to daily flights." I definitely recommend Maui visitors to read the entire post New Direct Alaska Airlines Flights from Portland to Maui.

As we all know affordable air fares to Hawaii can and will give the Hawaii Tourism Industry a big boost. That's why we were happy to see our friends from Beat of Hawaii on the same track when they are talking about Hawaii Fall Airfare predictions, referring to Hawaiian Airlines, on one of their recent posts:

"Pacific Northwest will be the hottest market. In just the past week the cost to fly from Seattle to Honolulu has dropped by 25% and is now at $298 round-trip on Hawaiian. I expect to see Seattle and Portland fares continue to drop, especially on service to Honolulu and nonstop flights to the outer islands. Likely we will again see round-trip fares for as little as $200 (plus tax of about $20), from time to time, as we saw last year." Again, we recommend to read the entire article about the best flight offers from the Pacific Northwest to Hawaii.

Here is a copy of part of my comment in case you missed that:

"Much mahalo, Jeff, for making our Hawaii visitors from the Pacific Northwest aware of those special air fares from Seattle and Portland to the islands. I've checked on Hawaiian and found the special rates you mentioned Seattle - Honolulu and Seattle Maui for RT $298.

However, I noticed with Maui, that travelers might want to leave a little more time between now and their departing flights to Maui in September. As the direct flights to Maui leave only once a day, the planes get filled up fast and then Hawaiian asks more money for their seats, whether Wednesday or weekend flying, it does not matter."

So guys check Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines for those special fall airfares from the Pacific Northwest or San Francisco to Hawaii. Find your best flight special from Seattle to Maui or Honolulu Hawaii. Hop on the plane and have a great Hawaii Vacation. Aloha, Pua Hawaii Vacation
p.s.
We chose beautiful Hawaiian girl Sara from WahineStyle.com as our Hawaii post girl today.

Tags: best fall airfares to maui, maui vacation, seattle to maui, best price

Is it a good time to buy a Maui Condo NOW?

Aloha to all our Hawaii blog visitors, our regulars and the drop-ins,

The Sharks, Rays and Whales on the most wanted Youtube Video post took off right from the start. It was fun writing the post and sharing this spectacular video with everybody. Best Hawaii Vacation blog visitors and our Hawaii friends liked it a lot. I am sure Jon got quite some extra traffic for his video from our blog, and he deserved it.

As mentioned before, visiting other Hawaii blogs and Hawaii twitter friends is a steady source and pool for new ideas. A recent post by our friend Julie from 'Maui Vacation Guide' about Short Sales of Maui Condos got my special attention this time. Reading Julie's article on low price short sale offers for Maui condos for sale, triggered my curiosity to that extend that I thought Maui condo short sales will hit a nerve and attract the attention by a lot of our Hawaii blog visitors. It seems time to talk 'Hawaii Real Estate' again. This time specifically about 'Is it a good time to buy a Maui condo NOW?'

My first action to prepare this post was a Google search for Maui condos for Sale and peruse a big number of those top search result sites for Maui condos. Bottom line, there is quite a number of Maui real estate sites which focus on Maui condo for sale real estate market trying to lure the 'Mainlanders' hungry for Hawaii sun to buy a Maui condo now.

I liked those sites which provided in addition to the basic condo info like:

- Asking price

- Maui condo resort location

- condo bedroom + bathroom number

additional detailed condo info like:

- Is the condo zoned for vacation rental?

- Condo monthly maintenance fee

- Annual Taxes

- Sales history

The prices for Maui condo short sales are really tempting but be aware of that the banks take their time to 'collect' a number of offers for a certain short sale condo and decide for the highest offer after 3 - 4 months or even longer. If you are not in a hurry, try your luck. Maybe your nice cash offer will be accepted by the bank. In any case, that's probably the lowest price for Maui condos, not just short sales, I have seen in a long time. So, is it a good time to buy now?

Believe me, not just us regular folks wonder whether the Hawaii Real Estate market has reached the bottom or will even further slow down, meaning Maui condo prices will even come down more. The following article about reaching the bottom and about current trends in Hawaii Real Estate market by Michael Gallagher shows you that Hawaii realtors can't guarantee either whether this is now the best time to buy a Maui condo. One thing is for certain though, Hawaii real estate market will recover as it always has. There is no place like Hawaii! The decision is yours. Before you buy a Maui condo, here are 3 facts you need to know when buying a Maui condo NOW.

3 Facts to know for buying a Maui Condo

1. Maui Condo Vacation rental zoned

If you don't want to move to the island of Maui permanently and consider spending 2 - 3 months on Maui in winter, you want to rent out your Maui condo for the rest of the year at the best rate you can get. Lots of things have changed recently in the Maui vacation rental scene recently. Make sure that the condo you buy is in a vacation rental zoned condo resort or complex. If the complex got 'grandfathered' in, make sure the condo complex bylaws state 'short term rental allowed'. BTW, Maui legislature is still dealing with making more vacation rentals legal.

2. Maui Vacation Rental business Slowdown

Remember the economic slowdown has a big effect on family's capability to go and spend some extra money on vacation. Hawaii vacations got postponed by many families this summer. Summer 2009 in Hawaii was one of the slowest high season summer months for vacation rentals in years. Hawaii visitors who stuck with their travel plans to the islands, received deals they had never dreamed of. Good for them. However, vacation condo rates did often not cover the expenses Maui condo owners have like high monthly maintenance and annual taxes. Good news: Winter months look much better for Maui vacation condos!

3. Maui condo Property Management

Be aware that renting your Maui condo as a vacation rental requires knowledge, business skills and means to advertise it. That's why the majority of Maui condo owners rely on property management companies. Maui property rental managements charge for booking and renting you condo fees between 20 - 25%. You might want to check and compare. I even found out that one of the biggest Maui management company charges a monthly fee whether they book your condo or not.

BTW, when you are not a permanent Hawaii resident, you need a Hawaii agent to act on your behalf which is another reason that Maui condo owners decide for a Maui property management company. Lots to think about when you want to make some money from your Maui vacation condo.

Do you think 'It's a good time to buy a Maui condo NOW?' Our Best Hawaii blog visitors and we'd love to hear from everybody, whether Hawaii realtor or lay people like us. Mahalo and aloha, Pua Hawaii Vacations

Hawaii Real Estate Related Articles

2009 Hawaii Real Estate Market
Best Price Hawaii House for Sale
Hawaii Real Estate Market 2008
Will falling prices in Hawaii Real Estate attract new home buyers?

Tags: condos for sale Maui, Maui condos Short sales, Hawaii real estate market, trends prices Maui condos